U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 13, 2020

Michael Thorbjornsen

Bandon Dunes Golf Resort

Quick Quotes

Q. You got to the quarterfinals; has to be so pleasing to make it this far, especially in a U.S. Amateur.

MICHAEL THORBJORNSEN: Yeah, I mean, obviously it feels good. Just trying to keep winning some matches. Basically just taking it one hole at a time, one shot at a time. So far it's going so good.

Q. In your young career you've had a lot of good experiences, won a Junior, played in the U.S. Open, made the cut. How are all those things going to help you as you move forward here?

MICHAEL THORBJORNSEN: I mean, obviously it's going to help just because it's experience being able to play solid golf courses in tough conditions, but I'm not really thinking about it that much out there. It's just I've got this far and I'm playing well. I'm just thinking in the moment really. I mean, I just feel pretty confident in my game right now, and I feel like that's really good.

Q. The wind obviously came up this afternoon. Where would you compare the wind maybe to Monday or was it stronger?

MICHAEL THORBJORNSEN: It was really windy out there today, especially in the afternoon. I mean, compared to this morning, it was virtually nothing that front nine. But yeah, it was really tough. I think on 16 I hit my 20-foot putt 10 feet by, and I just said the wind took my putter; it's not that it took the ball, it took my putter. There isn't much you can do about that except I guess have a better stroke. But yeah, it was playing really tough out there.

Q. Do you have to be really decisive in your club selection or do you have to do a little more thinking than you normally would with the wind? What's different about it from a mental standpoint?

MICHAEL THORBJORNSEN: You've got to be very precise when it comes to picking the yardages, how far I need to carry over false fronts, how much it's into the wind, what degree angle, so on, so forth. Yeah, it was just every shot you have to calculate that, so you just have to be very tedious.

Q. And in this match you made a few birdies to build a big lead. Talk about the birdies on 8 and 10 that really stretched the lead there.

MICHAEL THORBJORNSEN: Yeah, so I hit a good drive on 8. It would have gone on the green, but it took one hop, it landed in the fairway and then just stayed in the fescue. I hit a good chip to around three feet or so, just cleaned up for birdie there, and then on 10, it was a little bit downwind, hit a really good drive probably to 25 feet, 30 feet short of the pin and a nice two-putt there. Really built that 3-up lead.

Q. Any particular par or anything that you felt like held the round together?

MICHAEL THORBJORNSEN: Yeah, the following hole, hole 11, both me and my playing partner, we both had -- I think he had a 15-footer and I had a 20-footer for par, and I managed to make mine, which was not -- I wasn't really expecting that because of the break and the type of putt, how long the putt was, but that was a really good turning point in the round I'd say, just building up that solid buffer with six holes to play or so. Yeah, just really gave me some confidence, even though I did lose a few holes later on. I mean, it you get 4-up, it just builds a good buffer.