U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 13, 2020

Stewart Hagestad

Bandon Dunes Golf Resort

Quick Quotes

Q. How does it feel to be in the quarterfinals for the first time at a U.S. Amateur?

STEWART HAGESTAD: Great, really great.

Do you want more?

Q. I mean, considering where you started in this championship, you know your record, and now it's three straight years in match play, and it's gotten a little better each time.

STEWART HAGESTAD: Yeah, at this level, right, we're three matches in. Once you make match play, it's anyone's ballgame. You can throw -- the seeds are what they are, but everyone is really good. Shoot, Aman was an alternate and gets in on Friday and Ricky pulls out and now he's just rolling heads out there. Everyone is really good. But no, it feels great, and we've done some neat things this week, but we can't lose sight of the end goal, and we've got to keep pushing.

Q. Was it tougher this afternoon than it's been in any of the previous afternoons playing out here?

STEWART HAGESTAD: So I haven't really played in that. Like I haven't played where balls are oscillating on every other hole.

Q. Because you had two morning times, right?

STEWART HAGESTAD: So the first day in the afternoon I was out here, I was at 2:30, but I almost kind of got lucky -- I was complaining about it early in the week but I got lucky because the wind died down. It was windy but it wasn't as treacherous or brutal or whatever adjective you want to throw at it. And then obviously yesterday I was in the morning, this morning I was in the morning, so yeah, that was the first time I guess you could --

Q. When was the last time you played a competitive round in anything like this?

STEWART HAGESTAD: I mean, I don't think at Seminole it blows this hard, but the greens are more severe and they're more penalizing. I would say then. I feel like that's a fair comparison. So maybe the Coleman last year. I mean, Jones Cup it can really blow on a few of the holes. But then it's kind of in the trees, so you don't get it as much. I mean, this is nonstop. So I would probably say the Coleman combined with maybe a little less wind but more severe greens.

Q. How do you feel out here? Do you feel like -- I don't know how to word this, but --

STEWART HAGESTAD: Old?

Q. Yeah, old or maybe an underdog because there's all these college kids that hit it far? Do you feel like --

STEWART HAGESTAD: I hit it far, too.

Q. I know, but --

STEWART HAGESTAD: I know what you're trying to ask. The answer is -- I'll go back to what I just said, at this point, at this level everyone is really good. Again, I'm not going to pull the Brooks Koepka card, but William Mouw is a beast. You saw what he did in the college season. Who else is in the field? I need to look. Mac Meissner at 6/5 to win the Southern at Maridoe, that course is so hard. He obviously got beat this morning, but even the not-as-highly-ranked guys are still really good. I mean, they've got plenty of firepower, and they're kids. I wouldn't say they don't necessarily have the scar tissue, but they've -- I heard an old expression when I was younger that such-and-such player has the perfect amount of stupid to be a really good golfer, and it's almost like for some of them -- in no way, shape or form because he's going to Stanford, so there's no irony here at all -- actually there kind of is, but Thorbjornsen is hitting driver everywhere when we play in stroke play because he has no fear, and if he pulls it off it's such an advantage. I mean, I don't play as, I guess you could say, fearlessly if you want to use that word to describe it as that, but no, the kids are -- they see it differently. I don't know, I guess I just have a few more years. Again, everyone is really good.

Q. Where do you feel like your edge is?

STEWART HAGESTAD: It's a good question because I've kind of been asking myself the same thing. I consider myself a pretty darned good wedge player. My short irons and wedges I feel like I'm just as good as any of them. If I putt well, then I feel like I'm a tough out. I've got enough speed off the tee. I just feel like I'm relatively smart. I don't know that I showed it as much out there, and especially this last nine holes. I feel like I manage my game pretty well. I just feel like even if I don't have my best stuff, I can at least bring enough firepower to make it interesting. I don't know. I don't know what my strengths would be.

Q. Is there an extra drive or energy because you have long-range goals that maybe some of these kids don't have?

STEWART HAGESTAD: That's a really good question. Yeah, maybe a little bit. Maybe a little bit. For a lot of these kids, it's more on the short-sided side. You go to college, you try and win everything you play in, you go and try to win NCAAs, then you turn pro. There's kind of like an end game to it. For me, I have certainly certain things I'd like to try and accomplish in my amateur career, but yeah, I think that's a good way to put it. But on the flipside, too, right, you could look at that from a negative perspective and be like, oh, you've been there so many times or whatever, so now I've gotten to the semis twice in the Mid-Am. I don't know, I'm looking forward to tomorrow morning. We'll take it one match at a time from here.

Q. How much do you practice?

STEWART HAGESTAD: During what time of year?

Q. I don't know, summer, before things start really ramping up.

STEWART HAGESTAD: A good bit. I start getting the itch in like early March, and I try and give myself three weeks, so that time of year I leave the office at 5:00, 5:30, whenever, go until it gets dark or 15 minutes after and then go work out for an hour. You can ask all my best friends that are obviously not here, but I don't get very social from about middle of March on. I don't mess around.