U.S JUNIOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

July 22, 2021

Luke Potter

The Country Club of North Carolina

Quick Quotes

Q. An up-and-down match, you're up, he comes back, you come back at the end. What's that seesaw like?

LUKE POTTER: You know, it's fun at times, but other times you're like, oh, how am I going to pull this out. You've just got to trust your practice has paid off, and on that bunker shot it did. I hit it perfect, and happy to come out with the win.

Q. About four and a half feet, that birdie putt?

LUKE POTTER: Yeah, it felt like 20 feet.

Q. Was it kind of sliding to the left?

LUKE POTTER: It was. I had to play it like a half a ball out. I was so nervous, my putter was shaking. Happy it went in, and happy to be moving on.

Q. What were you thinking in the time period where he came back on the back nine on you?

LUKE POTTER: Just going over my shots. I didn't hit too many bad ones. I just kind of let one slip on 12 where I made a 5 and he made 4. But he earned those holes, so props to him. He's a competitor, just like all of us.

Q. You're down, you're on the 17th tee. What are you thinking?

LUKE POTTER: Just need a 3. I don't care how I get it. Just need a 3.

Q. Tell me how you did it.

LUKE POTTER: So I had to take a little bit off driver, fanned it in the right bunker, which I was very happy I ended up there. Pretty straightforward bunker shot, hit it out to about seven feet and made a great stroke. Very happy to win that hole.

Q. How exciting is this for you to get this far in this particular championship?

LUKE POTTER: It's awesome. This is why you practice. You come down 18, you've got those four-footers to win the U.S. Open. This time it was to advance to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Junior, so it's awesome.

Q. You've done a lot of things in golf already even though you're young. I believe you were in U.S. Open qualifying the one year. What do those kind of experiences, do they help you in this situation?

LUKE POTTER: Yeah, of course. The more tournament experience you get, the more pressure you have, that pays off. That's why you stand on the range and hit golf balls all day. That's why you're in the short game area. That's why you putt. This is awesome. This is what I signed up for.

Q. Do you pay even more attention -- you hit two good bunker shots. Do you pay more attention to working out of the sand in your practice time?

LUKE POTTER: Yeah. You know, you go and try recreate the shots that you didn't hit your best, maybe in and out of the trees or maybe like a missed iron shot or a missed bunker shot. I've been working on that shot, and that was a really difficult shot, and that was probably the best I could have done.