U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 9, 2021

Mark Goetz

Oakmont Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. So I guess just start us off with talk a little bit about the round. Obviously 6-under, 64.

MARK GOETZ: Yeah, I got off to a good start. Hit the first two fairways. Really just got some decent looks. I made a big par save on 3. We kind of got that number wrong but it was a good miss. It was right of it about pin high, and then the save there was big.

I had good numbers on all the par-5s on second shots, so I was able to get it pretty close there on 4 and then on 15 it was probably 15 feet. Hit a good putt but it didn't go in.

But really just kept it in front of me. That's really all I wanted to do out here. You can -- it can go sideways pretty quick.

Q. How long was the eagle putt on 4?

MARK GOETZ: Probably five feet. It was a great number and we had it above our feet. I was trying to hold a 7-iron on a slope with the little fade there and we got the number right, so...

Q. I've heard a lot from people that this course is pretty risk-reward, so high numbers can happen if you make mistakes.

MARK GOETZ: Absolutely.

Q. So to have a bogey-free round, what's that like to not make any mistakes?

MARK GOETZ: I think it speaks to how well I'm driving it right now. I had a driver crack on me midway through the summer and took me a while to get one where I felt like I was comfortable with it. This one is not perfect but it's really, really close.

So my boss, actually the guy I work for, Joe Corsi, he owns the fitting shop I work at, we've done a pretty good job getting something in my hands quickly and efficiently with all the backups with equipment right now. It's pretty good. I'm starting to get really comfortable with it.

I also the 3-wood build. I hit a couple 3-woods out there, too. That's brand new. We built it together. I think that's what it speaks to to tell you the truth.

Q. What, and eagle, four birdies?

MARK GOETZ: Yeah.

Q. The birdie on 8, what was that?

MARK GOETZ: Birdie on 8? What's that?

Q. The one across the road. Par-5, 535.

MARK GOETZ: Yeah, sorry. Hit driver. Just tried to hit a low bullet fade. We thought it was just going to end up in the (wind interference). That fairway is really tough to hold.

I kind of got a decent break. It stayed in the fairway on the left center. We just kind of hit a 5-iron at 205 just trying to land something short. If it kind of took a decent bounces and rolled on that you would've been fine, but we were planning on pretty much playing out of the short right, that little sort of ditch right there.

But I hit it pretty solid and ended up rolling about 20 feet by the pin and had good speed down the hill.

Q. Two-putt?

MARK GOETZ: Yeah, two-putt birdie.

Q. Then 11 is not an easy hole to birdie and you birdied that.

MARK GOETZ: Oh, yeah, that tee shot just fits my eye, man. I like hitting like a little low bullet fade around the corner. It got hung up in the right rough, but we hit a really good wedge in there to that front left pin. It's nasty. I've never played that one before.

We had a decent lie in the right rough; it wasn't great. But I was able to control distance pretty well there. It was probably about 12 feet.

Q. And then the par-5, what 14?

MARK GOETZ: 15. Yeah, just low bullet fade just missing it left, because you hit it right it's in the Allegheny River, so...

Q. (Regarding 16.)

MARK GOETZ: Oh, that's another one. Just a good number back there on the tee. It was -- we had a pretty good wind in our face and I was just trying to hit a flighted 5-iron, just drop it in the left side of the green. Wind kind of caught it and pushed it right a little bit further than I would've liked. We got the number right, so it was probably about two feet.

Q. You talked earlier last week that this is where you wanted to start. I guess you can't ask for a better (indiscernible - wind.)

MARK GOETZ: No, not at all. I really haven't played this place as much as Oakmont. I still haven't played either a whole lot, but this place is really good, man. I mean, when they get the greens this fast and firm, this is a championship style golf course. I played great today, but you want as much of a buffer as you can to make match play for sure.

Seeing it yesterday for the first time, it's showing its teeth for sure already.

Q. So for the practice rounds did you get a chance to go Oakmont and Longue Vue?

MARK GOETZ: Yeah, played Longue Vue first, and like I said, that was the first time I saw it. It's the real deal. There is no (indiscernible).

Q. Does strategy change at all tomorrow after today?

MARK GOETZ: Not really, man. Some of those fairways right now it's a miracle if you hold them, so that's really all we were trying to do. Just hit it in the fairways out there. There is a couple holes I can take advantage of some length.