U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 10, 2021

Mark Goetz

Oakmont Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. So disappointed you can't finish?

MARK GOETZ: Yeah, a little bit, for sure. I mean, I played really well today for sure. Even yesterday I played really well. Today that golf course changed quite a bit from the morning to the afternoon with some of that rain.

It was definitely an advantage being out here after all that rain came through, but it was a along day, man. I mean, you know, sitting for quite a while before you go out and -- I only got two holes in this morning before we got called off, so...

Q. Where were you on 12 fairway?

MARK GOETZ: We had just tee'd off 12, yeah. I was lucky too, because one of he officials on 10 said something to us, like, Hey, just stay to the top of the hill because we would've had to walk all the way down then, so that was good.

But it was fun, man. I really enjoyed it out there.

Q. Can you take us through the birdies starting at 17 there.

MARK GOETZ: Yeah, so 17, it's like a perfect 3-wood to just carry the two cross (indiscernible) at the top of the hill. I just hit it solid and hit my spot there. It was a pretty easy chip right in front of the green, hit it to maybe three, four feet and made it.

Made the turn. Pretty good two-putt on 18, and then just drove it in the left rough on 1, which is fine. We had like 137 but, I mean, in the practice round you couldn't hold that green, so I told my caddie I wanted to land it 10 paces in front of it and he's like, You're out of my mind. Like you're coming in from way up top. Just throw this thing at the pin. If it rolls past we got an uphill putt.

I trusted it for sure. I think it was a great call, and we hit it to four, five feet. Just stuck just the right side of the pin.

2 we had an a pretty good number. Just hit 6-iron off the tee. It was just a flighted 9-iron at 150. Got it all the way back there, which I probably wouldn't have tried that if it wasn't a good number. Hit it to maybe four, five feet and knocked it in.

Q. So you didn't want to try to drive 17 or 2?

MARK GOETZ: 17 driver is too much. 3-wood can get it pretty close to that front edge.

2 is just always been -- I don't think I've ever hit driver there. I don't know, man. If I played this place over the last couple years I was always playing with a couple of my friends whose dads were members and nobody ever hit driver there. It was always a 6- or 5-iron for me.

So I've stuck to the game plan regardless where the pin is.

Q. Are you excited where you are right now?

MARK GOETZ: Yeah, for sure. I really just wanted to put up the best two rounds I possibly could, and wherever that finished was wherever it to finished. I told him --

Q. Him, Mike.

MARK GOETZ: Sorry, Mike. Sorry, man.

Q. He's my friend.

MARK GOETZ: Yeah, I told him at the qualifier for this, like I been waiting on this for two years now. I mean, this has been the biggest accomplishment of my career just making it. Seriously, this is my favorites golf course on the planet. You've heard me say that probably 15 times.

It is. I mean, I need everything I have out here every single time I play it and it's always a lot of fun.

Q. I know it's early. It's stroke play qualifying. These are the best amateurs in the world you're playing against, and right now you're on top.

MARK GOETZ: Yeah.

Q. How does that make you feel?

MARK GOETZ: It's pretty cool. You know, I think that it's really neat to have a USGA event kind of on two traditional northern golf courses. We don't get that a whole lot in amateur golf, even in college. We are always playing in the south and stuff like that.

So this is the golf that I grew up playing. I mean, between po and bent greens and bent rough, massive lips on bunkers, a lot of slope. That's the way I grew up playing, so there is definitely a comfort level that comes with that for sure.

But it's just really cool that this place is going to be showcased. And even Longue Vue kind of on the national level.

Q. You've played some golf with Sean Knapp.

MARK GOETZ: Yeah.

Q. What are one or two things you've learned from him that's helped you this week?

MARK GOETZ: The one thing that comes to mind for certain, I actually learned it the day after I blew the West Penn Am here three years ago. I had a six-shot lead on 13 tee, bogeyed 16, 17, then hit it OB right on 18, made 8.

And I'll never forget. We were on the putting green the next morning at like 8:30. We were playing that day. He just gave me a hug and he was like, Dude, I have one thing to say to you about this. I'm not going to run you through the whole thing.

He just said, Dude, run because you're scared. And I was like, What? What does that mean? He was like, If you have a two-shot lead, man, make it three. Just keep going. He's like, It's cliche, but if you run because you're scared you might get a bad break here or there, you're always going to have a couple more shots in the back pocket that you can play with.

So that's -- that one thought has helped me out on a couple weeks since then. This is definitely a week that he's helped me out for sure.