U.S. MID-AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

September 29, 2021

Stephen Behr

Sankaty Head Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. High-quality match; I know it's tough after a loss like that, but how would you rate that match?

STEPHEN BEHR: Yeah, it's probably the highest quality match I've ever had. Stew and I when the match ended, I think he said the same. It didn't feel like a round-of-16 match, that's for sure, but when you're playing a player that's as good as Stewart, you just know he's not going to give you any holes, so you know you have to play your best golf. I think we both kind of drew on each other and brought the best out of ourselves, out of one another.

Q. You were down after the 14th hole, you got yourself back into it. I believe it was a birdie on 15.

STEPHEN BEHR: Yeah, I hit it in there like eight feet, and then I think me hitting it in there like eight feet on 15 -- he had just birdied 14 to go 1-up, I think, and then I hit it in there like eight feet on 15, and I think that made him press a little bit, and he caught a little jumper, and he ended up making 5, so he gave me my eight-footer for birdie.

So we went into 16 all square. He hits it 20 feet short left of the hole and he was kind of baiting me to attack that sucker flag on 16, and I hit a good one in there 15 feet, and he pours in that 20-footer, and then I poured in the 15-footer on top of him, which was cool.

I forced him to birdie, make a really difficult two-putt for birdie on 17 by getting up and down from about 65 yards, so I put the pressure on him there, and then on 18 made a great up and down, made about that 10-foot putt. With the wind blowing and the crowd around that green, how exposed that green is and the pressure, he had an eight-footer to tie on that hole, he had about a five-footer that he had to play outside the hole on the 20th hole, he had about a five-footer that he had to play outside the hole on the 21st hole, and he had about a 10-footer to extend the match on the 22nd hole. He just poured them in.

Luckily for me, I never had a putt to extend the match. I was always the one going first and making it first on him and putting the pressure on him. Kudos to him for stepping up and just performing under pressure when he needed to.

Q. Do you take any satisfaction in that you made him earn it, even though he lost the match?

STEPHEN BEHR: Oh, absolutely, yeah. It feels good, too, that he won it with a birdie. It would have been a shame for that match to end on like a bad error from someone. Yeah, he stepped up, hit a great drive there on No. 5 and got it on the front fringe and then hit an awesome lag putt up there to a foot. I hit a good putt from where I was, it just didn't fall.

Q. Considering the quality of the match, what did you learn about yourself today that maybe you didn't know as a competitor?

STEPHEN BEHR: I've learned that I definitely have confidence in myself and believe that I'm one of the best mid-amateurs in the country. Stewart always has that target on his back because he's kind of known as "the guy." I've wanted to play him for a long time. I wanted to play him in Charlotte, and I was really bummed when that didn't happen. I was just really looking forward to the opportunity today.

I think for us to play that kind of caliber of match, I have nothing to be disappointed about, and I know this is a great stepping-stone in my mid-am career.

Q. The fact that you're working, will you play more now, or will you keep your schedule the same?

STEPHEN BEHR: I don't think so. I do want to ultimately be considered for a Walker Cup, and so if I need to change around my tournament schedule to put myself, give myself the opportunity to be in contention for that, then yeah, I'll consider that, but I like being able to play. It's mid-amateur golf, and it's something that I like to do in my spare time. Like you said, I work for a living, and so this doesn't affect my well-being, it's just something that's really fun to be a part of, and the USGA does a phenomenal job in making that a really special experience.