U.S. MID-AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

September 30, 2021

Hayes Brown

Sankaty Head Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Obviously you ran into an experienced and tough opponent today.

HAYES BROWN: Yeah, he played well. I gave him a couple ones early and he never looked back.

Q. What's he do that makes it so hard to get back in the match?

HAYES BROWN: Yeah, he really makes no mistakes. He was hitting greens and he was -- you know, when you're 15, 20 about on those holes it's hard to gain ground unless you're making a bunch of birdies. In that wind, birdies are definitely tough to come by.

Q. What did you learn today in this match with him? I know it's a loss and no one likes losing.

HAYES BROWN: Yeah, just going into it my whole thinking was it's fun. It's pretty exciting to be here. A lot of people don't get this opportunity, so just try and take advantage of having fun and smiling and being with the family.

That was really all I was looking for.

Q. Now that you look to the future and you have gone through this experience, do you think you'll play more? Change how you practice? What are some things that maybe popped into your mind already?

HAYES BROWN: Yeah, I would love to think that I could practice more, but I think it's part of the Mid-Am life. You have a life, a job. A lot of people have families that kind of before golf comes first.

So I would love to think that I could spend more time and want to be dedicated and excited to keep playing more events.

More importantly, I think this just proved I'm good enough to be here regardless of the situation. So that's a lot of fire in itself.

Q. I know Stewart pays attention to history. You made a little history yourself this week getting all the way to the semis as a 64 seed. Will you look back at that and say, Hey, I really did do something great there?

HAYES BROWN: No doubt about it. I think the whole experience between the holing out and making it this far, you know, once in a lifetime opportunity that most people dream of, I got to experience it, so that's pretty neat.

Q. What about this competition? I know you played in Four-Ball, but now you're playing by yourself here. What was this experience like for you playing in this championship?

HAYES BROWN: Yeah, it's a whole lot harder not knowing you got a buddy to go make the three-footer and you have to go make it anyway.

No, it was a blast. I think I just proved that I'm good enough to be here. If you take every shot one at a time you can hang in there and just be patient.

Q. If I told you, if you haven't thought about it already, you're going to be on a U.S. Open course next year at Erin Hills, what crosses your mind?

HAYES BROWN: It's awesome. Really hadn't crossed my mind that I might be exempt in some events, so it's an absolute blast and I feel extremely lucky and it's all free going forward.

So I'm pretty excited about it.