THE AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

June 15, 2022

Leon D'Souza

Quick Quotes

Q. Lee on, you've joined us here at the Amateur championship. Can you reflect on your week for us?

LEON D'SOUZA: It's been good. My first Amateur Championship and my third tournament playing links golf. Unbelievable week. Really two fantastic courses, world-class courses and for me personally, my game was trending week-to-week.

So it was nice to, luckily I got on the cut on the number. It was nice to win my match this morning, but the second match I just didn't hit it very good and then Nathan played all right. But overall it was a good week.

Q. How different was it playing links golf to what you're used to?

LEON D'SOUZA: Extremely different. Out here, you just have to know you're not going to hit 18 greens and you're going to have to play golf, like you have to get it up-and-down. You have to make some putts. You have to putt from off the green. So you just have to understand that things can happen out here, and you just have to play it shot-by-shot.

Q. At this point in your career, it's all a learning experience, isn't it. What will you reflect on and take away from this week?

LEON D'SOUZA: It's been really good to play links golf. It's a different challenge. I love the challenge and it's just a work-in-progress every week. I've learned a lot this week, a lot about my game, myself, links golf, and I can use that in future events. So it's a big learning curve and I appreciated it.

Q. You did have some success and you won your first match, so can you think back to this morning, what were the highlights for you?

LEON D'SOUZA: I started off well, then gave a couple away. Then my caddie, John, he kept me focused. We managed to bring it in. We won a few holes in a row. It was good golf this morning. Good grind. Lots of up-and-downs. But this afternoon just didn't have.

Q. Was it a matter of, that's a lot of golf to play in one day following on from two big days in the qualifying stroke play?

LEON D'SOUZA: Possibly. It's difficult to put a finger on it. Maybe it was fatigue. Maybe it was mental fatigue, maybe I just didn't play well. But maybe it was a combination, but not as good this afternoon as this morning.

Q. Who is your caddie?

LEON D'SOUZA: He's my coach, Jonathan Wallet (ph). He coaches Thaichi (ph) and myself. Luckily we had good tee times so he was able to caddie for both of us, so it was a big help this week.