U.S JUNIOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

July 28, 2022

Eric Lee

Bandon Dunes Golf Resort

Quick Quotes

Q. You just mentioned it a bit, but talk a little bit about how you and Jack know each other a little from California.

ERIC LEE: So I've always known him from junior golf ever since we were like I'd say 11 or 12. I ended up attending the same high school as him, which is Servite, for about two weeks and then I transferred out because I didn't really like it there. But I'm pretty bummed out that we couldn't play high school golf together because we could have been really good.

I don't know, it was a fun match today. He started making a comeback, and not going to lie, I got pretty nervous. But I held through. I just knew if I just made the same score as him coming down the stretch I would end up beating him, so that's what I did.

Q. Talk a little bit about how you were able to get off to the early lead.

ERIC LEE: Oh, I mean, before the round I was just trying to practice my putts because the previous round I left every 20-footer like three feet short, so I was practicing a lot of putting before the round. I don't know, I started doing AimPoint recently, and I think that's helped a lot these past few rounds. I've made a lot more putts.

Q. Were there any big putts or big shots you hit when Jack was making a charge on that back nine?

ERIC LEE: I'd say -- I'm not sure. I didn't really hit too many good shots when he was making a charge. Actually I'd say that par-3 coming down the stretch, hole 15, he hit first, he hit a 5-iron. He hit it to like 25 feet, which put pressure on me because it's tough into the wind.

I hit next, and then as soon as the ball went in the air I knew it was going to be good. It was going right at the pin.

The round before, too, I put it to like three feet and made birdie, but unfortunately I couldn't make the putt.

Q. How close was this one?

ERIC LEE: The one I had, it was about five feet.

Q. This is your first USGA championship?

ERIC LEE: Yeah, it is.

Q. You're a quarterfinalist in the Junior Am. What does that mean to you?

ERIC LEE: It means a lot. I couldn't qualify last year, but this year I played well enough to be exempt for this tournament, which made it a lot easier. Those qualifiers are pretty tough.

Yeah, we still have a few more rounds to go. Hopefully I make a breakthrough.

Q. Seemed like the wind picked up a little bit today. How were the conditions today compared to the last couple?

ERIC LEE: Oh, it was tough. The last two or three rounds, no wind at all, so it played a lot easier. But this round is really tough because it felt like every hole was into the wind even though it wasn't. But I was just trying to hit those low shots, and Jack was trying to hit those, too, and we were just -- I'd say we struck the ball pretty well today.