U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 15, 2022

Chris Francoeur

The Ridgewood Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Tough finish, I guess.

CHRIS FRANCOEUR: I got a couple bad breaks coming in.

Q. I think you were at 5-under.

CHRIS FRANCOEUR: I was 5-under with like three holes left or -- yeah, three holes left. I hit it under the lip of the bunker on 6 and ended up making bogey. My last hole of the day, 8, I hit it in the left rough and I couldn't get more than rob wedge on it. Could have been solved by hitting better shots, but overall happy with the round today.

Q. This course seems to be playing tough. To shoot 68 out here, that's a good number.

CHRIS FRANCOEUR: Yeah, coming into today I was telling myself, anything around even -- anything under par would be a really good score today. Like I said, happy with the round today.

Q. You just got into the field about a week ago?

CHRIS FRANCOEUR: Yeah, just got in as first alternate.

Q. When did you get the call?

CHRIS FRANCOEUR: I had been in contact with the USGA probably like two weeks ago and they told me there was a chance I was going to get in, and they called me probably about a week ago and told me that I got in. Actually one of my teammates, Jiri Zuska, was the reason I got in because he was exempt through the --

Q. EACA?

CHRIS FRANCOEUR: Through the Amateur Cup. Yeah, and we did our qualifier at the same place, and I was first alternate. Shout-out to Jiri.

Q. Did you send him a little thank you note?

CHRIS FRANCOEUR: Yeah, he stayed with me for the first two months of the summer, so I guess he owed me one there.

Q. He basically didn't go back to Europe then?

CHRIS FRANCOEUR: Yeah, he went back for like a week or so. But from the beginning of June until mid-July him and I were just traveling around the country playing tournaments together. Him and I grew super close while we were at school, so it was awesome to see him playing -- he was just dominating this whole summer. I wouldn't be surprised if he makes it far into this week.

Q. Your results this summer have been kind of indifferent. Did anything in the last week change, give you a positive vibe coming into this week?

CHRIS FRANCOEUR: I played well in the Western last week, which was good coming into this week. I was right on the cut to make match play and just kind of made a late bogey. But the first half of the summer it had really been my putting that just wasn't good. There was a lot of three-points, a lot of missed putts that really just shouldn't happen. I mean, I putted well today, which is good. I've been working hard on my putting.

Q. Did you injure yourself at Open qualifying?

CHRIS FRANCOEUR: No, I actually was on the 18th tee and the horn blew, and I was out of it.

Q. So you just decided not to come back the next day?

CHRIS FRANCOEUR: Yeah, there was a storm cell coming and we didn't know how long it was going to last. I had one hole left and I was, whatever, a couple over par.

Q. So you had already ended your second round --

CHRIS FRANCOEUR: Yeah, so I played the first round and then played 17 holes the second round. It wasn't worth it to wait around. If I made birdie I still wasn't going to make it in, and I had like a 12-hour drive home. Yeah, it was time to call it a day after that.

Q. Are you done at Louisville?

CHRIS FRANCOEUR: Yeah, all done.

Q. Are you turning pro at the end of the summer?

CHRIS FRANCOEUR: Yeah, this will be my last amateur event. I'm going to Korn Ferry Q-school next week.

Q. This is kind of a little tune-up for that?

CHRIS FRANCOEUR: Yeah, yeah. You really can't get any better preparation for that than coming here.