U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 17, 2022

Alex Price

The Ridgewood Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Pretty ridiculous match, obviously. I saw a lot of it. It looked like it might go either way at any one time. A couple of chances where he made putts to extend it where you can't obviously expect anything, but he made a couple putts to keep it going. How were you able to keep your emotions in check out there?

ALEX PRICE: Really just kind of stay in the moment and not think ahead, especially once you kind of get into the playoff holes. You really have to take it one shot, one hole at a time, especially in match play, too. Really just kind of trying to stay present and not think too far ahead.

Q. How are you feeling right now?

ALEX PRICE: I'm a little tired, my back is a little sore. Just really happy to have made it through.

Q. I know the rankings don't mean anything at this point. I know going in we had you at No. 1,200 something maybe, and obviously he's coming off a USGA championship win. Maybe to some people you're not as much of a known quantity. Does that come into your mind at all?

ALEX PRICE: I like being the underdog. I like having me be the only person, and my family of course, who really knows I'm the only one that can do it, can come out here and drag them out and win a U.S. Am. Even though it's my first one, it's just --

Q. You have the self-belief, right?

ALEX PRICE: Exactly, and I think that's all it takes. What other people think doesn't matter. It's what I think, what I think about myself.

Q. How had your game been trending going into this week? Had you had any sort of inkling that you could get to the final 32 and then go on from there?

ALEX PRICE: I mean, I've been playing super well. I was playing horrible from probably April to late May, early June. It was the worst golf I've played in the last two years. I don't know, just hitting irons everywhere, couldn't keep drivers, couldn't make a putt. Then just right before the Virginia State Open, my game started feeling better and then it started coming out, and my game was feeling pretty much as good as it ever has about a week and a half ago, and then my back flared up, and from there it's been rest.

I guess the last week or so my game hasn't felt great, but when I've come out and just ignored the pain, it's fine.

Q. So you've had to manage a little bit of is it muscular or --

ALEX PRICE: I don't really know. It kind of feels like a nerve in there. Really the only difference is I have to swing like 80 percent of my driver. Probably 15, 20 yards shorter than I normally am right now, but irons feel good. Irons today were great. Felt like every time I gave myself a chance with either especially a short iron on a wedge, I was going to have a putt inside 15 feet.

Q. When you lost 15 and 16 you had the lead most of the day and then lost 15 and 16. How tough is it to just kind of keep your resilience and not let that cascade into something more?

ALEX PRICE: Yeah, you can really feel it wanting to take over. Even though you're still all square, it really feels like you're down. It especially felt like I was down -- he made a good birdie putt on 17, and then I had an eight-footer, and then over that eight-footer it's really easy to feel like you've already -- like you're already down in the match because I got up so early.

Yeah, I think it's just really about staying in the moment and just not letting the past and not letting the present or the future really affect the present.

Q. You've also had an interesting background where you gave up golf for the most part and played hockey for several years?

ALEX PRICE: I did.

Q. What caused you to go away and come back? If you can describe it.

ALEX PRICE: So my two older brothers played ice hockey and I traveled around with them a lot when they played ice hockey, and I loved it. From the moment I could walk I loved hockey. Traveled all over the East Coast, and then I had a year of injuries. It was like three bad injuries in the span of a year, and I just kind of told myself I'm not going through that again at all costs. I had already had a decent game. I wasn't very good as a 14, 15 year old, but I had a good swing, and I knew I could go places or do cool things in this game. Quickly fell back in love with it.

Q. What position did you play in hockey?

ALEX PRICE: I played center.

Q. Obviously that was a sport that -- you don't take that sort of hockey mentality into golf, but sometimes there can be a little bit of doggedness to hockey. What do you think that experience does for you in golf, anything?

ALEX PRICE: I think it just keeps you mentally tough. I mean, just like you can definitely let your emotions run a little bit more wild in hockey, be mad and aggressive and it can definitely lead. But just for the most part, though, you really can't lose your temper too much or you're going to do dumb things, take dumb penalties and make mistakes, and I think that's the same thing in golf. You can't let your emotions take over, can't let your emotions get too high or too low regardless of what you do until the match is over, round is over, tournament is over. You've just got to stay under control.

Q. I've heard a lot of guys out here talking about just enjoying the week, taking things as it comes. Was there an actual goal set coming in or have you just been really trying to take that mindset?

ALEX PRICE: So my goal coming in was just make match play and take it from there. A lot of people have done incredible in tournaments like this just by squeaking into match play. Once you're in, it's anybody's game. It doesn't matter rankings, how good you're playing -- I mean, it does matter, but going into it --

Q. The rankings don't --

ALEX PRICE: Right, it doesn't matter. You're all equal going into match play. Just kind of make match play, go from there and see what happens.

Q. Last thing, just coming in, you've got the programs, you've got the Floridas and the Oklahoma States and you're from a very small school, Division III. Do you ever -- people go, huh, you're from where? Is that sort of a thing you've kind of laughed about a few times?

ALEX PRICE: And it stemmed from the game -- I wasn't that good at this game when I was 17. Obviously I was solid and I had some good tournaments and some wins, but certainly wasn't near the level that everybody else in this field was pretty much at at 17 and 18 and I wasn't there. I didn't get those offers.

But now that I'm 21 and everybody else in my class is 21, 22, I feel like I'm just as good as them and can do just as good a things in this game.