U.S. MID-AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

September 16, 2022

Matthew McClean

Erin Hills

Quick Quotes

Q. What's this going to be like playing with your buddy this afternoon?

MATTHEW McCLEAN: Yeah, I'm sure it'll be like any other match, it'll be focus on our own game and try to win. We've played each other a few times already, so I'm sure it'll be obviously played in a good spirit, but we both want to win.

Q. How do you put the blinders on when you're out there and you see your buddy standing next to you in the fairway?

MATTHEW McCLEAN: Yeah, I don't know, we'll probably find out. I'd say we'll talk to each other a bit, but it won't be a social round of golf I don't think. I'm sure we'll work it out, but it'll be fun either way.

Q. Let's talk about this match. You basically broke it open around the turn where you won four out of five holes. Tell me about your playing during that stretch.

MATTHEW McCLEAN: Yeah, I birdied 9, 11, 12, which was good birdies. Any birdie out here is good. But sort of he birdied 2 and 3 against me and then I got one back on 5 with a birdie. It was a good match, good standard. But just hit a couple really good shots into sort of good birdie chances.

Q. What did you hit into 9?

MATTHEW McCLEAN: I hit just sort of a nice 9-iron. It was 155, maybe half a club wind. That green, you've just got to attack it. Thankfully that one sort of went straight and a decent distance.

Q. That one on 11, did you lay up or go for the green?

MATTHEW McCLEAN: I hit driver, yeah. I hit it as good as I could. Hit it into the front right bunker up to the front of it and hit a bunker shot out to about a foot. I was probably -- I don't think I was carrying the left bunker into the wind, but I hit the driver no matter what. There's not a huge amount of danger around the green I don't think.

Q. 12, how did you birdie that one?

MATTHEW McCLEAN: 12, I hit a nice drive up the middle and hit a gap wedge up to about 10 feet pin high and just sort of trickily putt down the hill with a good sort of six inches of break, and thankfully it dropped in dead weight, so three good shots.

Q. How do you feel about your game right now? Obviously you're winning, but how do you feel about your game going into the final?

MATTHEW McCLEAN: Yeah, it's been good. I just have a new driver in the bag.

Q. Today?

MATTHEW McCLEAN: No, three weeks ago, but I had my previous driver for six years, so it still feels pretty new. Still getting a bit used to it, but it's going nicely.

Short game is nice. The pace of the greens are sort of decent, as well, and I'm reading the greens pretty good with the grain. Everything is decent and good is probably fair enough.

Yeah, it's a long day, a long final, so just got to go out and try to sort of take it shot by shot, but we'll see how it goes.

Q. I know in Europe they play a lot more match play than probably the Americans do overall. How much match play have you played this year?

MATTHEW McCLEAN: I feel as if we played less match play this year than previous years. A few of our tournaments in Ireland have changed to stroke play that were previously match play. It felt like a while that we didn't play any match play. But most of them you have to play well to get to the match play, as well. You have to make the cut before you play any match play. But we do play a lot of match play. Whether or not that helps us out there, I don't know, but it's just sort of good to have.

Q. What's your philosophy on match play? Everyone has a different view of it. Some want to just play the course, some want to play their opponent?

MATTHEW McCLEAN: Yeah, I think you're better off playing the course, but I think it's impossible not to play your opponent. If your opponent hits one into the heavy rough, you're automatically going to play defensive. You probably still have to remain somewhat attacking on the course because if you play defensive, especially around a course like this, you can quickly follow with a bogey or double bogey, as well. It's a balance really. I think you've got to know when to attack and when to sort of defend, as well.