THE AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

June 20, 2023

John Gough

Quick Quotes

Q. 4-under, and it looks like you're safely through to the match-play stages at The Amateur Championship. You must be happy and somewhat relieved as well?

JOHN GOUGH: Absolutely. Now I'm off the course, it's a lot more stress-free than it was on the course. But it was definitely stressful out there. It wasn't my sharpest day on the course, but that's what links golf does to you. When you're just barely missing, it can turn easy pars into quite easy bogeys. I don't like keeping them just stat bogeys, but yeah, hopefully I flushed out the worst shots of the week, so the rest of the week will only be the good ones.

Q. As you say, stressed out on the course because really the past two days are only about qualifying for the match play, so it's just about getting it done, isn't it?

JOHN GOUGH: Absolutely. Like I've always said, it's almost two completely different tournaments. You just want to finish, ideally, in the top 64 without the tie so you don't need to go out in the morning.

But then, yeah, it's just every day now is just you don't have to play the golf course anymore. You just have to play the one person in front of you.

As long as I keep that in my mind, I don't know, it's nice to have my better round at Hillside, so it's obviously nice going over there now into the match-play stages.

Yeah, it's just every match, every person as they come.

Q. Am I correct in saying that on 17 tee, you were saying you need to go birdie, birdie?

JOHN GOUGH: I knew I needed one of the two. I was -- well, yeah, I knew I definitely needed one, and then obviously two was nice. I holed two lovely putts; the one on 17 more so because it takes all the pressure off 18, and you can just chip one down the fairway and get one on the green, and I've done that one and I managed to hole that putt, too. That's just the way golf is. You try all day to hole putts from shorter distances, and they don't drop; they lip out or burn edges.

And then you just play to hit a good-barely on the last hole to make sure you don't three-putt and it drops in. That's the way golf is. It's crazy.

Q. The putt on 17, how long was that one?

JOHN GOUGH: It was long right of the green. It was actually from about four yards off the green close to the 18th tee. So it was probably about 30-foot putt.

But once it got on to the green, I knew it was looking good, and then it was a massive relief when it dropped, and it dropped for sure.

Q. And the one on 18?

JOHN GOUGH: The one on 18 was about 18, 20 feet. I just hit it down the fairway to the middle of the green. Didn't even look at the pins and just managed to get up towards the back tier and holed that putt. As I said, I was saying to my friends, it's kind of nice practising the pressure putts before you get into the match play.

So I'm confident going into the week. I definitely haven't holed my fair share of putts, and I definitely haven't played my A Game. So there's a lot of room for improvement. Hopefully I get it done in time.

Q. You say you don't have your A Game but you're through and you know you can make pressure putts now. That must give you a nice confidence boost?

JOHN GOUGH: Sure, it's not even that I don't have my A Game. Yesterday I played a bit nicer. Today wasn't as nice. That's just the way golf is, and especially with this tournament, the amount of days, the amount of rounds we play, especially if you make it to the final, you're going to have a day where you haven't got your best golf, maybe two.

So hopefully I've got rid of that day, and the other days, if they do come, I battle through them like I did today, staying patient and relying on that putter to get hot once match play comes, and then yeah, it should be a good week if all that clicks together.

Q. Two long birdie putts must give good vibes going into the match play.

JOHN GOUGH: Yeah, I don't think I'm going to hit a practise putt going in. I'm just going to leave my putter on that. Definitely, definitely does.