THE AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

June 21, 2023

Alex Maguire

Quick Quotes

Q. Pleased to get over the line?

ALEX MAGUIRE: I played pretty well all around. I had two really bad lag putts on and 89 to go 3-down with 9- to play. Them I've played some of my best golf on the back nine to get the job done.

Q. What happened on 18?

ALEX MAGUIRE: We were all-square for a good while. I got it back to all-square after 14 so we halved 15, 16, 17 and I was scrambling on all those holes and I hit 4-iron, 6-iron to 15 feet and it was probably -- yeah, two of the best shots I hit all day. That tee shot and that 6-iron, probably the best shot I hit all day.

Q. When you say you're 3-down with nine, you're thinking, you know, I could be going home here so you start attacking?

ALEX MAGUIRE: I was thinking how early am I going to lose this because I didn't have it on the greens. Then made a really nice birdie on 11 -- actually I made a really good save on 10 to be honest. I missed the green, hit a 15-footer to stop going 4-down and made that. Made a good birdie on 11 and birdied 12 and all of a sudden you're 1-down and you feel like you're going to win.

All it was was hitting a few good putts and winning a few holes stopped negative thoughts from coming in.

Q. From 288 and you're in the last 32 and right in the mix?

ALEX MAGUIRE: Yeah, try to make a run this year. I did make a nice run at it last year. And love to see how far I can get in this but it's a tough cut to make, obviously with the cut and the chaos and a lot of guys on 2 and 3. I was fortunate, I was the first person to do a preliminary round. I think a few things have gone my way over the last few days and long may it continue.

Q. Semifinals last year?

ALEX MAGUIRE: Semis, yeah.

Q. Did you learn from that experience and push on?

ALEX MAGUIRE: Absolutely. You learn so much last year. I was 3-up through nine -- I was 3-down and got it back to all-square. I went through it all last year, so I think you can't really come away with semifinals and not have experience to pull from for this week.

Q. St Andrews Links, you're obviously a man in form.

ALEX MAGUIRE: Yeah, I've had a nice few weeks over the last few weeks. Yeah, but form is a nice thing to say but when you get out on the golf course, you can't rely on form. You have to commit to the shots. You can't go out on form and freewheel it. You have to commit to the process and I did a good job doing that.

Q. Thinking about September and the Walker Cup, does it stay in your thoughts?

ALEX MAGUIRE: It's always there. You look over there on the first tee and there's a sign about it (Walker Cup). Yeah, look, there's nothing else I want more than to be on that team but I'm going to be right there and playing my best golf, and if I'm selected, if that's good enough and if not, at least I can say I played my best golf going into it.