U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 17, 2023

Andi Xu

Cherry Hills Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. How does it feel to be a quarterfinalist at the U.S. Amateur?

ANDI XU: I mean, it's unreal. I did not think I would get this far. I'm just out here trying to enjoy every round I play. Just hit one shot at a time and see what happens.

Q. Why didn't you think you'd get this far?

ANDI XU: I mean, because there are so many good players in this field. There is just so much that could happen on this course with the rough and all the difficulties that are presented.

I should have probably had more confidence, but I'm glad I got this far.

Q. We watched 17 and it was kind of messy for both players. How did it feel to you out there?

ANDI XU: I was mentally just out of it, honestly, for the last few holes. Second shot on 17 I thought I hit great, but it just ended up in the water. Sometimes you hit good shots and they don't turn out the way you want them to.

Q. How did you get yourself together, especially when you hit that second shot in here on 18?

ANDI XU: I tried really hard to focus. My mind is kind of going blank right now. Probably need to nap a little bit. I just really tried to focus in on that one shot and tell myself, you've just got to hit this one.

Q. Tell us about the yardage and club that you used to hit in here, and also was that one of your better swings?

ANDI XU: Yeah, it was 240, a 5-iron. To be honest it might have hit it a little heavy, but it worked out, so I'm not going to talk about that.

Actually on No. 8, the par-3, and the par-5, which I made eagle on, those two were the better shots of the day, but sometimes bad shots happen.

Q. You had the chip-in, too, right?

ANDI XU: Yeah.

Q. What hole was that?

ANDI XU: It was 11, I believe.

Q. It's interesting how when somebody builds a lead like you did, then you think, oh, it's a great shot. Now it ends up being one of the defining shots.

ANDI XU: Yeah, it was crazy, yeah, because I had, I think, 283 in, and I hit 4-iron. I didn't think it was going to get there, but it actually got over. That was one of the better shots of the day.

Q. How do you keep yourself mentally in there when you have a big lead and then you see it start to slide away? How do you keep yourself strong to finish?

ANDI XU: Oh, I was not. I was mentally out of it for like the last few holes. I was just like trying to make myself hit good shots, but it wasn't really happening because I got in the rough, rough trouble a couple of holes, and hit some bad shots here and there.

But at the end of the day, you just take what you get and you learn from it.

Q. You play quite a bit of 36-hole in college, but compare like a Monday in college compared to a Thursday in the U.S. Amateur?

ANDI XU: Yeah, mentally it's completely different, especially because it's match play, so it's one-on-one rather than just you focusing on your game. You have to pay more attention to your opponent, and it's mentally a lot more stressful.

It's definitely starter to be in the U.S. Am and play 36.

Q. Are you pretty proud of yourself for that shot? Under the circumstances you said you were kind of spent. That's no easy hole right there. What did you hit off the tee?

ANDI XU: I hit hybrid. I hit a terrible shot. It was not good. I usually hit 3-wood. I hit 3-wood the previous rounds, but today it was downwind, so I thought hybrid was better. Then just kind of left it.

Q. You probably don't have 5-irons into too many par-4s these days, right?

ANDI XU: No, especially because elevation. San Diego distance, it's probably like plus more than 10 percent. I'm feeling that I'm a long hitter here, but once I go back to San Diego that illusion is going to be gone.