U.S. AMATEUR FOUR-BALL

May 28, 2024

Will Davenport

Mike Smith

Philadelphia Cricket Club

Quick Quotes

Q. You guys met each other...

WILL DAVENPORT: In Australia. I was living in Australia.

Q. For a year?

WILL DAVENPORT: Yeah, a little over a year. Met playing golf and became fast friends. Yeah, the rest is history.

Q. Well, congratulations guys; into the semifinals. Did this exceed expectations how you felt coming into the week?

WILL DAVENPORT: I have to go buy socks and underwear because I didn't pack to make it that far. Safe to say it exceeded expectations.

Q. Yeah, no enough golf shirts? You brought enough golf shirts?

WILL DAVENPORT: I got to buy one of those, too.

Q. Oh, really? What about laundry?

WILL DAVENPORT: I know. We might have to go laundry.

MIKE SMITH: We'll give Lukas a little shoutout right now. He caddied for us for the first time when we qualified.

WILL DAVENPORT: When we qualified.

MIKE SMITH: He double bagged it.

Q. Oh, really?

WILL DAVENPORT: Four, five years ago. That was Chambers year.

Q. Oh, when you qualified for Chambers?

WILL DAVENPORT: That's right.

MIKE SMITH: Yeah.

Q. Not when you qualified for this one?

WILL DAVENPORT: Not this one, no. We actually made a best ball double in qualifying. We were 1-under through nine holes and lipped out of it.

Q. This year?

WILL DAVENPORT: Made five birdies on the back nine.

MIKE SMITH: He got it started in this thing though, and we finally got over the hump, made match play this year. We have played a lot of good golf together in the state of Florida. Like a lot.

Q. You two?

MIKE SMITH: Yeah, together, Will and I.

We know our good stuff is good. We know if we just keep focusing on what we're doing that we'll being okay.

Q. So this is your second Four-Ball together?

WILL DAVENPORT: The third.

MIKE SMITH: Third.

Q. Played Chambers?

WILL DAVENPORT: Birmingham.

MIKE SMITH: We played Birmingham and missed like --

WILL DAVENPORT: Missed an eight-footer to make match play there, and we were gutted.

MIKE SMITH: Yeah, we missed very narrowly.

Q. Did you make match play at Chambers or no?

WILL DAVENPORT: We did not.

Q. So first time you played match play?

WILL DAVENPORT: First time. And this is sort of a home game for me. I'm a member couple hundred yards away, so I really wanted us to play well here. Mike is familiar with this place. Has played until the past. So this is one we were gearing up for. It's cool to have it pan out.

Q. How often do you get up to this area then? You live in Florida. You're not from this area?

WILL DAVENPORT: I'm not, no. I lived in Philly for a little over two years for grad school. I get up six, seven, eight times a year and play some golf at Whitemarsh.

Q. Is that why you have such a rooting section out here? Are these the Whitemarsh members?

WILL DAVENPORT: A lot of them were...

MIKE SMITH: I would give a lot of credit to them.

WILL DAVENPORT: Yeah. Got a Whitemarsh caddie out here. (Indiscernible.)

Q. Got some Whitemarsh caddies for you?

WILL DAVENPORT: Yeah, I've got a Whitemarsh caddie out here and got a couple other guys.

Q. Who are your two caddies?

WILL DAVENPORT: Ryan Borrmann, man who's a Whitemarsh guy.

Q. B-o-r-m-a-n?

WILL DAVENPORT: B-o-r-r-m-a -- shoot, I'm going to get it wrong.

MIKE SMITH: And my full-time job is a college recruiting, ing and I have Aiden Farkas on the bag. Aidan is going to St. Joe's next year.

Q. F-a-r --

WILL DAVENPORT: -- k-a-s.

Q. He lived in the area?

MIKE SMITH: He lives in Ardmore.

WILL DAVENPORT: B-o-r-r-m-a-n-n.

Q. B-o-r-r-m-a-n-n?

WILL DAVENPORT: I think so. Does that sound right?

Q. You guys were 2-down early and came back with some birdies. Who made them?

MIKE SMITH: Bad three-putt on 3.

WILL DAVENPORT: Bad, bad hole to give away.

MIKE SMITH: Didn't get too dejected though. Didn't get anything going really until made a putt on 5. That really --

Q. How long was it?

WILL DAVENPORT: 25 feet.

MIKE SMITH: 25-footer.

Q. Birdie, right?

WILL DAVENPORT: He had six feet for birdie.

MIKE SMITH: I had five, six feet, but that really got us going.

WILL DAVENPORT: And then we birdied 7.

MIKE SMITH: We never looked back. Those guys were tough. Those guys were a class act. Those guys really know what they're doing. I think they even stayed more patient than us.

WILL DAVENPORT: They holed a lot big putts.

MIKE SMITH: We just hit better shots and we made one more birdie. At the end of the day, that's what happens.

WILL DAVENPORT: Huge birdie for Mike on 16. The match was square for a long time.

Q. How long was the putt?

MIKE SMITH: Four-footer.

WILL DAVENPORT: A slide --

Q. Knock it in there --

MIKE SMITH: Threw a nice little wedge in there from 122; landed 105, a little four-footer back of the jar, and we knocked it in first and put the pressure on.

Q. Right. And obviously the conditions changed a little bit this afternoon. Got more breezier.

MIKE SMITH: It was blowing all day. We loved it. That's what we're used to.

Q. In Florida you get this stuff?

WILL DAVENPORT: We get --

MIKE SMITH: We're beach boys. Oh, yeah.

WILL DAVENPORT: Those coastal courses get a lot of wind exposure, and we --

MIKE SMITH: Every time it blew I looked at him and said, this is it is. This is what we want.

WILL DAVENPORT: We didn't underclub a lot into the wind, which was big. We kept the ball in front of us but we didn't underappreciate the value of the wind.

Q. Have you heard from Lukas at all this week?

WILL DAVENPORT: I think he's going to message me tonight I would guess.

Q. Yeah. Because you've been on the bag for a national championship; now have a chance to actually be a national champion.

WILL DAVENPORT: That would be very sweet.

MIKE SMITH: We're going to keep doing it. I got a 20 month old named Lucas at home.

Q. With a K, too?

MIKE SMITH: No, with a C. Miss him dearly, but he understands. He comes out to the chipping green with me every couple days, and is one of the reasons we're still here I think.

Q. How many kids do you consult with your --

WILL DAVENPORT: I think Mike's short game is the reason we're still here...

Q. Is it consulting service basically?

MIKE SMITH: Yeah, so 30, 35 families I work with every year. Got in through the college recruiting process step by step and try to find them the best fit in college golf. All divisions all over the world.

Q. There are a couple of hot shots playing behind you guys.

MIKE SMITH: Yeah. I've talked to a few of them.

WILL DAVENPORT: I hope we get a chance to play against them.

Q. Yeah, probably meet them in the final.

WILL DAVENPORT: Okay.

Q. Yeah, because they're in the other half of the draw.

WILL DAVENPORT: I don't even know who we play next.

Q. Engel and Blanchard, two Arizona guys.

WILL DAVENPORT: Okay, great.

Q. And you played at Yale, correct?

WILL DAVENPORT: I did.

Q. Ivy League Rookie of the Year.

WILL DAVENPORT: Ivy League Rookie of the Year. Wow.

Q. I looked it up.

Speaking over one another.

Q. And your James Madison?

MIKE SMITH: James Madison.

Q. Did you play with Chuck there?

MIKE SMITH: No, just behind him. He's actually not -- I think when we qualified he hit me up and said congratulations.

Q. Okay, all right.