THE AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

June 19, 2024

Kent Hsiao

Quick Quotes

Q. Kent, congratulations. You won your match here today and it was quite the battle out there, wasn't it.

KENT HSIAO: Yeah, so I had an early lead. I was 4-up with five to play, I believe. And he made a couple birdies coming in on some pretty difficult holes. I had a couple bad breaks on 16, 17. So the match was tied.

Went to extra holes and had to grind it out but yeah it was quite a match out there.

Q. Talk to us about the mentality, because when you are leading by so much, do you go kind of a little bit into cruise control and have to switch it back on to really battle it out for the win?

KENT HSIAO: Yeah, I mean, I still pretty much try to play the best golf I can out there. Sometimes in certain situation, you've got to play smarter and play a little defence when you're ahead.

So I mean, I did that a little bit. But he played some good golf on the back nine, too.

Q. Talk us through the 21st hole, because that's where the match ended. What happened there?

KENT HSIAO: So I hit a 3-wood off the tee. That's what I hit in the morning, too. I was trying to keep it short of the two bunkers and I ended up smoking it. So went pretty much over the bunkers but it was down the middle, so it was fine. I had like 95 yards in to the front right pin and it was a good number. I hit a pretty good shot there. Probably was like seven, eight feet past the hole and it was a pretty straight putt. So I just rolled it nice and just went in.

Q. What are your thoughts on Ballyliffin? Do you have much links golf experience?

KENT HSIAO: Not really. This is the first time I've been in Europe. It's quite different and different challenges, and I've been enjoying it so far.

Q. You may not know this but you are the first player from Chinese Taipei to make it into the match play in the 129 year history of the Amateur. Is that a nice little piece of history to have?

KENT HSIAO: That's cool. I actually didn't know that but that's definitely cool to know. Really honored.

Q. 129 years. So your name is in the history books there?

KENT HSIAO: That's nice.

Q. Does that add a little motivator to try to keep going even more?

KENT HSIAO: Definitely. Just go out there tomorrow and try to do the same thing and we'll see what happens.