U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 18, 2024

Noah Kent

Hazeltine National Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. It's been quite a roll. Get all of these Iowa fans out here. You get to the final. You're ranked 5, 6 in the world. I think you proved something, maybe to other people as well.

NOAH KENT: You don't want to be 4-down going into an 18-hole match, but it's been done before, and I kept telling myself that. Everybody in my corner kept telling myself that.

I fought like crazy out there. I know I shot under-par on my ball. I know I gave it my all. I got it to 18. I'm sure a lot of people are like, oh, it's going to be a wipe early, and I made it to 18.

It meant a lot. You can hang your head coming in second, but to fight like that, I talked to Mr. Harris, it's just like, if you fight, you know in your heart you're not going to be upset. If you don't fight, it's going to leave you haunted.

Q. You were 4-down. You get the chip in, you get the 2. And then you brought it back to 4. Then he kind of let you through the door. Once he let through the door, did you think, okay, maybe I got a shot here?

NOAH KENT: 16's been my hole kind of all week. This morning it was a little rocky, but I mean, I felt really comfortable.

17, I kind of got away with one. I kind of thinned a wedge. As soon as I got on 18 tee, I'm looking forward to going to the next hole. I hit a good tee ball. It just went through. I hit a good iron shot. I mean, you have to be aggressive. You're 1-down. I gave myself a shot.

Q. What did you hit from the bunker?

NOAH KENT: 3-iron.

Q. From?

NOAH KENT: 170.

Q. You thought your tee shot was in the fairway?

NOAH KENT: Yeah.

Q. Just a little too much adrenaline?

NOAH KENT: Yeah.

Q. What does this week do for your confidence moving forward? You went from a guy Monday night thinking you're going home Tuesday, and you made it to the championship match and almost won this thing.

NOAH KENT: I'm excited to get the college season going, to be honest. We're going to be up at Windsong Farm Labor Day. I'm just ready to get back, all the guys in Iowa City, get back to the grind.

Q. How did you use the lunchtime to reset and get ready for the afternoon?

NOAH KENT: I sat in the shower for 20 minutes and kind of let all my thoughts come out, and then called Mr. Harris for a while and called Brett McCabe, my sports psychologist, and called Claude and kind of got some thoughts and opinions from them.

Mr. Harris just said be creative. So I got up there on the range. I was hitting slices. I was hitting soft shots. I was ripping them. I just wanted to have fun and give it a fight.

Q. Did you think about Tiger played, he's 6-down to Trip and won, and then a few years ago, Strafaci was down big.

NOAH KENT: I remember one with at least 5-down, 6 to play. I knew it was possible. I had to give it a fight, and I did. Played great.

You talk to Nick a little bit, and it's like just reset and get back to whatever hunkers you down. Just got to fight.

Q. What's it like to have all these -- felt like a Ryder Cup out here today with all of these Iowa fans going crazy. Did you feed off of that? Are you the kind of guy that likes to feed off of that?

NOAH KENT: After 1, that was pretty awesome. They're all in Iowa City, so I get to spend a lot of time with them during school. They're a lot of big supporters for me and kind of build me up. It was awesome to have them here.

Q. You finished runner-up in the Amateur, but you get some pretty nice perks to go with that. Likely Masters and U.S. Open. Zach Johnson and Rory have already reached out for a practice round next year. Describe what you're going to take forward from this.

NOAH KENT: It means the world. I kind of made a joke to Claude the other day. He teaches Brooks and D.J. I'd like to play a practice round with them. It would be pretty cool. He's like, I know a guy who can set this up.

We have a college tournament before the Masters. I made a joke to my Coach before the week, I could still play. No, I want to go play the par-3 contest now.

Oakmont for The Open is pretty unreal.

Q. When you think back to this week, honestly a lot of memories still to come. What do you think is going to stand out the most about your performance?

NOAH KENT: I just fight. I'm gritty.