U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 28, 1998

Sergio Garcia

SERGIO GARCIA: Well, bottom line, like I'm sure he said, it was an exciting match. I probably like I said before, one of my best matches I've ever played, and I played with a great opponent, and with a great guy. I think we are very good friends. And I enjoyed it a lot. I think he also enjoyed it, but I think it was so great. It was unbelievable.

SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, I hit a good iron to middle of the fairway. Then I had a good wedge, just a little left, but it was on the green about, I don't know, 10, 12 feet, and I made it. And I turned to one under. You want to say the hole and then I explain it?

SERGIO GARCIA: All right. He chipped on 4 to go back to all square. That was a great hole. I hit a good drive, but just a little too much right. He had a very good 3-wood to the middle of the fairway, then we both laid up pretty well. I hit a sand wedge from there. I got 102 yards, and just hit -- three-quarters of a sand wedge, and the ball kicked the green and went over it. So he hit it -- I think he hit it a little fat, and he made an incredible bunker shot from there, and I just tried to hold the chip, it was rob probably too difficult.

SERGIO GARCIA: That was a nice half. (Laughter.) Well, we were playing quite well, both, the hole. We hit good drivers, and pretty good irons to the green, just a little right, both. And we didn't hit very good putts. We were almost the same, same distance to the hole, and I just said to him, do you want to half? And he said all right. And we just went to the next hole.

SERGIO GARCIA: Why? Well, we got a pretty similar putt. I know he's a good putter. I was putting quite well, also. But I prefer his putt than mine (laughter.) And mine there was a little break left and right, and I didn't like it too much.

SERGIO GARCIA: I don't know, you have to be there. You have to feel it. I don't know.

SERGIO GARCIA: What?

SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, lots of time. Yeah, at the British, we gave some halves, also. And yeah, because I think sometimes it's good for both. You get some pressure out of you, and I think it is good.

SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, he hit a very good -- I don't know what iron he hit, but a great shot from the rough. And then on the green I hit a great putt. I thought I got it in, and missed by nothing, and he made an incredible putt. When he hit that putt, I knew it was going in, just after he hit it I knew it was going in.

SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, that was a good hole also. I hit a very good drive. I hit a bad iron, I hit a little fat, and just before the green, I didn't chip in well, but I made a good putt. And he also made a good one to halve the hole.

SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, I played quite well those holes. I hit a very good wedge on the 10th. I hit a good putt, but it just didn't break, and then on 11 I hit a very good 6-iron after his 5-iron, I think it was. And I hit a great putt, and just lipped it out. But then he missed it, and so it was okay.

SERGIO GARCIA: Well, that was a good hole for me, because I was one down, and he hit a bad 3-wood to the left, and just hit a 3-iron to the fairway and a pretty good wedge about, I don't know, 8 feet from there, from the hole. And he tried to hit a good shot and he made it, but just -- he just took the branches off of the last tree, and then he got a very difficult shot from there. He tried to tip it in for four, and he missed it and just gave me the hole.

SERGIO GARCIA: Well, that was a good one, but I have to tell you that the second one, it wasn't as bad as it looked like. I mean the ball -- I hit it quite well. I thought it was a good 3-wood, and the ball just did something strange to the right, and I was a little surprised by it. After that I got 140 yards to the pin and had to hit it a little long with an 8-iron. I had to make my backswing a little flatter, and I just make it and tried to hit it to the green, just hit it before the green, and I made it.

SERGIO GARCIA: On the first one, yeah. I made the swing and hit the branch and I just stopped it. And then I knew that I had to make it flatter.

SERGIO GARCIA: No, no, no, because you don't have time to think of those things when you're playing there.

SERGIO GARCIA: I don't know, I was 40 feet from the pin, just short of the green. 8-iron.

SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, that was a very good hole for me. We were -- my dad and me, we were speaking about hitting a 6-iron to the fairway or hitting the driver and had a good chance to make birdie. At least he told me, well, just -- if you hit a driver, I think you've got a pretty good chance. So I hit it, and I hit it quite well, just hit it on the rough. But then from there I made quite a good chip, and I made a good putt about, I don't know, five or six feet downhill.

SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, I hit a -- well, the first shot wasn't that bad, but probably adrenaline or something, I just -- I got 178 to the pin and I just tried to hit three-quarters of a 7, and it was a little left, but I thought it's going to kick on the hill and maybe it's going to finish all right. But I just hit it over. So I hit a great shot there, and well, I knew I had to hole that chip, and I don't know why, but I knew he was going to make a putt.

SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, that was a good shot there on 16. It was in the right-hand side rough, and I got 137 to the pin. I took a wedge and I thought just hit it high to put it on the green, and to put it soft, because the pin was on the front right. I hit a pretty good wedge with a little fade and pretty high, and he had like, I don't know, 8 feet or something like that. But he had a better shot, and he put it like six feet. The best thing of that hole is that I think I got the chance to make the birdie first. I made it and I was putting some pressure on him. I thought he was going to make that one, because he was putting well. But he missed it and I said let's go to 17 and try to make another birdie or whatever.

SERGIO GARCIA: And on 17 I just took the drive and hit it high and as long as you can. I hit a pretty good drive over the trees. After that he hit it left. He had a pretty difficult shot. He hit it quite well from there, but just on the bunker over the green, and I hit a pretty good 9-iron from 163 yards, I think, just a little right, but it was good enough.

SERGIO GARCIA: It wasn't very good. It was like -- the ball was like laying a little down, but the good thing is that the grass was helping.

SERGIO GARCIA: On 16?

SERGIO GARCIA: No, because I was going to hit a little fade to kick soft on the green.

SERGIO GARCIA: No, I always hit it -- today I hit it a little different, because I hit it with draw, but I just hit it pretty straight on a little fade. But I was more comfortable hitting that shot with draw, and not with a little fade.

SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, I think so. Like on the 17th green, I think maybe -- well, I hope we will play a Ryder Cup match like this one, whoever wins, but I think we will play.

SERGIO GARCIA: Can you repeat that?

SERGIO GARCIA: No, I'm sure he missed that putt on 17, I was just -- I was thinking about the victory. I couldn't hear the crowd. I just went to him and say, great play. And after that I realized that all the crowd was around calling, and I just say, well, like thank you to them.

SERGIO GARCIA: No. No, but the guy I played on Wednesday, he gave me a good see of that hole hitting a driver. So I just got the feeling to hit it, so that's why I did it.

SERGIO GARCIA: After what my ball did, and I was not very nice, but -- after that when he was there with the putter, I was thinking, if he makes this one, he's going to really tough to win him. But he missed it and then he hit a bad shot on the 12th, so I turned to all square and said, come on, you can do it, so keep going.

SERGIO GARCIA: Well, that one was about a year and a half. It was in February of '97. It was the final of the King's Cup against Martin Lafeber, a Dutch guy, who had turned pro like 6 months ago. And -- well, I played really well there, also, but I missed a lot of putts and he was a great golfer and a great putter, and he just beat me 4 and 3.