U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 21, 1999

Hunter Haas

HUNTER HAAS: Right. That was my goal, to be the one hitting on the fairways. And he just -- what can I say? He hit it straight all day. He chose the right clubs on some of the par-4s; took a conservative approach. And when he hit a driver, he hit it straight.

HUNTER HAAS: Right. No. 7, I hit a good shot in there. And it was a fairly straight putt, just a little break. And I hit a good putt, and it just -- right before it got to the hole, it took off to the right. I don't know if it was me or if I misread it, but I thought I hit a good putt.

HUNTER HAAS: 12 feet, maybe. 10, 12 feet. I didn't have to make a putt on 8. 9, same thing, had a little left-to-right break, breaking putt towards the ocean, and it was a little uphill. I missed it to the right. Didn't hit it. No. 10, same thing. Him making birdie before me didn't help out the situation. I just hit a few bad putts. And actually 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, those were all bad putts. I snaked one in on 14 by the thread of my nail, there, just scraping it in, went on the right lip. And obviously, I missed my last putt, misread that one. I didn't putt well today. I was lucky to get through this week making putts and not hitting it so well. And the last few days, I started hitting it a lot better, and it was like one was there and one wasn't. And then one got -- my iron play started coming back, and then the putter started slipping away. But these greens aren't easy to putt, as far as that's concerned. It's not like your regular flat ground in Norman or Ft. Worth.

HUNTER HAAS: I did. I went -- people can look back and see what Hunter did in the summer of '99. He didn't play in the Western Amateur, and who knows what I would have done there, because I was hitting it well. I was just a little tired. But you never know. It's fun, you know. I got a medal.

HUNTER HAAS: Yeah, so I'm satisfied, but at the same time, it hurts a little bit. But it's always been easy for me to forget and to go on with the fact of failure. I'll think about it a few times. But I gave it my best shot, and that's all that the matters. I'll go to bed tonight and wake up tomorrow, and I'm going to get ready for the Oklahoma Open. It's not going to dwell on me. I had my chance. It's one thing that -- you think about the pros that get themselves in a position to win, and all the second place finishes they have. You've just got to get yourself in a position to win, and if you don't, you just forget about it. And I'll just have to do that. I don't think it will be that big a deal for me to forget about it.

HUNTER HAAS: A little bit. There's some putts out there that are pretty straightforward. A common golfer can come out here and read them. But there's a few putts out there that John says he's going to misread this putt; everybody misreads this putt; everybody thinks it goes left; it actually goes right. Every green out there has those putts, and it's just a matter of someone that doesn't know being in that position. Even if you see it, you can't see it; you can't see it. You have to be really, really good, or have seen the ball do it before, and that's why having a caddy like John or someone local gives an advantage.

HUNTER HAAS: I'm pretty familiar with David's game. I played some tournaments with him. He's solid, very solid. I'm surprised he hasn't played as well as he is right now all summer long. I'm not going to make any predictions as numbers, but I haven't seen how David has played here. All I see is ups on his name, but I don't know if those are pars or bogeys. I'm sure they're probably pars or birdies. But if Kim hits it in the fairway like he did, and doesn't let the pressure get to him, like he did today, or like he didn't let it get to him today, it will be a very close match. I think it's not very often that the matches, 36-hole matches, really get blown apart, especially on a course like this, unless one guy is just hitting it rude. And then that's what will happen. But I'm going to give David my support for tomorrow. If I had to come out and watch, I'd be patting him on the back. He's a good guy.

HUNTER HAAS: I don't know. Like I said before, it would be an honor. I'd be proud to represent the U.S. and be a part of that.

HUNTER HAAS: No, I don't think I can. I could come up with some names. But honestly, if you go back and look at college records and summer records, my summer records haven't been that great, except for this year, but I believe my college record is not bad. I only won two tournaments, but if you go back and look at the head-to-head competition, I think it's safe to say I'm ahead of all the Oklahoma State boys.

HUNTER HAAS: Yes. I'm not praying or anything, I'm just -- if it happens, it happens. I'm not going to -- it's something -- some people have a decision to make, and it's up to their call. And if they feel I shouldn't be one of the players on it, maybe I haven't deserved it in their eyes. That's all I can say about that.

HUNTER HAAS: 17? Oh, his age. I was like, we didn't get to 17 (laughter). Wish we did. I was. I was very surprised. I thought he would crack, and he didn't. And I wasn't banking on him cracking and just scraping around. I hit some good shots and I tried my hardest, but -- short stick was not hot today.

HUNTER HAAS: I hit it in the rough on 9. I took a 3-wood, hitting a 3-wood -- no, did I? I hit driver on 9 -- no. Hit 3-wood, or did I? Okay. I hit driver on 9 and I missed it a little bit on the tee, and it was staying straight. I got in the rough, and I got it down there in position where I wanted it in front of the green, short grass, chance for up-and-down. And I just didn't hit it hard enough to get it to release up to the hole, and I made bogey. He made a good par. He was in the fairway. Hit it on the green and 2-putted. 10, 3-wood, 6-iron. Hit a great 6-iron. Anytime you're off a downhill lie, a little breeze -- and these greens are firm as the dining room table -- I hit a good shot in there, and it released probably 30 feet. I can't imagine what they're going to do next year at the Open. And he threw a birdie at me. He got me on two holes. And I missed the chance -- had an easy up-and-down on 11, and I missed the opportunity to take advantage of it. And that's something I'll go back and probably hit a thousand of those little chips just to punish myself or something, I don't know (laughter.)

HUNTER HAAS: No, it's a success, but my goal is to win. It's not to just get here. It was Kim's goal to get to the Sweet 16, and then the 8. He changes his goals every day. What's his expectations if he's in tomorrow? Does he totally change his thought of how he wants to play his game or wants to play this tournament? I saw some comments that I was sassy, I was harsh. I'm not cocky, but I'm confident. If you're not confident in what you're doing out here and don't think you can succeed or win -- I said -- someone quoted me before, "You take up caddying." But if you don't believe you can win, it's just -- it's like you're fighting upstream, just to play the game. If you believe you can do it, when it does happen, it's there. It's not a surprise to win. And I've never been surprised to win a tournament. I've always thought I can, knew I could, just had to do it.

HUNTER HAAS: Sure. This is a great place to visit, just for a vacation. I think I got my money's worth on the course (laughter.) What are the green fees, 350? I don't know, are they 350, 320, 315? 300 -- so how many rounds did I get in? Six? Seven? Six here and one at Spyglass.

HUNTER HAAS: Oh, shoot, nine rounds at $300 a pop -- boy, they're giving us amateurs a break.

HUNTER HAAS: It might have. Some of the people that came out here might have been intimidated by the fact that it was Pebble Beach. And I just look at it as another course. And everybody is out here has got to play it the same, same distance; have to make the same putts, and really what it boils down to is the game, who's got the game to play the course. Some people early on in the summer or even last year said: It's at Pebble next year; you've got a great chance there; you've got a good short game; you don't have to hit it long, but you've just got to be able to score. And whoever said it was right. Ernie Kuehne (laughter.) The fact that his son is not playing.

HUNTER HAAS: Yes, it's special. They've had it here four times. The Open -- this is USGA championship golf course. If you can win one here -- if you can win a championship here, you can just about win any of them, I believe, no matter if it's an Amateur or Open. If you can win a championship here, you've got some talent.

HUNTER HAAS: Watson, Johnny Miller has won the AT&T many times.

HUNTER HAAS: Nicklaus. I'm absentminded on all the victories here, I don't have them in front of me.

HUNTER HAAS: Tom Kite won it in '92. Tom Kite, great short game. Hale Irwin, he hits it good. O'Meara plays this course well.

HUNTER HAAS: Yeah, it would have. It would have been real nice. I'm just happy I have one USGA Championship, and that's something nobody can take away from me. And it's something that is very prized by many people that do have them, and I'll cherish it for the rest of my life. And this would have been great to go along with it. And I thought about it, but I didn't dwell on it. I knew I had a lot of work to do, but I came up a little short. About six putts short (laughter.)