U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 19, 1996

Jerry Courville

JERRY COURVILLE: I guess they can kind of figure it out. Actually I hit a good drive and I hit a 5-iron over the green. The ball was sitting up almost too good and I hit it in the bunker and got near the lip. And I was saying there's water over there, too. I hit it out 12 feet and missed the putt and 6.

JERRY COURVILLE: That's all right with me.

JERRY COURVILLE: Without a doubt. (Laughter.) Actually, I thought I hit a good second shot. It went a little further than I thought it was going to. That's golf, right?

JERRY COURVILLE: I could be at work right now.

JERRY COURVILLE: But this isn't that bad a job. You don't want to trade jobs with me, do you?

JERRY COURVILLE: Yeah.

JERRY COURVILLE: You can never really cruise. You try to shoot a good one the first day so you don't have to shoot at pins, especially in these golf courses. You start shooting at pins here you can make some big numbers out here.

JERRY COURVILLE: They were a lot better than the last hole. Actually I started off on No. 10 and I hit a real good drive and it ends up right next to the bunker. My feet are way below it and I said it's going to be one of these type days. And I've got to choke up on a 7-iron and chip it over the brook. But I knock it over the brook, and I hit my third shot up there about a foot. So I birdied there. Then on 12 I hit my tee shot and it hit the big tree on the right and fell straight down. And I hit a 6-iron from there about four feet and made that. I parred the rest on the back. Then on the first hole I hit a real good drive, hit a wedge for the second shot, and it hit the pin and went 35 feet to the right and I knocked the putt in for three.

JERRY COURVILLE: The first hole.

JERRY COURVILLE: Yes. And then the second hole I hit a good drive there. I hit a 9-iron about six feet and made that. Then I 3-putted the next hole. I missed about a five-footer there, four-footer. Then I parred until I birdied 7. I hit a good drive there. Actually I was in a divot but I only had to wedge in. I hit the wedge about 125 feet and made that. And then on 8 I made about a five-footer for birdie.

JERRY COURVILLE: I putted pretty well. I had that one 3-putt and that was actually on the first of those greens that are a little rough. They're a little bit slower, and you're used to putting the real fast ones and you get to that and it's hard to get yourself to hit it hard enough. That's what happened to me. I putted real well for me.

JERRY COURVILLE: No, this is only my 9th. I'm not that old. I'm not that good, either (laughter.)

JERRY COURVILLE: I think you'll see a lot of the older guys will have more patience out there. And I think that we know that par is a good score on a lot of holes. If you get over par, still you have to be patient. Like I said, the pins out here, if you miss them by a little bit you're going to make a big number on the hole. And something like this, the goal is to be playing on Wednesday. So that's all I'm going to try to do. If you do have a shot where you have a wedge, then you can go at it a little bit. But until then I try to hit them to the middle of the greens and take my chances from there.

JERRY COURVILLE: They're all dangerous. Any one of the 64 guys that are in there can play. Doesn't matter if you're No. 1 or No. 64.

JERRY COURVILLE: I don't think so. For me it doesn't, anyway.

JERRY COURVILLE: Yes.

JERRY COURVILLE: I think for me the older I've gotten the more patient I've gotten. And I just go out here now basically knowing that I'm out here to have fun. And that's the way that I look at it. And I think if you think that way you can play a little better. And it's worked well for me the last three or four years.

JERRY COURVILLE: That's right. 40 or 50 hours a week. With a kid on its way.

JERRY COURVILLE: Next month, September 14th. Got a little girl coming. That's why Janet is not here.

JERRY COURVILLE: She can't fly. Believe me, if she could be here, she'd be here.

JERRY COURVILLE: Not really. What happened last year happened, and I'm sure I'm not the only guy it's happened to. I thought it was great just to win it. Like my caddy told me, only 90-something guys have ever done that.