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U.S. JUNIOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIPJuly 28, 2007Cory WhitsettAUGUSTA, MISSOURI THE MODERATOR: We've got Cory Whitsett from Houston, Texas, the 2007 U.S. Junior Amateur Champion. Just kind of sum up your feelings with this big national championship under your belt now. CORY WHITSETT: It's a great feeling. I came into the week playing some good golf. I've been hitting the golf ball well. Just needed to get my putting where I needed it to be. I thought I did that very well this week. The greens were pretty thick, and, you know -- it hasn't really sunk in yet, but it's getting there I guess. THE MODERATOR: Questions, folks. Q. What besides fairways, greens, and just playing steady do you think set you apart this week? CORY WHITSETT: Maybe just leaving it in the right spots. I missed a couple shots this morning, but I missed them in spots to where I had easy up and downs. 12 was a perfect example of that. I didn't hit a very good shot off the tee, but I left it in a spot where I was straight up the hill. I hot a pretty good chip shot to about eight feet and made the putt, so I think that really. Q. What about mentally or emotionally? CORY WHITSETT: Yeah, just tried to think my way around the golf course this week. I tried not to get a match back with one swing. Just tried to take it one shot at a time and be patient. There are a lot of birdies out there, and I knew they would come eventually. Q. How big was the chip in on 3 for your morning round? CORY WHITSETT: It was important. It kind of set the tone for the match. Did not hit a very good shot off the tee and had a very bad lie down there. Just came out straight right. The chip in was very important. Kind of set the tone and told them that I'm not going to get flustered by stuff like that. Q. How about the stretch of holes from 7 through whatever it was where you won five in a row? Talk us through that in the morning. CORY WHITSETT: On 7 I hit a good tee shot and it was perfect L-Wedge distance. I hit it up there to a couple feet and made birdie. You know, 8 -- and then I just tried to keep putting the ball in play and giving him a shot to look at and try to apply the pressure as much as I could. I did it every hole except No. 10. Got a little fortunate and got a good break off the tee and took advantage of it and ended up winning the hole. Q. Was there a point in the match where you looked over and thought because if his demeanor it just wasn't going to be his day? CORY WHITSETT: No. Anthony really didn't show a lot emotion. He just goes along about his business. I think that's a good thing. He doesn't get too high or too low, he just kind of goes and plugs away. Q. Considering the people he had knocked off earlier in the week and how he did it, do you ever every really feel uncomfortable, or were you still knowing that Anthony is a good player and could come back? CORY WHITSETT: Yeah. I mean, he had beaten some good players in the week. I knew that. I just tried to go out and play him. I didn't worry about the previous matches. Golf is a game where your game changes from day to day. You know, sometimes you just wake and you're not swinging as well as you were the day before. So that had a little to do with it. I just tried to take it as a new day. Just look at it that way. Q. What were you thinking when you got down 2 early? No big deal, long day? CORY WHITSETT: Yeah, 36-hole final. Got off to a quick start. Didn't get off to the best start, but I just played very consistently. You know, just tried to go make some birdies. Q. Can you think back to maybe the last year or year before and pick out a few milestone moments maybe that kind of put you on this path at all? Looking back, you think of anything that really stands out? CORY WHITSETT: I mean when I was 13 I didn't really do much. I just finished Top 5 in every Nike I played in. That just got me a lot of exemptions. Gave me the ability to play the AJGA and get fully exempted. Last year I had a good year. You know, I lost the AJGA in a playoff, but I had a lot of confidence coming off that. I won the Nike by I think 10 or so. That really got me going kind of I think. Q. And in hindsight, how important was it to take last week off? CORY WHITSETT: Very. Very tired right now, and I can't imagine how tired I would have been if I had played a four-round tournament the week before this. Q. When you see Tiger Woods and other names up there -- some that you have heard of and some that you haven't -- what do you think about that? CORY WHITSETT: Yeah. You know, as long as I live my name will always be there, no matter where I go in life, and that's a pretty good feeling. Q. Does this assure you that you'll be on the pro tour? CORY WHITSETT: No. A lot can change between now and then. You got to go and improve and get better. I'm not where I need to be right now. I got a long way to go, and this is just a step towards that. Q. Have you had any contact with any buddies from the AJGA that maybe lost early in the stroke play or the first couple rounds? Have you been getting phone calls or text messages? CORY WHITSETT: Yeah. You want me to mention names? Q. If you'd like. CORY WHITSETT: Well, since it's you. John Peterson. He's on LSU. Sang Yee (ph), same way, he's going to LSU. Just a couple buddies from back home. Just go out and play and, you know, just bring it. Q. How you going celebrate this victory? CORY WHITSETT: Going to Canon Cup tomorrow. Q. What do you think the reaction is going to be like when you get there tomorrow? CORY WHITSETT: They're going to want to kill me, kill the west. I need to buckle up and is get ready for that ride. Q. Have you thought at all about preparing for all the attention that comes with this victory and what this means for down the line? CORY WHITSETT: No, not really. Q. No? CORY WHITSETT: I just try to go out and play and not really think about it. Q. Would say this is now the most important thing you've done in your junior career? I asked you yesterday and you were waffling back and forth. CORY WHITSETT: Well, yeah, for sure it is now because I won. Q. When he was 2-up after 6 I think it was, it just seemed to switch from him playing pretty good and staying ahead to you just taking over the match. What happened? CORY WHITSETT: Just tried to go out and keep hitting good shots. I hit a good ball in play on 7, hit a good wedge shot. I knew I'd eventually start making a couple birdies. I went on a pretty good run and made some good shots and made some good saves. Yeah, it wasn't anything big. Q. As many rounds as you and Anthony have played in the last few days, how big of a factor was just plain old fatigue? CORY WHITSETT: Yeah, I was pretty tired going into the afternoon round. I was just ready to get it over with. I'm sure Anthony was feeling kind of like that, too. It's such a long week. We played two matches each day the last three days I think. Yeah, three. So yeah it's pretty grueling. Q. How did you think the match was going to go? Did you think it was going to end so quickly? Sis you think it was going to be more of a grind? If you were to preview this yesterday, how would you have done it? CORY WHITSETT: I thought it would have been a bit more of a grind because Anthony is a -- he's been playing a lot. He's obviously been putting well this week. And you know, he just didn't putt great today. That's just the way it goes sometimes. Q. Quantify the way you played today. You won the national championship and the guy your beat played well but didn't play as well as he had coming into this match. CORY WHITSETT: Right. Q. Would you say that this is the best that you've played on a big stage? Have found another time where you played better? CORY WHITSETT: Yeah, I played well. I wouldn't say this was the best I ever had. I shot 2-Under this morning and I think was maybe 1-under in the afternoon. I wasn't really sure. But, you know, I played well enough, which is basically all that matters. Q. In between did you think it was pretty much wrapped up? Did you think Anthony was going to make a run? CORY WHITSETT: No. I just tried to start it even even again and look at it that way. If I lost a couple holes, okay. I tried to start the match that no one had won a hole in the afternoon rounds. Q. Did you learn anything about yourself this week? CORY WHITSETT: Yeah. I learned that I can compete up there, so -- and, you know, that I have that ability down inside to, you know, do that. Q. Probably feels pretty cool. CORY WHITSETT: Yeah, feels pretty good. Q. Does it scare you also that now everyone is going to be targeting you? CORY WHITSETT: No. I mean, you know, there are a lot kids that are going to want to be after me now, but there are lots of kids that are going to be, you know, Good job, and, Just go play. Q. Are you dying your hair blue tonight? CORY WHITSETT: Not going there tonight. Maybe tomorrow night. A little white with some blue streaks. Q. (Indiscernible). CORY WHITSETT: No. I don't want imitate someone. I need to be a little more original. Q. Maybe talk about there has been so many junior golfers that never won this championship. Some of them played this week. How excited are you to kind of like -- this is one of the high watermarks of a junior amateur's career and you got it done. CORY WHITSETT: Yeah. It's a good feeling. I have two more years to play in this tournament, and, you know, I'm going to try and go out and give it my best the next couple years. It's pretty exciting, yeah. Probably the most exciting thing this week is getting into the amateur. I just heard it's such a great course and I can't waiting to go. Q. Obviously some of the best players don't even make it to the quarterfinals or the past the quarterfinals. I hate to force you to think about next year, but is that a little daunting that when you walk on the course next year the people are going to expect you to make it this far? CORY WHITSETT: No, I don't think so. It's match play. All the players understand that, I think. There are a couple good players that were up there in stroke play that lost early this week. Match play is a different animal. Q. Junior amateur champion. Was does that equal as far as what you think you'll do at U.S. Amateur? CORY WHITSETT: The Amateur I'll just be glad to get to match play. It's going to be a very difficult set up, I know. And, you know, I'm going to work hard between now and then to be ready for it. Just looking forward to the opportunity. Q. What happens after Canon Cup? CORY WHITSETT: Just going to relax. I was signed up for an AJGA event, but I think I'm going to withdraw. Q. And school starts August 28th or something? CORY WHITSETT: Yeah. Q. And I read that you had all straight As last year. CORY WHITSETT: Yes. Q. Obviously you take pride in your golf game. Talk about the pride you take in your school work as well. CORY WHITSETT: Not as much as you think I would. Q. Just come easy for you? CORY WHITSETT: Yeah. There are certain classes where I study a little more than others. But, yeah, and I don't try to take it too seriously. I just look at it like whatever. I'm not going to go win a golf tournament when I'm older and people will be like, you know, What did you make on your tenth grade chemistry test or whatever? That's kind of the way I look at it. Q. What about being only the fourth lefty to win a USGA event, anywhere, man or woman, in a singles event. Only four in the history. What's up with that? CORY WHITSETT: I don't know. Q. You weren't aware of that? CORY WHITSETT: I was not. Phil Mikelson probably has two of them, or one of them. It's a good feeling, I guess. Q. You had no idea? CORY WHITSETT: No, no clue. Figured it wouldn't have been very many though. Q. Would it have made you nervous ahead of time had you known about that? CORY WHITSETT: No. Q. Having a good caddie does that make a big difference? CORY WHITSETT: Yeah. Just reinforcement basically. He would get the yardage and I would tell him what I thought the shot was, and he agreed with me probably at least 97%, '98% of the time. He's there for basically reinforcement. He had been there before, and on the greens and he liked a lot of the lines -- basically all the lines I picked it seemed like. Basically reinforcement. I'll take a lot from that basically to trust myself and know that I'm right most of the time. Q. What does it mean to you to have Coach Fields at greens shake your hand right after you won? CORY WHITSETT: No comment. I'm not going to comment on that one. Q. Will you be hiring the same caddie again? CORY WHITSETT: Probably not for the Amateur. He's probably going to be working at FedExCup. Q. What did your father say to you after? CORY WHITSETT: Good job. We haven't really talked since I won. Yeah, he just said good job. Just really proud of me, I think. Q. What did he say to you last night, encouraging words? CORY WHITSETT: Just said, I'm proud of you. Just go out and play, and whichever way the match ends, it is what it is. Q. Did you call your mom? CORY WHITSETT: I did. Q. What did you tell her? What did she say to you? CORY WHITSETT: She's proud of me and she loves me. Q. Making the championship was a big accomplishment. Did you kind of feel that way as you started the match, that just being here was cool, and then at some point were you like, I got to win this thing? CORY WHITSETT: I wanted to go out and, you know, win if I had come this far, so I really felt like I should have won. You know, I've been playing very well. I think I only made two or three bogeys on the front 9 all week. Just tried to go out and take it one shot at a time. THE MODERATOR: Okay. End of FastScripts |
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