U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 21, 1997

Brad Elder

BRAD ELDER: Yes.

BRAD ELDER: Let's see here. In the morning?

BRAD ELDER: Yeah. Let's see here. I won 2 with a par, hit it in the middle of the green, and he hit it short, and then 2-putted, chipped on, 2-putted. Let's see here. Number -- I can't even remember. Let's see. What other hole did I win, Barry? I won 3 with a par, too, drove it down the left side, hit a 9-iron just right of the pin, you know, perfect position uphill, didn't make the putt. But, you know, he hit his in the bunker, and I believe he missed it. We halved 4. We halved 5. I win 6 and 7. Parred 6, hit a good shot in there, just didn't make the putt. 7, I drove it down the fairway, and hit a 9-iron in that little -- you know, the pin is tucked in the little neck, hit a great shot, little 9-iron in there to about 10 feet. He hit it in the bunker and wedged it out over the green, and he conceded the hole. Then we halved 8 and 9. Then, let's see, on -- he wins 10 to go back to three down. He makes birdie -- no, he misses. No, excuse me, he misses his little short putt for birdie. We halved 10. We both birdie 11, which was good. He hit it in there about 12, 15 feet. I hit mine in there about 20 feet and made mine first and he made his, which, you know, could have been -- the momentum could have switched if I would have missed. We halved the 12th with bogey. I 3-putt. He hits in the bunker and then leaves it about 10-feet short or long, which is a good shot, and he missed his, and I missed my 6-footer. Then on 13, I win 13 -- no, we halved 13, excuse me. We halved 13. We halved 14. And we halved 15 with birdies, and that was the match. Overall, Jin is a great player. You know, it just wasn't his day, and I played well. I think I was 3-under on the round, but three -- yeah, I think I was 3-under. I made some birdies, and I made a lot of pars, made one bogey, which, you know, it was pretty good out there.

BRAD ELDER: I won 6 and 7, lost 8.

BRAD ELDER: Lost 8 and 10. And, let's see, on 11, we halved 11. I win 12 with par. I win 13 with par. Win 14 with par. He birdies 15. Then we both par 16, and then I parred and the match was over on 16 -- or on 17, excuse me, for two and one. But overall, it was a great day. I shot 1-under in the afternoon, as well. Hit a lot of greens and a lot of fairways. It was just, you know, it was a pretty good ball-striking day for me, especially in the morning. I think I missed one green. Then the afternoon, I was getting a little tired, so, you know, I wasn't hitting as crisp, so, you know, I had to struggle for pars. And, you know, I got it up-and-down a lot. And, you know, I won my match.

BRAD ELDER: Well, that issue is going to be between me and Boyd, and we both talked about it and, you know, it's all settled now. But, yes, we were on the clock or I got on the clock on 14 because I was chipping out, but then we got back in the position -- no, excuse me, on 15. Then we got back in position after 16 because I was on the clock. But the issue now is it's solved, and we go on from here.

BRAD ELDER: Yes, I really am. It's a lot of fun out here. I'm winning a lot of matches. Been playing against great players. You know, I love to play the game of golf, and it's just a lot of fun for me to be out here competing at this level. You know, not everyone can do it. You know, so I'm just happy to be here.

BRAD ELDER: No, I was not slow. I was not slow.

BRAD ELDER: Well, tonight, you know, I'm going to go home and watch some TV, then, you know, relax. I don't think we play until one o'clock tomorrow, so I should be ready to go by tomorrow afternoon, I hope.

BRAD ELDER: Yes. I mean, it would have been hard if I had to go at 7:56 again in the morning. It would have been difficult.

BRAD ELDER: Yes. The wind was gusting pretty good. I know Barry and I, some holes, we couldn't figure it out, but we made the best of it, and, you know, and we just went on. We try to play the smart shot to the middle of the green on most of the holes, especially the long par 3s on the back and some of the key, you know, long par 4s, as well. It's so hard to judge the wind out there because some holes you're hitting out of chutes, but then some holes you're hitting out of chutes out into the open. And, you know, in the morning it kicked up on the backside a little bit, and like hole 14, I hit a shot that I thought was pretty good, and it ended up on the right side of the green which was almost -- it was almost dead because the green was so fast from over there, but we realized that, and in the afternoon we made some adjustments.

BRAD ELDER: Not really. You know, it was such a great match. After, you know, being even, you know, I really wanted to win the match, and, you know, I just had to bear down and fight for it because Boyd played great. And it was just, you know, it's too bad that he had to lose, but it's such a fight out there, especially after the long 36-hole day. And playing a lot of college golf, there's a lot of 36 holes, so that helps, as well.

BRAD ELDER: Pin placements were good today. You know, there were some good ones, some really hard ones, and there were some pretty easy ones. But I tell you the toughest pin today was the one on No. 9. That was pretty good, and the one on 12, as well. That was pretty hard.

BRAD ELDER: I played a lot of junior golf with him. That's about it, but looking forward to going and playing him. Hopefully we'll have a great match.