U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 20, 1997

Brad Elder

BRAD ELDER: Yeah, I played well today. Hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens. You know, shot 1-under. It was a good round for me. Played real solid. You know, he gave me a good run at the start, then he kind of tailed off at the end, but, you know, you just wear him out out here, hitting a lot of fairways and a lot of greens. I think I missed two greens the whole day, so made a lot of pars.

BRAD ELDER: Well, you know, on hole 1, we both halved with par. Hole 2, I chipped in from the back, kind of just off the green, and he made like about a 25-footer on top of me, so that was kind of a surprise, but it was a good start. You know, I was looking forward to the challenge of playing him, you know, after he made that putt on top of mine. I thought I was going to have to work really hard. Then on like hole, let's see, 3, I won with a par. He 3-putted. 4, we both bogeyed, so we halved. That was kind of big, you know, I have it off the green. He has it in the front bunker. He leaves his bunker shot well short. I chipped mine up there about 3 feet and, of course, I miss it. But, you know, that could have changed if he would have made his -- changed, you know, his momentum, but then we both birdied the par 5, 5. Then on 6, we both parred. Then on 7, he makes about a 12-footer. We halved the hole with par. 8, he 3-putts again from the front left and, you know, I just 2-putted, because that's all I needed. Then on 9, we both halved with par, but the whole front side really was just, you know, a bunch of pars and a few birdies and a couple bogeys, but he started driving the ball in trouble, in the rough all day, and I was down the fairway, so, you know, nothing too hard on me. Then on 10, he bogeyed 10, and I parred 10, so I won that hole. Then 11, we both parred. 12, I won with par. He made bogey. He hit in the back bunker, didn't get up-and-down. 13, he flubbed his chip, so he made bogey. I made par. Then 14, he conceded my putt so I basically made 2, but he flubbed a chip again, so he basically conceded that hole to me, and that was the match.

BRAD ELDER: Only had about 12 feet. You know, it was up the hill. It was in perfect shape, but, you know, he didn't let me putt it, so you never know.

BRAD ELDER: Yeah. A lot of them are probably pretty tired. But, you know, they are great players and, you know, they're going to do well here. You know, just like I hope I do well here. But, you know, there's so many great players in the field, along with the Walker Cuppers that, you know, it's too bad that we had to play last week and play this week. But, you know, that's not having an effect on me. You know, I'm ready to go. I could play another 18 today if I had to. But I'm just looking forward to the matches the rest of the week.

BRAD ELDER: Well, it wasn't easy. Mike Ketcham is a great player or he wouldn't have been here. But, you know, hopefully I don't make it to 18 in any of my matches, but you never know. If the challenge comes, you know you have to play it. But I was fortunate to get off to a fairly good start in the tournament and the match play and hopefully do well the rest of the week.

BRAD ELDER: Yeah. Well, Coach Fields has been up here. Our new coach at the University of Texas, John Fields, went to the Walker Cup, spent some time with me. We talked about, you know, how can we -- you know, do some things to change the program at Texas to get players motivated, and I feel like, you know, when Jimmy Clayton was there, the old coach, you know, he was getting a little tired, a little run down, because he's been there for, I think, 15 years. And it was a time that Texas needed to change coaches. But I'm looking forward to going and playing with Coach Fields. He's a great guy. He's here this week. He looks like he wants to change the program in a positive way, which is good. Get everyone motivated to play and go out and win a National Championship. That's what I want to do next year.

BRAD ELDER: Yeah, because I came in -- I came in my freshman year, and he left that next year. So, yeah, it was -- it was his last year, so I hope to follow his footsteps.