U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 15, 2008

Michael Thompson

Q. Talk about the year that you have had so far. You've been in the Masters, you've been in the U.S. Open, just chat about how much that has meant to you and what the experiences have been.

MICHAEL THOMPSON: I really couldn't have asked for a better year in terms of my amateur golf and the tournaments that I've played in. </ p>

I played a great summer schedule, played for a great school, had a chance at the NCAA's, played in the Masters, now come here, finish off the U.S. Open, it's just great to go out and play well in my second Major and second pro tournament I've ever played in. So this is very, very cool.

Q. You didn't start at Alabama, the path you've taken to get to this stage is sort of circuitous, but what happens if you decide, well, if I can't play at Tulane, I guess, you know, maybe I won't play. Talk about the thought process of how you got to where you are now.

MICHAEL THOMPSON: I went to Tulane just basically they recruited me the hardest out of high school. And I loved the golf coach there, Tom Shaw, he's now at Vanderbilt, caddied for me at the Masters. And really enjoyed my time there.

But I knew ever since I was young that I wanted to play golf. And that was, I was going to do whatever I could, take whatever path I could to get to that point. And unfortunately Hurricane Katrina it kind of stopped me for a little while and I had to rethink, I had to think about what I wanted to do. And going back to, my dream is playing professional golf, that made the decision simple that I needed to find a new school to go to.

And I had some great schools looking at me, Oklahoma State, Florida, and Alabama, the top three, and just absolutely loved Alabama and have grown to love them even more. It's been a great time playing for Jay Seawell. And looking forward to being an alumni and representing Alabama out on TOUR hopefully.

Q. What did Alabama have that the other schools didn't? Because each of them has their own golf history.

MICHAEL THOMPSON: To me Alabama golf is fun. And that's what this game is all about. And that's why I've been playing it for, I don't know, shoot, 15, 16 years. I've always loved the game. There's no other reason why I play it. And I just felt like I would have the most fun at Alabama playing with those guys and playing for that coach.

Q. How, by the way, how does coach spell his last name?

MICHAEL THOMPSON: S E A W E L L.

Q. How did the Hurricane Katrina affect golf as far as your perspective? How much did it limit your ability to play and such?

MICHAEL THOMPSON: Well that whole time it was -- I really didn't think about what I was going to do a whole lot. I just, it was such a tragic event that I was so focused on what was going to happen to the school, because I loved New Orleans. I enjoyed playing for Tulane. And didn't want to see our team broken up. And but I knew I wanted to play golf. And I wasn't going to do something where I couldn't do that.

And it really turned out to be a blessing in disguise for me in terms of the schools that recruited me. They gave me an opportunity to play competitively again and play at the national level, in the national stage. And I can't thank Alabama and Jay enough for giving me that opportunity.

Q. What's it like to go out this way, making the cut and then representing your country in a couple weeks?

MICHAEL THOMPSON: Oh, this is fantastic. Played well in the U.S. Open, my very first U.S. Open ever. To play this well is incredible. I'm just happy to be here and then in a couple weeks playing for the U.S., the Palmer Cup is, that's going to be the time of my life. These three tournaments, the Masters, this one, and Palmer Cup is going to be awesome. It's a great way to finish my amateur career. I can't ask for anything better.

Q. There's not too many amateurs in this nation that have started like you have. How do you keep it all in perspective because as you are about to turn pro, it's still a lot in a hurry, relatively speaking. How do you keep grounded and keep everything in perspective?

MICHAEL THOMPSON: I keep a good group of people around me. Including my family, my parents, my brother, my girlfriend now. Friends, family, everybody, those are the people that are going to help me keep grounded. And I still have a lot to learn. And if I just keep going out with the mindset that I'm going to learn and I'm going to enjoy myself and I'm going to play this game because it's fun, then the only way to go is up.

And that's been my mentality my whole life and there's no, I don't see any point to changing that, whether playing for money or not. It's still the same game. A little bit different atmosphere, but it's still going to be fun. I think I've surrounded myself with some good people. So I'm not too worried about that.

Q. What was it like to play 60 odd holes, 70 holes, of a tournament like this, longest U.S. Open in history, and then arrive at 14 and the pin's 267 yards away. Was that a little weird?

MICHAEL THOMPSON: Yeah, it's interesting. You don't expect to find that in a Major. Especially a U.S. Open. Just because the U.S. Open is known for being brutal. And I think that's becoming more common now from what I see on TV and professional events is you find a hole that the committee likes to set up as drivable par-4. Just because it makes it fun and exciting. I didn't go for it today because I didn't see any reason to, but it's just an exciting hole. There's lots of different shots.

Q. Why do you think there wasn't any reason to go for it today?

MICHAEL THOMPSON: I just haven't been hitting my driver or my 3- wood all that great this week. I've been hitting my 3-wood okay, but I felt like I was hitting my wedges and my irons well enough to make birdie. To give myself at least a decent chance at it. Going for it brings five and six into play. If you lay up you're making no worse than four.

Q. (Inaudible.)

MICHAEL THOMPSON: I hit 7-iron off the tee. Yeah. 7- iron and lob wedge.

(Laughter.)

Q. Did you learn anything about yourself or your game this week under these kind of conditions?

MICHAEL THOMPSON: I did. I learned that I have a lot more composure than I thought I did. I really, I never gave up this week and I'm very proud of that. The last couple days I've gotten off to some pretty bad starts and played 1-under there on in. And I think that's, I mean that speaks more than if I would have finished second, you know, to me, I learn more from that.

And I was hitting the ball pretty decent, but not my best, so I think for the way I played, I've got some good things to look forward to.

Q. What are your future plans? What's ahead for you?

MICHAEL THOMPSON: I'm going to play next week in the Travelers as an amateur and then play in the Palmer Cup as an amateur in Scotland and then I'll turn pro after that. But I'm not sure when my first event will be. So some time in July I'll start playing professionally.

Q. Does this change at all how you feel like you can play at this level how you look at yourself and can play at this level?

MICHAEL THOMPSON: I feel like I belong out here. This is fun. This is a great experience for me. I don't feel any different than the rest of the pros out here. I -- the only person I didn't beat in my group this week was Rocco and he's leading the tournament, so how can I be disappointed with that?

Q. What did you, what one thing are you going to take away from here that will probably help you as you finish your amateur career and during your professional career?

MICHAEL THOMPSON: Just the fact that I still have a lot to learn and I look forward to that. To me I don't want to be at the peak of my game right now. I know that I can get better. I think for any player, any athlete that's always a good sign. Because the harder you work, the better you're going to get and I'm just going to go out and work hard and enjoy that I don't have to study for any more tests and write any more papers or anything. But I'm just going to enjoy golf, play golf all day, and just enjoy it.

Q. Will you miss Alabama? I mean, you went to great lengths to find a perfect fit and now you're going to leave.

MICHAEL THOMPSON: I will miss Alabama. I had some great teammates, made some really good friends there that it will be hard to getting everybody back together again. I'm hopefully going to be able to go to some football games in the fall because those are incredible. But I am going to miss being in that atmosphere and playing for a school playing on a team. But at the same time I'm ready to start my life.

Q. You only get seven sponsors exemptions on TOUR. What made you decide to stay amateur and just do it later?

MICHAEL THOMPSON: I figured it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up, just because with the FedExCup and the Ryder Cup year, it's going to be very hard to get PGA TOUR exemptions and the more experience I get, the better in terms of preparing myself for Q- School. Because inevitably that's where I'm going to end up. If I get lucky, then I won't have to go there. But I'm planning on going to Q-School. So the more experience, the better.

Q. (Inaudible.)

MICHAEL THOMPSON: I will. I've wanted to play Palmer Cup. I want to play for a U. S. Team. I narrowly missed out on Walker Cup last year and I want to have that chance to play for my country. That's been something that I've, that's been one of my big goals this year.

Q. If the Walker Cup hadn't shook out and you had played would you have stayed for Palmer Cup do you think?

MICHAEL THOMPSON: Maybe. Probably. Probably not. I definitely would have stayed through the, through here, through the U.S. Open, but you know, I don't know. It didn't happen.