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U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 20, 2008

Derek Fathauer

PINEHURST, NORTH CAROLINA

CRAIG SMITH: Derek, your first round match you played another quarter finalist from last year, seemed like that happened a little early in the week, but probably was good to get through it you won 1-putt. Tell me about hole 17. That's where you pulled away again.
DEREK FATHAUER: Let's see, on 16 he made a putt, I don't know if I should tell you this, but I hate when people fist pump, get all pumped up. I just don't think it was called for.
But, so I kind of, that got me going. Got me a little upset. So I don't know, I wanted to make that putt so bad. And I just made it.
CRAIG SMITH: What did you hit in and where were you in terms of distance and location on the green?
DEREK FATHAUER: I hit a 7-iron in, it was 177. It was a little past pin high to the right. Probably 30 feet. Maybe. Downhill. It breaks left or breaks right and then back to the left.
CRAIG SMITH: Nothing to it.
DEREK FATHAUER: Nothing to it.
CRAIG SMITH: Was it in all the way?
DEREK FATHAUER: It was in all the way. In the middle.
CRAIG SMITH: Okay. You had three other birdies. And as we look at this, this is pretty close the whole time. Neither one of you really got much of a lead.
DEREK FATHAUER: Yeah, it was back and forth all day. If you were watching us you wouldn't have known who was going to win. It was every hole was back and forth. I felt like I had a good chance to pull away a little bit on the front nine, I had the two in a row there and I hit it to about five feet on the par-3. I don't know if it is 5? 6? And 3-putted there.
And then missed like a 5-footer on the next hole. Which would have gave me a nice little cushion. But it was fun. That's why you play, I guess.

Q. What do you hate about fist pumps?
DEREK FATHAUER: I don't think they're, I don't think it was called for. Maybe if it was the last round or something. I mean, he did make a good putt, but for some reason I just don't like it.

Q. But just not that specific one, I'm talking about in general, they have become so popular now as a form of celebration.
DEREK FATHAUER: It is okay for Tiger to do it, but unless your Tiger, don't do it.
(Laughter.) That's just my opinion.
CRAIG SMITH: Having been a quarter finalist here, which is the biggest amateur event, qualifying for the U.S. Open, you're on pretty comfortable ground, aren't you?
DEREK FATHAUER: Yeah I feel comfortable out there. I was getting a little worked up, because I was letting a couple holes slide, but other than that, pretty comfortable.
CRAIG SMITH: How are you playing? You talked to me a little bit about your driver and going for some of the par-4s, but how are you playing?
DEREK FATHAUER: I'm getting it around. I'm not hitting it in bad spots. I learned through the years that missing it on one side of the green could easily just give away the hole. Just in the middle of the green is good on every hole. So if you're going to be hitting it bad you can still manage to get it in the middle of the green.
CRAIG SMITH: You learned from enough match play events that you got to get away with not playing your best every day, you can't do that, but you have to win sometimes ugly.
DEREK FATHAUER: Exactly. Yeah. I don't know, I don't want to give away my strategy, but.
(Laughter.)

Q. When you saw that you were playing Jhonattan in a first round match here, not an easy one to start with here. What were you thinking psychologically about having such a tough match probably right out the chute?
DEREK FATHAUER: I didn't think about it like that. You just take it one match at a time. It doesn't matter who you play. Match play, anyone can win. So as long as you play solid, you have a good chance.

Q. Which one do you prefer match or medal?
DEREK FATHAUER: I don't mind either one. Match play is fun. It's a change. We don't play many match play tournaments. But either one.

Q. What's your thought process on the third tee with the options that you have there, have you played it safe this week or was it just full speed go with the driver?
DEREK FATHAUER: When the tee's back I hit an iron. Because it brings the bunker on the right into play. But when the tee's up, just hit driver. I hit driver everywhere, unless there's a lake or something in the way.

Q. Where did you hit it today?
DEREK FATHAUER: I had like 50 yards to the pin. Just in the fairway short of the green.

Q. Did you lose any holes by a bad shot like an OB or anything?
DEREK FATHAUER: No.

Q. Something silly?
DEREK FATHAUER: I lost a couple, one from a 3-putt, from like five feet, which --

Q. A 3-putt from five feet?
DEREK FATHAUER: Yeah, I pulled it and it was a little downhill and it was a short putt I missed coming back, but oh, well.
CRAIG SMITH: Are you pretty good at forgetting those now?
DEREK FATHAUER: Yeah. It gets me until I get to the next tee then I forget about it because it's over.

Q. What hole was that?
DEREK FATHAUER: 6.

Q. Oh, the par-3.
DEREK FATHAUER: Yeah.

Q. How important or how crucial was it to you, hole 13, when he, I think 13 he had a chance to win and he missed the putt?
DEREK FATHAUER: The drivable one?

Q. Yeah. How crucial do you do you think that hole was?
DEREK FATHAUER: I don't know. I just take it one hole at a time. And I mean I hit a good third shot out of the bunker. And I did the same thing he did. He 3-putted there and I did the same thing on 6. So. No big deal.

Q. Then No. 16, he hits that putt.
DEREK FATHAUER: Oh, yeah.

Q. He's pretty loud. What are you thinking?
DEREK FATHAUER: I didn't like it. It's okay though.

Q. Well you turned it around on 17.
DEREK FATHAUER: Yeah, I wanted to make my putt real bad, so. I got a good read, hit a good putt, so.

Q. How long was the putt?
DEREK FATHAUER: Probably like 30 feet maybe.
CRAIG SMITH: You're done with school, Q-School in the fall. Does that have any bearing on what you do here this week.
DEREK FATHAUER: No. Nothing at all. Going to Q-School no matter what. And you know, you know what I would like to have happen here, but.
(Laughter.).

Q. Why did you stay amateur for the summer?
DEREK FATHAUER: This is my favorite tournament, so I wouldn't pass this up for anything.

Q. Who is on your bag?
DEREK FATHAUER: Amanda Henry.

Q. That's your girlfriend?
DEREK FATHAUER: Um-hum. She goes to school at Louisville too.

Q. You've been with her how long?
DEREK FATHAUER: Off and on.
(Laughter.) For awhile.

Q. Good for you.
(Laughter.) How many times has she caddied for you.
DEREK FATHAUER: She's caddied for me once or twice in a U.S. Amateur qualifier before, but never at the U.S. Amateur.

Q. So you're done with the caddie from last year that you brought?
DEREK FATHAUER: Yeah. She's caddieing for Eddie Olson in the two matches behind me. She's found a good job. Another good loop, I guess.

Q. Is she playing golf at school?
DEREK FATHAUER: She's going to some school, I just don't remember what it was.

Q. No, I mean your girlfriend.
DEREK FATHAUER: Oh, yeah at Louisville.

Q. She's playing golf?
DEREK FATHAUER: Yeah.
CRAIG SMITH: Is this a brother combination that's going to Q-School? Is your brother going to go too?
DEREK FATHAUER: I don't know. I asked him and he didn't know, I think he should, but you never know.

Q. Are you the better brother?
DEREK FATHAUER: I have no comment. I don't know.
(Laughter.) We're both really good, so or -- I shouldn't say that, I take that back -- both pretty good.
CRAIG SMITH: How were you playing last year when you got to the quarter finals and was it a disappointment that you didn't get any further?
DEREK FATHAUER: Yeah. I was hoping to do better last year. But when I look back at it, I did well. I beat some good players. I had a lot of good experience out of it. So hopefully that will help me out this week.
CRAIG SMITH: And you're a better player now and probably --
DEREK FATHAUER: Yeah.

Q. -- and in what ways?
DEREK FATHAUER: I become a better driver of the ball. And I don't make as many mental mistakes as I did. I don't miss on the short side if can I help it, unless I just hit a bad shot. But I play away from the short side of the green, play to the center of the green, the fat part of the green.
I gave a couple matches away last year from doing that at the Public Links and at the U.S. Amateur.
CRAIG SMITH: Your second round of stroke play you told me you scraped it around, you didn't hit it where you wanted, and now today you scraped it around and the Derek Fathauer of last year would be going home now.
DEREK FATHAUER: Um, yeah, probably.

Q. Are you saying then that you're pretty much not going, you're going for the center of the Pinehurst greens, right?
DEREK FATHAUER: For the most part, yeah.

Q. How many sucker pins would you say are out there right now today?
DEREK FATHAUER: A lot of them.

Q. There's a lot of them. Yeah.
DEREK FATHAUER: Because almost every pin, no pin out there today was in the middle of the green. If you miss on one side it rolls off. So they're all sucker pins, I guess.

Q. That's the name of the game here.
DEREK FATHAUER: Yeah.

Q. You're a pretty humble kid, but you've done a lot in the last year, how much more confident a golfer are you or how much more confident are you in your abilities right now than maybe a year ago?
DEREK FATHAUER: I definitely think I'm more experienced than last year, so I know how to handle things. But I still get worked up over losing, giving away holes and hitting bad shots. I learned how to handle it a little better though.

Q. That was my question. You're kind of deceptive because you're low key, but out there you just seem to have a lot of emotion in between shots and so forth.
DEREK FATHAUER: Yeah, I don't get fired up, you can't tell I'm getting mad or excited, but I do inside, so.

Q. How do you channel that?
DEREK FATHAUER: I just learned how by the time you get to your next shot you got to forget about it or else it will affect the way you hit that one.

End of FastScripts

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