|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIPAugust 22, 2008Patrick ReedPINEHURST, NORTH CAROLINA DAVE FANUCCHI: We have got our final quarterfinalist winner, Patrick Reed of Augusta, Georgia here for the media, if you need to come over. Patrick Reed, a 4 and 3 winner over Graham Hill today. Patrick, tell us about the match starting off with the most critical moment, in your mind, what that was, you took a 1-up lead on hole number four, talk about that. PATRICK REED: Well, I mean in the beginning of the match I was, I let the nerves get to me and started off very shaky. And when I got to four, I had 115 yard wedge shot and just decided to play it just right of the flag and tried to get my swing back and hit something smooth. And it just came off perfectly and ended up just seven feet away. And from that point on I basically just hit the ball a lot better and started making some putts and put the pressure on him rather than having all the pressure on myself. DAVE FANUCCHI: At that point you never trailed. 2-up, had it back to 1-up, and then won some holes on the back nine. Just talk about what was the most consistent part of your game today that enabled you to win this match 4 & 3. PATRICK REED: Well, most consistent part would have had to have been towards the end I started hitting my irons a little better and I had chances to make birdie putts and kept making him having to beat me with a birdie rather than always having to scramble to get up-and-down where he had a shot just to hit it on the green and maybe have me slip and make a bogey where he could get back in the match. DAVE FANUCCHI: Talk about -- I ran into you on Tuesday at the scoreboard and you were on the number at plus four for stroke play and you were counting guys to see if you were even going to get into match play and now you're two wins from the U.S. Amateur championship. Talk about that getting right underneath the number. PATRICK REED: Yeah, that was nerve wracking. I mean, especially after going out the first round and putting a decent round of 1-over, being in fine position, but then actually coming out and playing not so great around the next day and having to actually sit there and worry about that cut keep moving up, I mean I'm just thanking God that he actually let me make the cut and come into the match play. DAVE FANUCCHI: Talk about your feelings getting to this point then, a semifinalist, you're 18 years old, going to be a freshman at the University of Georgia, can you even envision yourself in this position Monday? PATRICK REED: I mean, I'm speechless about it. I've just been taking one hole at a time just been hoofing along with my dad who is on the bag, just hitting great shots and just having fun out there. And whatever happens, happens. It's led us this far this far and so hopefully it continues. DAVE FANUCCHI: You have a potential teammate in Adam Mitchell who is in the other bracket but also a semifinalist. You know Adam really well? You guys are going to be teammates next year. PATRICK REED: He's a great player, he's playing very well right now and I hope to see him in the final. I hope it's two Bulldogs fighting it out in the end. Q. Tell me what your strategy is short game wise around the greens. PATRICK REED: Well, in the beginning I started hitting this punch into the hills and it wasn't working very well. So I decided to just work on the low spinning shot and get it somewhere up there inside the guy's mark and make him actually make his putt and not have to worry about, oh, he has 12-footer, he's not going to make it, so I can just lag this up and win the hole. As long as you just keep putting the pressure on the other guy to make the putt for birdie to win the hole it's going to be a lot harder for them. Q. What club were you using for the low punch? PATRICK REED: 56. Q. And then what did you go to? PATRICK REED: Still the same, 56 and just opened it up a little bit and nipped it. Q. Okay. Thought about using a putter or hybrid around the greens? PATRICK REED: I used a putter a couple times. It really depends on where you are on the green. If the pin's right there on the edge and it's not too bad of a slope, yeah, you can putt it. But if you get these huge uphill slopes all the way across the green you really have to worry about if you hit a little bump right in front of you, if it's actually going to get there or if it's going a lot faster it could go over the other side. Because these greens are, I mean, three feet left or right of the hole is you could end up 30 feet away. It just all depends on where those flag sticks are. Q. Where do you play in Augusta? PATRICK REED: Jones Creek. Q. Have you ever played Augusta Country Club? PATRICK REED: Not yet. We just moved over there Masters week. Q. After 23 holes to end the day yesterday, how were you coming out this morning? Did you get a good night's sleep? Did you feel refreshed and ready to go? PATRICK REED: I was ready, I mean my adrenaline from that 23 holes was still going and I had a great night's sleep because I had to play over 36 holes, I had to play 38 for exact. And it just wears you down, gets you tired. And so when you get home, I think I got home about 8:30 grabbed a bite to eat and was in bed at 9:30. Good thing I had a 10:45 tee time this morning. Q. Did you feel like you had this in you? Did you feel like you were playing really well coming into the week and this was possibly? PATRICK REED: I was hitting the ball really well before I came here and the first two days of stroke play basically I was just trying to get myself in a position to be able to make the match play. And I really didn't hit the ball very well in the first two days in the stroke play, it was just my short game came around, I was chipping the ball really well, was making the putts I needed to make. And once that happened it just got my confidence up especially when I started hitting the ball better, during the week that's going on. Like right now I'm hitting the ball well. I'm going to make birdies and if I miss the green I'm going to have a 75, 80 percent chance of getting up-and-down every time. So if I do that I think anything can happen. DAVE FANUCCHI: Final question, Patrick, tell us anything you know about your opponent tomorrow, highly ranked amateur, probably the top-ranked amateur in the world. PATRICK REED: I mean, he's just like everybody. If you have a great day, I mean he's going to run over people. But if, I mean if there's any little flaws, I mean it's just going to happen. I mean, as I say, I mean every match I played the guys I played I've been the underdog to. But they have all hit the ball very well and as long as you put the ball in the middle of the green and have them look at a golf ball on the green, it makes it a total different game, because then that means that, oh, if he might make birdie I need to go at the flag stick. And next thing you know he misses the green and he's struggling to make par. As long as I keep hitting greens and making pars, birdie here and there, it could get interesting. DAVE FANUCCHI: Congratulations, Patrick. Anybody else? Thanks a lot. End of FastScripts |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|