|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIPAugust 24, 2008Drew KittlesonPINEHURST, NORTH CAROLINA PETE KOWALSKI: We'd like to welcome our runner-up Drew Kittleson. Drew, obviously not the result you wanted, but after being five down through 18 you made a great, great comeback and Danny started to put up birdies again. So give us your reaction to being the Amateur runner-up and how you reacted to your deficit and in coming back. DREW KITTLESON: Well, the Amateur runner-up, I mean if there was one tournament you would want to get second this is definitely it. It's got the most benefits, that's for sure. So definitely not a total loss, because I had an unbelievable time this week with everybody, the volunteers, USGA, it was a blast. I couldn't have asked for anything else. It was just I lived the dream for the whole week. As far as the match goes, what are you going to do? I didn't play that great in the morning I was probably around even or 1-over. I don't know exactly what I was. But afternoon, tied a hole, tied first hole birdie and I lose the second hole with bogey, to go six down. And then I go birdie, birdie, and then get 3-down, then I get to 2-down, I chip in for eagle, and then tie with another birdie, and then he birdies the next two. Yeah. So. (Laughter.) Like, what are you going to do? I think I was 5-under through eight if that's right, with a bogey and I went and picked up two holes only on him. It was, there's not much you can do. He played awesome. The first 18 I missed a couple putts and he didn't miss one putt inside 15 feet that I can remember. That's what you got to do to win a championship, I guess. Q. How frustrating is it for you to see him play that well? If it's me out there I'm cursing myself and I'm just kind of pissed off because I'm playing okay. DREW KITTLESON: I didn't really get -- now that I look at it I'm kind of proud of myself that I didn't. Because I'm usually that guy that would not be happy about anything going good for anybody else. (Laughter.) But I tell you what, I was in control of my emotions and just it was kind of fun to watch. He was just making everything. And what are you going to do? He just poured it in. We have all had those days and he just got his on the right one. PETE KOWALSKI: Who are your support people out there? You were getting high fives and little nods and slaps with, it looks like maybe your teammates or friends. Who are those folks? DREW KITTLESON: Well, I definitely had some support from just the fans in general out here. They were awesome. I was getting, "Go Drew", "Go Seminoles", I was getting that a lot. As far as the local group, I had a family friend of ours is lucky enough to fly a bunch of my friends out here and so -- there's one right there. (Indicating). And they're all flying back this evening, but they're all from Scottsdale, all friends of mine from -- one from high school and another one is a member at my club, and the other one is just a long time friend. And a couple of my dad's friends they were hooting and hollering for me. It was a blast. PETE KOWALSKI: What did you do in between the 18s? DREW KITTLESON: Had lunch. I had lunch for about 30 minutes, 45 minutes, about 45 minutes before I teed off and went and hit balls and that was about it. And teed off. Nothing really exciting. Q. What were your expectations coming into the week? DREW KITTLESON: I guess I was trying to take it step by step and first off get to match play, and then once you get to match play, everybody's optimistic, because it's beat six people and you're the winner. And everybody's good enough here they have beaten six people before, so I'm pretty sure that's kind of speaking to the large group of people, but I think that everybody in match play has the idea of winning. Q. First time you played with Danny, right? DREW KITTLESON: Yeah. Q. Your impressions, overall impressions of his game, what are his strengths in your eyes, other than making every putt he saw? DREW KITTLESON: Well, yeah, I mean that's, that's not -- that's a tough question for me because I saw him play really well and any time you see somebody play that well you can say his strength is hitting the fairway, hitting the green and then making a putt. (Laughter.) So that's pretty much what he did today. So, but like I said, you can't tell, because he played so well. And he got some awesome up-and-downs. 17 and 18 in the afternoon or in the morning, that he made real big, about 12 footers for birdie or for par to halve the hole. 17, after he was in the bunker and then on 18, he, I'm not really sure where that ball was. PETE KOWALSKI: He was in the face of the bunker. DREW KITTLESON: Yeah, but on the grass. Yeah. So and then you get a couple breaks like that, too. 50 yard bunker shot is a lot tougher than just a pitch from the rough. And there was just a little sliver of grass there. So I mean even all the pros talk about how you got to get some luck to those Majors, so. Q. In the last 24 hours you've known that you're going to play in the Masters and the U.S. Open and then you have this guy play like he did today, I mean many people would have said, you know what, I mean there's nothing I can do. But you got to be proud of the way you battled, especially the turn there, 19 through 27. You shot a 30. DREW KITTLESON: Yeah. Yeah. 30. Jesus. I mean, like what are you going to do? But I'm, I can't be any happier with myself and I mean, here I am at the U.S. Amateur and shot runner-up and I played with John Kelly a couple times last summer after he got runner-up and he was just talking about how much of a blahs it was. He played Sunnehanna and the next day, after the last day there we played, he was on his way to the U.S. Open. So that was just, I was just jealous. Now I'll be that guy. Q. Talk about the chip on 7 in the afternoon and just kind of tell us after that after you cut it down to two? DREW KITTLESON: Chip on 7? Yeah. First time all week I hit it far enough right on that tee shot and a relatively pretty easy chip. I had a good lie and just up the hill there and perfect. Felt like Tiger Woods for a second. Q. How far was that? DREW KITTLESON: I probably had 12 yards to the front edge of the green. So it was probably a 20 yard chip. I only flew it about 10 yards. Q. Could you talk about hole five on the second round. DREW KITTLESON: Hole five in the second round. Q. The putt there. DREW KITTLESON: Oh, I just, I shoved it. It was -- that would have been three in a row and it would have ended up being five in a row there, but I mean I went four out of five, so. Q. Yeah, I know, but I was just saying, you were above the role hole, right? DREW KITTLESON: Yeah, I was above the hole I would say about 12, 15 feet. Q. Pretty quick if it gets by? DREW KITTLESON: Yeah. And Matt Savage who won here, he was telling me that the kid he played in match play putted it into the bunker from there in the North South, so a little local knowledge there. But I had the right read, just pushed it. Q. And also on your tee shot on eight, I mean you really got into that one. Was that kind of a -- DREW KITTLESON: I didn't think I hit it that good, but I probably just had some adrenaline going after winning four out of the last five and chipping in. And when I chipped in, the crowd got real loud, like I looked around and I thought, wow, there's a lot of people who were yelling right there. But that's probably what it was. Plus, if you fly it to a certain point you don't hit in the upslope. So I was just assuming that's what I did. Q. Did you anticipate how difficult it would be to win this and if not looking back, reflecting on it now, a lot of players that go through it say, I didn't realize it took that much to get through. DREW KITTLESON: The first five matches I played I was playing really well and not that I didn't play well today, but I just, by 10 or 11 I had a two or three up lead and so it was almost kind of like cruise control a little bit. And like now looking back I'm, I played really well and I'm sure usually you hear in match play events when you have to play, when there's 64 guys you're not going to play awesome six rounds in a row and you got to find that one guy to win in extras or something when you don't play great and I really didn't come across that. So for as big of a championship this is, I was definitely not anticipating getting to the finals that smooth, so. Q. Just in the morning round 10 to 15 when Danny was building up his lead what were your thoughts and how were you approaching that? DREW KITTLESON: Just trying to ride it out and try to turn it around. I mean, I made I think I made two bogeys in that stretch and he parred and he made three birdies on holes that I parred. So it's just that's how match play is. It's crazy how the highs and lows go, but when you got it on your side, you got to roll with it, and he had it. And I just tried to stop it. Q. Can you talk about match play on No. 2 and what it was like this week being at Pinehurst for you? DREW KITTLESON: It was a blast. I'm going to look back at this week and just know that I enjoyed it and it's the biggest thing out there. And so everybody was calling me I had literally hundreds and hundreds of voice mails, like I had to delete my voice box, I didn't even listen to them. I didn't even listen to them, I just had to delete them. And every time I would read a message it was just, enjoy it, just have fun, we're rooting for you. That's what I did. That's the mindset I had in. I just wanted to play well and just to enjoy it. And that's all you can do. Q. These friends, family, just people? DREW KITTLESON: Just, yeah, like numbers that I never even seen. Like, hey, we're proud of you. No idea who it was. Q. Could be some girls, maybe you deleted their numbers? DREW KITTLESON: Maybe, that's what I'm hoping. That's what I'm going with now. PETE KOWALSKI: On a serious note, out of the messages that you got, which one or ones were the most significant to you and why? DREW KITTLESON: Well, you know, you have your level of friends. And then my closest friends and my coach at the school, they were, they're all so supportive and you get the parents of your friends that have been really, especially in the golf because you're always traveling with them when you're younger, and they all called me and there were certain ones that really they weren't saying like, they were saying enjoy yourself, but they knew not to limit yourself, for me not to be happy with where I was for the first couple matches. And they really kept me focused on that, you're not done yet, you don't want to just stop now, you want to win all of them. So don't be satisfied. PETE KOWALSKI: What has this done to your confidence level now? DREW KITTLESON: Yeah, definitely it's a confidence boost. I'm looking forward to starting the year now, the college year, and not that I wasn't already, but it's just I guess I'll have not the U.S. Amateur title, but I know that everybody will know, everybody in amateur golf knows and watches this event, so I'll have my name out there. Q. Driving the 13th green when you stood on the tee box, did you think you could drive that green? DREW KITTLESON: Yeah, I wasn't happy, so I had some adrenaline or some anger to put into it, but I really never saw is bounce. I knew it was on a perfect line and I hit it well. So I was surprised to see it go over just because I had that was the first time I hit driver there. No matter where the tees were. And I, everybody I had seen had been at least 30 yards short of that green. And I knew I had some reserve power, but I really have no idea where it landed, but I hit it good. Q. Why didn't you hit driver there all week? DREW KITTLESON: Because, well the first two rounds I made birdie there from the fairway, so then I just kept doing it. I made a couple birdies, I mean, I think I was three for seven or four for seven from 95 yards on that hole, so I just kept going with it. Because I was happy with it. Plus it's a pretty receptive green with a full 60 degree, so I could just hit it past the pin and take away the false front and just spin it back to the pin. Q. What was the club you used most around the greens short game wise? DREW KITTLESON: Either my 60 degree or putter. I think unless I was in the rough I didn't use anything but that. Q. What made you choose putter versus 60 degree and vice versa? DREW KITTLESON: In match play it depended a lot on the situation. For instance on 8 I was over the green both Jeff and I were over and he didn't get it up there one time and he came back down. So he was on the green and putting for five from the long distance. So I knew five was going to win the hole. So I just putted it up there on the green. But if I needed to get it really close I probably would have tried to a heroic flop shot type shot. Q. Describe what it's like to be in the middle of that scene with all the crowd, I think you probably said "excuse me" to everybody in this place from time it time. It's pretty crazy out there. Is it hard to stay focused. Obviously not based on your score, but just describe what it's like to be in the middle of that. DREW KITTLESON: Now that I -- I didn't think about it that much. There was a group of about five or six kids that were probably 15 out of the 18 holes they were like just as soon as you hit it they're just, like come to your legs and then walk with you the entire way. And they will ask you questions get your autograph, like right in the middle of everything. And ask you about anything. Golf-related or not golf-related, just letting you have it. So they were just, they told me they were trying to get TV time, so. (Laughter.) They're like, "Do you think I got on?" I said, "I don't know, man." (Laughter.) But it was, that's part of the experience. You see when you watch a U.S. Amateur or watch the highlights from Tiger or any of the Amateurs that's what you see, so that's what you should expect. Q. You inferred earlier medal versus match your strategy might have been different with a putter and 60 degree. Can you expand on that a little bit? DREW KITTLESON: Well, you know, it depends on the shot a lot and depends where you are in the medal play. If you're 3-over in medal play and you need to make something, you need to get up-and-down or other otherwise you're not going to go -- then you're going to take a different approach on it. And I think the 60 degree is more of a, to me it's more of an, it's either going to be close or it's not going to be close. That's what kind of shot it is. And it's so player-oriented that and I wasn't expecting the greens to be this soft this week. And we had all the rain in the practice round and that's what made my decision is the rain in the practice round, because you could just, I mean, I had a pretty new wedge; and the fairway, the lies are so tight that you can spin it so much that the greens were real receptive to spinners. Q. And as the week went you realized the putter might have been better as it got harder? DREW KITTLESON: Yeah, as it got harder -- well you see Pinehurst on TV and the U.S. Open, so you all you see is firm U.S. Open style, so that's what I was expecting and then as definitely as the week got on I putted a lot more because it kept getting firmer. Q. So do you think when you need to be aggressive you're using the 60 degree? DREW KITTLESON: Um-hum. Q. And to be more conservative with a putter? DREW KITTLESON: Yeah. Q. Classes start tomorrow or? DREW KITTLESON: Yeah. Q. What's that going to be like getting back into kind of hard to wind down or what awful? DREW KITTLESON: Awful. (Laughter.) You go from this to go play 36 at Pinehurst No. 2 with a bunch of people watching you to chemistry. (Laughter.) 8 o'clock in the morning. Q. You're going to be in class tomorrow? DREW KITTLESON: No. (Laughter.) Slim chance I'll be in class tomorrow. I don't know. It depend. It's like an eight hour, I got to drive. And so I drove up here, it's got to be a good eight hours, I don't know what time it is now, but that would be pushing it. Yeah, that would be pushing about 3 o'clock arrival in the morning. So I might stop in Jacksonville just stay there. That's about two and a half hours away. PETE KOWALSKI: Drew, congratulations a great run. DREW KITTLESON: Thanks, guys. Thank you. 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
|