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U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 27, 2005

Dillon Dougherty

ARDMORE, PENNSYLVANIA

CRAIG SMITH: Dillon, before it gets too far back in the memory box, tell me about 17 and 18.

DILLON DOUGHERTY: You know, at the beginning of the week, I would have taken 1 down with two to go to get into the playoff, and that's what I told myself on the 17th tee. I had kind of given the match away a little bit in the last few holes but I just reminded myself where I was, and then I would have taken that earlier.

When I walked up, I didn't hit that bad of a shot on 17, it's just a hard hole. I got up there, it was very similar to the chip I had made yesterday on 13. When I got up there I saw right where I wanted to land it and I saw the line. Pretty much hit it right where I was trying to, and as soon as it got over the hill, I thought I had a pretty good chance, and then that was one of the craziest moments of my life, really.

CRAIG SMITH: Would you say that's probably one of the best shots you've ever hit?

DILLON DOUGHERTY: Considering the circumstances, it's probably the best shot I've ever hit, yes.

CRAIG SMITH: And then 18, you didn't make it the easiest hole in the world for yourself.

DILLON DOUGHERTY: Especially today, it had been playing all week a little bit downwind, which, you know, made the tee shot a lot easier; it's downwind right to left. But today it was kind of in and a touch left to right on the tee. I just tried to calm myself down after 17.

And then I thought I hit a good drive when I hit it and it just didn't turn over. I was trying to get it turning down the right side, but it really didn't end up in that bad of a shot. Then I had I think I had 210 to the front edge, 220 to the hole. I was trying to land it short of the embankment short of 18 green, but if you land it in it, it will just stop. So I tried to land it short and run it up, and I kind of just flared it right into the tower.

Then the shot, I don't know how that happened, really. (Laughter). I had a yardage I wanted to play and I think I flew it pretty close to it, and I think it was 47 yards I was trying to fly it. I didn't really know how close I could get it at all, but that was the spot I needed to fly it on. I don't know how close it would have ended up, but just unbelievable that it hit the pin and stopped there.

CRAIG SMITH: You're going to someplace in Georgia called Augusta.

DILLON DOUGHERTY: That's incredible. Since I was a little kid, I've dreamed of going to Augusta. Just looking at it on TV, it looks incredible. Everything I've heard about it, from what I hear, it's everything that I love in a golf course. It has all of the tradition and the way the course is set up with just unbelievably quick, undulating greens, I can't wait to get there.

CRAIG SMITH: You have one more match to go, but let's come back to this one. You and J.C. won or lost 11 of the 18 holes, so I imagine the ebb and flow, the emotions, you were up two, you were down two.

DILLON DOUGHERTY: There was a ton of up and down out there. I got off to a tough start on the first hole. Just missed the fairway left and didn't get a very good lie and made bogey. J.C. ended up making birdie.

Then he birdied 2, so I was 2 down right away. Then I played really well for a while. Through 10, I hit a ton of good shots and I got to 2 up. The middle of 11 fairway with J.C. in the bunker, and that's where I really blew it because just 9 iron in the middle of the green, make par, probably go 3 up. Pulled it just a little, the wind knocked it down in the bunker and then I got just an unbelievably bad break with a plug on the downslope and really had no chance. So that's where I kind of blew it and kind of gave a few more back there in the next few holes. But it was, it was incredibly up and down, and I don't know what to say about the last two holes.

Q. Luke Donald is kind of synonymous with Northwestern golf, but now you've actually made it farther than he ever did in this tournament. What does that mean?

DILLON DOUGHERTY: Well, I was talking to my coach last night, and he had just talked to Luke. Luke he was leading after two rounds over in Europe, and I said, "But yeah, he's never made it past the semis in the U.S. Amateur." That's probably the one thing that I have on Luke. Yeah, pretty excited about that.

Q. First of all, how long was your chip at 17 distance wise?

DILLON DOUGHERTY: Coming down that hill, I'm not really sure, but I would guess I was trying to fly it maybe 15 yards. I was trying to fly it basically halfway between me and the hole I think. I don't know, I probably ran 30 feet.

Q. On a different subject, your grandfather, was he in your thoughts on those last two holes?

DILLON DOUGHERTY: Yeah, I'm sure he had something to do with some of the stuff that happened out there today. That's not normal stuff that happened, to hole that chip and then to hit the flag. I wish he was here, and he would be unbelievably proud. I would be extremely happy to have made him so proud, but I think he definitely had a little bit to do with what happened.

Q. What were your options on 17, the ways to hit that shot and why did you choose the way you hit?

DILLON DOUGHERTY: I had a pretty decent lie, so I could kind of get a club on it. I've been working on kind of two shots out of the rough, and it kind of depends on the lie. One, you really just pop down into it and the club stops. You don't really know how it's going to come out, but I had a good enough lie to where I could kind of just kind of throw it underneath a little bit and get a little bit of a high, soft one. And then just being the downhill that it was, I was pretty sure that would take care of once it got on the green that, would take it down to the hole. I didn't have to worry about leaving it short at all. So it was pretty much just kind of the small little flop down there.

Q. And on 18, how far was that shot?

DILLON DOUGHERTY: I believe I had 47 yards just over the hump on the the second shot or the third shot?

Q. Go over both of those, if you would.

DILLON DOUGHERTY: The first shot I had 210 to the front and 220 to the flag.

Q. What did you hit?

DILLON DOUGHERTY: I tried to run a 3 iron up there. Didn't work out for me. (Laughter).

Then I had 47 yards just on top which, I don't know, the flag was eight paces from the front, so maybe five paces from that.

Q. Did you get relief from the tower?

DILLON DOUGHERTY: Yeah, I took relief from the tower. It was within a club length of my view. I had a decent lie when I took relief, but the grass wasn't that bad where I was going to take relief, so I was sure I could get a little better lie, so I took relief.

CRAIG SMITH: Were you calm on 17 and 18 or was your heart going crazy?

DILLON DOUGHERTY: Well, coming into 17, I was pretty calm. The whole day, and once the round gets going for me, I felt pretty calm. I was a little frustrated with what I gave away on a few holes, but I just kind of calmed myself and tried to fight back in it.

After 17, my heart was just pounding. I had a let of adrenaline going, so I tried to calm down again. On 18, I felt pretty good over it.

Q. When he handed you the ball, he picked up the ball on 18 and handed it to you, did he say anything?

DILLON DOUGHERTY: I think he said, "Those two shots were unbelievable. Great going."

Q. Have you ever had anybody do to you, what you did to him on 17 and 18?

DILLON DOUGHERTY: I don't think so. (Laughter). I feel bad for J.C. because I can't imagine being in his position and having that happen to you. Both of those were just unbelievably unexpected from where he was. I guess that's how match play works. You never know, you never know what's going to happen and how the tide is going to turn.

CRAIG SMITH: You're supposed to think that your opponent is going to make it, but I imagine it was pretty hard.

DILLON DOUGHERTY: You plan on them making every shot, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't planning on me banking that on 17.

Q. What was your mindset going into 15 all square, and the way this course finishes, where were you looking to take advantage?

DILLON DOUGHERTY: Well, I've been playing the back nine really well all week. Especially 13, 14, 15, 16, so I got up to 15 and I was pissed it was even, because it shouldn't have been. I felt good because 15 and 16, I've played so well. Unfortunately I missed both of the drives and you can't do that out here really; out of the rough you don't have a whole lot of chance.

So I felt good on 15 tee.

CRAIG SMITH: Does this change a few of your plans, and how are you going to sleep tonight?

DILLON DOUGHERTY: Hopefully better than I did last night.

I don't know, it changes a lot of plans, that's for sure.

Q. You struggled a lot in the spring, I think your best finish was 29th playing for Northwestern, did you ever dream you would get this far when you were kind of working through your changes that you talked about yesterday?

DILLON DOUGHERTY: I was still pretty confident in my ability to play this game. I just knew I was struggling at the time and I was working on it. I didn't know when exactly I was going to start playing well again and when it was all going to start paying off, but I felt confident that if I kept working at it, at some point my game would turn around, and it gradually did. It's not like a one day thing, but it gradually got better and better until lately, the last month or two, it's been pretty good.

CRAIG SMITH: I've got something good for to you think about. How about a practice round with Luke Donald next April.

DILLON DOUGHERTY: I told him if I was there, we're playing a practice round and he's setting it up with Sergio and maybe whoever else he can get.

Q. Did you and your dad exchange any words after 18, anything about your grandfather or anything about Augusta?

DILLON DOUGHERTY: We hugged and he said, "You damn near gave me a heart attack." (Laughter). He had a lot of tears in his eyes, so the hug was enough.

Q. Will he caddie for you at Augusta?

DILLON DOUGHERTY: I want him to. I think I'll probably talk to pat and Luke a little bit to see how much of a disadvantage they think it will be, but I would love him to.

End of FastScripts.

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