U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 24, 1997

Joel Kribel

JOEL KRIBEL: Yeah, obviously I'm disappointed because I played 26 pretty bad holes, and then, you know, I just, you know, I couldn't bring my game around in time to, you know, to pose a real serious threat. You know, even though I did make a good comeback, you know. Being 7 down with 10 to go, you know, isn't completely realistic even though I made it seem, you know, really close. I'm obviously disappointed because I've been dreaming about coming back and winning the whole thing after last year. And, you know, I'm proud of the way I did come back, you know. But at the same time, I have to, you know, wait a whole other year to give it another run.

JOEL KRIBEL: Yeah, definitely.

JOEL KRIBEL: Yeah. That was pretty difficult. You know, like I said, my putting was pretty poor all day. You know, it's too bad because I felt like I was putting pretty well earlier in the week, and the putter just left me at a bad time. And I also had a lot of problems with my distance control with my irons. You know, I hit a lot of shots that I thought were good shots, and they either ended up, you know, just short or just long and in bunkers and whatnot, and I didn't get up-and-down very often when I missed the greens.

JOEL KRIBEL: You know, even earlier in the week, I still did have problems with my distances because I had -- I was -- I'm using a brand new set of clubs, just starting, you know, four or five days before I got here. You know, due to the fact that I lost a club at the last tournament and I couldn't have gotten, you know, a replacement that was the same as my other set. So I just decided to try these out. And for the most part, they worked really well, but, you know, I just didn't quite have the distances down. Because the clubs that I was using before just didn't quite go as far as these, and, you know, I just had a tough time adjusting to the new distances in my irons. But, you know, that all takes some getting used to, and I feel like I'm swinging pretty solid for the most part.

JOEL KRIBEL: I wish I knew. You know, it's just one of those things where I just got out of a little bit of rhythm. I mean, everybody talks about the rhythm in your full swing, but it's there in putting too. I missed some short ones, and I lost some confidence, and, you know, it's really tough to putt well when you don't have any confidence.

JOEL KRIBEL: Yeah, I think it probably actually happened more yesterday, you know. I mean, even though I did end up beating Brad, I think, you know, that 10th hole was kind of the downfall of, you know, of my putting this week, and, you know, I couldn't quite get it back in time.

JOEL KRIBEL: You know, I could sense that, you know, I was making him a little bit nervous. You know, putting a little scare into him. But like I said, I just dug myself way too deep of a hole. You know, even though I was, you know, slowly inching my way back into it, you know, when I think of where it started out, I was 7 down with 10 to go, I mean, how many people would have thought I would have even got to the 17th hole. I don't think there's many. So, you know, it was -- being 7 down with 10 to go is about as far reaching as you could ever possibly hope to make a comeback. You know, and I still think it was a little bit too far. You know, if I could have made a couple short putts on 6 and 8 and only been five down with 10 to go, then maybe that's possible. But, you know, I just -- like I said, just put myself into a deep hole, and it was tough to get out of.

JOEL KRIBEL: It was a 9-iron.

JOEL KRIBEL: Yeah, at the Walker Cup.

JOEL KRIBEL: 6 was probably 3 feet. And 8 was 4 or 5. 6, I just dead pushed it. 8, I thought I hit a pretty good putt. It fell a little bit low and lipped out.

JOEL KRIBEL: 9 was probably 2 1/2 feet. And 10 was 10 feet. You know, I hoped I wouldn't miss that one on 9. Then the one on 10 was pretty straightforward putt. I just had to get it started on a line it would stay there. So, you know, that was a pretty easy one.

JOEL KRIBEL: Overall, I had a good time. You know, I felt like I had a lot of fun in everything that I did. But I'd have to say, you know, as much as I hate to, that the word to describe my summer would be "disappointing." You know, with the way I finished at the Open, missing the cut by one. Here at Cog Hill in the Western, missing the cut by two when I pretty much had a good chance to make that. And then, you know, not playing very well in the finals of this tournament. But, you know, I did learn some things, and, you know, it's only going to help me become a better player in the future.

JOEL KRIBEL: 3-wood.

JOEL KRIBEL: You know, the shot that I hit was the only possible option I had. I knew I couldn't, you know, just chip out and make par because I didn't think where Matt was that he would make bogey. He just had like a wedge in. So, I figured I had to try to do something. And, you know, it's actually a shot that I probably would have tried under normal circumstances even if I didn't need a birdie. I actually got pretty lucky with my lie. It wasn't in the real deep rough. It was kind of a thin area near the cart path, so that allowed me to work the ball left-to-right like I needed to, and I kind of had to hit a low-rising cut. It had to go under one -- under the first tree and over the second group of trees. And, you know, I hit it pretty much just like I wanted to. I couldn't exactly see it come down because there was people and trees in the way. But, you know, I don't think I could have done that with, you know, with 25 more balls.

JOEL KRIBEL: That was an 8-iron.

JOEL KRIBEL: I think I had about a little over 160.

JOEL KRIBEL: I was saying let's win this next hole, you know, from -- you say that every hole you go into. That's what match play is about. You take it one hole at a time and you set out trying to win the hole and just see how things go along the way. But once I got that far down, you know, like I said, 7 down with 10 to go wasn't real feasible at first with the way Matt was playing. So I just set out and I just said let's go out and show everybody that I can play some good golf, because I played so poorly for the first 26 holes, you know, I just said let's settle down and try to make a couple birdies, and if things happen to go my way where Matt makes some mistakes, that's great. But I just wanted to, you know, put together a solid stretch of holes, and, you know, as it happened, I gave him, you know, a bit of a run down the stretch.

JOEL KRIBEL: Yeah, if I would have hit it. I just, you know, I may have decelerated a little bit, but I thought the putt would be a lot faster than that. While I should have given it a good run, in the back of my mind, I'm thinking if you blow this 5 feet by and miss it, the match is over. So, you know, there's no real excuse to leave it short, but that just goes back to, you know, I just didn't have a real good feel with my putter today.

JOEL KRIBEL: Thank you.