U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 20, 1997

Joel Kribel

JOEL KRIBEL: Yeah, definitely. You know, coming into a tournament like this, where it's such a long tournament, you just kind of want to get things started, and to go out and get the first match under your belt feels really good.

JOEL KRIBEL: No. 2, I hit a 7-iron or 6-iron to about 15 feet and made it, and I went one up. On No. 4, let's see, I hit an 8-iron to about 8 feet, and Jason made bogey. So I just lagged it up there and won No. 4, to go two up. No. 5, I hit driver, 1-iron to about 30 feet and 2-putted for birdie to go three up. I bogeyed No. 6 from the green-side bunker, and Jason made par, so I was only two up. Let's see, we halved 7, 8, 9. I won 10 when Jason made bogey. That was probably one of my best shots from the day, from the left trees. Hit it to about 10 feet. I missed it, but Jason made five, so it was conceded. I won 11 with a par. I bogeyed 12. Jason was up there about 4 feet on 12, and I made bogey, so I conceded his birdie putt. 13, I made about a 20-footer for birdie to go four up. And then on 15, Jason had some trouble and conceded the match there.

JOEL KRIBEL: Yeah, in the left trees. He had to take a drop, and he really didn't have much of a shot, and, you know, left it in the rough a couple times, and then conceded from there.

JOEL KRIBEL: It's playing completely different than it was in the Western Open. I guess they've gotten rain here in Chicago for the last week and a half before we got here, and the course is probably playing 400 yards longer than it was in the Western Open. It's playing a little bit slower now, a lot longer. Whereas, in the Western Open, you know, the wind and the sun dried everything out and the greens were a lot dryer and faster. It's tough to say whether it's playing more difficult or not, because, you know, like I said, you're coming in with longer clubs, but at least you can stop the ball on the greens. I'd say scorewise, it's probably pretty similar as far as trying to shoot a good score.

JOEL KRIBEL: A lot of it has to do with the weather. The rough may be a little bit higher right now than it was during the Western, but not a whole lot of difference. I'm sure the USGA would like to get the greens a little bit quicker, but I don't know that the weather has let them do that, so they're a little bit slower than they were in the Western.

JOEL KRIBEL: Yeah. I think it has, because, you know, when I was getting ready for the Western, you know, I played the course three times in practice rounds, and when you're getting ready for a tournament like that or like this, you try to, you know, find out all the information on the course you can, you know, where it breaks from different angles, where to miss it, you know, what are the safe sides. And I think having that many practice rounds has definitely helped, because, you know, the other guys will start to learn more about the course as the week goes on, but I already have a little bit of an advantage because I've played it enough times already.

JOEL KRIBEL: Yeah, I think so. At a certain point, it will even back out. They will have seen the course, you know -- by the end of the week, they'll have seen it six or seven times, as well. So by then, it should be pretty much equal, but I'll enjoy the advantage while I have it.

JOEL KRIBEL: Yeah, uh-huh.

JOEL KRIBEL: Yeah, definitely. It was a shame because I had such a good time at the Western Amateur last year. It's a great course. The Western Golf Association runs a really good tournament there. And, you know, it's too bad because the way that I function best is when I have a week off to prepare for a tournament, and Walker Cup only comes along every two years, and I may only get to play it once. So I figured I'm going to take that week off and try to prepare myself for that. It's too bad that the schedules conflicted the way they did, but I look forward to going back to the Western Am next year.

JOEL KRIBEL: I'm doing okay. Like I said, before the Walker Cup, I actually had more like three weeks off, so I got well rested there, had a nice break. And, you know, I'm just -- starting with the Walker Cup, I started to focus a little bit better, so I'm not getting at all burned out. I feel really good about the, you know, the way my game is shaping up coming into this week now.