U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 19, 1998

Matt Kuchar

MATT KUCHAR: This is a pretty impressive setup.

MATT KUCHAR: All right.

MATT KUCHAR: I am just having a great time. I am taking it one hole at a time, and I am 1-under, pretty close to contention.

MATT KUCHAR: A couple. Started with a birdie on 7. 7 was playing a little bit easier today than it was yesterday. Wind was kind of into us yesterday. Today was somewhat nonexistent. I hit a driver trying to go for the green in 1; pretty close to the green; just short of the bunker; hit a great chip to about three feet. It was just an easy birdie. 8, hit 8-iron; got up to the back level about eight feet away from the hole. Had a downhill slider which just touched it; dropped in the hole. That was a nice birdie to follow-up the birdie on 7. Then 9, missed the fairway left. You miss the fairway, it leads to a bogey, and so it happened. Then made birdie on 12, hit 8-iron to about 20 feet, made a fairly straight 20-footer. 14, was disastrous. I was debating between hitting a 7-iron and 6-iron. Hit the full 7. It was the wrong club; came up short in the bunker, one which is a fairly easy bunker shot. I was a little uncomfortable; got a little too cute, left it in the rough. Just tough up-and-down, getting out of this rough. So I made a made double-bogey. But again, followed it up on 15, made birdie there; looked like the wheels were coming off a second when I missed the green on 15; and then the chip went in, and all of a sudden all the momentum came right back. And just parred-out, made a good up-and-down on 16 for par, then 17 is always a par, is almost like birdie there. And so played pretty solid once I chipped in on 15.

MATT KUCHAR: Gosh, ten yards.

MATT KUCHAR: Putt was about ten feet.

MATT KUCHAR: Both. Surprised and excited.

MATT KUCHAR: I don't know if you ever get used to it. The feeling that you get playing golf, I think, is different than anything. The nervousness, the-- just that feeling of being in contention, and especially here at a major championship. I guess a feeling that I don't know if you will ever get used to. It is exciting. It is exciting when you get that twinge in your stomach. That is really what golf is all about.

MATT KUCHAR: It is fun when you are in the fairway and on the green. In the rough it is definitely no fun. But it is a lot of a grind, much more of a grind than Augusta was. You have to -- you have to stay focused. You have to concentrate just every shot, every hole. If you let down an inch, this course will grab you.

MATT KUCHAR: Money looks real good. But, turning pro, I don't know when it will happen. I haven't talked to anybody about it. I have just gone about my own business, gone to school, played golf when it was time to play golf, and I don't know when it will happen. I am really enjoying school. I had a great year this year at Georgia Tech. It was a lot of fun. We have a great team, a great coach. I don't know if money can persuade me to leave or not. I am not sure what will happen.

MATT KUCHAR: There is the experience factor. I guess we will see how well I handle the final two days here. I think it is just experience see how well I can stack up against these guys.

MATT KUCHAR: I was thrilled with Augusta. Augusta, you really have to be on top of your game with your approach shots especially. Being on the right level, below the hole around Augusta, really required precise iron shots. But here you have to be precise with the driver, with the 3-wood, with the 3-iron, with all the irons. It is quite a test of golf and to be in the position I am in now after two days, is fantastic. But I am only halfway there. There is still more days of golf left. We will see what happens in the next two days.

MATT KUCHAR: I doubt myself turning professional before school end. But, I really don't know. I really haven't thought about it. Dad or I haven't even talked about it. It is all up in the air. I am just kind of rolling with everything right now.

MATT KUCHAR: I don't know if you -- it is good to ever think about start winning it. I remember in the junior tournaments, I was thinking about: What am I going to say in my acceptance speech. I would be playing in the last round the last day, the last group, and I think about: All right, what I am going to stay when I get the trophy? I never won a single junior event (laughter). So I have kind of learned to not think about that, to just take it one shot at a time and just add it up when you get in and see what happens.

MATT KUCHAR: It is great for me. I don't know if he would be good for other guys. I don't know if it would be an advantage for another guy to have my dad. But it has really been good for me. He keeps me calm. Keeps me relaxed and having him on the bag, seeing him get excited, is just a lot of fun for both of us, a lot of fun for me to watch him.

MATT KUCHAR: Yeah, I do. It is very hard playing in these events as a college student. Again, playing at The Masters, I had just finished with class the week before and coming here I just finished finals and so, I really have very little time to prepare for a tournament, even college events, you just -- you go to a college event, you come home; you work on school for the next week or two and then go to the next college event. So you really just go with what you got. You can't have a lot of time to prepare and it is hard. I was able to get out of exams a little bit early, went home and had a couple days practice. But I came here not feeling as confident as I would have liked to.

MATT KUCHAR: No, I think Dad does a good job, very good golf etiquette. He gets excited after I make a putt or hit a shot. Again, the other players have time to calm down themselves and let the crowd subside. So I think definitely not a distraction.

MATT KUCHAR: Dad is about a 6 handicap.

MATT KUCHAR: Business management. I had a marketing exam. I had a Spanish exam. I had a textiles exam. And did, uh-oh - I don't -- English exam.

MATT KUCHAR: Heavy rough, into the grain a little bit. It wasn't a very good lie. I knew I had to accelerate because it was an uphill lie. I knew I really had to hit it pretty hard just to get it to the hole. Having that uphill lie, knowing that I had to get through it, I ended up getting through it nicely and trickling to the hole, that was a great momentum saver. I thought the wheels were going to come off. I missed a couple of greens. Every time you miss a green it is definitely difficult to make par, to walk away with a birdie, stealing 2.

MATT KUCHAR: Coach very rarely puts us head-to-head in a qualifier or anything like that. But we are very even. He is a terrific player, I guess the best player in college golf. And it is great to have him on my team. We compete a lot. Just matching scores and in tournaments in qualifying, when we do get the chance to play together, it is a great time. We are playing over at the Palmer Cup this year. Hopefully we will be partners and really have a good time cleaning up.

MATT KUCHAR: It is learning course management. It is seeing them hit irons off tees. It is seeing when Ernie pulls out a 3-wood; when Justin pulls out driver. What they do around the greens. Things of that nature, really is what I have learned taken from their games.

MATT KUCHAR: My 4-wood really cuts through the rough well and at the U.S. Amateur worked tremendously. It was the deepest rough I had seen to that point. This is a lot deeper, a lot thicker. And, I was thinking the lie was just decent enough where maybe I could slap it out 150 yards and it could run up to the green. But, the rough is so nasty, it turned it and went dead right.

MATT KUCHAR: Absolutely. Bringing your A-game -- you have to bring your A-game. You have to be so precise with iron shots around Augusta and here is the same way, you really have to be precise in ball-striking. But then handling the things outside of golf. I learned a lot dealing with the media, dealing with autograph-seekers and fans. I learned a lot at Augusta about a game outside of golf itself.

MATT KUCHAR: It did nothing. I had no expectations going into Augusta, really had no expectations going in here. I just wanted to play my best and just see what happened.

MATT KUCHAR: No, not really. There was one instance where he had Dad move back, I think. Other than that, it just looked like normal nature of play.

MATT KUCHAR: It is a lot of fun being recognized in public. Not too many people pick me out, but when it does happen, it is flattering. And, really enjoy that a lot.