U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 21, 1996

Robert Floyd

ROBERT FLOYD: I'm used to it. I usually get it everywhere I go. And this year I haven't seen anything in any paper or anything, so it's actually been a pleasant surprise. I've been able to focus on what I'm doing. I didn't play particularly well in the first two rounds, so I didn't jump up and people wanting to get at my name. It's been a nice surprise this week. Last time my dad was there, and there was a lot of media attention as far as that's concerned. And this is probably the first tournament I've played that I haven't read something about it.

ROBERT FLOYD: I'm sure he did.

ROBERT FLOYD: We started on 1, both made par. 2, both made par. 3, I made birdie to go one up. 4, we both made birdie. 5, I won with par and went 2 up. We both made pars on 6. I made a nice save, about 15 feet to stay two up. 7, we both had about 18 feet to make birdie, he missed his to go three up. I bogeyed 8 and 9 to get back one up. Both parred 10. I parred 11 to go two up. Both parred 12 -- bogeyed 12. Both bogeyed 12. We both parred 13, I'm still 2 up. I made par on 14 to go 3 up. We both bogeyed 13 to stay 3 up. 16 he birdied to go 2 up. And 17 I birdied to win 3 and 1.

ROBERT FLOYD: I started off playing. I didn't miss a shot I don't think through six holes and then I missed my tee shot on 7 and still was able to layup in good shape and make a birdie there. And then I hit a different tee shot on 8 and 9, leading to those bogeys. My iron play was pretty good today. It's easy once you get a lead. You don't have to start forcing things. And I think that's exactly what happened on 14, the par 5. I hit it right there in front of the green in 2, and he's with a 7-iron in his hands and he had to go with the pin and he hit it in the back hazard. That was a turning point. I didn't drive the ball particularly well in the middle of my round, I did towards the end and I did really well in the beginning.

ROBERT FLOYD: I think the lower bracket might be a stronger bracket overall. Obviously Tiger is not in there, which I'm sure everyone is taking a sigh of relief for that. But looking at it, everyone in the 64 can obviously play. So you've got to play good golf to win this. No one said it was going to be easy.

ROBERT FLOYD: Yeah, every time you go into a year or a couple of weeks that you're going to play you set your -- or I do, I set my mind on a certain tournament. I think that's what I did this summer. I wanted to have a good tournament early on, and I won an amateur tournament early, the third week or something and didn't play particularly well the last few weeks, but I've had the amateur on the back of my mind for a long time, ever since I missed the cut last year. And this is obviously what you gear up to doing.

ROBERT FLOYD: Three or four.

ROBERT FLOYD: I think I was really nervous. I finished second in the Western Amateur the week before, led qualifying, and came in and played well and played two poor rounds. I think I can attribute that to nerves. I think now, I don't know, it's my second Amateur. I guess that's about it. I'm not saying I'm playing better than I was last year. I might be hitting a little better, but just the fact of the experience, if you could say you have it in one year.

ROBERT FLOYD: I think it's an advantage when hitting our tee shots well. I didn't drive it particularly well on the par 5s today. And fortunately I was table to still make three birdies on the par 5s. I do think it's an advantage, especially if you're going to play someone who is a little shorter. Joey (Snyder) hits the ball a long way anyway, and I don't think that played much of a factor today.

ROBERT FLOYD: 4, I hit 4-iron in my qualifying round here. And 14 I hit sand wedge in my qualifying round here. You get the right wind on 14 and that's par 4. Obviously having 120 in a par 5 is a bit of an advantage.

ROBERT FLOYD: Yeah, I came to win. And I think anything less than that would be somewhat disappointing. Obviously however far you go is a plus. But if you're in match play and you're not thinking about winning, I think you're cheating yourself. Tiger's won twice in a row, and it would be a great story, but it would be great to be in the finals.

ROBERT FLOYD: It's got to be tough for him. Obviously they've been talking about him winning the third Amateur ever since he won the second Amateur. He's obviously the favorite every week he plays. It's got to be tough, he's handling it exceptionally well. He's very mentally tough and he has the uncanny ability of putting all that stuff behind him. I think that's what all great athletes do. And apparently he played well this morning. He was low in qualifying. And I think he knows his game so good; he knows if he goes out and plays well, he's going to win every match and I think it's remarkable what he's doing.

ROBERT FLOYD: It's almost a little different thing. People not necessarily expect you to do well because you're playing well. They expect you to do well because of your father or what family you're in. I would think that's a little tougher to take. In junior golf I went to every tournament and people said I think he's the man to beat. And I thrived on that, I loved people looking at me, and I loved that extra pressure as far as that's concerned. But when people are looking at you saying I think he should play well because of who his father is, that's a different kind of pressure. It's a little harder to block out.