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Friday, July 17, 2009
Brad Benjamin's Quotes From Semifinal Match
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On his opponent in the final, Nick Taylor: “I’ve never played him (Nick Taylor); I’ve never seen him. I know that he’s a great player so it’s going to be a good match.”
On the 18th hole of his semifinal match: "I knew he [Crick] was on there, not in the greatest spot. I think he rather would have been about 100. I had a feeling that if could get inside eight, 10 feet would be a good shot since it was a downhill lie and everything. I didn’t think he would be in there real close, so I know that if I at least got it on the green inside 20 feet I would at least have a chance. But to then put it where I put it was, you know."
On his expectations of the week: “No, not at all because I think my second match of the tournament, we went into extra holes. That’s just one of those things with match play, the best player doesn’t always win. Obviously the guy that’s seeded No. 1 is playing well, but just because you’re rated higher doesn’t mean you’re going to come out on top. It takes a lot of luck and I’ve had things go my way. I’ve played well too, not made a lot of mistakes. But, I mean it could have just have easily been Brandon’s (Crick) match today.”
On whether he expected Crick to miss a short putt for par on the 17th hole: “No, I mean, you never expect a good player to miss one of those putts, but he did miss one earlier in the round so it was kind of in the back of my mind but no I didn’t expect him to miss that. I figured I had to make mine to stay alive.”
On his approach to the course: “Well, the wind has switched direction a couple of days but for the most part I’ve committed to laying up on the two short par 4s and I haven’t really gotten carried away on the par 5s. I’ve played the holes almost the same every single day. It’s helped me because I haven’t had a lot of real bad shots that have gone offline where I step up on the tee and think about those. I feel like I’ve hit every shot on every hole about where I need so I’ve had a lot of good thoughts going to each hole.”
On why he plays golf left-handed but putts right-handed: "There was a ramp in my basement when I was little and it was up against the wall and you couldn’t putt left handed because the wall was in the way. I’ve always putted right-handed and swung left-handed. I write left-handed but I throw right-handed. I would probably be a little more coordinated than most people would be switching, but I wouldn’t brag about it.”
On his future plans: “I’m just playing a couple more amateur tournaments this summer. I’ve got our state am, state open, U.S. Am. Other than that I’m just planning on moving in the fall and playing mini tour golf next spring. I don’t know where I’m going to move to. I haven’t really thought about it. I’m trying to just finish up this summer and sort it out here in about a month or so.”
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Nick Taylor's Quotes From Semifinal Round
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On how he feels right now:
"Really good. That's why you come to tournaments, to play in finals. Go out tomorrow and try to keep what I'm doing. This afternoon, didn't hit it great but hit it OK for the most part. I think tomorrow just hit more greens and it should be enough."
On his biggest challenge so far this week:
"This morning, I think, was probably my toughest match. I knew it was going to be. Wes has been playing well the last few months. I hit it solid today. It was a tougher wind and it didn't change like it did yesterday in the afternoon. It was tough to make birdies for the most part but I hit a lot of fairways and kind of just walked along and hit greens and made pars. I only think I had four bogeys - three bogeys, four bogeys three birdies. So it was pretty consistent but that's what I need to do tomorrow too."
On where being a finalist ranks in his career:
"It's up there. To make it to the final to any match play tournament, it's so difficult. You've got to be lucky a little bit and you’ve got to play well too. It's definitely up there. It’s going to be exciting tomorrow and I'm going to be pumped to play so it’s going to be a test.
On whether a win at the APL would supplant his experience at Bethpage:
"I think so, yeah. To win a tournament, win a USGA event, it would probably be a highlight for sure."
On his opponent, Phillip Bryan:
"I knew he was assistant coach. I talked to him a little bit. I knew that he played at OU and had been coach for a year. Other than that, just talking to him is what I found out."
On whether he was more mentally or physically drained:
It's a bit of both. In the back nine I was definitely getting tired. I was just kind of trying to keep hydrated and stay in the shade. Kind of just focus on the next shot and not my legs and my mind. You just kind of have to keep hydrated. Everyone's going through it. I've probably played less holes than anybody, so I have an advantage right now. The biggest thing for tonight is get some sleep."
On reaching the par-5 fifth hole in two:
I hit a hybrid. Actually it was the rough, but hybrid just to kind of roll it up. This morning I hit 3-wood in. Hit the same kind of shot and line and it rolled up on the green too. Today in the afternoon it was obviously a little further so it rolled up more. Both of them I hit right where I wanted to and was lucky enough to roll up right where I wanted to and not bounce right into the bunkers. Both of those to put on the green putting for eagle on 600-whatever-yard hole puts pressure on who I was playing.
On his decision to hit 3-wood on the par-5 13th hole:
"I felt comfortable. In stroke play, I hit 3-wood too from that kind of lie and hit a good shot. I haven't hit my 3-wood often but I hit it pretty good. I knew if I overhooked it a little bit because of the lie that the wind was going to push it back and being left of that pin is a little better anyways. If I probably hit it a little lower it might roll up onto the green but it flew far enough that I just kind of stuck there. I didn't hit the greatest chip but made the putt."
On what being the first Canadian to win the APL would mean:
"It would mean a lot. With James Lepp winning NCAAs and Matt (Hill) winning (NCAAs) this year and Mike Weir winning The Masters, all of those Canadians doing the first thing ever to me to be able to do, win something no other Canadian has done would be pretty awesome and something I never would have expected growing up for sure."
On why this is his first APL:
"Never really qualified. Last year I got an exemption to it but I already had a bunch of tournaments and I just thought I would be kind of worn out and I declined the exemption. A couple of weeks later I kind of regretted it and tried to get back in but it didn't work out. This year I didn't want to miss it because I thought I had a pretty good shot of going to match play and doing real well."
On when he realized he could be a good player:
"I think probably my senior year in high school. The summer I won the BC junior, the Canadian Junior, played well in the Canadian Amateur which at that time was the same format as this with match play. My first year of college I didn't play that well and I've been working on it and had some good finishes at the end of last year in college. This year I've been playing well and I thought if I come here and I'm playing well in match play - I've had some success I kind of know how to play it - I thought I could do well. Maybe, I thought I had some success in tournaments probably after high school finished in the summer coming to college."
On whether he's having fun, in spite of the pressure:
Yeah, I'm having fun. At the end of the day you're having fun but you're also just drained so it's kind of hard to show how much you're having. Today was just kind of a long day. It wasn't really the walking but mentally it was a lot tougher than yesterday. That was probably the biggest difference."
On how the experience at the APL compares to Bethpage:
I don't know, it's a little different. Probably today and yesterday I probably played as many holes as I played on the Friday and Sunday at the Open. But there it was start and stop and you really didn't know when you were going to play. It was wet, one of the hardest golf courses you've ever played. Here, I mean, you've got a set time you are playing. You know it's coming out. I think it was a little tougher at U.S. Open because you had no idea when you'd play."
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Thursday, July 16, 2009
Phillip Bryan's Quotes After Advancing To Quarterfinals
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Phillip Bryan, 23, of Norman, Okla. is the Cinderella story of the 2009 U.S. Amateur Public Links so far. A four-year member of the University of Oklahoma golf team, Bryan is now the assistant coach and has played the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club some 300-400 times, by his own estimation.
Below are his comments from his victory in the round of 16:
"It was a fun day, yeah. It was a fun day. I played well. Cameron (Peck), he was really good and so was the guy I played this morning (Gene Webster). Both of them played really, really well I just happened to be fortunate to come out on top."
"I made some putts, yeah. Yesterday I didn't putt great. I mean, they weren't going in but I was hitting them were I wanted to. So today either the speed was just a little bit better or we just kind of read it a little bit better. But I did make some putts today."
On nervousness playing with the lead on the 17th:
"I just ready to hit that tee shot. Rickie's (Fowler) group was still in the fairway so I waited a little bit. Didn't hit a very good tee shot but it was in the fairway. Then, obviously, I did not hit a good iron shot but then I hit good little chip and Cameron did not get up-and-down for par."
On being a coach and not a player competing in this event:
"I think coaching has actually made me play a little bit better - to be honest with you - because I see the mistakes that my team would make and the mistakes that other players would make and I would go 'well, I made those same mistakes.' So I try to eliminate those now and I'm actually a better player now because I coach."
On being an "old soul" at age 23:
"Yeah, I kind of have. I've always been called the old guy on the team. It was weird, when I was in college I was either the really, really young guy or the really, really old guy. There were no freshmen that came with me and no sophomores either. So I was on a team with some guys that were quite a bit older. Then the last few years I was in college I was definitely the old guy. I'm still the old guy I guess."
On playing other amateur events this summer:
"I havent thought about it. I don't play a whole lot. This is my first tournament - I played the Oklahoma Open in September of last year and this is my first real tournament other than that. I probably won't play too much. I'll try to qualify for the U.S. Amateur and that will probably be it."
On knowing Jimmie Austin OU GOlf Club so well:
"Course knowledge helps a whole lot, it helps a whole lot, yeah, in match play and stroke play. Just playing tournament golf. Knowing where to hit it, knowing where not to hit it. Knowing the breaks of the greens. It helps a ton."
On his strengths:
"My short game is pretty good right now. For the most part, I'm driving it in the fairway. My irons from time-to-time get a little hot as well. Not too many mistakes. I don't know how many bogeys I made today. I know in my second round against Cameron, I gave him number three. I made a bogey on a really easy hole there. Other than that I didn't give away any holes and I think that's a big deal in match play, especially on a tough golf course like this one. Just don't give away any holes."
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Play Resumes At APL - 6:27 p.m. (CDT)
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Play resumed at 6:27 p.m. (CDT) with two matches still on the course.
Play was suspended at 5:01 p.m. due to thunderstorms in the area and resumed after a one hour and 26 minute delay.
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Wesley Bryan's Quotes After His 1up Victory
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Wesley Bryan, 19, of Chapin, S.C. defeated Chris Polski, 22, of Eugene, Ore., 1up in the round of 16 on Thursday. These are his comments:
On his victory and the state of his game:
"It was a really long day. I played a lot of holes. I mean, I did what I had to do when I had to do it. I played really, really good my first match and thought that was going to be like a turnaround for my game for the week. The second match, I scraped it around, made some good pars and made my first birdie of the afternoon match on the last hole. That tells you how bad it was."
On his opponent, Polski:
"He made few bogeys, he made a few birdies and I just made a lot, a lot of pars. Two holes I made bogey on he made pars to beat me. I think I might have only had two bogeys in the afternoon match. He won those two holes. He made some birdies he was playing good all day actually. He just let me hang around and in the end I just feel like I got fortunate to win the last two holes."
On his success over the summer:
"I feel like the North & South was probably the biggest tournament of me for the summer because I got to go deep in a match play format kind of like this. It gave me a lot of match play experience. I played six matches there and I've played four or so here already. Definitely getting used to the format helps out."
On his play this week:
"Honestly, all of it's been really, really average to mediocre except for earlier, in this morning's match, I actually hit the ball really pure. I hit pretty much every fairway and every green. The putter's pretty much stayed ice cold and when that starts to heat up I feel like I'll probably start getting gradually better."
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Nick Taylor's Quotes From 6-and 5 Victory In Round of 16
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Comments from Nick Taylor, 21, of Canada on his 6-and-5 victory in the round of 16 on Thursday at the 2009 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship:
General comments about the state of his game:
"It's been a while since my ball striking has been this good. Today in my match I missed a couple of greens. One of the greens I missed was my last green on 13. The ball pushed into the bunker. I've been hitting a lot of greens and have been strokin' it pretty good, so it's a pretty good combination."
On whether the course played differently this afternoon:
"Yeah, it was. The wind kind of switched. This morning it was the total opposite of what it had been the first three days. This afternoon it kind of switched back to what it was. It wasn't blowing that hard, so it was really a half-club wind. This morning you were able to drive 3 and 10. The tees were up on 3 so you were still able to go for it, but 10 there was really no point to go for it this afternoon although the wind was virtually the same as it was in stroke play. This afternoon it played a little bit different than it did this morning so it was kind of using different clubs off of par 3s, so it was pretty much a different course."
On his prosepcts for the rest of the week:
"You know, anything can happen. I was playing well before and had a good rest, which was nice to come to this heat not worn out. In stroke play I hit it great. Didn't make a lot of putts but I've made a few putts in the match play which has helped. I've got off to got starts to kind of put my opponents in the hole early and with me hitting a lot of greens it's just putting a lot of pressure on them."
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Play Suspended At APL
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Play was suspended at 5:01 p.m. for an immediate dangerous situation with thunderstorms in the local area.
At the time of suspension, two matches remained on the course.
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He’s as hot as it feels out there
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Apparently, the plus 100 degree temperatures here at Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club have had no effect on Canadian Nick Taylor, who plays collegiately all year long in Seattle, at the University of Washington.
How hot has Taylor been on the golf course this week? After dispatching Todd Obergoenner 6 and 5 this afternoon to advance to the Friday’s quarterfinals, Taylor has only trailed for one hole in his three matches, has led for 37 of the 39 holes he’s played and the last 37 consecutively, and has made 19 birdies, two eagles and only four bogeys.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been striking the ball this well,” said Taylor. “My distance control has been great this week, and I’ve been giving myself a lot of good looks at birdie.”
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Only one Sooner remains
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University of Oklahoma starter Liam Logan was eliminated this morning by 19-year-old Jace Long of Dixon, Mo., in 19 holes. Long – a redshirt freshman at the University of Missouri – was the stroke play medalist at the Missouri Amateur two weeks ago, but was beaten in the semifinals.
“I came here without much to lose, just trying to see what I could do,” said Long, who sat out the collegiate season as a medical redshirt, due to some loose joints in his left shoulder. “Happy I got to match play, but just taking them one at a time. Today’s match was a tough grind, Liam’s a tough competitor.”
Sooners assistant golf coach Phil Bryan was able to advance to the round of 16, with a 3 and 2 win over Gene Webster Jr. of San Bernardino, Calif. He is currently taking on 2008 U.S. Junior Amateur champion Cameron Peck of Olympia, Wash., and leads two up through two holes.
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University Of Oklahoma Assistant Golf Coach Phillip Bryan Advances
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Phillip Bryan, 23, of Norman, Okla. advanced to the round of 16 at his home course, Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club, where he is the assistant coach of the men's golf team. Here are his comments about the championship and competing on a course where where he has played 300-400 rounds.
On competing at his home course:
"It's been great. I have about six, seven buddies who've come out to watch and my family watches. Now in the past few days some people from OU have started coming out. So it's been fun."
On his challenges this week:
"To be honest, the hardest part about this week was just waiting for it. I was in the first qualifier I think it was June 8 and the tournament started July 13 so I had to wait that whole time. Once the tournament started it was fine, just waiting was kind of hard."
On feeling pressure at his home course:
As far as pressure goes, not very much at all. I don't play a whole lot anymore. I'm a coach now, so if I go out and play well great but I don't feel any pressure just because I play here a lot."
On local knowledge at the course:
Now that, it helps a lot. Just knowing the grasses, where the pins are going to be, stuff like that helps a lot for sure.
On his advantage as a local:
"The best part is that it's a big golf tournament but I don't have to go stay in a hotel, I don't have to travel. That's probably the best part. It's a big golf tournament but I get to sleep in my own bed. I get to come out here and do my own thing and then go back and live normal. I don't have to be on the road for a week. I guess everyone else here, today's Thursday, they probably got here Friday so they've been on the road for a week now. That's probably the best part of the week because I'm still home."
On being approached by people while playing:
"It's a lot different than most tournaments. First of all, everyone here knows me, which is nice. I'll talk to people and stuff. It's been great though. Everybody here from Rodney (Young, director of golf) to Johnny (Johnson, head golf professional), they've done a good job with the golf course. It's been fun all week. I probably get stopped, depending on how many people are out here, this morning I probably got stopped three or four times just to say 'how are you?, how are you?' Just stuff like that. I enjoy that though. I enjoy talking to people."
On his expectations for the week:
"Really my only goal coming in here was to make match play because match play anything can happen. You can play bad and win, you can play well and lose."
On the championship setup differences at Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club:
"It's really hard compared to what it normally is. They changed a par five into a 505-yard par 4. On No. 4, that's usually about a 440-yard hole and right now it's about 470 and today it played into the wind. The greens are firmer and faster, which they should be. But the course in great shape too. I mean, if you're in the fairway and you¹re not in a divot than you have a perfect lie, which is fun to play out of."
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