Competitors in the 116th U.S. Amateur Championship who prevailed in their Round-of-32 matches on Thursday morning at Oakland Hills Country Club’s South Course didn’t have too much time to celebrate before refocusing for their Round-of-16 matchups in the afternoon. But before they teed off, the USGA communications staff gathered comments from those advancing:
Sam Horsfield: Defeated Doc Redman, 5 and 4
On getting a rematch with Dylan Meyer after losing the Western Amateur final to him on Aug. 6 at The Knollwood Club, 3 and 1: “Yeah, I guess so. I'm just going to go out there and play my game and see what happens.”
On shooting 29 on the outward nine against Redman: “I mean, I didn't even know that until you just told me. I think he shot 2 under on the front nine, and this golf course is not easy. So 2 under is pretty solid. I just kind of felt like I had to keep pressing, trying to make a few birdies. I made a good putt on 9 from like 30 feet up the hill. I felt like the first couple holes I was a little bit off … but then after that I kind of got into the rhythm of it. I just played my game.”
On closing his match out on the 14th hole: “Yeah, you know, obviously my main goal was to win, and then I think I was 3-up at the turn and I just kept pressing. [It’s] some momentum for the afternoon. I’ve been playing really well lately, and hopefully it continues.”
Dylan Meyer: Defeated medalist Alex Smalley, 4 and 3
On rematch with Sam Horsfield: “We had a good time at the Western, and I think it's nice. It's going to be fun. You know, I saw he played fairly well and I played good, too, so I think it'll be a fun one.”
On his performance on Thursday morning against Smalley: “I played fairly well. I wish I would strike it a little better. This entire week I haven't been hitting the ball well like I did at the Western. It was just my short game. On this golf course I've putted well, but my ball-striking is coming along, and it's going to get better and better as each day goes by.”
Nick Carlson: Defeated 2016 British Amateur champion Scott Gregory, 19 holes
On building a 3-up lead on the opening nine: “I was 4 under through nine and lipped out a putt on the ninth to shoot 30. That doesn’t happen on The Monster. Scott [Gregory] caught me at the wrong time, I was playing well.”
What happened to your game over the last nine holes: “I faltered a little, but kept it together. I made a birdie on 12 and made some decent shots coming in. I shot like 3 under for the day. Even with two bogeys that is not too bad.”
On making the birdie on the 19th hole to close out the match: “I was just trying to stay calm on the tee because I knew what it meant. I hit a really, really good drive and got a good kick left that gave me a little bit of a better angle [into the green]. I drew a good lie and had 115, which was the perfect number for a little sand wedge. We’ve been working on it all week and I just executed it to about 5 feet.”
That moment when you advance to the #USAmateur Round of 16 ... @CarlsonNickJ knows the feeling. https://t.co/1JaMLEMpek
— USGA (@USGA) August 18, 2016
KK Limbhasut: Defeated Cristobal Del Solar, 4 and 3
On his performance: “I started off pretty slow today, was 2 over through five holes, but made a really good par on the sixth. That’s when I started getting my momentum. I made a really good birdie on 7, then played really well on the back nine, [and made] some good putts coming in.”
On the course suiting his game: “I like this course a lot because you have to hit the fairways in order to hit the greens. The rough is pretty severe and it’s hard to hold the green with a shot from the rough.”
What changed after he won holes 10 and 12 with birdies: “I figured out my approach shots. I hit it to 5 feet on 10, 10 feet on 12, and made a 7-footer for par on 14.”
Curtis Luck: Defeated Davis Riley, 4 and 2
On overcoming a tough Round-of-32 opponent: “I got off to a decent start early, which meant I think I was 2-up through 6, which obviously is a good lead early, but he fought his way back, and I made a couple little errors through the mid-stretch of our round. But I holed a really, really long [40-foot] putt on 13 for birdie to gain the momentum.”
On his fatigue level: “I'm feeling all right. I'm pretty fresh. This is my second event [of the summer], so I wouldn't say I had a full [summer] schedule, so I'm feeling pretty good.”
On getting advice from previous U.S. Amateur competitors from Western Australia: “One of my good friends is [2013 U.S. Amateur semifinalist] Brady Watt, and I know [2013 U.S. Amateur runner-up] Ollie Goss pretty well, too. Obviously [he] was a semifinalist here three years ago. It's just a tough week basically, so just got to do whatever you can to prepare well and make sure you're capable of playing the whole way through if you get the opportunity.”
Cameron Young: Defeated Stephen Franken, 23 holes
On winning an epic battle: “He was 1-up for a long time. It was one of those you expect to go right down to the end from the very beginning. I made a 12-footer on the very first hole to tie the hole, and from that point forward, it was just kind of knowing it was going to be a long match. It's one of those you just have to hang in there. I couldn't have asked myself to do much more than I did the last five holes down the end, and it just came out the right way today.”
On playing extra-hole matches in previous USGA championships: “You know, I played a really long one once, it went 24 holes [against George Cunningham in the Round of 16 of the 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur]. I played a couple 19-hole ones in the past couple years. But yeah, I think Stephen played unbelievably well down the end. I had three or four putts to win the match the last six or seven holes, and he kept making them before me or forced me to make some, and he never really made a mistake. He seemed he made almost everything he looked at the whole day.”
After 23 holes, Cameron Young defeats Stephen Franken to advance to the #USAmateur Round of 16 against Curtis Luck. pic.twitter.com/BuDNOmAinP
— USGA (@USGA) August 18, 2016
