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U.S. SENIOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 30, 2017

Sean Knapp

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Q. You've been in the USGA semifinals before. This was your third one; is that right?
SEAN KNAPP: Yep.

Q. What did it take to get over the hump?
SEAN KNAPP: Well, I think it's what we talked about. Sometimes you get to these types of situations, and you advance, so that's your experience, and you were successful. I think for most of us, it takes an understanding of how important it is to be here, what's at hand. The chance may never come again in a lifetime. You can't take it lightly. It's so tough. It's such a grind. We talked about Nathan being -- really I was best man at his wedding. It's my best buddy, and how did he ever do it four times.

But it's a grind all week, and at the end of the day, you can easily find yourself in various situations, and I have. I'm not going to speak for anybody, so let me just speak for me. I found myself saying, okay, you're 2-down, you're 3-down, this is a tough match, whatever, it's even. It's okay if you lose because you've had a great week, and you just cannot do that, and you just have to fight tooth and nail to the end.

When I got 3-up -- that's my MO. I've got to get up and not lose it, but those few holes on the back -- you know, we got to 17, and that's kind of what I said. We had a shot. I don't know how that shot got as far as it did. It mystically went long into the wind, and I thought I hit it perfect. Now I'm out of it. I mean, I'm going to make bogey and we're going to go to 18, and everything is spinning, and I looked at Dave Brown, my caddie, who was medalist, and I said, we could play this out to the right and just accept like a nine-footer, which I might have done if he would have hit a really horrific bunker shot, but I thought he was going to make that. I said, we've just got to hit the pin and try to win it. What I'm trying to encapsulate is you need to play to win, and obviously you have to have the game to do that, and I haven't always had the game, but today I think I had a little bit of game and I had the desire.

Q. This is a grueling part of the tournament. Is fatigue setting in quite a bit?
SEAN KNAPP: No. You know, Scottie and I talked about this. I play 36 all the time carrying my bag. I have always felt like so many of the important days of the year are 36 holes for an amateur. Not so much for seniors, but I still play quite a bit of regular golf, so to speak, and at the end of the day, I condition myself for it. I'm not trying to sound like a hero about it, not trying to say anything one way or another, I just feel like it's important. Sure, you're going to be tired, but at the same time, it's something that I feel prepared to do, and it's something that I enjoy doing, walking, the whole pace of it, and I think that's helped me through the way.

Q. So you were 3-up with four to play, take us through the bogeys on 15 and 16.
SEAN KNAPP: Dumb and dumber? I don't know. I've got a 9-iron from the middle of the fairway. I wanted to hit a cut -- I thought it was too much club.

Q. This was 15?
SEAN KNAPP: 15, and Dave and I both agreed that we just didn't have a good club. It's a tough pin. And I thought about just hitting like a soft 9-iron cut or a hard pitching wedge, and I just know that contour of the green. You saw what happened to David. It'll take it to the back left, and I just -- you know, I just kind of hit a panic, hold on, hope thing. It works well on Saturdays with your guys, but it didn't work out well out here. Kind of hit a good chip down there, and I was in no man's land with the read, and I hit my worst drive of the day on 16. It was just so wishy-washy. Probably should have been hitting 3-wood there. Another bad mental mistake, and I'm the one that's up. I don't need to hit driver. We talked about it, I cracked my driver, that's like the fourth drive -- I've used every driver in the pro shop every day. That's the fourth driver I've used. You're just not totally comfortable, and should have used my 3-wood. But I hit an incredible shot with that 8-iron from around a tree, cut it like 30 yards. I thought it was like 20 feet, and it was against the back collar. I hit a good putt, whatever. I don't want to sound like a martyr. I deserved to make bogey there after the tee ball. But once I got a good break, I thought maybe -- and then it was game on. I keep hitting hybrid there. I don't want to hit driver on 17. Everybody seems to be chunking it. I played Doug yesterday, he hit it heavy into the bunker after a tee ball. It's just a tee shot. You're on a downslope, and the fairways are so tight, and when they're that thin, it's tough to get underneath them, and the rest is history. I'm glad that I was able to escape. It's never easy taking down a champ. That's just all it is to it.

Q. And now tomorrow you have a two-time champion Paul Simson, who won his match.
SEAN KNAPP: Yeah, I'm a little more familiar with Paul. I know his game, and I know what to expect. You know, there will be some things that are a disadvantage -- an advantage to him in terms of things he does. I think there's going to be some things that are an advantage to me. It's 18 holes, it's a little bit of a sprint, so we'll get out there and do it. I know he's playing great, but you know, I want this to be framed in the proper context. A lot of the pressure is off now. It's about winning, okay. I mean, if you guys follow the exemptions and stuff like that, a guy like me, I'm living on the edge, man, year to year, trying to qualify. I grinded my butt off to make it to here. There was only one spot. We had a ton of good players at our site. I leak out of there. Dave is at our site, okay, he's medalist there.

At the end of the day, when you start to advance and you get to the finals, there's just a lot of gravy, a lot of carrots, so to speak, that come with it. Not that winning will be even more, but tomorrow for the first time, I can focus on that as opposed to -- you know, just saying, wow, there's so much at hand here, so much at stake. You've got this exemption, you've got that exemption, whole life is on the line. I'm excited about it. This is what we all play golf for, and I'm familiar with Paul, and we'll just go get it tomorrow.

Q. 18-hole final, do you feel like that's an advantage for you versus the Mid-Am of 36?
SEAN KNAPP: I'm going to say it's not to my advantage, but Paul is playing so well, it probably is to my advantage. If I can get off to a good lead, then maybe I can hold on. You know, obviously if you get behind, you'd want to play more holes. You know, I would like a 36-hole final. I understand why it's an 18. That's the cards we're dealt, and so we are going to go play.

Q. Talk a little bit about the camaraderie of this championship. Is it different from the Mid-Am, the Am, or just in general with your fellow competitors there seems to be a lot of kinship.
SEAN KNAPP: I have to agree with that. I think there's a respect quotient due to the fact that we've played a lot together over the years. This is my first by far -- I could tell you how many experiences with Paul Simson or any of the other guys. I do have to give a shout-out to both of the guys I played with, Dave Nocar and obviously Dave in the finals. You know, it's what you want in golf. There was no gamesmanship. There was no gimmicky stuff. It was all just let's just see who is the better man today. I can't tell you how respectful I am for those two guys today to have spent the entire day today. It was really special in that regard.

Q. Different than in a Mid-Am or an Am?
SEAN KNAPP: Absolutely, not that you can't get great guys there, because you do. I just think that there was just something special about it. It was one of the more special days -- I can't articulate that well enough. And I think -- hopefully it comes a little bit my way, too, in terms of what happened out there. It was just really good. Really good. You had to see it to understand it. I can't articulate it. It was gentlemanly golf the way golf is supposed to be played.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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