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U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIPAugust 15, 2019William HolcombVillage of Pinehurst, North Carolina THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome William Holcomb V from Crockett, Texas, 2 & 1 winner over Pearson Coody. You advance to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur. Congratulations on that. What were the keys to your matches that you won today to get you to the point where you can say you're a quarterfinalist at the U.S. Amateur? WILLIAM HOLCOMB: Well, I'd just say this is like only my fourth or fifth round of playing match play, and yesterday I was like 4-down through 10, and I don't know, I just hung in there and basically I just didn't lose, and so I just kind of learned like what I'm doing and understanding match play because I just didn't understand it at all before. So I don't know, I've just been kind of having fun. A lot more loose than I was yesterday. I'm not so worried about missing a putt or something. I'm just going to try to hit it as good as I can, and I don't know, I've just kind of figured out how to play it better than bludgeoning myself than I did in the North and South here. Q. The win over Pearson, it went down to the end. Lots of back and forth. Was there one critical stretch where you thought, this is going to be the one I win? WILLIAM HOLCOMB: You know, Pearson and Parker, too, they're both just such phenomenal players. It's kind of one of those things, like I didn't know the two guys I played the first two rounds, so I just kind of focused on what I could do. But then with Pearson, I know he's like just a phenomenal player. I mean, he's so good, and he's not going to not commit to a shot. Knowing that, I was just like, I'm going to have to be better at that than him, and to be honest, he probably played better than me, I just -- I clutched up and made some good up-and-downs and stuff when I needed to, when I was out of position. That helped with momentum and stuff. That's all I can really say about the final match. I mean, there wasn't a time where I was like, I'm going to win. I was 2-up early, and I thought, if I can just -- I've got to keep the foot on the pedal with this guy because he's just ruthless. That's what both his brothers -- the grandpa won the Masters. They're made to golf. I just grew up a small-town kid, so I haven't had that mentorship that they have. So I know that they're raw. Q. I'm curious what have you learned about playing match play? You said that you haven't experienced a lot. What have you learned in this short period of time? WILLIAM HOLCOMB: Like on this golf course, just make pars. I mean, this place is brutal. I probably shot 75 or 76 in every match. But I'm just focused on what I can do, controlling what I can control, and then whatever happens -- I mean, I can't force myself to win, if that makes sense. It just doesn't work like that. It's golf. And just kind of hanging loose, and me and my caddie were so positive this afternoon. I noticed like I hit it in probably 15 bunkers in the last like five or six holes, and every time we're like, this lie is perfect. Like this is as good as it gets right here. I mean, we'd made like a ton of up-and-downs, and I hit a shot on 16 that we were like 220, 200 front edge, I was trying to hit like a 200 shot, and I had to cover this thing, just got all these wire graphs -- Pinehurst loves throwing stuff in your face. I'm just like, we've got a great lie. That's what we talked about. We didn't talk about what might happen that's bad. So that's what I've learned, just positivity and that sort of thing, pars. Q. Your nature seems to be that you kind of let things fly. You let things roll off your back. Does that help you with your limited experience in match play because you are able to just say, okay, we're going to go with it? WILLIAM HOLCOMB: Well, yes, and I mean, I harp on things sometimes. That's probably why I'm not as good of a player as I could be. But yeah, I mean, I would say my caddie helps me do that. Keith Silva is like -- he's this goofy guy, he's 70 years old, he's from Liverpool, he's got a ponytail, and he's just like, great read by the caddie, not great putt. He's just like funny. So I think he really helps everything. He's been phenomenal this week. That's helped my nature be better. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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