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U.S. MID-AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIPSeptember 17, 2019Lukas MichelAurora, Colorado Q. First USGA championship, and what were you expecting coming in? LUKAS MICHEL: I was expecting a good event. I've heard a lot, even from all the way in Australia. I knew the courses were great, Colorado and CommonGround, two modern courses but designed by sort of golden age architect aficionados, Tom Doak and Coore & Crenshaw. They build good stuff. Yeah, I was looking forward to that. I was looking forward to seeing Denver. I've never been here before. Yeah, it's all going really, really well so far. Q. Now to make the quarterfinals, that probably wasn't in your dreams coming into this? LUKAS MICHEL: Yeah, I guess not. I mean, I knew I'd been playing well leading into the event, but any time you've got 264 players to get down to the top 8 is always going to be a challenge. I'm obviously pleased with how far I've got so far, and looking forward to hopefully continuing. Q. Even though this is your first USGA championship, you're a seasoned golfer. I mean, you made match play at the Australian Amateur this year among other things. How will all those experiences help you tomorrow? LUKAS MICHEL: Yeah, I think I've had some pretty good success in match play tournaments. I've made the semifinal of the South Australian Amateur last year, and made the match play at the Aussie Am at the beginning of this year, got beaten by a really good player from Japan. So yeah, I've had some good success in match play events. Yeah, so I'm pretty confident leading into the rest of the week. Q. Does the wind blow like this in Perth? LUKAS MICHEL: Well, so I grew up in Perth, but I actually moved to Melbourne probably -- it was 2012, and I've played my golf there since. Either way, they're both windy cities, so yeah, I'm used to it. Melbourne has got some of the best courses, as well, in the world. The golf course out there currently how it's playing, firm and fast, it suits my game perfectly. I play at Royal Melbourne and metropolitan and Kingston Heath all the time, and they're always set up like this, so it's almost like being at home. Q. What's good about your game right now? What are the strong points? LUKAS MICHEL: I'd say my putting is really solid now. It kind of -- I came into the tournament, that was probably the one that I think that could have gone either way, and it's just been really, really good. Putting is good, iron play and wedging has been really good, too. So yeah, if I just keep it in play off the tee, then yeah, I should keep playing well, I guess. Q. Tell me about today's match a little bit. You got off to a good start and you held that lead. LUKAS MICHEL: Yeah, I mean, I birdied 2, hit it pretty close there, and then, yeah, I guess we sort of traded blows throughout the front nine, but I kind of kept a pretty good lead. I think I was 2- or 3-up through 9 and then just sort of held on for the rest. But he played well, and it was a good match, and yeah. Q. And you closed him out with a birdie on a par-5? LUKAS MICHEL: Yeah, I hit a poor tee shot actually and then had to wedge it out down to the bottom of the hill on 15, but hit it pretty close and rolled the putt in. Q. How long do you think the putt was? LUKAS MICHEL: It would have been 10 feet maybe. It was just a little right-to-lefter. Yeah, rolled it in nicely. I holed a lot of really good putts today, so hopefully that continues. Q. Have you heard from any of your buddies that have played in USGA championships before, and what have they told you? LUKAS MICHEL: Yeah, so a buddy of mine from back home, Todd sin net, he played out here when the 2014 U.S. Amateur was in Denver. Q. 2012. LUKAS MICHEL: 2012, okay, yeah. He played at CommonGround, as well, and he's been wishing me good luck. Yeah, I've heard from a lot of other guys that haven't played the events, but yeah, I'm getting a lot of good support, messages and phone calls and stuff. It's exciting. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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