U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 19, 2023

Nick Dunlap

Cherry Hills Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. One step closer to the ultimate goal. Talk us through that match out there today. You were pretty locked in.

NICK DUNLAP: Yeah, kind of handed him a gift on 5. Bad bogey, middle of the fairway with a 7-iron. Honestly the same thing that happened yesterday. I handed -- who did I play yesterday? They all run together.

Handed him two gifts early, but I let it linger and I shouldn't have. Took me until probably 8 or 9 to get over it, and I was pretty determined today, I'm out here for four hours, let's give it all I've got for four hours, and if it doesn't go my way it doesn't go my way, but I wasn't going to let the same thing happen.

Q. I don't think you missed a putt after you hit that birdie on 8. How much did seeing that one go in take some pressure off your shoulders?

NICK DUNLAP: A lot, yeah. Like you said, it was just nice to see one go in. I kind of got the tee, I felt the momentum switch a little bit. I was able to put some heat on him, put it in the fairway, put it on the green. Try to make him do something. It got windy. There's hundreds of people out here, it's the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur, it's a lot of pressure. So I thought if I could just kind of get the tee, make him do something, make him try to make some birdies, hopefully maybe I'll roll in a putt, which fortunately I did on 12. Just hung in there the rest of the day.

Q. Why are you so comfortable in this situation? Obviously you won the Junior, you're super experienced in match play. You're 29-2 now. What makes you so good at this format?

NICK DUNLAP: Just a belief in myself. I'm a fighter. I don't give up, no matter what the situation is, no matter what's thrown at me. I see it as a challenge, and I kind of take the mindset of I get a bad break, it's not why me, like why not me.

I just love the game, to be honest with you. I love when your hands are shaking, and that's what I practice for. That's why I get up early, that's why I get up at 5:00 and work out and hit balls at 10:00 at night.

Just to kind of lean back on that and look, my preparation is done, all I can do is now go out and have fun, enjoy the moment, take in the atmosphere that everybody brings here. It's really cool especially to be a part of.

Q. Are your hands shaking out there?

NICK DUNLAP: Yeah, you are. Maybe I don't show it as much as others, but yeah, you've definitely got to calm yourself. Like I said, if you love the game and if you're wanting the end goal, which I do, you're going to be nervous.

Q. This golf course itself, if you were to describe the course to someone who hasn't been out here, what do you think about it?

NICK DUNLAP: Somebody that has a lot of creativity is going to play well here. I think the first seven holes you can kind of take advantage of, pushing it a little further up the fairway off the tee. But the last 10 or 12 holes you've got to be creative. You've got to have some shot shaping, and I think that's obviously why Phil and Arnie did so well out here.

We've got to hit a lot of quality irons coming in. There's a lot of slope on these last couple of greens. You've got to be comfortable with six-, eight-footers. The putt on 16, I was aimed seven feet out to the right, and you're not even looking at the hole. It's out of your peripheral vision.

Just kind of that, and like I said, just trust yourself.

Q. Talk about the atmosphere. A lot of "Roll Tide" and the people are right there with you. They're on top of you.

NICK DUNLAP: It's so cool, and just to see the amount of people that came out the last three days, it started gored owe a lot people out here and then it's just cool to see the amount of people show up day after day after day and the atmosphere that people bring, the cheers, the yells. You can hear it across the golf course. It's really neat, and like I said, I'm just enjoying the crap out of it.

Q. You're racking your memory about who you even played yesterday. Talk about the grind of this week.

NICK DUNLAP: It's a lot, especially after the Western two weeks ago or last week or however long ago it was. It's just a lot of golf, and no matter what happens, you've got to take the good from the bad. Forget the bad, go on to the next day. It's golf, you never know what can happen. Yesterday I was kind of struggling putting and today I putted nicely the last 12 holes.

I think it's just that and trying to have short-term memory.

Q. The crowd, you never know who you might see in the crowd. At the turn Peyton Manning was out there. Did you grab his eye or no?

NICK DUNLAP: I actually didn't. Kind of when I'm out there I don't see anybody. It's me and my caddie. We go to work, we stick to our game plan, execute what we can do. After we hit, it's out of our control.

It doesn't matter how many people are out there, it's still golf. If you have a 150-yard shot, it's the same as back home, a 150-yard shot, and that's the mindset I take into it.

Q. What does it mean to have an opportunity to join Tiger as a guy to win the Junior Am and the Am possibly?

NICK DUNLAP: It's pretty good. It would be pretty cool company. It's something that's been a goal of mine for a long, long time. It's the same thing, 36 holes; it's a marathon tomorrow. It's a lot of golf.

There's going to be ups and downs, there's going to be changes in momentum, there's going to be -- I don't know what's going to be thrown at me, but I'm ready for it.

Q. You're almost guaranteed into the Masters next year and you have the U.S. Open next year. What does getting to play in those two majors mean to you?

NICK DUNLAP: Cool. Yeah, I mean, you watch it on TV growing up as a kid, Augusta is Augusta. There's nothing like it. I'm fortunate enough to get the opportunity to go to St Andrews, so fortunately to have St Andrews and Augusta on my schedule coming up, it's beyond what I could put into words. It's really cool.

Q. Both your parents were here today?

NICK DUNLAP: They flew in last night. My good buddy Scott Weaver caddied for me in my first Open. Two other, Chris Wood and Amanda and I think Coach Stew already flew out. I think some of my teammates may fly out and watch tomorrow. Just the support I've gotten here and back home is remarkable.