THE AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

June 18, 2025

Filippo Ponzano

Quick Quotes

Q. Speaking with Felipe after a hard 2 & 1 victory over your fellow teammate Matteo Cristoni. Tell us about beating a teammate like that.

FILIPPO PONZANO: It's always tough because you don't really know how to approach the match and you don't really know how to angry to be because it's your friend. It's different to let's say playing somebody you don't know, but I just focused on my game. I tried to not lose shots during the round, not giving free shots, so yeah, I went bogey-free in 17 holes, so I'm very pleased about that.

Here he played very good, as well. He just made a couple more bogeys than me, and that was the difference in the end.

Q. Obviously you said you went bogey-free, but was there a particular hole or anything where you got the momentum during the match?

FILIPPO PONZANO: Actually, I kind of got the momentum straight away because I started off with winning No. 1. Then there was like in the middle of the match, that's the most critical point usually, and it was, I think, on 11. I had like a four-meter putt to halve the hole and to stay 4-up, and that was very important to make because he could have got a run on me. But I kind of, let's say, stopped it there.

Q. Now that you're through to the second round of the match play, describe your emotions. How does it feel?

FILIPPO PONZANO: I'm actually very happy because this morning I wasn't even certain I was going to be playing the match play stage because I was playing the playoff. Thankfully had a birdie on 18 on the second playoff hole and got through, and it was very unlucky because I got Matteo. I could have got anybody else; I got Matteo, and also my other two Italian mates are playing one against another in the first round, so it's very unlucky for us Italians. But it's okay.

Yeah, so I'm very happy of today and can't wait to play tomorrow.

Q. How do you reset or recover after playing a very stressful playoff this morning and then you've obviously got another match play? How did you get over that?

FILIPPO PONZANO: I went off from the golf course. I just went back to the hotel really quick and tried to redo the routine all over, and I just got here, and I felt like a new player, a new day, and what happened a few hours earlier didn't happen in my head. Yeah, I just tried to reset, and it worked.

Q. We're obviously playing the Amateur Championship, one of the most premier amateur championships in the world. What does it mean to be through to the second round and have a chance at lifting the trophy?

FILIPPO PONZANO: It's super cool because last year unluckily I messed up a little bit the second round of the qualifying stage, and I missed out by one or two shots, I don't remember, and I was very sad about that because I really wanted to play the match play stages. This year already getting to the match play stage is good. It's a very big goal. But advancing the first round is already a good start to the match play games.