U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 13, 2025

Niall Shiels Donegan

The Olympic Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Obviously super electric way to finish off that round, 17 and 18, insane putt. Walk me through kind of what happened out there.

NIALL SHIELS DONEGAN: Just kind of been a roller coaster of a summer. I had a lot of chances, and just kind of felt like I let it go coming down the stretch. I kind of just came out today after the playoff in the morning, just there's nothing to lose here. Playing in front of friends and family, like just go out there, give it your best shot, and you know what, if it doesn't work out, who cares?

That really helped me down the stretch. Coming off of a missed three-footer on 13, it was just kind of like, you know what, this is what you live for. Let's go for it.

Q. Back to that playoff this morning, how do you kind of go from that and then kind of resetting, gearing up for another match? What was that kind of process like?

NIALL SHIELS DONEGAN: I wouldn't even say it's like a reset. I think that playoff this morning really helped me. It got me into the competitive mindset super early on, gave me a good prep. Solid par down 9, which is a hole that I struggled on. Then a really good birdie down 10.

I think coming back in from that really just -- it helped me build some confidence and just really propelled me into this afternoon, which it worked out.

Q. A really nice crowd and kind of spectators there towards the end. What's it like playing in front of a crowd like this on a stage like the U.S. Amateur?

NIALL SHIELS DONEGAN: It's amazing. To have the -- I'm originally from Scotland, but I've grown up for the past 17 years in Mill Valley, which is like 30 minutes away. I mean, being out here for the past few days, it's just a bunch of friends and family from the local muni club, and they've just been getting me fired up. To be able to do that in front of all them, it means the world.

Q. Awesome. Obviously riding the energy off of today, how do you kind of reset going into tomorrow, and what's your mindset going into the round of 32?

NIALL SHIELS DONEGAN: It's a new day. Anything can happen. You've just got to flush it. Obviously there's a lot of positives to take, especially from that finish, but you know what, I don't know who I'm playing, but whoever I'm playing, he doesn't care what I did. So I've just got to do what I can do and see what happens.