U.S. SENIOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 27, 2025

Mike Sposa

Mike Mccoy

Oak Hills Country Club

Quick Quotes

MIKE SPOSA: I tugged the tee shot on 1 a little bit, enough to catch that limb, and that was the only bogey made all day.

I played good. Look, stepping up on the second hole after he just hit a solid shot just underneath, being 1-up through 1, I know that's super early in the match, but I got over it and hit a good shot and made the putt after he buried the 18- or whatever footer that was. Then I was fine. I wasn't ever unsettled. The match was good the whole time. There were putts that could have gone in for either one of us.

We both had killer up-and-downs. I gave you one hole and you gave me one hole and that was it. I gave you 1 and you gave me 10.

MIKE McCOY: That's right.

MIKE SPOSA: Every other hole was earn to tie or earn to win, and that's what it is. I don't really have much to say other than it was a hell of a match.

MIKE McCOY: It was a hell of a match. We played really good.

MIKE SPOSA: Fortunately he's one of my great friends and now we'll have something to talk about for years. I'm going to have to get payback at some point, otherwise this is going to get pretty one-sided. But he's tough as a two-dollar steak. I hit a good shot in there on 18 and he hit it inside me. I looked at him like, you're my hero. He is. He's a great player for a reason, and we just saw it.

Q. Obviously you had probably one of the toughest roads to the semifinals in the whole bracket, whether it's USGA champions or runner-ups, medalists. Going into today, did that affect the way you played? Did you feel like you were sharper because of that? How did your experience through the bracket lead up to today?

MIKE SPOSA: Honestly, and I don't mean this to sound in an arrogant way or any disrespect, but up until January 8, I really didn't follow senior golf. I knew who Mike was because I've known Mike since around 2012, and I knew his accomplishments in amateur golf and all that, and I knew a couple other guys. But really other than Todd White in the first round because he's my neighbor, I didn't really know these guys.

Quite frankly, I played Saturday with Tiger Woods at Torrey Pines and watched him shoot 62 so my days of being intimidated are kind of done. There's nobody going to be that good.

So everything is kind of like, all right, this is doable, you've just got to play good, and that's it. It's not a who are you playing or what they've done here recently. It's still about executing shots and applying pressure and taking advantage of their mistakes when it allows. That's it. There's no other way to say it. That's it. I played good today. I think I shot 2-under par. He played better. That's that.

Q. Where are you from?

MIKE SPOSA: I live in Spartanburg, South Carolina. I grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I grew up in Coral Springs at Eagle Trace. But we've been in Spartanburg for 15 years now, and he's a Des Moines, Iowa, guy. But our paths crossed years ago down at --

MIKE McCOY: I've been mooching equipment off him.

MIKE SPOSA: I've been taking care of him and helping him with product, and now I'm not helping him anymore. We're done. I'm going to start sending him crap. I'll be like, here's a driver; you don't like it? That's so weird. (Laughter.)

Whatever you do, don't give him any putters because he is putting great. You should get a backup. That's what I would say. Get a backup.

Q. If you were to win tomorrow, you'd be the first player in USGA history to win both the Mid-Am and the Senior Am. Nobody has accomplished that feat before. What would that mean to you and what are your thoughts going into tomorrow?

MIKE McCOY: Well, I really don't want to get ahead of myself to be honest with you, but just going to play hard tomorrow. Just going to expect a tough match and just kind of keep the same mindset and just keep playing aggressive.

It's hard to win these, you know. I've played in a lot of them. They're hard to win. So you've just got to -- it's a chance, so you try and make the most of it.

Q. It seems like the tides kind of flipped with those birdies on 12 and 13. What went well for you there --

MIKE McCOY: Just hit some good putts. Made a good putt on 12. That was a great putt. Then 13, I made a good putt. I had it in the morning on the other side of the hole on the same line, so I had a pretty good idea what it was going to do, so that was helpful, otherwise I probably would have missed it.

We both tried to knock it on that --

MIKE SPOSA: Yeah, I knew your ball was over as hot as it hit, and that's when I went to the mini-driver and I tried to sling it and overslung it. That's probably the only shot I wish I had back was that bunker shot. It's not a hard bunker shot, and I just gassed it --

MIKE McCOY: I wished I had your bunker shot instead of mine.

MIKE SPOSA: Oh, no doubt. Mine was not that hard. Yours you had to hit the pin. That was the only chance. Otherwise you're off the green.

MIKE McCOY: Exactly.

Q. Obviously the 18th hole, a lot of drama there. Can you just walk me through that hole?

MIKE McCOY: I had 160, figured it was playing 55, and I felt like maybe there was a pinch of helping wind. I just hit a really solid 9-iron, and I just -- I didn't want to finesse one in there. I wanted to hit it hard because he obviously stuffed it in there. Yeah, it was a good shot under the circumstances.

Q. Last question, going into tomorrow, obviously you've had a really long week. Do you feel like there's one part of your game that's working better than the rest that you're kind of leaning on or is everything coming together at the same time?

MIKE McCOY: I've just played pretty good. I'm driving it in play most of the time and my iron play has been pretty good, making a few putts. Everything is in good order.