U.S. SENIOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 28, 2025

Greg Sanders

Oak Hills Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Greg Sanders, Silver Medal, runner-up. When you look back on the totality of this week, what sticks out to you, and what have you been thankful for this week?

GREG SANDERS: Yeah, well, I can tell you this: If somebody said I could transport myself into the finals of the U.S. senior, I'd say, where do I sign up. Are you kidding me? This was a deep run for me. So I did not expect it. For sure I didn't expect it.

What else stands out? I was deep into the match play rounds. I held it together and made a couple just really awesome putts and just -- I don't know. I think mentally I was really good is probably what stands out.

Today, I don't know, man. I knew I could have won. But against McCoy, you can't just be average. You've got to be really good. Of course his start just blew me out.

But I'm down three after 3 and finish after 3. It wasn't completely terrible, but it was hard to win. That's all.

Q. Talking about that start, did that change the way you approached the rest of the holes? Obviously it's hard to flip that switch and get going --

GREG SANDERS: I thought about that, but the problem is when every hole is four paces from the edge, it's a razor's edge. How do you do this? It turns into a bogey quick, and you can't afford -- I actually said to myself, I've got to be in position to pick my spots. Otherwise I'm not just playing for par, but I can't make a mistake on the wrong side. You can't really put your pedal down on most of the holes. A couple of them but not all of them.

It's still fairly, like, conservative, and unfortunately I knew -- Mike didn't look like he was going to make a mistake. It was an uphill battle, that's all. It was tough.

Q. Obviously with your appearance at the U.S. Am last week, Senior Am this week, you are exempt already into the Mid-Amateur coming up next month. Are you planning on playing --

GREG SANDERS: Can you confirm that?

Q. Yeah, our runner-ups, both finalists, are automatically in.

GREG SANDERS: I've been asking Macie, and she doesn't know what all the exemptions are.

Q. So for the Mid-Am this year at Troon, both the finalists are exempt into that.

GREG SANDERS: Do you think somebody is going to send me an email in that regard?

Q. I think so. I hope so.

GREG SANDERS: Okay, wow. If that's true, that's really awesome because -- oh, my gosh, I could get in trouble with my wife because we're supposed to have a trip.

Q. Well, now it's a trip to Arizona.

GREG SANDERS: No, we live there. I can sleep in my own bed.

Q. That's amazing.

GREG SANDERS: That is amazing. There's a chance I might get in trouble because I think we're supposed to do a family trip. I don't know that for sure. I would like to know that really soon because that's like next month. That's awesome. I love it. Can you make that happen?

Q. Yeah, I'm very sure that they will. Is it kind of a confidence booster to be able to play in the U.S. Am and then come in here doing well? Is that kind of a confidence booster?

GREG SANDERS: Do you know what, I remember reading a thing like decades ago where I think it was Jerry Rice, he trained way harder than on the football field playing the game. The U.S. Amateur felt like that. It felt like I'm training really -- like this is extreme, and anything else seems way easier. It's not that simple, but that is the analogy.