U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 13, 2026

Carter Loflin

Merion Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. It took you 19 holes but you got it done. Talk to me about it.

CARTER LOFLIN: Yeah, I mean, honestly, I would say that neither of us played our best golf. I think he would say that as well. We were kind of giving each other some breaks. He gave me a couple holes.

But I've played a good bit with him. I knew he would come roaring back at some point, and he did. 14, 15, he played those holes pretty well. 15 especially, that pin is so hard to hit it close to, and he hit it to like three feet. I had to make him putt it. It was an incredible shot. I was about to give it to him.

But yeah, just losing 17 and 18, 36 holes on this golf course is just so draining. It's not like a normal test just because there's so much you have to think about. 18 holes is a lot out here. 36 is a different beast, and I kind of experienced that today.

But I was just able to regroup on 1. My caddie Jack really kept me in it, which was nice. He's been really good for me this week. He's slowed me down. He's been a positive voice on the shoulder. So it's been good.

Q. Talk to me about 18. You needed to make a 4. You made a 5. What were you thinking walking to 1, and what were you telling yourself not to just quit because so many times you lose in regulation, you just can't bring it back for overtime?

CARTER LOFLIN: I was thinking I blew it, to be completely honest. I mean, those holes are so difficult, like I said, and you're just so drained. I'm like, I've just got to figure out how to find the fairway and put a ball on the green and give myself a putt. That's literally my main objective. But all the momentum was going his way, and it seemed like his brain was working a lot better than my brain was. Yeah, my head really wasn't in a good spot.

Like I said, my caddie really helped me out, hit me in it. The wedge shot was great. I kind of blacked out.

Q. Did it help you knowing how William plays? I imagine you've played a good amount of golf with him or seen him throughout SEC play?

CARTER LOFLIN: Yeah, it does and it doesn't because when I see that I have him in the morning that I'm going to have to play a full match -- I knew he was an incredible player, and I know that he's not going to really just roll over. From that standpoint, I just know the type of competitor he is.

But yeah, it's golf. There's no way you can ever predict what your opponent is going to do.

Yeah, it's fun going out there with somebody that you're kind of familiar with rather than somebody you don't know at all for sure.

Q. You talked about your local caddie this week. Can you talk about how important and how helpful it's been to have somebody who knows this course as well as he does?

CARTER LOFLIN: It's paramount. Yeah, he's been here for 35 years. He knows every nook and cranny of this place. I was telling the lady from Golf Channel a minute ago, Emilia, he just really -- like I said, he slows me down, but he really knows the greens, like, really, really well. If I'm ever 50/50 on a read, he's just like, no, it's right here. I'm like, okay.

I know I can live and die by that because you're only going to read so many correctly, but I feel like whenever he gives me a read, it's correct a lot of the time. It's been kind of a -- it's been a nice thing to have. Just knowing where to be able to miss the ball, too, from the fairwayto like every flag location is big too.

But yeah, we've really worked well together this week. We've had a good time.

Q. Is there maybe a specific instance on a green that you maybe read something and he comes in and just completely overrides you or something that really stands out from either one of your matches today or all week?

CARTER LOFLIN: It's definitely happened. I don't remember exactly what it was. But the putt on 1 was totally his read. I kind of had an idea. I know it's breaking left; it's uphill. It's really not that difficult of a putt, other than the circumstances. Yeah, he's so confident, and he's like, are you seeing it right here, and I'm like, sure. Hit it, went in.

But yeah, I think that was probably one of the ones where if I had said something, he probably would have been like, yeah, no, that's not going to ride. But it's happened a few times this week where we've seen opposite things.

Q. Having someone on the bag like that, I have to imagine having him eases your mind even a little bit more, just allowing you to focus on the golf, knowing that a lot of that small stuff you've already developed a good strategy to not have to worry about it as much?

CARTER LOFLIN: Yeah, I know I have the right club in my head pretty much every time, which is so huge on this golf course because it makes it to where you're never going to be in too bad of a spot.

But yeah, he's been so good about just making sure that my mind is in a good spot. He definitely helped me reset a bunch. It helped out tremendously.

Q. You played well in stroke play. You're one of eight people left that has a chance to lift the trophy come Sunday. How do you sum up the week so far? What's been the biggest key for you, the fact that you're one of the last eight standing?

CARTER LOFLIN: I don't really know, to be honest. I've been striking the ball pretty well until today, until the second 18 today. It just got really sloppy. I think that mostly I was just fatigued related to the golf course. How difficult it is, it really starts to get to you because you see some stuff that you didn't see the first time around. Like every single time, you're like, that rough over there is really thick compared to what I thought it was. This place really isn't as good of a spot to miss as I thought it was. You pick up some stuff too that can help, but the week has just been kind of whirlwind, honestly. Stroke play was -- from the scorecard probably looked like a breeze. It didn't feel like a breeze until like the last four holes.

But yeah, it's kind of weird to think about having the opportunity to win this tournament because you have to have so much go your way. So many things can happen. I've just got to remember that it's not going to be perfect. It's going to be ugly at times. I can't worry about making it look good. It's just like, get the job done, try to move on. Everybody is tired. That's kind of the main thing.