U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 21, 1997

Joel Kribel

JOEL KRIBEL: Yeah. It was a tale of two completely different rounds out there with the way things went. I mean, this morning, you know, I almost had a heart attack a couple times. And this afternoon, you know, I was able to relax a little bit more. I got a lead early, and, you know, just didn't make too many mistakes coming in.

JOEL KRIBEL: Okay. Well, Ian took a two-up lead through 3. He won 2 and 3 with a par and a birdie. I won 4. Let's see.

JOEL KRIBEL: Okay. Let's see, I was three up going into 13, and I had about a 4-footer to go four up with five to go, and, you know, that would have been nice to get that in. I ended up missing that, and he goes and birdies the next two holes to pull within one. I slashed it around for a long time on 16, and gave him that hole. So it was all square after I was three up with five to go. And we both birdied 17. And coming into 18, he hit it way right, and I guarded against that, and I hit it way left. And we both pitched up there to -- he was 20 feet, I was about 12, and we both missed to go extra holes. On the 19th, after I saw where both of our drives ended up, I would have loved to have taken a tie and gone on to the next hole, but as it turned out, I made a pretty good up-and-down from short of the green about 40 yards, and he 3-putted from about 50 feet. That one was really nice to get out of the way after being in such a bad spot on the 18th.

JOEL KRIBEL: Probably the way I putted on the last few holes. You know, after losing three holes in a row to have the match all squared to, you know, I made a good 5-footer for birdie after he birdied 17. And 18, I really thought I won the match after I hit that putt. You know, it was a really fast downhill left-to-right, and I really couldn't have hit it any better, and it just slid by on the high side. And I made a pretty good solid putt on the 19th to win it.

JOEL KRIBEL: Yeah. I know that Edward had been playing really well because I did see -- I mean, he won his morning match really, really handily. And, you know, I just wanted to go out and play a solid round. And he made a couple bogeys early that gave me some holes. And, you know, I built up a pretty good lead. And then from there, you know, I just tried not to make mistakes, and I think I didn't make a bogey the whole day. Edward (Loar) got into the position where he saw that I was, you know, playing pretty well and playing conservatively and going to make pars. So he started firing at some pins, and it just added up to a few more bogeys. It's tough to catch up once he got a lead like that.

JOEL KRIBEL: Not really. I mean, you know, it's just when the match is starting to kind of wind down, you want to kind of have a little surge in there. And it's just been nice that I've been able to play those holes well and either, you know, build up a lead or whatnot.

JOEL KRIBEL: It's more of an endurance test than any other day, obviously. But, you know, it just depends on, you know, who you draw and how they play as far as which day is the toughest. So it's really -- it's tough to say, you know. As far as playing golf, I don't know which day is the toughest. It just depends on who you get.

JOEL KRIBEL: They're a little tired. It was kind of nice to get one over with early, after going so long this morning. But we get used to it, playing in college, you know. Most of the guys who are still around are college players and, you know, we play 36 most times in those tournaments, so we get used to it, but you are a little beat up at the end of the day.

JOEL KRIBEL: I don't know. It's tough to say. I mean, you're kind of speaking of the Tiger effect, where a lot of the U.S. Amateurs that he went into, you know, he was one or two up before he even teed off because of the intimidation factor. I don't think I quite have, you know, the same intimidation as he does. But, you know, I really don't know how to answer that.

JOEL KRIBEL: Yeah, it's tough not to, because, you know, ever since my loss in the semis last year, I've wanted to get another shot at making it to the finals. And, you know, it's something you have to kind of, you know, it's nice to think about, but when you're out there playing, you have to concentrate on what you're doing in the present.

JOEL KRIBEL: I mean, I enter every tournament to try to win it, so, you know, if I don't -- if I don't win, there will be a little bit of disappointment there, but I feel like I've had a pretty good week so far, and I've had a good time, so that's the main thing.

JOEL KRIBEL: Yeah, definitely. The wind played a big factor. That's why I felt that, you know, playing as tightly as I did, I think I made one birdie and 11 pars on this afternoon round. And, you know, I felt like I shot about 66 just because the conditions were a lot more difficult. And it's a good thing, because I think the course is going to dry out after all the rain we had.

JOEL KRIBEL: It was pretty constant going the same way. I didn't have too much indecision out there.

JOEL KRIBEL: Not this afternoon. I'd have to think a while for the morning.

JOEL KRIBEL: It's a long time.