U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 19, 1996

Trip Kuehne

TRIP KUEHNE: Bogeyed the first hole. Birdied, par 3 the 3rd hole. Birdied the 4th hole. Birdied the 6th hole. Bogeyed 11. Bogeyed 11 and 18, and birdied 12, 14 and 15.

TRIP KUEHNE: Yeah, I hit the ball well. I had a lot of short putts. I think of my six birdies, five of them were from less than three feet. The birdie that I made on the par 3, 13th was about a 15-footer. And probably the best putt I had all day. It was downhill, pulled a little right to the left and fell over the top of the edge and anytime you can birdie a 211-yard hole you feel pretty good.

TRIP KUEHNE: I think the Witch course over there is a lot tougher. There are going to be some good scores over here, because it's a course if you hit a lot of good shots you can make some birdies. It's a little short; you can have shorter irons. We're all trying to get to 64. If 68 holds up, then wonderful. But I'm off to a good start. I've got a little breathing room for tomorrow. There will probably be a 66 or 67 on the Ghost Creek course today.

TRIP KUEHNE: Right.

TRIP KUEHNE: The Amateur, probably losing was the best thing that ever happened to me. It was one of those things that I had a successful junior career, and I played well in college, but it was just one of those deals that gave me some confidence. I wasn't ready to move out of the Amateur, if I won a college tournament, I probably -- I wasn't ready to win. I won some college tournaments and relaxed about my game. I worked real hard last year to make the Walker Cup. That's my goal is to play in The Masters and make the Walker Cup. So I did those two things in the beginning of this whole college year, and I started graduate school. School was tough but I obtained all my goals. And then towards the end of the year, the school year, I made a decision that I wanted to do well in the NCAs and play in the U.S. Open. And I was able to play in the U.S. Open. And that was the experience of a lifetime. It was probably the most fun I've ever had playing golf, other than the Walker Cup, was playing the U.S. Open. What I liked about it, and liked about the USGA events is I've tried to tune my game to the USGA events, because it takes all you have physically and mentally and by the end of the week you're drained. I had an internship this summer, and hadn't played that many tournaments, hadn't worked on my game a lot other than the last couple of weeks. I started on the Western. Things are going well. I'm hitting the ball great. I have to keep my composure and do well on the greens, and I'll be all right.

TRIP KUEHNE: Right.

TRIP KUEHNE: That's still very much a possibility. I'll be done in May with my MBA, so I'll be done with school and have a second degree. And I'm just going to see what the world has to offer. I'm going to stay amateur definitely through the Mid-Amateur. I'm getting old. I have gray hair to prove it. I'll play the Mid-Amateur in Dallas. If the right job comes along I'll stay in it. I love golf and love competing. I've never been one to play golf for money, I play for the love of the game. And I think it would be incredible to go back 50 years from now and say, hey, I was an amateur my entire life. That would be fun.

TRIP KUEHNE: I did an internship this summer for Morgan Keegan, they're a financial industries, and just maybe be an analyst or something like that for one of the financial businesses. I've always had an avid interest -- other than golf, it's probably my second love is Wall Street. Kind of hustle and bustle and you've got action all the time. And I like it. That would be fun. I've got an interview this summer with Stan Druckamiller. And that would be something that I would really like to do if I could get a job for him. That would be great. Morgan Keegan would be fun. And there's another guy I worked for this summer called Tom Barner, that I'd also consider working for. It would be fun.

TRIP KUEHNE: Just kind of go out and keep doing what I've been doing, just hit the ball solid and not let my emotions get in the way. I sometimes have a hard time accepting a bad shot. And just go out there and not really expect anything. If I just hit the ball in the middle of the fairway and knock it into the green and lag it up there, if it goes up, great, if not tap it in and make a par. I want to play a good round, get in the match play and it's me versus another guy. We'll get after it and go after it. That's fun.

TRIP KUEHNE: Golf, I think around our house we all play because we love it. We all thrive off of each other's success, and it's nice. It's nice when you're not playing as well, that you'll have your brother or sister doing well. And we kind of feed off one another. We all enjoy it. It's fun to ask Hank or Kelli if they want to go out and play. My little brother and I play all the time together and Kelli, we practice together and it makes it fun. I think in order to be successful at anything you do you have to enjoy what you're doing. I think the three of us definitely enjoy playing the game of golf. It makes it easy. It's not work it's play.

TRIP KUEHNE: Basically. I know all the mid-amateurs, because I've been around -- this will be my sixth year in college, my four years of undergrad and starting grad school. I know all the college players. It's kind of like I'm the college players' grandpa and the Mid-Amateurs' son. It's a lot of fun. It's nice to not only know the players but know all the people that are involved in the USGA. It makes me feel at home. It's like I'm out playing with the members at Stoneridge Country Club in McKinney. You want to go out and perform and play well. It's like Buddy (Marucci) said last night, it doesn't matter how well you play, but you know that everybody out here is pulling for you, and you've got friends for life. That's what's special about playing in the U.S. Amateur.

TRIP KUEHNE: Right. I personally felt more comfortable over on the Ghost Creek course. It's a course I draw the ball and it favors a draw. It's a course you can see more what's out in front of you. I can see how as a fabulous test of golf. I know they play the Nike Championship over here. The guy that's going to play best on both of these courses is going to win. The Witch Hollow course is so demanding. You have to be into every shot and hit every shot really good, if you don't you're going to walk away with a double bogey. Witch Hollow is a course you're never out of a match or never out of a qualifying because if you hit good shots you can make birdies. If you hit poor shots you have potential to make a big number. You have to think and do well. It's a great championship flight, it's a great course, it's tough.

TRIP KUEHNE: He's bar none, probably, arguably the best amateur ever to play the game of golf. And he's so good mentally and has handled the pressure of the media and all the expectations extremely well. And it wouldn't surprise me at all if he was there in the finals to walk away with the championship. He's just truly a great champion and he has all the experience in the world and somebody will have to play well to beat him. He is the defending champion, he is the champion until somebody beats him. And I definitely wish him well. I'd like to see him win the tournament, if myself or my brother couldn't. I think it would be great for the game of golf. Like I say he's so good mentally and hits the ball so well, he is an outstanding chance here.

TRIP KUEHNE: Definitely. I learned so much. I've read so much about it. I've just noticed, it's not really that I've read, but I've noticed that all these guys that have the big leads, you get out there, and I was playing fine, I was making pars, I wasn't doing anything. I shot one over in my last -- two over my last ten holes and I lost six holes. And it was one of those deals where he played well. And you're playing good. And all of a sudden that lead is cut from 6 to 3, you think you're doing something wrong. You're not doing anything wrong. In match play it's so much more momentum. He had the momentum. He took the ball and ran with it and played great golf. It was his day to win.

TRIP KUEHNE: I've seen it one time and it was absolutely by accident. I was at home watching Inside the PGA Tour. And I saw it and I said I saw that ball go in and obviously it wasn't my day. But stuff like that happens in order for you to win championships. Just like I said in the interview room there, on 17 the day before I hit it over the green, I hit it up on the walkway and Kris Cox got up-and-down for par. And I stayed up going to 18. Little things like that happen every day, whether it be the finals in the U.S. Amateur or the finals of your club. It was a shot that wasn't hit where you're aimed. And fortunately you got the break, and he was good enough to capitalize on the opportunity and my hat was off to him.

TRIP KUEHNE: I hope not.