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Danny Lee Interview after winning U.S. Amateur!

1 Comment Published August 27th, 2008 in Golf News, danny lee.

Here’s an excerpt of Danny Lee’s interview after his 2008 U.S. Amateur win:

Danny Lee, 18, of New Zealand, became the youngest winner in U.S. Amateur Championship history Sunday when he outlasted Drew Kittleson of Scottsdale, Ariz., 5 and 4, in their scheduled 36-hole final match at Pinehurst No. 2.

CRAIG SMITH [Moderator]: I’m going to just say, congratulations U.S. Amateur Champion. You were the equivalent of 11-under par. What a show.

DANNY LEE: Well, I played well. I played really, really well today. That’s all I can say.

CRAIG SMITH: Tell me, you said yesterday it was a dream.

DANNY LEE: Yeah.

Q.: Tell me about the dream and the week. I want to hear you talk.

DANNY LEE: This is my, like what should I say? This tournament, this is my third year trying this U.S. Amateur and I think I never felt — I tried the tournament three times and I never felt like — I don’t know what to say — I’m just so excited I don’t know what else to say right now. I have no idea.

CRAIG SMITH: That’s okay.

Q.: Given the tournament that you just won, have you ever played any, can you play any better than how you performed today?

DANNY LEE: Yeah. I mean, you know, I think I played incredibly well today and I don’t think I can play better than this, I think I played perfect golf. I’m really happy with myself and how I played.

Q.: He cut it to two when he chipped in on eight, or seven. What were your thoughts then and then you proceeded it make two birdies in a row or three birdies in a row?

DANNY LEE: No, I wasn’t really surprised, I knew that it’s going to come back some time and on some hole. And I knew he was a good player, because he made it into the finals here. He’s a good player.

I was expecting to get that, to have that happen, and since after he made that chip in, I was thinking like, I got to play well and I need to just keep focused on my game and just try and make birdies from there.

Q.: Did you watch Michael Campbell win the U.S. Open here on television?

DANNY LEE: Yes, I did.

Q.: What was your reaction when he won the U.S. Open here and what is your relationship with him?

DANNY LEE: Actually, we’re just the same New Zealanders, and we won at the same golf course, which is really nice. And that’s about it, I think.

Q.: Do you remember when he got back home after winning the U.S. Open?

DANNY LEE: No, actually not. No. Sorry.

Q.: Can you talk about the putt to win the match. And just kind of what your thoughts were when you saw that go in?

DANNY LEE: Yeah, it was an easy putt, just a little left-to-right break, you know. Uphill. Just aim at the left edge, hit it firm. I knew that it was going to go in.

CRAIG SMITH: I guess there’s a follow-up question here about your putting. You said it was good all week, today it seemed to be uncanny. If that’s an easy putt, talk about your putting just a little bit.

DANNY LEE: Oh, actually, I putted really well. I don’t know why. Maybe because of the practice that I’ve done. I think that’s what makes me putt really well, actually.

CRAIG SMITH: Do you think when you get over a putt that you’re going to make every one?

DANNY LEE: Yeah, like when 15 foot away from the hole, I still have a feeling that it’s going to drop. I was really comfortable out there.

Q.: Did you read your own putts this week? Who read them?

DANNY LEE: Actually, we both read them and it was, we were discussing about like some holes it’s breaking like opposite way, so I was listening to Boss and we were really discussing about those lies and we read it together.

CRAIG SMITH: How about just for the record we put your caddie’s name on the record. Your caddie’s name is.

DANNY LEE: Bob. And I don’t know his last name. Sorry.

CRAIG SMITH: We’ll just call him Bob.

Q.: Have you been in touch with your parents at all?

DANNY LEE: Just cell phone call every night. That’s about it.

Q.: Were they following along?

DANNY LEE: Yeah, actually they do.

CRAIG SMITH: Tell them Uncle Rambo, how he was doing with the texting.

DANNY LEE: Oh, yeah, actually my uncle called them or texted to them how I did that day or Danny hit it in the bunker and he shanked it from there, something like that.

(Laughter.)