An Interview With: CHRIS NALLEN

PETE KOWALSKI: Chris, thank you for joining us, and congratulations on a great run through the championship. Obviously not the result you would have liked, but if you could just give us a recap, starting with the match after the restart and how play went and what you thought and those kind of things.

CHRIS NALLEN: Well, I tried to use the break to my advantage. He birdied 15 to go 2-up, and I just tried to relax a little bit inside and talk to some of the friends I have here. You know, just tried to stay relaxed and go out there with the attitude of trying to obviously win. I think winning 16 was big. To get that, kind of get him thinking, if I had tied 16 and he goes dormie; so winning 16 was kind of big.

I had a chance on 17, and I hit a good putt; I just hit it a little too hard.

Obviously 18 was crazy. I don't think I've ever made a putt that big in my career. But for him to come out on the first playoff hole and hit it to a foot or two feet, just awesome.

But my hat is off to him. He stepped up when he needed to. I'm just glad I was able to kind of give him a run there at the end after the break.

Q. The playoff, did the delay work to your advantage[] because you had a chance to regroup, he had to sit on a lead and think about it for a while?

CHRIS NALLEN: I think so. After the birdie on 15 that he made, he goes 2-up with three to play and he's in a pretty good position and then they call it.

So I'm sure he's thinking, "Let's just get this over with, let me win the next hole and be done with it or halve the next hole and be dormie." I definitely think that worked to my advantage and it got him a little tense. I was able to come out and par the first hole and then he made bogey.

18, birdie on 18 is awesome out here. 18 is playing really hard and that green plays really tricky.

But, yeah, I definitely think it did work to my advantage.

Q. Can you talk about the psychological swing of hitting that putt on 18, and then what happened on that extra playoff hole, how you go from such a high to such a low?

CHRIS NALLEN: Yeah, when he hit that shot, you know, obviously you can tell from the fairway that he's inside probably two feet.

But, you know, I just tried to clear my mind and try to hit a good shot. Obviously I didn't hit the shot I wanted to, but I hit a pretty good chip, just kind of played it up a little too high. I'm glad I made 4 to make him make that putt. I didn't want to just give it to him.

But yeah, that's how match-play is. You go, it's just a swing from hole to hole and it's a high and then it's a low and then it's a low and then it's a high. That's the great thing about much match-play.

Q. Speaking of that, what are your thoughts when he starts, gets that eagle on 4?

CHRIS NALLEN: Yeah, that was quite a shock, especially out of the rough. I got to actually see it on TV during the break and I guess it one-hopped and hit the pin pretty much halfway up and dropped straight down. Just a great shot, that's all you can say and you move on to the next hole. That's about it.

Q. Those early holes after pretty much having your way with some of your earlier opponents and everything, were you overconfident or anything like that?

CHRIS NALLEN: No. I think this morning, I just can't didn't execute as well as I have been. I missed it in some spots I shouldn't have missed it in. It wasn't that I wasn't confident. I was confident over every shot I hit today. I just didn't execute. Just one of those days where you're not hitting the shots you want to hit and you're kind of grinding out there.

I was able to send it to extra holes and I'm proud of myself for doing that, because I could have just thrown in the towel pretty early on and said, "I'm not hitting good and he's going to win this match," but that's not who I am. I fight till the very end, and obviously you guys saw that on 18.

So, you know, I'm happy with it, and I'll just take this with me into the future and try and build upon it.

Q. What is the future for you now and how does this affect that?

CHRIS NALLEN: Well, I don't know. I'm probably most likely, obviously I'm going to turn pro. I had originally said if I had made it, to be a finalist, I would have many decisions to make. But now that I'm not in the final, I will most likely turn pro. As of when, I don't really know right now. I'm going to talk to a couple of people and get some advice, but that's probably what I have in the near future is turning professional and trying my talent out there.

Q. You had a minute to soak that all in, it looked like on 18 after you made that putt, you kneeled down and thoughts are going through your mind, what were those thoughts?

CHRIS NALLEN: "Oh, my God, I can't believe I just made this putt." (Laughter.)

It was just incredible. It's just one of those things where it was a dead-straight putt, right up the hill, right up the fall line and I just said, make sure you get it to the hole, don't leave it short. That's the last thing you want to do. And it was moving pretty good. I don't know how far it would have went by, but it was dead-center the whole way. I kind of knew it three quarters of the way there, I kind of said, "Wow, this is going in."

Obviously it was a great feeling, and something I'll never forget.

PETE KOWALSKI: Give us your estimate on that putt, because some of us were conjecturing.

CHRIS NALLEN: I think it was probably 40 feet. 40, 45 feet.

PETE KOWALSKI: We'll go with your number rather than ours.

CHRIS NALLEN: 35 -- make it 60. (Laughter.)

Q. When you have a situation like this with all of the rain, and obviously the golf course changed quite a bit from what you were playing this morning, do you want to come out and maybe let the other guy hit first so you can see how the ball is going to react up on the greens or anything?

CHRIS NALLEN: I don't think so. I think you know -- I mean, I knew from Monday, we played in this Monday, and it played a lot similar last three holes that we played, last four holes that we played. Just kind of getting those yardages that you can fly it to the pin, where this morning we were maybe bumping some up and hitting them short and letting them hop up instead of flying it to the hole. And obviously you were not getting any roll off your tee shots. They were just hitting and dying. Except my first one on 17, it rolled into the rough, I was a little surprised.

I think obviously going first is good, because that means you have the honor. But I don't think there's any advantage there.

Q. What are some of the factors that will go into your decision about whether you're going to turn pro? You were leaning in that direction, but the other day you were mentioning some of the positives of staying as an amateur.

CHRIS NALLEN: Yeah, well, I think the only -- well, obviously there's a lot of great events to play in as an amateur. If I were to be one of the finalists, obviously you get exempt into the Masters and the U.S. Open and you have to stay amateur to do that.

But now that I'm not a finalist, I think I will most likely turn pro. I'm looking forward to it. It's been my lifelong dream to do that, and I'm just going to work as hard as I can to get hopefully my card and see how it goes from there.

Q. Talk about your feelings about having that Masters being so close and not being able to finish that off.

CHRIS NALLEN: Yeah, I wasn't really thinking about that until you said that. (Laughter.)

Obviously that does creep into your mind. But I'll be there one day. I know I will be there one day. Obviously it would have been nice to get that bid this week, but I think it will just make me work harder.

But you mark my words: I will there be one day playing at Augusta.

PETE KOWALSKI: Congratulations. Great run.

FastScripts by ASAP Sports ...