May 31, 2008
UCLA Coach Derek Freeman
On winning the NCAA Tournament...
"It is just absolutely unbelievable. We got off to a great start today, we really did. We played six, seven and eight, which were some of the easier holes, over par and we came back a little bit. Then, at the turn we started to make some shots and made a little headway and I think by 11 or 12 we had a nine or 10 shot lead. I just thought that if we could get through 13 and 14, which were two tough holes with this kind of wind, if we could get through those two holes then we'd have a chance.
"We had a quad and a couple bogeys on 14 and that brought everyone back in it. USC is an incredibly good golf team and if we had this again in another four days they're liable to beat us. Stanford is also a very good team. I think coming down the stretch we knew it was close. We were up one, down one and then on 17 we had two balls go in the water."
On the 18th hole with Chappell's play deciding the victory
"I think if you would have asked me on 11, I would have preferred it that way but I think you want it that way. You want the pressure to be on your top guy. You want them to be able to handle it and he did. He hit an unbelievable drive on 18 and then he hit a shot right behind the pin that almost went in. We're so proud of him. Eighteen has given him (Chappell) a little trouble. We were deciding at the pin to go driver or three wood. I told him to just trust his shot, and we picked a good target and he hit a good shot. We leaked some oil coming in but we're up one at the end and I'll take it."
Personal feelings on winning
"It hasn't set in yet. The reason I got into coaching was after I finished playing professional golf, I got hurt and my dad convinced me to come work with him. So, I went to work with him in the financial world and then he ended up dying early, he was 56. The reason I had gone to work with him was the opportunity to work with him. At that point, I decided that I wanted to do something in my life that would make me happy. I started out as a volunteer assistant at Oklahoma City University and they gave me the opportunity and five years later, here I am at UCLA and it's just incredible. I did this for my father, I know he's looking down on me and he's happy."
Kent State Coach Herb Page
On his team's performance
"We finished sixth. It was a battle; it just wears you out mentally. I'm just very proud of my team. It's the best we've ever done in the NCAA. They just grinded all day long. This golf course is the winner for the week. I'm very proud of our guys, they just played awesome all week."
Charlotte Coach Jamie Green
On his team's performance at the tournament...
"Anytime you can finish in the Top 10 at the national championship against these teams, you have to be happy with that. Obviously these guys have high hopes, high expectations and anybody that comes here wants to walk away with a trophy, and hopefully the big one, but to gut it out on a day like today when it was this windy, I am really proud of them."
Texas A&M Coach J.T. Higgins
On his team's performance at the tournament...
"We did pretty well. It is our best finish in a long time, since the early 1980s. This is such a difficult, demanding golf course and the weather conditions were tough. They fought their hearts out. I think we would like to have had a little bit better finish but overall, I am proud of them. They played hard and you can't ask for much more than that."
Indiana Coach Mike Mayer
On sophomore golfer Jorge Campillo...
"He is a great player. All you want to do is get in those types of situations and give yourself the opportunity. Yesterday before the round big storm hit, he had scored four straight bogeys. Sometimes you get breaks in golf and that was just a situation where he took advantage. It is hard to describe how tough he was out there. He got the opportunity to showcase himself a little bit and obviously, the young man can play some golf."
On his team's effort...
"As a team, we were tied for 27th going into the round and actually we got within a couple of shots of the number. This is a learning experience and we learned a lot. Now tie that on to someone like Jorge coming back and we have basically everybody back...
if this team works hard, they have a chance to come back to this tournament next year and perhaps make the cut and then who knows."
UCLA Senior Kevin Chappell - 76 (+4) Fourth Round
69-73-68-76=286, -2
On winning the team and individual title
"This was my fifth college win and first I get to enjoy with my team. Of course it feels special, I get to celebrate this with five, six, seven other guys that are here and the other three that are at home. It's just awesome. It's the best way to end my college career."
On winning the tournament (individually and team) on 18 a hole that had given him trouble earlier in the tournament...
"Yes, it definitely has (been a difficult hole). If I would've made a six and we would have still won I would have taken it. It is what it is."
On the conditions the final day...
"It was difficult all day. It was windy; it was a wind we hadn't seen before after playing this course five times before. It was kind of a curveball, you didn't know what to expect and you didn't know what lines to take. I really struggled hitting my tee ball onto the fairway and it was tough to make birdies. You just have to fight through it and deal with it because everyone had to deal with it. I think I got a little bit out of the moment and played a little cautious which it bit me in the butt. I had to then kick it in gear on 17 and 18. We figured it (17th hole) would be a turning point in the tournament and it was."
Indiana Junior Jorge Campillo - 72 (E) Fourth Round
75-70-72-72=289, +1
On the final round and finishing second overal,..
"I really played well. The golf course was playing hard today. It was windy out there. I was really focused out there and I didn't get nervous. I kept getting better in this tournament as it went on. The final nine on the first day really gave me the confidence to play better as the tournament went on. I'm really proud of myself for finishing second."
On his final day putting...
"Today, it was a day where if you didn't make putts you couldn't come up with a good score. My putting today really allowed me to save par on a couple of holes. On 17 and 10, I was able to make putts and save par."
Washington Sophomore Nick Taylor - 75 (+2) Fourth Round
75-66-73-75=289, +1
On his performance...
"It was a good experience. It was the first NCAA I have played here. I had played the course but I hadn't played in this. I have played in some big events, but this is pretty big. It is a lot different atmosphere being a team and no so much being an individual - trying to shoot as good as you can just for the team. That is a lot different than what I have been playing.
"I am pretty proud of myself. I was really good the second day and all of the other days, I played pretty solid. The course has been really tough, so I am happy with what I shot and what I finished."
Oklahoma State Freshman Rickie Fowler - 73 (+1) Fourth Round
74-77-70-73=294, +6
On his championship performance...
"The first round I was playing good, but I finished with two bad holes. The second round was a little rough, a little up and down; I think I made one birdie the whole day. Yesterday I came out and played a good round. Today, I kind of fell behind the eight ball again and was shooting three-over, but came in with two birdies on #15 and #16 coming in to close it out."
Stanford Freshman Sihwan Kim - 71 (-1) Fourth Round
77-72-74-71=294, +6
On his final round...
"I tried to keep everything straight and to play smart. I played really poorly on the second nine and I got pretty lucky and ended up with a pretty good score, but I am actually more disappointed with myself than after yesterday."
On his overall impression of the course...
"It played a lot tougher than what I expected. Without the wind, this course plays pretty hard, but with the constant 20 mile per hour gusts, it is extremely challenging."
Florida Junior Billy Horschel - 80 (+8) Fourth Round
72-67-76-80=295, +7
On his effort and that of his team...
"I had it for three days. You are going to have rounds when you don't play your greatest and you are three or four over par, like I had a yesterday, but it wasn't too bad, I just couldn't make any birdies. Today, I didn't play too bad on the front, bogey-birdie, bogey-birdie -- I just kept going up and down. Then, on 14 I was just trying to play my second shot out to the right and it got caught and went in the water, then my four shot went in the water and I made seven. It was just a tough day today. I didn't seem to have my good stuff.
"As for our team, they just didn't play well and I didn't play well. It is going to happen. It is just unfortunate for us that it happened this week. We were hoping that it was going to be our good stuff and we thought it was going to be our good stuff, so we are all just a little disappointed that we didn't play better."
Kent State Senior David Markle - 75 (+3) Fourth Round
70-76-76-75=297, +9
On his round...
"I played all right. We played pretty good as a team. Some guys played well on the back nine and we kind of hung in there on a tough day. It is pretty tough out there. I don't know if there is going to be any sub-par scores, it wasn't easy that's for sure."
On his NCAA Tournament performance...
"I played well the first round and had a bad finish the middle two rounds. Then, I hung in there today on a tough day. I thought we were pretty steady as a team the whole week and did our best to get the ball in the fairway and not make big numbers. It was a pretty good week for Kent State. Hopefully the guys that are staying here can build on it into next year."
Georgia Sophomore Hudson Swafford - 76 (+4) Fourth Round
73-69-79-76=297, +9
On his tournament experience...
"It was good. The first two days I played really solid; I hit it really good and didn't really put myself in any bad situations. The last two days, I didn't hit it good, but I putted pretty good and just scrambled. It is a tough golf course and tough conditions, but I got about all I could out of this round. I didn't hit it very good at all today, but I guess four over is not bad."
On the team's effort...
It was a struggle. It was a struggle this week. We are young though and we don't lose anybody. This golf course is similar to next year's national championship, so I think it was just a good test for all of us young'ns and it will definitely help us next year."
Georgia State Senior Joel Sjoholm - 79 (+7) Fourth Round
72-72-75-79=298, +10
On his final round
"Plus seven today is probably my highest, but at the same time this course was tough. You see a lot of golfers that finished over par. It was fun to play here in the championship; again I just wish I could have finished a little lower. This is like our U.S. Open, so it's good for golfers to see how tough courses will be if we go pro. It is what it is."
Louisville Senior Derek Fathauer - 78 (+6) Fourth Round
77-72-72-78=299, +11
On his NCAA performance...
"I played good the second and third round, but I just got off to a bad start today and didn't make a birdie. It wasn't a very good day. It is tough but I expected to play better than that.
On his team's effort...
"Our young 4-man today, really pulled through and shot two over, so that was awesome. That will probably be one of the best scores of the day. Two over is pretty good out here."
Charlotte Sophomore Corey Nagy - 73 (+1) Fourth Round
80-70-76-73=299, +11
On his thoughts on his performance...
Overall, I thought I played very solidly. I didn't really make too many mistakes. I did have three holes that really hurt me. Other than that I putted great, hit it pretty well and really just tried to have fun. I was pretty confident out there today."
Middle Tennessee State Freshman Jason Millard - 78 (+6) Fourth Round
77-72-73-78=300, +12
On the fourth round...
"I shot 78, it was okay I guess in these conditions. I don't think we did very well (as a team) today, but I am pretty pleased with how we have done this whole week."
San Diego State Junior David Palm - 80 (+8) Fourth Round
76-72-72-80=300, +12
On his performance...
"I think I had a bad beginning and a bad finish and two good rounds in between. Actually, in the second and third round I was three and four under in both of them, but lost it back to par. So, I had two really really good rounds and two bad ones, especially the last round. I lost eight strokes the first five holes in the last round. As for the team, we met some expectations to get into the top 15 to have a shot at a higher place, but obviously we didn't really convert today, so that was disappointing."
Alabama Senior Michael Thompson - 79(+7) Fourth Round
76-74-75-79=304, +16
On his team's performance.
"As a team, we shot ourselves in the foot in the first round. We really didn't really have a chance to come back. With the conditions today, it was really impossible to even come close. But, you know that is golf. We know we are still good and we are going to be good next year, so we will come back and try again."
