Thanks Stads!

One more question -- ANGC never releases any sort of metric to the speed of the greens. If you had to guess (and are allowed to answer) what would you guess the greens were on a stimp?

At least 13

Congrats!

Did you stay in the crows nest the entire week? Any stories?

Have you made the trip up to play merion yet? Will you play it (again) before the tournament?

Just a couple nights. I won't make it up to merion befor the open

You ended up making birdie if I remember correctly? I don't think the 15 and 16 cam showed your punch but I remember seeing you wedge it in and make the putt.

Interesting note about 8

yes birdied 15 both days

Stads - great experience for you & thanks for sharing! I followed you for a while on Tuesday when you played with Watney/Rory - swing looked really good & looked like you'd packed on some muscle since the Am! Didn't want to say anything, but was hoping I'd run into you on the range or around the clubhouse at some point.

I know I speak for everyone on here, but we are all very proud of your accomplishments, and we are all pulling for you at Merion & in the future. If you ever get back to Georgia, know you have a place to come play & practice in Atlanta! I was so hoping you'd be the one playing in the Georgia Cup at our place!

Thanks again for the very cool insight to every golfers dream!

Thanks a lot, I appreciate the support.

I missed this shot because I don't think they showed it on "Amen Corner" coverage, but I would like to ask:

What was going through your mind as you hit your approach to the 11th green on Friday?

What was your experience with the green on 14? It looks crazy on TV.

Is it possible for you to get all of the footage Augusta has of you playing as a keepsake?

Nothing in particular, there are a few trees behind the green I wanted to aim at and that was it.

Ya the thing there was you never wanted to be short or left of the pins for the most part. If you got it right of the hole it might end up on the wrong tier but your putt up the hill would be manageable. There are pins where it would be better to hit it in the grandstands long right instead of leaving it in the bowl on the front.

I have no idea, I haven't thought to ask them.

if you were married...would you have been able to have boom boom in the butler cabin? obviously they wouldnt let you take a gf in to your room right?

LOL wow best question yet. I am assuming you meant the crows nest, but no only players can stay up there you can't take anyone else up there to spend the night.

yeah i meant CN..i had a brain fart...thanks for the reply!

Ever hear of much side action going on between pros ?

How good was Rory in person? I mean, he's a pretty big deal.

Were you nervous playing with him or is the fact he's a down to earth kid (from afar at least) make it just another round?

also...it's pretty funny you called out the real Stadler. He's an old man...what is he expecting...to win the damn thing?

Related to Rory -- what would you say are the biggest gaps between your game and his game?

Length? Short-game? Management? something else?

I wasn't sure if there is a singular thing that he does exceptionally better than you or if it's just a collective "a little better at everything" type scenario.

Is the Eisenhower tree in play at all? Is it just not in play based on where the back tee box is now compared to the white tees in the 1950's, or was Eisenhower just really bad?

oh wow i lol'd so hard

Well, Tiger hit it last year

Ya guys have pretty decent games going in the practice rounds, but not as high of stakes as I expected. I heard of a group playing $1000 two man best ball where you could press for half. Not gonna say who. Seemed like some also did prop bets in practice rounds.

When we played it seemed like just another round, I never really felt intimidated. One detail I forgot to mention, when I approached him on the range and introduced myself he said "I know who you are, I watched the US Am final." I thought that was pretty cool that even some of the big name guys pay attention to stuff going on below their level. I think that kinda helped settle me down as well hearing that.

And with Stadler, idk what he was expecting, but it sure didn't seem like he had any fun at all out there.

It is hard to get a feel for things like this in a practice round because you either hit away from flags to different parts of greens or you aren't finishing out holes so you don't always get a complete picture. I would say the biggest difference between us is he is better around the greens and with the putter.

It is in play for some of the field I would say, so for members it is in play for all. If I pulled it off the tee I would carry the tree fine as long as I didn't hit it low.

Just curious, did any of the veterans give you any good advice in regards to playing the course? Anything you didn't know or couldn't figure out that might have helped?

That's really cool to hear. I'll be rooting for Rory a bit more now that I know he pays attention to things like this and not just holing away in his own little world.

BO

Not really, I had a club caddy that has been there for 13 years and he caddies for some of the pros when they come to play. He helped me the most and basically everything he said was spot on cause he's there every day. I didn't really try to pick anyone's brain while I was out there in the practice rounds.