Q. Obviously the start was really the difference in the match, right?
DOUG HANZEL: Yeah, I gave him some simple holes. 2, I three-putt from the fringe and I'm only 15, 18 feet. You know, then on the 4th hole, I just had a pitching wedge and I kind of flare it into a bunker and don't get up-and-down. 5, I hit a really good shot in, hit the green, rolled down in the bunker. So I didn't hit really horrible shots, not good shots, and didn't make a five or six-footer that you need to to get some momentum, and Rusty is just so steady. Doesn't hit it very far, hits it very straight, really good around the greens, and on this golf course you're going to win a lot of holes making pars.
It really doesn't set up for my game as well because of the angles, but again, you've got to play the golf course that the tournament is on, figure out how to score on it, and I really struggled, particularly with some of the wind. Very difficult sometimes to tell the wind direction, and I mis-clubbed a couple of times.
Disappointed but had a good week. I'm happy for Rusty. He's a heck of a guy, heck of a player. He's a member of the club now.
Q. This also represents your furthest advantage in the championship since you won in '13, nine years on. I know you mentioned the other day, you felt like you've aged, if you will, and you're still hitting the ball a long way, you certainly had a great week.
DOUG HANZEL: I just want to be competitive. I was competitive this week. I couldn't finish it, but you want to be here, you want to make match play and you want to be competitive in matches. I ground out a couple, and overall it was a great week.
Q. I think of it that if you had gone on to win, thinking back to the round of 64, 4-down after 10 holes and you had a pretty nice escape against Sean Knapp, 2-down, four to play, I believe, and won three of the last four, that grinding aspect and that competitive nature really came through throughout the week it seems.
DOUG HANZEL: Well, I'm never going to give up. I've got enough game, I know I can string pars and birdies together. So I'm never going to give up. It's just a little disappointing to come out and just start so poorly.
You know, I would say this for some reason (indiscernible) I think that's more of a problem as I've gotten older. So we'll see if we can get that fixed up a little bit, but overall a great week. I love USGA events. They're the best, the best competition, the best courses. They're the best.
I can't complain finishing near the top in a USGA event. (Indiscernible).
Q. How much have you two competed either against or with each other in Georgia State stuff or other regional events?
DOUG HANZEL: You know, I'm a little older, so as far as the senior events, I'm a few years ahead of him. But we've played some senior events. I played him in the Georgia Match Play in a playoff last year. He beat me in the Florida Senior Azalea in a playoff this year. So yeah, we butt heads here or there.
Georgia has got a lot of good guys, so you've got to stay on your toes. It's good to get the competition. You only get better with guys playing as good as you or better than you. Again, watching him today, you learn. You learn how to score your ball. Every day in golf you should learn something. There are some things I need to work on and try to get better.
Q. One interesting aspect, I'm not sure if that was like a 3 metal he was using off the tee. I know you were past him significantly on a lot of the holes, and yet he was getting up there and playing the approach shots very consistently, putting something on the green. I'm not saying that brings pressure, but must have been a little frustrating if nothing else?
DOUG HANZEL: Well, again, hitting the ball a long way, it doesn't help you if you don't take advantage. Like this shot right here, I had a sand wedge and I hit it to 20 feet. That's just not a good shot. 10 feet, I've got a chance. 20 feet, not much chance.
So length is important. I think he has a mini driver. It's a little higher lofted driver. But Rusty has never been long, so talking with Bob Royak yesterday, he was hitting it 30, 40 by him and he got dusted, too. So length is not everything, particularly on golf courses that have a lot of angles here. If we played holes like this all the time where I can just hit it dead straight, but all these angles and whatnot, I didn't hit a lot of drivers during a lot of matches just because there's really nowhere to hit it, especially when it gets firm like this. So you've just got to play the golf course and take what it gives you and figure out a way to make pars and throw in a few birdies here and there. I just didn't do that today.
Q. Nice little comeback in the middle of the match. You made it competitive and even gave yourself a chance; hey, I might get on a roll here?
DOUG HANZEL: Well, I really didn't need the bogey at 14. The wind fooled me. It was a lot -- when you've got 176, 3-down, so actual 173, and you hit a 9-iron and it hits on the back of the green and goes on, that's tough. I'm not sure I could have taken wedge out and hit it, but that's what I needed to hit. So you've got to work on getting better, flighting the ball, spinning it a little different so that days like this you can hold greens. So there might be some equipment changes, too. We'll see.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports