Q. Did you guys know that by being semifinalists you guys are exempt into the event for two years?
MAC SCOTT: Yeah, we knew that. We weren't thinking about it, but it was kind of in the back of our heads.
Q. Are you guys maybe planning on coming back together?
MAC SCOTT: Absolutely, yeah. We're not turning pro, either.
Q. Obviously things didn't go your way today, but how would you say you feel about the week overall? Obviously a huge accomplishment so far.
TREY DIEHL: Honestly the week was unbelievable, honestly. Course was one of the best I've ever played. The USGA staff was amazing. They treated us so well here all week.
Having our two buddies from college on the bag and us being really good buddies having lived together the past year, this was a really special moment for all of us to have together and one I'm sure we'll remember.
MAC SCOTT: Yeah, really special week. I guess kind of to give a little more context, we had two of our fraternity brothers on the bag. One lives here in Philadelphia. We're staying in his house all week with his family, and we ended up staying here for a week, so they were really nice to host us.
The other caddie is from Scranton, so we went up a little early, stayed with him for two days, played some courses up here.
And then actually Tug Maude hosted us at Merion on Wednesday, who we ended up beating in the round of 16. So that was a little funny. After playing with him at Merion kind of felt bad for -- he hosted us and then had to beat him down on Monday.
Anyways, it was just an awesome week, tying the four-ball record with a 61 during stroke play, and then making a 30-footer on 18 to win 1-up in the first match and then beating Tug and those guys.
And then I thought we didn't get a ton of credit for it, but we made nine birdies in 17 holes yesterday in the afternoon when it was playing really tough in the wind.
That was the best four-ball match I've been a part of, and hats off to those guys we played yesterday afternoon. That was the toughest team we've played out of all the matches for sure. They played the best.
The guys today played great, too. We just didn't quite have it. But it was a really special week. USGA did a great job.
Q. Did you guys know a lot about Blades and Jackson before coming in?
TREY DIEHL: Not really. We've got a kid on our team that is buddies with him. He's also from Tennessee where they're at, so he kind of told us about them and everything. I like saw that blades had played in a TOUR event recently, and I thaw that they'd both had a lot of success and they were really solid players. I was expecting a lot, honestly, and they matched my expectations.
MAC SCOTT: Yeah, I heard about Blades from when he played in that PGA TOUR event and played well and made the cut and everything.
I wasn't familiar with Jackson, but he really impressed me with his game. He made a lot of putts, hits it really far. He's got a bright future ahead of him, so I think both those guys are going to be pretty solid professional players one day.
I wish we could have given them a better shot, maybe beaten them, but it was fun.
Q. You mentioned earlier in the week being a little tired early on. It was your first tournament back in a long time. Was there any kind of burnout today or was it just their game being better or anything like that?
MAC SCOTT: Yeah, maybe a little bit of burnout. I know I didn't play how I wanted to. Trey made four birdies and I made two but we only counted four, and then had two bogeys on par-3s where we just weren't really putting much pressure on them and they didn't make any mistakes. Maybe a little bit of burnout. We weren't quite as crisp as we were yesterday, but that's just golf.
TREY DIEHL: Yeah, it really has been a pretty long of a week at this point. We got up to Scranton actually last Monday and have played at least 18 holes every day since then, so it's been like nine or ten straight days of playing.
MAC SCOTT: And practicing.
TREY DIEHL: And practicing afterwards. I feel like we might have underestimated just how much golf we were about to be playing potentially. But I feel like we still entered the day with a good mindset and did a good job getting a good rest and recovery in after the rounds and stuff.
Q. What would you say you learned this week?
MAC SCOTT: Honestly, I learned that we can beat anybody. We can play with anybody. I know we lost 4 & 3 today, but those are two really solid players, and I feel like if we give them a better shot, we could beat them, and honestly, that was big for me, just not having a ton on my resume the last year or so. I don't even have a WAGR or anything.
Coming into this, I've had two pretty major surgeries during college, had to miss two seasons of college golf. I've probably only played a dozen or so events in my college career, so it was good confidence boost for me and just kind of reaffirming that I have what it takes to be a good player.
TREY DIEHL: Yeah, for some reason Mac and I just match well together in this format. We've played a bunch of rounds together now. In the qualifier to get here we shot 11-under 61. We tied the tournament record here with another 61 and played some great match play against some really solid players. Really we can compete against the best, and I know for the next two years at least that we've got a good shot at it.
Q. You're both going back to school in the fall?
MAC SCOTT: I graduated. I have one more year of eligibility because I got a medical red shirt because of my surgery, so I'm in the portal right now. Not because I don't -- I want to leave Furman. There's just not any grad programs at Furman that I really want to pursue. I'm looking more for a business opportunity.
Q. Where are you thinking of going?
MAC SCOTT: Still very open right now. Not really sure. So I'm hoping this week kind of puts my name out there and gives me a little more street cred.
Q. What other events are you guys playing this summer?
TREY DIEHL: I've got -- I think my next event is the Magnolia, which is in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and then I'll do a qualifier for the U.S. Am, and then I've got the Monroe up in New York in late July that I'm looking forward to. I think that's all I've got right now. I'm going back to school. I'll be a senior next year, so I will be going back to school next fall.
MAC SCOTT: I've actually got the Alabama State amateur next week at Shoal Creek, which is a great tournament, so I'm excited for that.
Q. Have you played in that before?
MAC SCOTT: Yeah, I've played in it a good amount of times. Yeah, excited for that. Then I've got U.S. Am qualifier somewhere in the middle of the summer, and then I'm playing a Southern Am qualifier, as well.
Q. How confident were you feeling going into the summer for all these events you guys mentioned before this week and maybe now after this week, seeing where your games are at?
TREY DIEHL: I've been feeling decently confident. I had a solid season last year for my junior year, so I've been kind of progressively getting a little better and better each year that I've been in college. I had pretty high expectations, but now after this, I feel like the game is in a pretty good spot for the rest of the summer.
I might just get a lesson and tune some stuff up. I've got a nice couple-week break before my next tournament, but I feel like I've got a lot of confidence rolling into my next event.
MAC SCOTT: Yeah, personally I was pretty nervous where my game was going to be at because I literally got cleared to start hitting full swings. I've been chipping and putting for a few months, but got cleared for full swings on May 7, so I've only been hitting balls for about two or three weeks. So I really only had two weeks of prep, so I was kind of nervous about what it was going to be like. But after this, I feel a lot better about my game. Yeah, and then also all of us on the team knew how good Trey was. He's played well in some tournaments. I don't think he's quite broken out yet. Hopefully the best is still yet to come, but hopefully this shows Trey what he can do because all of us at Furman know he's a special player.
Q. What were each of your favorite moments this week, highlight moment?
TREY DIEHL: Definitely when he made that putt, for me at least. That 30-footer was special.
MAC SCOTT: Yeah, that was pretty awesome to be all square going into 18, we're standing on the tee box, and it just starts pouring rain. We had about a 10-minute where we were standing under a tree waiting for it to stop, so it was kind of weird like icing the kicker almost, and then get up on the tee, hit two great drives, and then making that putt to seal the deal was a pretty good feeling. Then to hug my dad after, that felt really good.
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