Thompson: Walk Down And There's Augusta


April 9, 2008

Michael Thompson, who finished runner-up at last year's U.S. Amateur, is playing in his first Masters this week. He received an invitation to play based on his Amateur placing last year . As is the custom at the Masters, amateurs lodge in the famous Crow's Nest that sits above Augusta National's clubhouse. Jack Nicklaus did it. Tiger Woods too. Now it's Thompson's turn. He spoke about arriving at Augusta National, his feelings and what it was like trying to skip balls off water.

What was your evening like Monday when you arrived atAugustaNational?

Thompson: It was really special. They had a whole bunch ofAugusta National members, members of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club and from the USGA. It didn't hit me until when they started giving the speeches that that dinner was for us, the three amateurs. It was kind of surreal. It was just really cool because all of those people really want us to do well and that kind of support you don't see a whole lot in golf tournaments from the hosts.

What was on the menu?

Thompson

Thompson: They had some sort of fried tomato appetizer with some sort of fish meat; I don't know exactly what it was. It might have been grouper or something like that. And then we had filet mignon for our main course. And we had white chocolate bread pudding for desert, which was fabulous."

Was that your highlight so far, or is every day there one highlight after another?

Thompson: Pretty much. [Tuesday] was really the first big day. There were so many people out there on the course. It was a little unbelievable to see that. There were 40,000 people [Tuesday] out on the golf course. Probably the most memorable thing that I experienced [Tuesday] was on 16. What they do is, the crowd tries to get the players - after they hit their regular tee shots on this par 3 - they try to get the players to skip a ball across the water and try to get it up on the green. Then you hit off of a little down slope like at the front of the tee box close to the water, and you just try to skip it up there. When I went up to do it, I hit a 3-iron to begin with and chunked it into the water. There had to be 10,000 people on this one hole. And so everybody's going crazy, and when I chunked it, everybody booed me. They go, 'Boo, boo.' And I kind of walked to my bag with my head down and kind of sulking, kind of being dramatic and pulled out a 5-iron and a new ball. And everybody started cheering when I pulled out a new ball because they wanted to see me do it again. And so I stepped up, put the ball down and I hit a 5-iron and I skipped it along the water and it hopped up onto the green to about 15 feet and the whole place went nuts. It was just like I'd made a hole-in-one. It was unbelievable.

What's it been like playing in front of such a large crowd? Are you glad you have these practice rounds to get acclimated to that?

Thompson: Oh yeah, absolutely. Surprisingly, well, I guess not surprisingly anymore, I'm pretty calm out there. To me, being out here feels normal. This has been my dream for so long that I've really started to believe that being out here with these guys is where I want to be and where I'm supposed to be in terms of my career and my destiny so to speak, so it's a very cool feeling. I'm really enjoying it. I haven't been very nervous just because when I go out and play I'm just telling myself, 'This is the same game you've been playing all your life. Just make a golf swing.' And more often than not, I hit it pretty well. So, I don't know, it's just really, really cool. It's a really fun experience because I'm seeing what it's going to be like when I turn professional.

Who did you play with in the first practice round?

Thompson: I played with Brandt Snedeker (a former Vanderbilt golfer), Heath Slocum and Boo Weekley.

What was that like? Did you learn anything?

Thompson: Oh, yes. It was really cool. They are no different than I am. That's what I learned. That's the God-honest truth. Those guys look amazing on TV, but when you play with them, they don't do anything else special that I feel like I can't do. It was really cool and it's cool to see how they react to the crowd and for the most part, they really just ignore everybody. And I thought that was interesting because it is very easy to get caught up in what the crowd is saying and to get overwhelmed or just over-excited to where you're not focused. So that was very interesting today.

So how's life in the Crow's Nest?

Thompson: It was awesome. Get up in the morning. Take a shower. Put your clothes on and then go walk downstairs and you are there at Augusta."

When you lie down and put your head on the pillow to fall asleep last night in the Crow's Nest atAugustaNational, what was running through your head?

Thompson: I was thinking about what [Tuesday] was going to be like. What it would be like with all the people. I was pretty excited. I actually ended up waking up at 5:30 this morning. I couldn't fall back asleep because I was so excited."