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U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 18, 2015

Michael Putnam

UNIVERSITY PLACE, WASHINGTON

Q. (Inaudible.)
MICHAEL PUTNAM: Today's 70 was a lot better, considering the circumstances and how the course is playing. Obviously we had no wind and it was about as perfect conditions as you could get. The USGA got tricky with the pin placements, a lot trickier than I thought they'd get. I think they thought they could keep the course playable, but it was a good round.

Q. Thoughts on the first tee, any nerves there?
MICHAEL PUTNAM: Oh, I was so nervous. I was pretty disappointed that they played that first tee shot as a par-4. Man, they give me 150-yard fairway, it wouldn't be so bad. Get to the course this morning, and play it as a par-4, and obviously it's the hardest par-4 on the golf course. You have to hit that tee shot in the fairway to do anything, and I didn't. I was pretty nervous.

Q. (Inaudible.)
MICHAEL PUTNAM: Yeah, the course played really similar to how it was playing Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Almost exactly the same. The greens weren't any faster. The bounces weren't any harder. And so, you know, so far they've kind of kept the course in check, which is nice to see.

Q. Is that about as scorable as you've seen it?
MICHAEL PUTNAM: Yeah, I mean the par-3's today were shorter in yardage than they can be. They had some really tough pins. 3 was one of the easier ones. I hit a pitching wedge on 3. Other than that, 17 was short, but it was the hardest pin on the golf course. 15 was short, but it was a really hard pin over that bunker. And obviously 9, you know, it's not short anywhere they play it. Yeah, they're shorter, but I don't know about scorable. They're still pretty tough.

Q. The big picture, how pleased are you with your round?
MICHAEL PUTNAM: Yeah, really pleased. I played really well today. I got off to kind of a shaky start, but after that settled down, hit a lot of really good quality iron shots. Really didn't make any putts, which it's hard to make putts out here, I think everyone is going to struggle with that this week. But to get in for even par-70 is pretty good.

Q. Your support here?
MICHAEL PUTNAM: Yeah, it was great. A lot of holes when we were walking up to the greens people yelling my name and cheering me on. Even after we putted out a lot, it was cool.

Q. A couple of guys got to 4-under, does that surprise you that they got that low?
MICHAEL PUTNAM: No, not really, the course, as I said, is about as easy as it can play right now. And it's in the same condition it was during the practice rounds. On the back nine you can get it going. Some of the scores on that back nine, with the drivable 12th, the par 5, 18 is playing pretty easy and a couple of holes in between. It's not surprising. Actually, I told my brother earlier in the week I think someone might shoot a 6-under in the first round. And that will give the USGA some oomph to get it back to even par.

Q. What did you like the most?
MICHAEL PUTNAM: That first tee shot was special, even though I pulled it in the weeds, actually in the 18th hole bunker. But, yeah, I couldn't believe how many people were here at 7 a.m. to watch both of us go off the first shot of the first tee. There were a lot of people here at 7:00 in the morning. That means they're getting to shuttles at 6:00 and 5:00. It's cool to see that support.

Q. You and your brother working together, how did that go?
MICHAEL PUTNAM: It went pretty well. He's caddied here 400 rounds. We pretty much agreed on everything we were doing today. It was a nice, pleasant day after I got it back to -- after I started -- right at the shift after the first five holes.

Q. There was a lot of talk about your familiarity with your being here. Was there a time when that came into play, knowing things about the course that others did not?
MICHAEL PUTNAM: There were a few pin positions that I knew I wasn't going to mess with. I could have had 10 feet for birdie, but you can also hit a bad shot and make a 7, especially on 17. I mean, I'm interested to watch that on TV this afternoon and watch guys go at that pin and make 5s and 6s if they go at that pin. There were certain times the familiarity of the pin placements that I've seen time and time again, I kind of know where to stay away and kind of play safe around this place, really.

Q. You played the first shot here, talk about that, not like today, right?
MICHAEL PUTNAM: A little less fanfare, a little less pressure. I definitely didn't play -- probably played that tee box as a par 5. Yeah, they called me up eight years ago when they opened up this place, I had a week off the Tour, from the schedule on Tour, and asked me if I'd play basically the first 18 holes off live drafts that they've seen. So it was a pretty neat honor. And it's come full circle and hit the first tee shot today.

Q. (Inaudible.)
MICHAEL PUTNAM: My family was trying to walk all 18 holes. It's a tough walking golf course. I saw them in spurts here and there. My dad has a good plan to run around this place to figure out the best spectator route. We saw them a lot and definitely heard them a lot and it was nice to have everyone out here.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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