	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 18, 2015

Patrick Reed

UNIVERSITY PLACE, WASHINGTON

PATRICK REED: Any time you come out in a U.S. Open and put together a round that is under par is always a good star start. To come out and hit the ball the way I did, I hit -- I only missed three fairways and missed two greens. So if you can do that around this kind of golf course in a major championship, you are going to give yourself a chance. Hopefully I can just continue it on for the rest of the week and make some more putts.

Q. Did you find the setup today maybe surprising?
PATRICK REED: I expected it to be a little firmer than it was today. The reason why it wasn't is it's been cloudy all day, so the moisture hasn't really burnt up yet. I knew if it stayed overcast, it had a chance to play a little softer. Some of those pins were still really tough to get to. You had a hit a really quality golf shot just to get it halfway close. It's going to come down to who can putt the best and who can know how far they're hitting their irons right now.

Q. Little bit of a different vibe for this tournament because it's such an expansive property. Some fans aren't on a hole like 8. Does it feel different?
PATRICK REED: Not really. This is only my second U.S. Open. I really wouldn't know what to expect except from last year. It's a different type of golf course. If the fans are everywhere, then all of a sudden if we hit it into the fescue or anything like, it's all going to be trampled down, ball is going to be sitting pretty well. With having the fans kind of back a little bit, it allows you if you do hit a poor tee shot or something like that, you're going to get penalized for it. You're not going to be able to get away with it where it's going to be a perfect lie and be able to knock it up there. I like the setup. I hope it continues playing hard and gets a little faster and firmer and becomes even more of a challenge.

Q. Talk about the difference between the first and second U.S. Open. You had success last year. Does that bolster your confidence coming in this year?
PATRICK REED: It does. The main thing from last year is I wasn't hitting my driver very solid, not very straight. It feels like right now I found a really good driver. Feel like I'm making some quality golf shots and swings. When you can do that and you feel confident with it, on holes that it's questionable on whether you are going to hit driver or 3-wood, you're able to get it down there further and not hitting a driver instead of 3-wood. I feel comfortable with where I am, especially with the way I'm playing.

Q. (Inaudible)?
PATRICK REED: It was hard to tell, because during the practice rounds the greens were a little bit slower but it was a lot firmer. It was hard to tell what to really expect on pin placement, where you are going to put the tees. Today with shooting 4-under, I left six birdies dead in the center short today. All I had to do was get the ball to the hole and it had a chance of going in. So I made some long putts, but I also feel like I missed a lot of good opportunities. It was about right where I needed to be and hopefully I can take my momentum going into the week.

Q. Your shot on No. 1 rolled down the slope. Is that what you have to guard against here?
PATRICK REED: For sure. Everyone knows on 1 you cannot go left. It's a weird hole. Slide slope you can't hit your second shot left. I tugged it a little bit. I thought it was going to be find. It was still right of the flag when I was coming down, rolling, happened to get just on the right side of the spine and no stopping it.

Q. (Inaudible)?
PATRICK REED: No, actually, I was 50 something yards away. First I had to use wedge and then I used putter after that. After I left it short again, then I hit putter from about 20.

Q. There were a lot of unknowns coming in. Is there something you know after the first round that you didn't know before about the golf course?
PATRICK REED: Not really. I feel like during the practice rounds, we did our homework, we figured out the golf course pretty well. The biggest unknowns and they are still unknowns for all of us is where they are going to put the flags and where are they going to put the tees. This golf course can play completely different any other day, depending on what kind of day the superintendent's having, where he wants to put the tee boxes. There are some tee boxes out there that were either on the downslope or the ball was a little bit above your feet. Those are just little challenges that you have to take into consideration and try to figure out.

Q. Kuchar mentioned that he feels nervous in the U.S. Open because so much disaster lurks around the corner. Do you feel that way as well?
PATRICK REED: Not really. For me it's the premium on getting the ball in play. If you do miss a golf shot, missing it on the correct spots. I don't like to put extra pressure on myself or anything like that. If I start playing scared or playing away from something, you can get yourself in a the low of trouble. So I'm just sticking to my game plan and try to attack the golf course.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297