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U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 19, 2016

Brooks Koepka

Oakmont, Pennsylvania

Q. So did you first have any idea what kind of area you were getting into when you went on that birdie run?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah. I mean, I felt like I knew where I was. I figured if we could grab three or four more coming in, I felt like we, you know, post 2 or 3 under, we'd be right there.

But I felt like I got kind of a bad break on 17. And the other ones, we didn't hit the fairway. I mean, out here, if you're not going to hit the fairway, you're going to make some bogeys.

Q. Do you know about Johnny Miller hitting 63 here and you were on that pace?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I knew that. I was hoping for something even lower. I was hoping for 60, 61. I thought that was pretty obtainable. The 4 iron we hit in the bunker on the par 3, what is that, 14? 14, yeah, I mean, that was just an awful tee shot. You put that one in the fairway, you're making a good run.

But it is what it is. I was hoping to post something lower.

Q. What was going during that stretch of nine holes?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Everything. Everything seemed to be going pretty well. We knew we had to make something happen, start taking on a little bit more, a couple of flags.

I mean, it's [indiscernible] a bunch. When you know it's your day, it's your day. Just aim at some flags. You're getting good breaks. Things will kind of going your way. They were going our way early. But as far as the last four holes, it's a little disappointing.

But, you know, I kind of shot myself out of it on the first day.

Q. Did the number for the idea of 63 or better maybe creep in a little too far, or was it just the course sort of rising up?
BROOKS KOEPKA: No, I mean, we were looking at shooting something lower. Like I said, if you're not going to hit the fairway, it's kind of tough. You're trying to -- if you put it in a bad spot, you're trying to figure out how we can make par and bogey at worst.

Those pins coming in aren't easy. On 17, it was a bit unfortunate for it not to roll in the bunker or stop a little bit short. But, you know, I played pretty well. I felt like even in the bogeys, it was just putting the ball in play. That's all we did.

I mean, we weren't swinging it great this week at all. So to manage, I guess, 4 over for the tournament isn't bad.

Q. What's your overall thoughts on your first tournament here?
BROOKS KOEPKA: It's a hard golf course. You've got to drive the ball well if you want to play here. We didn't drive the ball well all week. These greens are tricky. You get above the hole, you're so defensive. You're worried about running it five feet by into another slope and catching that slope and going 30 feet.

If you put yourself in the wrong spot here, you're in some serious trouble off the tee. And then when you get in the greens, you're not done at all.

Q. Any particular good break you had during that first stretch?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Well, for that ball to go in on 10, I would say that's probably a good break. But, you know, I'd say that par 3, what's it, 5, 6? 6. We thought we were going to pitch it about 15 on the green and we were trying to hit it left and I flushed it. For it to carry that corner and then get all the way in the back slope and actually come back down to about 15 feet, that was -- I mean, I thought it was in the bunker and you're making 4. I guess that was probably the best break of them all. Kind of got it going.

Q. What did you hit there?
BROOKS KOEPKA: 8 iron.

Q. And then on the 1 and 10 that you dunked it?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah.

Q. What was that there?
BROOKS KOEPKA: We hit driver off the tee, and we only had -- I forget, we were trying to pitch it at 80. We were on a little bit of a downslope, so we knew the ball was going to bounce pretty hard and release. I think total might have been around 100. We were trying to pitch it at 80.

Q. What adjustments did you make going into the day, especially given the fact that it was so much drier and faster today?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I knew I had to shoot a number today. The goal was to try to get back to about even par. We did that for a while, but it was little adjustments. I mean, our ball striking was awful. We cracked -- well, not cracked. Our driver broke on 7 yesterday.

So we drove the ball really well with the backup. Thankfully, I've hit that a few times and it worked out. But drove the ball in the fairway. That's it. It's that simple. You can score out here if you drive the ball in the fairway. You've got control of the spin and can put it underneath the hole where you have uphill putts and can be aggressive.

Q. Do you usually carry a backup with you?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Carry a backup driver, backup lob wedge all the time. It's unfortunate that it broke.

Q. Did it break at the base?
BROOKS KOEPKA: No, at the grip. I took a swing and kind of stubbed it in the ground. It was actually an awful practice swing. Next thing I know, it was broken at the grip.

Q. This was on the range?
BROOKS KOEPKA: No, this was on 17 yesterday. So we went ahead and 3 wood off that tee. It took awhile for us to get a driver. Luckily, we didn't need it on 8 or 9, but we got it on 9.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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