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U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP 2017

June 17, 2017

Patrick Reed

Erin, Wisconsin

BETH MAJOR: Good afternoon. Welcome to the 2017 U.S. Open Championship at Erin Hills.

Very happy to welcome Patrick Reed, who followed up his 68, 75 with a third round, 7-under, 65. Now stands 8-under for the Championship and holds the clubhouse lead.

Can you talk a little bit about your round and improvements you might have made or changes coming off of yesterday's round and back into today.

PATRICK REED: Yeah, after the round I just kind of went to the range with my coach and really just tried to reset the patterns and make sure I was clear on what I was trying to do with the golf club.

I came out today and didn't feel like I hit the ball as well as I did yesterday. The biggest difference was today I was below the hole all day. Anytime you play on fast, slopey greens, you have to be putting uphill.

Yesterday it seemed like I had one putt uphill and today it seemed like I had one putt downhill. So because of that you can be really aggressive on the greens and be able to attack. And that's also you make a lot of birdies rather than playing defensive. Go out and have a lot of putts and next you know, you turn around and it probably should have been 3- or 4-under in a 3-over par round.

BETH MAJOR: This is the fifth third round 65 in championship history. It's one stroke off of the U.S. Open third round record of 64, which has been shot three times. The 7-under in relation to par does match the championship low for third round, 7-under shot by Loren Roberts at Oakmont in 1994. Par then was 71.

Q. Is it possible to convert Ryder Cup dominance into individual success in a major? And if so, how do you go about that?
PATRICK REED: Good question. I mean, it could have been an easier first question. It's hard to say. You always can take that fire from Ryder Cup and turn it into -- use it in other events. But you're talking polar opposites. You're talking one-on-one competition against 155. And because of that you can go out and play some great golf, but you have a bunch of guys out there that can play some good golf, as well.

I think the biggest thing is not getting ahead of yourself. Every time I've been in majors so far, my first two years, I've put so much emphasis on them and tried so hard at them that I kind of got in my way. And this week it's been key, I've been working with my coach, just sitting there and thinking, all right, let's go out and try to make a good golf swing and try to make a good putt. And at the end of the day add them up and see how you do. Seems to be working pretty well. And I'm kind of going out there and just doing it, and letting it go.

Q. Do you have some say in your wardrobe choice, and what's it like when the fans are hollering "USA" and "Captain America"?
PATRICK REED: It's awesome hearing the fans yelling "USA" and those kind of things. I might have a -- it's hard to tell if I really have -- probably, no, I don't have a say in the wardrobe change. I have any wife, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. And they mainly tell me, "This is what you're going to wear."

I just say, "Okay. Sounds good, hun."

You know, happy wife, happy life. I just go out there and when they decide red, white and blue this week, I was all for it. Just kind of bring back not only the patriotism, but also bring back some of that Ryder Cup feelings. I felt like I was getting it going a little bit today, especially on that 14, 15, 16 stretch, just the fans started going crazy. And anytime you start hitting some quality shots and making some putts, you feel the adrenaline going.

Q. Was this the first time that you wore those Ryder Cup pants since the Ryder Cup? And what went behind the decision to make that today that you brought them out?
PATRICK REED: First time I've worn them in competition, yes. I've worn them a lot around the house and stuff like that and practice. Yeah, it was the first time popping them back out in play. They felt good. Felt good to play.

I think the biggest thing is the pants I've been wearing throughout the past couple of years, they're the kind of material that if it rains, they repel water, as well. And whenever the PGA Tour comes into town, even if it's supposed to be bright and sunny, you have a good chance there's going to be some rain or some kind of conditions. I've kind of stayed on the safe side there. But this week it's red, white and blue week.

Q. You made a ton of cuts this season but you probably haven't been very pleased with your top-10 finishes. What has been holding you back, do you think?
PATRICK REED: Well, I think the biggest thing is for me it's just kind of I was testing, early in the year I was testing a little bit more, because I played a lot more at the end of the season last year, with going overseas and playing events like that. During my so-called off-season, when I normally do my testing, I didn't have time. I had to do that kind of on the road in the beginning.

And really the main thing is going in my own way. It's been one of those things, I've tried so hard to do something or be so perfect on a golf swing or something like that, and because of that I just become too mechanical. I come around a place like this where you have a lot of slopes, a lot of kind of runoffs you're allowed to be creative. It allows me to get out of my way and just start hitting golf shots.

Q. Before I came out, I checked the forecast for tomorrow. And they're saying when the leaders go out with 15 mile an hour winds out of the west. If that comes to pass, how much does that change your clubbing decisions off the tee and what's your general philosophy about how you adjust to play in the wind?
PATRICK REED: Really I think south, southwest, I believe, is normal here for their winds. So if it's out of the west, probably not going to change it much. Really depends on where they put the tee boxes, because they literally could use four different tee boxes on every single hole out here. It really changes lines.

Doesn't really change much of clubs. I think really the club decision is going to determine where you stand coming down the last couple of holes. I might get a little more aggressive toward the end or you might just be playing your normal game plan. I've been sticking to my game plan all week, and I might as well stick with it for one more day, because it's gotten me to this point. And I've hit 11, 12, 13 fairways, and the anytime you keep the ball out of the fescue and in the fairway that's key. And I think that's just what I need to do tomorrow.

Q. (Inaudible.)
PATRICK REED: Not really. Whether it's blowing hard or not blowing at all, these fairways are so wide and the golf course is so long that it kind of forces you to hit driver. A lot of the holes that you don't hit driver on, there's a couple of holes out there if you hit 3-wood or even hit iron off the tee, you're just leaving yourself 200 or 220 into the greens. With the greens fast as they are, it's not fun hitting those kind of golf shots into the greens.

Q. With such a tight margin from top to bottom going into today, what were you trying to accomplish in terms of getting however close to the lead?
PATRICK REED: Really wasn't pleased with kind of how I finished yesterday, so I just kind of went out and had to touch all the bases after I played, worked my coach. And my coach said, hey, it's a golf tournament to be won this week, so go out there and shoot a number and get yourself back in the golf tournament.

Last night my wife and mother-in-law and everyone said, "Go out, try to get 4- or 5-under par tomorrow, be a great round and get yourself back in this golf tournament."

When I played as well as I did and made the turn, I said let's see how low I can go. To get to 7-under par on the day, that's really all I could ask for is get myself in a position where if I go out and have a good round tomorrow, I win a golf tournament.

Q. As your notoriety increased with each Ryder Cup, and yet you were never really in contention at a major, did you find yourself pressing more and more at each major?
PATRICK REED: No, not really. I think that was the hardest thing was my first two years is every time I got to the majors, I worked too hard Monday through Wednesday. And so by Saturday I was tired. And then also I was living and dying by every golf shot, every putt and everything.

Coming into this year I was just like it's another golf tournament. Show up. Do what you do on a normal event and just play golf. Because at the end of the day, if I go out and play the best I can and am happy with how I play, the results will take care of itself. And that's the kind of mindset I am going into tomorrow.

Q. You talked about adjusting your putting from downhill to uphill. You did it yesterday. So the adjustment was based on your game plan or you just adjusted?
PATRICK REED: A little bit game plan. I think the biggest thing was just kind of evaluating where the flag stick was before I hit my iron shot. There's a couple of times out there I could have probably been a little more aggressive to get maybe three, four, maybe five feet closer to the hole. But at the same time, I knew that was also a position that you could leave yourself above the hole, where now you're playing defensive.

Anytime you can have an uphill putt, if it's 10 feet or 15 feet, guys will take a 15-footer uphill rather than 10 feet downhill at a major all day.

BETH MAJOR: Great round. Thanks for joining us this afternoon.

PATRICK REED: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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