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U.S. SENIOR OPEN

June 29, 2017

Kurt Van Hees

Peabody, Massachusetts

Q. Was it everything you thought it would be?
KURT VAN HEES: Yeah. It was really, really enjoyable, other than the fact that I didn't play as good as I was hoping I would. I think the nerves got me a little bit. I was having a hard time with the short putts.

You know, had a hard time with the short putts the first seven or eight holes and then started pressing a little bit, so I kind of lost it.

Other than that, it's just such a pleasure to be here, to be totally honest with you. It's a thrill.

Q. What's it like to finish on 9 where you stake one in there?
KURT VAN HEES: That was huge. That actually kind of -- I shouldn't say saved the day because either way it would have been a great day, but it sure makes the rest of the afternoon a lot better than if I had kind of didn't finish like that, you know what I'm saying? So that was important.

Even walking up, my caddie and I were talking, and he's like, make birdie here and go low tomorrow, and you never know. So that was huge. That was huge to pull it off. I'm not real used to the fans around the greens. So when they were clapping, it was a good feeling.

Q. What's the one or two things that maybe you learned today that you didn't know before?
KURT VAN HEES: I think that what I learned about myself, in all honesty, was the fact that under pressure -- I think I've got what it takes to play under that kind of pressure.

Today, the putter just wasn't happening for me at all, and then I started pressing. But it really wasn't anything to do with the crowds, you know what I'm saying?

In because the holes that were really the biggest crowds -- we teed off on 10. So 18 and 9, I hit my best approach shots to the most crowded greens.

And then the par 3 No. 3, where there was a lot of people around, I actually hit my best shot. So that surprised me a little bit, to be honest. I would have thought it might have been the opposite.

The holes where there weren't as many people, I would have thought maybe I would have hit a little bit better shots. But those are the ones I hit the better shots. So that was one thing I learned, for sure.

Q. When you go back to the point where you said, in the hospital bed that if I get out of this, I'm going to play golf, and now you're in this moment where you've just played a round in the U.S. Senior Open, can you give us the feeling that you have right now going from that moment to now?
KURT VAN HEES: I'd like to say that, at that point in time, when I said I was going to take up the game and work on it and stuff, that I always had enough confidence to think I was going to be here, but it surprises me that I've made it to the U.S. Senior Open, to be quite honest.

And even maybe if I was a couple more years down the road and stuff, if I'd had a little bit more experience of -- this is, by far, the biggest event I've ever been in. It wasn't like I played in a couple. The only thing I've done is the final stage of Q school. It's like I haven't even played in a couple of Champions Tour events.

So I went from really, really into the deep end. I played in some mini Tour stuff in Northern California, but that's so entirely different than this that it's really not even really comparable.

So I would say kind of I passed my expectations at this point by getting into this event. This event was the game changer for me. It's been amazing.

Even when I looked over on to the No. 10 tee, when I hit it into 18, it was Olin Browne, who I've watched play golf for a lot of years, and he had come up and talked to me the other day. Very, very nice guy. So many nice guys, Peter Jacobson, Olin Browne. I could go on and on.

And they looked over, and the caddies and Olin Browne are like, great shot in there. It's pretty interesting, because I really come from the golf world, to look over and see that. It's quite a thrill, to be quite honest.

Q. In your mind, what would you like to do tomorrow to make this a complete --
KURT VAN HEES: Yeah, yeah. The cut, you know, I think the cut's going to be a stretch. In all honesty, if I shot even par or better tomorrow, I would be really happy. Even par or better on a U.S. Open venue, I would be very content.

You know, like I told my wife last night when I was talking to her on the phone, I said, this isn't a one and done. I'm hoping to do many of these.

I've just got to practice a little more, work on the short game a little more. My putter, I'm streaky. I putted really well in the qualifier, putted really bad today. I had 35 putts, and that's unacceptable.

I've heard Johnny Miller say in the past, if you're not sub-30, you're in trouble. You've got to do that. So my game really turns on that.

So, yeah, I would say even par tomorrow, and I would really be content.

Q. Thank you for your time.
KURT VAN HEES: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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