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U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 14, 2018

Scott Piercy

Southampton, New York

SCOTT PIERCY: First in the Flash area will be Scott Piercy. Scott shot a 69 today and is 1 under for the Championship. He's next up.

Q. Well done.
SCOTT PIERCY: Thanks.

Q. It's just you and Ian are the only ones under par right now. It's got to feel good to get off that course with a red number?
SCOTT PIERCY: Yeah. You know, the first guy -- it was weird, on the range it blew pretty hard. Then the first nine holes it kind of died a little bit.

Then when we made the turn, it kind of picked back up. Once I got through -- once I got to 16, I really wanted to make birdie, try to get to 2. I felt like if I could get in the house at 2 -- had a good putt at 16, just a little short there.

But, yeah, it's playing tough. I mean, I made some good putts early in the round, like the par putts, kind of like the one on 18 there, six, seven feet. Just was able to strike the ball solid, keep the ball down out of the wind, I felt. I was able to put it in the right spots.

Q. Scott, Oakmont's obviously a different kind of a test, but it's a real serious test. You played awfully well there. Is there something about a U.S. Open type setup that is good for your game?
SCOTT PIERCY: Honestly, I hit the ball probably the best in my life at Oakmont. Yesterday, I walked off the golf course after four holes because I was so frustrated with my preparation. So it's hard to say, like, you know, I didn't really expect this this morning. Just kind of regrouped last night, tried to go back to a couple things that have worked throughout the year. I was able to kind of piece it together again.

Q. What was frustrating you yesterday?
SCOTT PIERCY: I was skanking it, and I lost like five balls in the first four holes. I'm like, I'm outta here.

Then the rain came anyway, so it was kind of a loss for me. But just went home, regrouped, tried to calm my mind down, figure out what makes my golf swing tick.

Q. You went birdie, bogey, birdie after the turn. And those people who went early on 10, 11, and 12 really did poorly -- plus 2, plus 3, plus 4. What was the difference for you on those three holes?
SCOTT PIERCY: I mean, I hit a great shot into 10, made a 15-footer there, just left it below the hole. Actually, I hit a great shot into 11. I landed it exactly on my number. The ball just hit and went sideways and rolled off the green, hit a bad chip, and just missed that.

On 12, I made a putt that I haven't made in two years, 80 feet or whatever it was. So -- but on 12, for instance, I hit a 3 wood off that tee because I didn't want to try to squeeze a driver down into the neck, you know, and I laid it back just so I could get a wider fairway. I still hit it in the rough, just barely, but I was able to take a 5 iron, just kind of roll it up there, try to get my two-putt. That's a par hole.

So the fact that it went in is obviously a bonus. But that was one of -- strategically for me, I didn't like hitting a driver all the way down there.

So just trying to play smart, put it into play. If you walk away with a 4 there every day, you're happy. I actually hit some really good shots there. Maybe just starting out the tournament, maybe a little nervous. I had nine holes under my belt where I kind of had that little bit of rhythm and flow. Actually, I was yelling at the ball on 11 to be right. Next thing I know, it's off the green. So I was a little frustrated there.

But I hit a lot of good shots. Like I said, I think being able to hit the ball solid and kind of flight the ball down a little bit today was the biggest key.

Q. (No microphone) where you have a bad practice round and still come out the next day or do they tend to correlate more?
SCOTT PIERCY: Say that again.

Q. When you play poorly in practice, are you usually able to turn it around or is that indicative of your whole week?
SCOTT PIERCY: I hope so. I mean, you know, I do this for a living (laughter). Most of the time, ball striking is my number one thing, right. I'm usually a ball striker. So I know that I can get back there. Sometimes it's getting out of my own way, kind of like putting the emotions aside and trying to figure out, look, what makes you tick, what are the key things, what are the drills that you do, and that's what I did last night.

I actually went back on my Instagram, looked at some swings that I posted, positions that I was in, saw some drills I was doing. Came out this morning, did it, started hitting it more solid, kind of got a feel for it, you know, and then just ran from there.

Q. Scott, when you got in here, does that make a difference in terms of calming yourself down or realizing that you are here and how you arrive maybe takes some of the frustration off?
SCOTT PIERCY: I mean, golf's frustrating in general. You've got to ride the wave, and you've got to figure out how, when you're at the bottom of the wave, how to get back to the top.

Being here, you know it's going to be frustrating, so you've got to get the right mindset. I think last night was a big regroup for me, and today it showed.

Q. Will you watch any of the golf this afternoon on TV?
SCOTT PIERCY: If the house I have has that channel.

Q. Did you know you were feeling good early on?
SCOTT PIERCY: No. You know, I think my -- I lowered my expectations so much yesterday because I had a bad kind of couple days in prep that, you know, I sort of started from the bottom, in my mind. Sometimes you have great prep and you're like, golly, this is good. I can win. And then you go out and do terrible because your expectations get so high.

So I think for me and, you know, reset my expectations, and you get these hard conditions, knowing everybody's going to struggle, those kind of play hand in hand.

Q. Scott, if you answered this before, forgive me. Where were you and how did you find out Sunday that you were in?
SCOTT PIERCY: Actually knew a little -- unofficially/officially knew a little earlier.

Q. Because you were tracking the numbers?
SCOTT PIERCY: Yeah, because the site I was at is usually one of the top strength of field ones. So we kind of got how they -- the gist of they filled 150 spots and, you know, guys that can move to the top 60, stuff like that. So I had a pretty good idea kind of mid last week. It wasn't official until, obviously, Sunday night or Monday morning, but the way it looked was kind of panning out.

Q. Did somebody from the USGA call you to tell you officially you were in?
SCOTT PIERCY: Yeah.

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