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U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 14, 2018

Will Grimmer

Southampton, New York

Q. Do you live on campus or off campus?
WILL GRIMMER: I live just off.

Q. Tied for low Am after one round. Not a bad day. This is your first U.S. Open?
WILL GRIMMER: Actually, I qualified for the U.S. Open down at Pinehurst, so second U.S. Open.

Q. So you have been there, you know what it's like to play the national championship of golf. What was this experience like as compared to Pinehurst?
WILL GRIMMER: It felt totally different out there. I think coming in to today, especially having Tiger in the field and being only a few groups back from him, there was some energy out there today that wasn't there in Pinehurst when he wasn't there. So that was really cool.

There were definitely some butterflies. Swing was feeling okay the last few days, but really found something on the range this morning. And just for whatever reason, felt very calm out there. Kind of drew off my experiences the last four years playing the U.S. Amateur. I felt like the golf course is set up like a U. S. Amateur, very comparable to the Open. Obviously this is a little bit tougher.

Bottom line is it's a similar test and a similar mindset going into it. So I just feel like with the experience I've had these last few years, I felt extremely comfortable out there today and just felt like I stayed within myself and never got too anxious out there or tried pressing and just kind of left the pars and birdies come to me.

Q. The key is always keep it in the fairways. But it's tempered somewhat by the wind. The weather played a factor today. How was your battle with the elements?
WILL GRIMMER: I thought I handled it great. I'm probably one of shorter hitters in the field. I put myself up at the top of the field as far as amount of fairways hit. I hit 11 maybe today, which is going to give myself a great opportunity to score regardless of how far you hit it.

My short game was unreal today. I one-putted my first six holes on my back nine. Just putted lights out and that was even with missing two birdie putts on 16 and 17. So I even had some good looks, could have been even lower.

To be inside the Top 20 and only four off the lead in the biggest stage of all in the game of golf, I'm very pleased with where I'm sitting.

Q. Knowing where you are in relation to the top score and being on the leaderboard, what does that do to your approach for tomorrow mentally and emotionally?
WILL GRIMMER: It won't deviate. My goal coming in this week was to be low Amateur and make the cut. So right now we're tied for low Am and we're in a great position to make the cut. So I need to go out and play solid tomorrow. The reality is a good round today doesn't mean anything. You just need to put up a solid number to get to the weekend and then try to make a run at the leaderboard on Saturday and Sunday.

Q. You had a few hiccups along the way today. But you did get some birdies on your card. How do you eliminate the problems that got you in a little bit of trouble?
WILL GRIMMER: I just made a few swings where I think I just got a little hesitant through the ball. Missed a few fairways left on 7 and 8.

To be honest, 9, probably hit one of the best drives and hybrids of the day. I was in between a hybrid and 3-iron and the ball just rocketed over the green up on the hill and kind of got a little bit unlucky that it didn't come back down that slope.

I made a few bad swings but I look at the scores today from some of the best players in the game and guys who have one numerous major championships and PGA Tour events, I think the scores speak for how tough this place really is. Everyone out here is going to make mistakes. The fact I was able to come back out here and -- my goal coming out here today was to post 74 or below. To get a 73 out here in these conditions, I'm very pleased where we're sitting going into tomorrow.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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