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U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 17, 2018

Tommy Fleetwood

Southampton, New York

Q. So, Tommy, what was your day like?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: It was a good one. It was a great one. I mean, yeah, so many positives, so many great things. Had a chance to shoot in a 62. And at the end of the day, I got within one of winning, when I was so far back at the start of the day.

So it's been a great day. It's easy to look at it and think I was one shy, and you can be disappointed. But there's so many positives to look at and so much that you can take from it and learn from it.

Again, it's another Major where I've ended up sort of up there at the end of the day. Majors in tournaments are 72 holes. So it doesn't matter how you kind of do it. If you end up there at the end of the week, it's a positive.

Q. Were you surprised at all about American fans chanting Fleetwood, Fleetwood?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: It was great, wasn't it? I've been really lucky. This year is the first -- this year is like my first year I've had status on the Tour, so I've played a little bit more in America, and the fans have always been great with me. So I'm lucky and grateful in that respect, that they've always been so good.

This week was like on another level, especially today. As the round went on, more and more people gathered, and I was on a hot streak. And walking up 18 was very special, really. Just having that appreciation in the crowd, all it being an American crowd as well, sort of getting behind an English guy. It was great for me. I loved it, and I do love playing over here.

And I always say, when I come off, how great I think the fans are. And this week, they were just, they were so good. It's just very special to have that many people behind you.

Q. After yesterday, you go out, and you played yourself right into it. About what time did you finish up today?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: I teed off at 12:00, so I guess 4:00-ish.

Q. To hang around and sit and watch the other guys coming back must have been exciting?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Like I said, I thought, if the conditions were a bit more like yesterday, I'd have felt a lot more comfy in the clubhouse. I'd have felt I had a bit more of a chance.

But the best players in the world are up there trying to win a U.S. Open, and watching them down the stretch, you've got nothing but respect for how well Brooks did, just to hole the putts at the right time. He kept it together, and he's a world player. He's one of the best players in the world.

It wasn't great for me, but it was great as a golfer to watch how he did it and watch how he closed it out.

Q. Did Brooks finishing at 1 over instead of even influence how you think about the putt on 18?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: No. The putt on 18, I actually wanted more for the 62 at the time, and then it became a thing at the Tournament. Obviously, that's the putt that will play on your mind because that was the last shot you hit and that was your chance.

But I missed some putts in the week. I made some putts. I think everybody did. And your score is your score. And for me, just getting that close to winning a Major again, I think that is the ultimate thing I'll take from it.

I'm not going to dwell too much on it. It is what it is, but again I got very close to winning a Major.

Q. You said the 6 iron you hit into 18 was one of the best shots you'd ever seen anybody hit. What was going through your mind? Where does it rank?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Well, it was set up for me. It was like a 6 iron that was two yards further than yesterday, and I hit a 6 iron last night, and I pulled a bad one. But wind was off to the right. I cut it as hard as I wanted to. For me, it was set up for me, that shot. You know, I'd back myself to pull it off. It was a very good shot, and under the circumstances as well.

But if you're strong enough mentally or if you let yourself go or let yourself play the shot, that was a shot I fancied to pull off.

Q. How much did you dream of winning Majors and Ryder Cups? At what point did dreams become a reality that you actually believed that you could do stuff like this?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Well, I've not won a Major, and I've not played in a Ryder Cup, so they're not reality yet, but hopefully I'll get there.

In golf, all of us that play, that's where our dreams and ambitions are. We want to win Majors. A lot of us want to be world No. 1, and there's certain tournaments we want to win. And it's been that way since you decide to kind of play the game full-time, whenever that point is when you grow up.

It's always there, and that's what we work towards. I think it's nice as a golfer to have that hard work start paying off and getting yourself up there. And hopefully, for me, this is just stages that I'm going through to eventually end up winning Majors.

Q. Do you feel you're bound to win a Major?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: I don't feel like I'm bound to win a Major, because I think -- I best put this on. I think it takes a lot of hard work, and you need the right breaks, and there's so many good golfers now that you can't really think that way. So, for me, I'll just continue to put in the hard work and surround myself with the people that I need. And hopefully I will get there, and hopefully I'll win one or more than one.

But as my career goes, it might be disappointing now when you think you could have won one. But I know people are on you. You don't see it when it's yourself, but people outside of it will tell you you're just going through the right stages and you're getting closer and closer.

And at the end of the day, this is my best result in a Major yet. So now there's only one I can do from here, and that's win one. At the position I'm in, performing in them a little bit more, yeah, at some point I'll start to look and think, yeah, I can win these Majors, and I'll start to find a way to try to win them.

Q. What's your last impressions of Shinnecock, these four days?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: It battered us on Thursday and Friday morning and Saturday afternoon. It's difficult. There's no point in complaining too much about the setup or about the conditions. It is what it is. At the end of the week, somebody's going to win. It's a brutal golf course when the wind picks up, and that makes all the difference.

Today, it was a bit softer. The pins were a little bit nicer, and it's scorable. And I think courses -- well, courses that you can shoot 7 under or 8 over in a two-day stretch have a lot about them, and they're actually very good. But, yeah, it all depends on the actual setup and how it is and the conditions.

But I've really enjoyed the challenge. I've loved playing here. I loved preparing for it. After playing Chambers Bay and Erin Hills, everybody told me that I haven't played a traditional U.S. Open course yet, so I'm glad I've done that now.

Q. We have a presentation for Mr. Fleetwood. Great play this week. Pleasure having you here.
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: My first medal. Thank you very much.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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