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U.S. SENIOR OPEN

June 27, 2019

Jesus Rivas

Notre Dame, Indiana

Q. Jesus, six birdies, three bogeys. How did you feel out there today?
JESUS RIVAS: First of all, thanks to God that I'm here, and I was very nervous because it's the first time I'm playing in a U.S. Open even as a senior.

I'm very, very happy, and I did my best for the first round to be playing here.

Q. What did you do well today to make six birdies?
JESUS RIVAS: I came here Friday, and I practiced the whole week, so I was putting and putting. I think my putting was the best solution for the birdies.

Q. What was the longest putt you made today for a birdie, and on which hole?
JESUS RIVAS: The best birdie was on the 18th hole. It was 16 yards, and I made it, because it's a very, very long hole. So that's the most important one that I made.

Q. Were you below the hole when you made the putt or above? What area of the green?
JESUS RIVAS: From left to right from the top.

Q. What does it mean to you to have so much support here?
JESUS RIVAS: I was invited by a friend to Boca Raton. They have a house over there. But they couldn't make it because they went for a vacation. So me and my friends came to support him. We know him 37 years ago.

Q. You grew up as a caddie when you were 14 in Bogota; what does it mean to you to come from being a caddie and then all the tours you played on to get to this point and now you're here?
JESUS RIVAS: (Tearing up) I started when I was 14, and I was a caddie for seven to eight years. Then in Colombia they give me an opportunity to be a temporary pro. So I was a temporary pro for three years. But I stayed in the club, and I was always in the club, and I became a pro when I was 26 years old.

I won my first tournament when I was 38. Why? Because I didn't have the money not even to pay the caddie to go to the tournaments. The tournaments, you have to pay like $300, $400. It's too expensive, the trip, everything that involves to be a pro.

And finally when I was 38, I won my first tournament, and I'm here now.

Q. You got a 67 today. It has to be thrilling. You've put yourself in a position to play on the weekend with another good round tomorrow. What would that mean to you to play on the weekend here?
JESUS RIVAS: I played with people that were younger than me in Colombia and in Mexico, and I played the minor league and then the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica, but I was one of the oldest over there. And now I know that I'm playing with legends here. I mean, people that we grew up with seeing on the TV in Colombia, watching these people play, and now I'm going to play one to one with these guys. So I'm very, very excited.

THE INTERPRETER: I want to add something else: The father of his caddie is one of the supporters of Chucho. We call him Chucho, and his father told him, please go and be his caddie. He's doing it for the fun of it. He's not charging him.

JUAN FAJARDO: I would say it was an experience. I asked him, I will not charge you, I just want to go and caddie -- I'm a college golfer playing Division II NCAA, so for me it's an experience, Dominican College, New York. I also came to help him with the translation from Spanish to English, English to Spanish, to take care of him. It's a great chance to see like people that they won three, four Masters, they won major championships. They've been legends. For me it's a great opportunity to be here watching -- being a caddie of one of my golf teachers back in Colombia.

And what Chucho said, we have to play one day at a time. Today we had lots of positives. We practiced a lot the last few days. But tomorrow is another day. It's another mindset. We don't think about what's going on through the weekend, we just think about what just happened and what is going to happen tomorrow.

So the mindset is one hole at a time. Today we made birdies and bogeys, but he had a very, very strong mind and confidence in his game. He just kept patient with the strategy and the plan that we had in the practice round.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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