PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 21, 2021

Joaquin Niemann

The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island

Quick Quotes

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Joaquin Niemann, who fired an even-par-72 today. He is currently at the 36-hole mark in 1-under par. Joaquin, up-and-down on the front nine, a little more steady on the back nine, and that's the toughest holes. Did you play some of your best golf late today?

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, I started playing pretty good since the beginning. I hit a good shot on the first hole. I almost made birdie. Made a good birdie on No. 2. And then No. 3, I made double, but I could have made birdie there, too. If I hit a good shot from the second shot, it could have been good.

It could have been a really good round the way I started, but yeah, overall I'm really happy the way I finished, the way I finished the last couple holes. It was windy, it was tough, and I hit pretty good shots.

Q. I'm guessing there's not a lot of places in the world you shoot 72 and walk off feeling satisfied, but is that the sense today?

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, it is right now, yeah. It's a really tough course. Obviously you want to go low on the front nine and then try to handle it a little bit on the back because it's a beast. Yeah, I still hit really good shots on the back nine, and yeah, I'm pretty happy with the even par.

Q. Along those same lines, you played the 14th through 18th stretch in 1-over each day. Do you see that as a victory?

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: I think it's pretty good. I mean, 14 yesterday I almost made birdie, 14 today I hit an amazing shot, I just missed it by like three, four yards. I hit two amazing shots.

And then 15 is a tough par-4. You hit the fairway, you are hitting 4-iron to the green.

16 I think is going to be one of the toughest par-5s I've ever played.

17, everybody knows what is 17.

And 18 -- yeah, I think it's one of the toughest stretches out here.

Q. When you talk about 3 being such a fine line between being able to make birdie, what exactly happened there?

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: No. 3 is a short par-4. I hit a really good 3-wood. I got like a 109 shot to the pin, and it was into the wind. Obviously I didn't want to go over because it's dead, and I hit it just short, and it spun back, and it was not an easy chip, and I hit it over the green, where I didn't want to hit it the first time. But yeah, I just made 6 there, and yeah, it could have been a good round.

Q. When is the first time you'd ever heard of Phil Mickelson, since he's been playing majors since before you were born, and is it weird to see him atop the leaderboard?

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, obviously he's probably double my age, and yeah, he's been playing -- he's one of the best golfers in history, also. I remember watching him play with Tiger, with Sergio, with all the top guys, and yeah, it doesn't surprise me that he's up on the leaderboard. He's an amazing player. He's playing good lately.