U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP 2021

June 20, 2021

Paul Casey

Torrey Pines Golf Course

Quick Quotes

Q. Talk to me a little bit about your round today.

PAUL CASEY: It's a U.S. Open, isn't it. You always need like five minutes to decompress coming off the golf course.

I mean, I played really well. Everybody is going to go, oh, I wish I could have back a couple of holes, and obviously my scorecard had a couple of blemishes on it today, but I gave 100 percent and I played some really good golf. I wish I could have made a couple more putts coming down the stretch.

It was still a really good week. In the back of my mind, people haven't talked about it, but a couple of guys have got the Olympics in the back of my mind because Fitzy and I have been literally shadowing each other all year, so I'm a bit nervous. I don't know, I'd love to go to the Olympics, so hopefully I've done enough.

Q. You birdied 7 through 9. How were you feeling making the turn?

PAUL CASEY: I felt great. Genuinely felt great. It was tricky today. I was not getting it close early on and made some good par saves, and then played 7 perfectly. 8, I got lucky. The putt should have gone the other way, and somehow it just sort of broke the wrong way up the hill into the hole, and then 9 I played beautifully and had an eagle chance there and made birdie.

I felt great, and the game plan didn't change. I played 10 really well, had a chance there, and even hit good golf shots on holes like 11, which yielded a bogey, and even a good-looking second shot on 12 which yielded a double bogey, but that's just the way it is.

Attitude was great all day and fans were great, and yeah, there's always like ifs and buts and wishes, but yeah, felt good and played my heart out.

Q. Biggest takeaways from this week?

PAUL CASEY: Actually not so much about my own game, which I felt was pretty good. I'm going to tip my cap to the USGA because it was a really well-run championship. I say that for a couple of reasons. One, hosting a championship after -- I guess technically we're still in a pandemic, looking at all the protocols we've still got to go through, and they pulled it off.

But from a golf course setup, it was brilliant, and I haven't always been able to say that in the past. But the last couple of championships, in fact going back to Pebble Beach even, have been really, really good, and this one is spectacular. Torrey Pines was a superstar. But you can still set it up badly if you're not careful, and they didn't. It was a great championship. So well done to the USGA.