U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 10, 2021

Fred Couples

Omaha Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Scratched out a few pars there at the end to have a nice round.

FRED COUPLES: Yeah, I mean you play courses this tough, I don't hit every shot. I hit a really poor iron on the 5th hole, the hole I bogeyed. Then I had that par-5 downwind on 15 and heeled a drive right up against the tree and made a great 5.

But I hit it fine. It was a little weird, I went and sat in the car for a couple hours and I came out and I actually felt pretty good. So I got it around. I think from the time we stopped I played it 2-under.

It was not perfect golf, but it wasn't horrible either; it was just kind of solid and let's just get through this day. I mean I got up at 5:50 ready to go, I got the text at 6:00, I couldn't fall asleep, so I've been up just like everyone else, but I'm -- my body's not like a lot of other people's, so I need rest and I'm heading home right now.

Q. Tell me about those birdies at 12 and 15.

FRED COUPLES: Yeah, what did I do on 12, honestly? Into the wind, I hit a 6-iron. I was trying to keep it left of the hole to have an uphill putt and it trickled up against these collars, and it was kind of a chuckle, and it went right in the hole.

I kind of -- I left a lot of putts short, and this one I kind of hammered because it was against that fringe and it went right in the middle of the hole.

Then on the other par-3 into the wind, I hit a good 5-iron and I read the putt right and made a nice 20-footer.

Q. Six behind right now because Jim just birdied 16. Do you have any chance at all, and what do you have to do?

FRED COUPLES: Well I've watched the whole week. There have been a handful of 64s shot. Is tomorrow supposed to be decent? You know, so that helps me. Because Jimmy's too solid, he's not going to shoot, whatever, I won't even put a score out there. Could he shoot 68 and win by nine? Of course he can, he's that good. But you know, when you get to a certain age, I'm not going to go out there and worry about it. I'm just going to try and make more birdies. I've not made many birdies, but I'm parring the heck out of it and it is what it is. He's playing so well and there's a couple other guys that moved in there too, so maybe they can put some heat on him.

Q. Is this going to be soft again tomorrow?

FRED COUPLES: Yeah, it's really soft. It's almost -- yeah it's very soft. Ball's plugging, but it's okay.