U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP 2022

June 19, 2022

Hideki Matsuyama

The Country Club

Flash Interview

THE MODERATOR: We have Hideki Matsuyama, 5-under 65, low round of the tournament so far. Hideki, can you walk us through your round today?

HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: Happy with the round today. I wasn't able to hit my birdie yesterday. I was able to get it today. So I'm really happy with the round today.

Q. How would you describe the conditions today compared to yesterday?

HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: Yesterday was cool. Today was a little more cooler, so there was a difficulty on that, but I feel like I was able to play very well.

Q. Hideki, not a single bogey on the scorecard. As you see the leaderboard, there's lots of changes there. How specifically were you able to avoid any mistakes out there?

HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: I feel like my putting helped me a lot. I was stroking my ball really well, rolling the ball really good. I think that really helped my game today.

Q. Performing like this in a major championship in a final round -- I know there's still some time, but what does that say about your game and your confidence?

HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: Yes, to be honest, I don't feel like this is my 100 percent performance, but it does give me a lot of boost on my confidence. So I'll try my best, try to connect this momentum to my next game, and I'll be prepared for it.

Q. If I could just ask one more, what's the plan? Are you going to stay warm as you watch more numbers come in?

HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: No plan.

Q. Posting a 65 today, that's the lowest round of the tournament. I mean, what brought you to do that? How did that feel?

HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: Definitely my putting was helping my game a lot. Rolling really good putts. My shots were pretty decent too. I was able to target most of the greens, so I think that really helped me.

Q. Obviously you're going to wait it out, but do you think 3-under will be enough, or do you think you might get beat by a stroke?

HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: I'll wait for a good result.

Q. The experience that you had last year at the Masters, how much do you rely on that to be able to play as you've played the last -- well, today and even going to the end of yesterday's round?

HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: To be honest, I'm not really thinking about that. I'm just trying to play my best game always. So just keep on grinding and trying my best.

Q. If I may ask another, when things started to go very well today, was he thinking, I can win the U.S. Open?

HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: If I can be a little bit greedy, I feel like, if I can play a little bit better on the first, second, and third day, that's one of the things I'm working on, trying to be consistent four days. So I'll try my best.