U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 25, 2022

David Toms

Saucon Valley C.C. (Old Course)

Quick Quotes

Q. You got it going pretty good.

DAVID TOMS: Well, I drove the green on 10. Hit a good shot there; that got me to 4-under. Had a good look at eagle, didn't make it.

Then I had a lot of good looks. It's just the pins were tough, I thought, on the back nine. A lot of them up on the shelves. They were hard to get to. You try to get to some of those spots and you hit a bad shot, you're going to definitely make a bogey.

So I played smart but still was in control.

Then 17 I hit what I thought was a good shot up there, pin high, caught the ridge and rolled off to about 40 feet and I three-putted.

Then 18 I hit it in the bunker. I thought I hit a great bunker shot. Hit it by the hole, goes over the green in a bad spot, made another bogey.

Q. (Regarding Padraig Harrington.)

DAVID TOMS: Yeah, no, I just tried to play U.S. Open golf and hit the fairway first. If you had 7-iron or less and you had good yardage, I'd go at the pin or try to be aggressive.

If I was 6-iron, 5-, 4-, anything like that, I'd probably just try to hit it somewhere pin high and try to two-putt and get out of there and not be too disappointed.

Q. U.S. Open conditions and all that, pretty impressive. (Init's like 38 holes without a bogey. That's pretty impressive.

DAVID TOMS: Very impressive, and the way right now he's really moving the ball out there a lot, killing it off the tee and swinging at it pretty hard. So he's got that working for him.

Maybe as far as he hits it maybe he's able to hit less than driver quite a few times, so it makes it easier to hit the fairways. Then be strong enough to get the ball out of the rough on some of these holes you might put it in the rough.

The greens haven't firmed up all week, I think, is why you're seeing the ability to make some birdies is the greens.

Q. They can stop the ball?

DAVID TOMS: Yeah, I think so. It would be hard to get them any faster because all the slope they have, but they still have a lot of moisture in them. It's almost bad at times because you see guys sucking it back down some of the slopes; whereas I had a couple shots hit right by the hole and would spin off and have 30 feet.

I'd like to see them firm up a little bit. Maybe they will tomorrow.

Q. Down the stretch tomorrow, what holes do you think are going to play key to winning?

DAVID TOMS: Well, it depends on how they set up the golf course really. You've got some strong holes out there, some long holes that, if you can make your pars. Then there's some shorter holes. It's a good mix.

The first thing is get it in the fairway because, if you're in the rough, you're just hacking it out and trying to get it somewhere on or near the green.

Somebody could get hot tomorrow and shoot a low one. I was close to being able to do that today. You saw Jimenez do it yesterday.

But you've still got to keep the ball in play. If you don't do that, you're going to struggle to make any, make pars, much less birdies.