U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 28, 2024

Richard Green

Newport Country Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Please welcome Richard Green to the interview room here at the 44th U.S. Senior Open here at the Newport Country Club. 3-under 67, currently solo in 2nd. How would you describe your round today?

RICHARD GREEN: Hung in there pretty well today. It was much tougher conditions today with the wind. Something we faced in the last couple of holes yesterday, but not for the whole round.

There was some really testing shots out there today coming through 4, 5, 6 and early holes on the back nine, 10, 11, 12, 13. Some really, really tough, demanding shots.

I was able to hit some good ones when I needed to and hang in there when I needed to. It was a much tougher feeling out there today.

Q. Starting on 10 today, you birdied holes No. 18, 1, and 2 for the second consecutive day, albeit in a different order. The conditions were very different today from when you played yesterday. Was the strategy the same on those holes?

RICHARD GREEN: It was the same. The wind on 18 was down out of the left, so I was able to get a good drive down the fairway and left myself a wedge into the green and hit a good nice shot in and set up the birdie there.

18 wasn't the best drive, but another nice wedge shot set up the birdie there. It wasn't as easy as it felt the first day, where it was just a shot up by the green and chip it in, chip it close, and knock the putt in. It was a lot more difficult.

The 2nd hole, I didn't really have much of a shot from the bunker, but I went for the green off the tee and left myself a difficult angle to that right pin. Bunker shot went into the middle of the green, but I made the putt.

Putting saved me at times and kept the momentum going also.

Q. When you were growing up in Australia that had so many good players, were there certain ones that you followed or idolized even?

RICHARD GREEN: Yeah, a lot of the older generation guys that have come through Australia, Peter Thompson, Greg Norman, Ian Baker-Finch; the guys that have performed at the top obviously have been the benchmark for the Aussies to follow.

Probably focused a bit more in my early days on Greg Norman, being the world No. 1 at the time, and he was the man to sort of emulate, if you like. Not everybody gets to that position in the world, and good on him for doing it.

For me, though, it certainly inspired me to get to the level that I sort of got to in my career.

Q. You talked about how today was a little bit different, but you still got off to good starts on both sides. What does that do to help you mentally in the round?

RICHARD GREEN: I think golf's a momentum game in the mind. Golf's difficult when you're challenged and you're under pressure all the time and you're a little bit of position in shots.

So if you can be steady and having good momentum going your way, it just sets you in a good frame of mind for the rest of the day.

Focus is sharper. It's what we're all attempting to attain all the time. It's not always that easy to get momentum to go your way. It's a small percentage of the time, but that's the game.

Q. Do you watch leaderboards, and were you aware of where Fujita was at all times?

RICHARD GREEN: Yeah, today I was. He obviously had a great start, another great round. So he must be feeling pretty comfortable out there.

So I was aware of it. Obviously aware of Steve Stricker and the good round to get up to that position where I was tied with him for 2nd for a long part of the day until I sort of made a couple towards the end.

Yeah, it's just being there on Sunday now. Just giving myself a chance tomorrow, giving myself a chance Sunday.

Q. You said you were paying attention, I'm sure you heard about the historic feat this morning, back-to-back holes-in-one. I'm just curious, when you hear that and you step up to those holes, do you kind of think someone else did it, I can do it too?

RICHARD GREEN: Not at all. I was completely challenged with the conditions to hit the shots. Amazing to have two holes-in-one. I don't know if that's ever been done in golf, but it has this week, so fantastic.