U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 29, 2024

Padraig Harrington

Newport Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. After a tough 8th hole, you certainly turned it around on the back nine. What was working for you during the back nine stretch? Certainly you're familiar with wind conditions. How do they play a role in today's round?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Look, it was certainly -- I lost a bit of focus on 7 and 8, but in general, I played well all the way. So I drove it well for the rest of the round. I suppose I holed a few putts to make a few birdies.

It was a little windy out at one stage when we were going out into the wind there. It wasn't that windy, but it seemed with the drop in temperature, it seemed to play a little bit long. I came up short a couple of holes before I realized.

The course is playing nice. It's how you actually want to see the course play, I think. I think any less -- and the greens start to firm up a little bit. Certainly they're not soft anymore. So nice test.

Q. Everybody's talked about the wind on the back nine coming in. How do you think that's going to play a role tomorrow?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Depends on which direction. The last five holes certainly played easy. You've got plenty of chances there. And the couple that were into the wind, they're not too bad.

I think the back nine, once you get through 10, the back nine certainly seems like the scoring nine. The greens aren't as severe. The greens have a lot of slope on them. I think, if you can get through the front nine in a decent score, then you've got some chances coming home.

Q. With your familiarity with wind conditions like this, how do you think they'll affect Fujita and the other leaders going down the stretch today?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: We're all over 50. We've experienced this plenty of times. There's plenty of experience out here. So I don't see it being too much of an issue for these guys coming home tomorrow.