THE 152ND OPEN

July 19, 2024

Tom McKibbin

Mixed Zone

Q. Tom, obviously a shame on the last, but when you take stock of your round and your first two rounds, it's been a pretty good performance under difficult conditions.

TOM McKIBBIN: Yeah, it's been pretty good. I would say sort of not make any huge numbers, especially because it's difficult out there. It's very windy, and it's so hard to predict what the ball is going to do in the air and especially what it does on the ground. It's very, very hard.

Q. You've been pretty self-critical. You certainly were after the first round. Are you less critical now when you see so many big names struggling as much as they are and you're comfortably into the weekend?

TOM McKIBBIN: Yeah, I guess so. Yesterday I was very disappointed. I just didn't play very good. I sort of felt like I got round the course quite well and same today, but just haven't really felt too comfortable, especially with my approach shots and stuff the last couple of days.

But yeah, once yesterday when I seen the scores, I thought, geez, maybe I was a bit hard on myself. So it was a little bit better today.

Q. 72 in pretty much the worst of the wind that has blown today. You three-putted the last one, so that's difficult, I know, but it was that close to a level-par 71. Everybody would take a 71 out there, don't you think, right now?

TOM McKIBBIN: Yes, certainly. Annoyed to three-putt the last, but I hit a pretty good second shot, and it just got away from me on the ground, a long way away.

But yeah, if I was to take level-par, 1-over starting today, definitely. I didn't think at the start of the week I'd be hitting a 6-iron into the 1st hole of the day. As you said, it's just getting very difficult, very windy, and just very hard.

Q. Two majors, two cuts made, and all sorts of things could happen over the weekend, even the possibility of getting into red figures, under-par figures, which would be a good result here.

TOM McKIBBIN: Yeah, I think I've played quite nicely here and at Pinehurst. I think I just did a good job of not making too many big mistakes or big numbers, which I think is sort of key around these courses. It's very easy to throw in a double or a triple very quickly.

I think, when I've been out of position, I've been quite good at getting myself back out of it and back in play. I think that's sort of been the key for those two weeks.

Q. How much have you had to change your game this week, Tom, compared to what you've been playing in Italy and other events?

TOM McKIBBIN: Yeah, a lot. Obviously just the approach shots and putts round the greens. The greens are very slow, especially into the wind. Then obviously hitting 6-irons from 150 yards is a lot different.

Yeah, it's definitely been a big change, especially last week I struggled a lot, especially hitting off the firm ground. I hadn't played any links golf in a year. Definitely it's different.

So we were trying to manage that, and then the wind when it's cold, it's amazing how much more the ball moves in the air. So sort of getting your eyes used to that is a big change.

Q. When you played with Darren during the week, did you pick up much from that? Was he giving you any tips?

TOM McKIBBIN: Not really. When we played on Tuesday morning at half 6:00, it was pretty calm. There was no wind around, so not really.

Q. What would you like to get out of the weekend?

TOM McKIBBIN: I'd like to try to shoot an under-par round. That would be quite nice. Yeah, to shoot under-par at a major would be pretty cool. That would be my goal for the next couple of rounds. Try to get one in the red numbers.