THE 152ND OPEN

July 19, 2024

Joaquin Niemann

Mixed Zone

Q. Can you just kind of talk us through your back nine and kind of the mindset after the troubles on 8.

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: It was tough, after finishing No. 8, I kind of told myself that I -- I mean, I was playing great before that. I started really good, and I started hitting all my golf shots. One hole is not going to change that.

So looking from back here, it's pretty easy to say, but being in that position is kind of tough. So I kind of try to tell myself and try to listen to myself and try to hack into that position that I was because it's something that everybody works on. You're always going to have tough holes, and you're going to try to recover out of that.

That's what made me proud when I finished the round. Yeah, it was great to see that happen and shooting a good round on the back nine.

Q. It's almost like the way you fashioned this round and the way you finished is even better than, say, like if you just shot a normal round without any kind of issues.

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: I'll say, yeah, obviously. Now that we're done, I'm pretty proud of the way I played after that hole, but if you ask me if I didn't make that 8 there, I could have been a few under par, I'd prefer that, but yeah.

Q. Is it hard to not look at the what if game and kind of say oh?

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: What if? I mean, I have a saying for that, but I can't say it right now. I love to say it, but we'll leave it for after.

Q. Can you just kind of take us through 8 and just kind of what happened?

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: It's a tough shot. Yesterday I hit the same tee shot. Today was a little bit better. It's just so hard to trust the wind. You've got to hit a wedge shot where you've got to take some off. You've got to hit a draw because the wind is pretty strong on the left, and also you don't want to be in that left bunker.

I probably started too far right. I'm not used to hit draws when I take a wedge off. So in that aspect, it's a tough shot for me. I'm going to go try to practise that shot and try to get it dialed in for tomorrow.

Q. Then what was kind of going through your mind as you were going from --

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Bunker to bunker?

Q. Bunker to bunker.

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Just get it out of there.

(Laughter).

I mean, I had that happen before, last year. Yeah, the first bunker shot, I knew it was a possible shot. I'd done it on the practise round, and I knew I was going to be able to do it. It just came a little bit too good, too clean. Yeah, it went into the other bunker.

Then on the second bunker, I had a great lie, and I thought I was going to be able to put out the shot, and I ended up being in my own divot.

So from there, I just tried to get it in play and ended up in another bunker. I think I made three-putt there because I was a little bit out of focus.

Yeah, I was able to brought it back after that.

Q. Just going into the weekend now, you don't have that many guys in front of you, but you have a few strokes to make up. What's your mindset?

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: It's the same. I would love to go tomorrow and hit a low round, but you've got to get out there and play some good golf, and there's some great players in front as well.

So the way I look at it right now is happy to be in the position I'm in right now, happy to be at The Open playing late on Saturday, which is always fun. So, yeah, just going to go enjoy my day, and we'll see you here tomorrow.

Q. At the beginning of the year, you were telling me that you had developed this low fade with the driver that you're hitting a lot. Has that helped you in conditions like that, or did you try hitting that shot a lot over here?

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, so I changed the shaft of my driver a little shorter for kind of have the flight a little bit lower and kind of keep it under the wind. It goes a little bit shorter than the other one but definitely goes a little bit straighter.

Yeah, I did that adjustment, and out here you hit a lot of -- at the front nine, you hit a lot of low ones against the wind, and on the back nine you've got to kind of shape it left to right too. So it's been working pretty good.

Q. Did you set a number you were trying to hit after the 8th hole?

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Actually, no. I didn't even know what I -- I was going to start counting what I did, but I just stopped and I didn't count. I just saw the scoreboard on the next hole, and whatever comes, it comes.

Q. After that, did you say like, okay, I need to get to a certain amount under for the rest of the round or something?

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: No, I knew I just needed to not think about that and my best game will come out.

Q. You had a great year on LIV. You win in Australia, in contention here. Do you feel like over the past year you're playing the best golf you've ever played?

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, I would say so. I think every aspect of my game is improving a lot. I think my short game -- like we saw today, I think my short game needs a lot of improvement, and I know that, if my short game can be up there like my putter was today, these couple days, I know I'll be fighting in many tournaments.

Q. I'm sorry if I missed it, but the Postage Stamp was playing so hard during the stretch that you were in there. What was the wind doing when you were hitting your shot?

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, you missed it.

(Laughter).

Yeah, it's a tough shot. It's left-to-right wind. You've got to hit a wedge pretty soft, and you've got to aim way left, trying to draw a little draw. It's a small target. Yeah, we'll see what we'll do tomorrow.