U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 13, 2008

D.J. Trahan

RAND JERRIS: It's a pleasure to welcome D.J. Trahan to the media center. D.J. in today with a 69, 1-under for the tournament. 2-under par today. D.J., maybe start us off with some general comments about your round. How did the course play today versus yesterday how do I feel about your game.

D.J. TRAHAN: The course played obviously a little bit easier for us this morning than yesterday afternoon. We played probably nine, we played the front pretty much the better part of the front nine without much wind at all, and then picked up a little bit on the back nine. And towards the finish, it really started to pick up a little bit.

So yesterday afternoon we played pretty much in the wind the whole day, and I'm sure that will probably be the case today for those guys.

So needless to say, the greens, we saw better greens, obviously, the whole morning. We hadn't gone through yet and it was nice to feel like you could make a few more putts out there.

RAND JERRIS: Anything different in your game today? Obviously you played well yesterday, but a little better today.

D.J. TRAHAN: I putted very well today and I hit the ball a little bit better. And this course is only going to get tougher as the week goes on, and it actually was very tough this morning obviously again. But when you make -- I made some really good putts today. Nice par saves from five and six feet, and when you can get the putter going to make those, it certainly keeps a lot of momentum going for a good round.

RAND JERRIS: Birdie and bogeys, please.

D.J. TRAHAN: My first birdie came at the 8th hole. We hit a 7-iron in there today just past the pin, and actually had a really slippery putt coming down the hill there. Not an easy putt at all from about five or six feet. Knocked that one in the left side. So that was a great putt.

I had 7 pars to that point and it was nice to get a little bit of -- felt like I was starting to get some forward momentum going.

Then had two good shots on nine, short of the green probably about 15 or 20 yards short there and pitched up about 7 or 8 feet and made that to finish the front with a couple birdies.

Bogeyed 12. Hit what I thought was a good drive down the left side and it kicked into the left rough. And then I didn't have a chance to really -- I would have had to hit a great shot to get it on the green. I didn't have a great lie. So I left it short right of the green there, and actually drew what I would consider to be an amazing lie in the rough. And it was so good that I kind of went right underneath it. It was sitting up so good because I was trying to hit -- I had had to hit kind of a high-flop-shot kind of shot to that pin. And it just kind went right underneath it.

Then I drew a horrible lie and actually chipped that one up there about 12 feet and made it. So it was a very good bogey needless to say. I think if there's ever a good bogey, that was a great bogey there.

And then I made a great par save. I know it's not a birdie, but I made a great one on 14 today. I drew a lie in the left rough that I could barely get it back to the fairway with. And then from there I hit an 8-iron from 153 yards to about 10 feet and made the putt for par. So that was really big, especially since I had bogeyed the 12th and it kind of felt like I was stalling out there.

16, we hit a 4-iron in there today about 20 feet short of the hole, dead on line. And just a right-to-left, up and over the hump there and it snuck in on the right side. It was a really nice two. Any time you can make a two from 220 yards, that's a good thing.

Q. Torrey hasn't been a really kind course to you over the years. What's the difference? Is it the way it's set up or your attitude and your game coming into a Major Championship?

D.J. TRAHAN: I think it's definitely my attitude and my game. I can honestly say I never really looked forward to the Buick. I kind of played it just because it's -- I'm already out here on the West Coast and instead of flying all the way back to the East Coast, I kind of play a pretty busy schedule there at the beginning of the year, but I think I kind of took the attitude that this will probably be my last time coming here, so I try to make the best of it.

Q. We heard that before about people. What is it about this place that they don't like? Does it not fit your game or some other issue?

D.J. TRAHAN: It's hard to say. I'm not going to pinpoint anything precisely, but when we come here in February, I think to play, the greens are always soft and it's just brutal. Obviously this week the conditions are absolutely completely different. And I've actually enjoyed the golf course quite a bit more. Regardless of the fact that -- I could have gone out and shot 10-over for two rounds and told you I enjoyed the golf course than what I am now just because we're playing it under conditions that I feel are a little bit more playable.

I come from the East Coast, man. We don't put on sponges like this. So it's tough for me to come up here and putt on poa. It's really tough for a lot of East Coast guys. And I think there's some other things that factor into it. But needless to say, the golf course doesn't suit me very well, and I don't care for it very much. So obviously, I knew I had to find some way to get a mental edge coming out here and that's kind of what I did. I kind of said, obviously this is a Major Championship, it's a U.S. Open, and I knew the golf course was going to be playing under totally different conditions. So I was looking forward to coming out here and seeing it in a completely different state. And I've enjoyed it quite a bit more.

Q. Sometimes the weather conditions vary from one hole to another. It's sunny, air's a little breezier, easier to drive, then you come up, the air's heavier, the fog rolls in or whatever, how do you mentally adjust to that, do you just have to put your head down and grind it through?

D.J. TRAHAN: I think it's the old adage, it's one shot at a time. Obviously you never know what you're going to get, you just have to play in the present. If the sun's out one minute and not the next, the breeze picks up, you have to deal with it. It's golf. The conditions are always going to change. Obviously I think it can kind of do that out here a bit more with these sort of soggy-like conditions. But it's when you're out there for five hours, you know it's going to change at some point. So you just kind of have to roll with the punches.

Q. Where does the U.S. Open fall in your list of like tournaments you would most like to win?

D.J. TRAHAN: I would only put one probably ahead of this. The Masters. Just something about growing up in the southeast and just growing up with the Masters every year and it's just obviously this is our national championship, but there's just something about the Masters, I think, that holds a little bit more of a special place in my heart. But this one certainly ranks second for sure. The names that are on that trophy and the prestigious -- the absolute just totality of what this event means is pretty awesome. It's the NBA championship, it's the World Series, it's the U.S. Open. It's the biggest thing we have. But for some reason, it's -- I think the Masters just holds a little bit more speci! al place in my heart.

Q. Speaking of that, you have a chance going into the weekend now to either lead or be very close to it. In what you're talking about, is the national championship the big event right now? How are you feeling about yourself and how come there's not a smile on your face right now. There you go.

D.J. TRAHAN: I don't know. I'm not trying to be too serious, but obviously I feel good. If you're 1-under par through two rounds in a U.S. Open you're doing something right. I'm sorry just going to continue to try to build on that and go out and stick to my game plan. I've had a good game plan so far for two days, hit the ball pretty solid. Haven't really gotten myself behind the 8-ball too much. And obviously. Like anybody will tell you, this isn't a birdie contest. This is a survival contest.

So it's playing solid golf and minimizing your errors when they present themselves. So if I can just continue to do what I've done for two days, obviously I should be right in there.

Q. How different are the putting surfaces that you encounter early in the day like today compared to what you get out here late in the afternoon?

D.J. TRAHAN: It's night and day, man. I can't even tell you the difference. Yesterday afternoon it looked like we were putting on -- I don't know if you ever watched the Price is Right, but that plinko game where they drop the little thing and it starts going back, that's what you feel like when you're standing over it, and that's on six-footers. You're just -- you're kind of going, well, if I bounce it off that bump, maybe it will bounce off that one and bounce back in the hole.

So it's just tough. It's poa. It's the nature of the grass. Once those greens dry out a little bit and you get all those people trudging around on them with footprints, that's really nothing you can do. It's the way they're going to be regardless.

So this morning was nice. There's a little bit of moisture out there this morning and obviously we were putting on fresh greens for the majority -- well, the front nine we were the third group off, so pretty much the whole front nine, they were great. And they got bumpier on the back, but I tell you compared to yesterday, the greens rolled a lot truer for us this morning.

Q. If I could follow-up on that, with the late tee times scheduled for the leaders on Saturday and Sunday, how much worse the circumstance are we talking about?

D.J. TRAHAN: Oh, I mean, you're only talking about 60-plus guys or maybe 70 guys will make the cut, whatever it is compared to 156. Obviously, the leaders are going to be putting on the worst greens because they will be the last ones off, but I think the greens will be significantly better over the weekend with that much less traffic on them.

RAND JERRIS: D.J. thanks very much for your time, we wish you lots of luck this weekend.

D.J. TRAHAN: Thank you.