U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 13, 2008

Miguel Angel Jimenez

Q. How do you feel you played today?

MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ: Really hit the ball very well. Every chance I had for birdie, I made the birdie.

Q. How important was this to start out birdie, birdie?

MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ: Well, it gives you a boost. I started out very nice with my first two holes on the 10th and the 11th. That's what you need to do.

Q. The final round at the Masters, you weren't able to contend at that point because you were too far out of it, but to be able to have a round like this going into the weekend gives you, I would have to think, tremendous confidence in your ability?

MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ: Yeah. As you say, something to put yourself in contention for the weekend. I've been hitting the ball very well and quite well now, and it gives yourself some confidence and that's the most important thing.

Q. Do you have a problem with the hardness of the greens and the ball bouncing to try to judge that?

MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ: Yeah, it's not easy, because the balls bounce a little too much. You know they're going to be hard still on the weekend, and today some shots, you tried to pitch the ball on the beginning of the greens, you have to manage it while you're on the golf course.

Q. This tournament, four of the last five Champions have been first-time major winners. You've been playing very well on the European Tour. You had a great tournament in the first major of the year at the Masters. Do you feel right now that you could contend for this championship?

MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ: Well, if I play like today, that's the only thing you need to. You need to play, you need to hit the ball well, especially from the tee. This is a tournament that you need to hit -- you need to play all the clubs. You need to put them on the fairway or you don't have a chance to put the ball on the green. Then you need to hit it on the low side of the hole to get birdies. You need to have a plan for your game.

And I feel good. I feel like I'm hitting well.

Q. It may sound like a silly question to ask, but how important is it to you to win a Major championship?

MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ: Well, it's very important. This is my 26th year on the Tour, and I'm 44. I would love to have one for my career.

Q. Would it be another Ferrari in the garage?

MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ: No, it's not about quantity, so you have to enjoy what you have. That's the most important thing.

Q. What happened today that gave you a 5-under as opposed to yesterday? What differences were there?

MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ: Today I didn't play bad, but the conditions -- it's very easy to make bogeys here. And you miss it in the wrong place and you're going to have a shot to the approach, and you miss a putt to another place, and -- I had a couple of chances for birdie, but I didn't make it.

But that's golf. That happens. You don't need to play bad to make a bad score. You can play well -- like today, many players hit it decent and didn't make a score. So you hit it in the wrong place, you're dead. More important thing is to keep the ball in play, keep the ball -- get the ball on the greens, and hole some putts.

Q. Can you take risks out there or do you just have to stay smart?

MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ: You need to stay smart. And you need to -- of course, like I say, you need to have a game plan and go through that and play the game.

Q. As the greens get harder, a little faster, the course toughens up through the weekend, is it realistic to think that another 66 is out there?

MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ: Well, it's not going to be easy, no. It's not going to be easy. I make only one bogey today and six birdies, and Hole No. 6, I hit a beautiful driver, but it got on the edge and bounced in the bunker. When you miss them in the wrong place, it's difficult to recover, you know? But when you hit a bad stroke, you're walking away with birdie. But that's the game.

Q. You'll be going out obviously late tomorrow, and we've been hearing how the greens have been suffering, the conditions of the greens have suffered as the day goes on.

MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ: You know, with the pairings, after the people going with their feet on there, it's getting -- it's not a perfect roll. It's bumpy a little bit, but it's very fast. But you need to keep calm and give yourself time.

Q. I don't know exactly the pairings yet, but you're playing two groups back from Tiger. Is that about right? That's going to be real gallery golf.

MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ: That's nice. It's nice to see people on the golf course. It's very nice.

Q. Do you enjoy playing with Lee Westwood, it appears you might be playing with him tomorrow?

MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ: Yeah, yeah, of course. It's fine.

Q. You can't smoke on this course?

MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ: No, no, you can, inside the ropes, yeah.

Q. You can?

MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ: Yeah.