U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 13, 2014

Ken Duke

Q. Talk about your decision and how the whole thing came about.
KEN DUKE: Yeah, it was just a bad break. That's what you get out here sometimes. You feel like you hit a pretty good shot sometimes and you just get a bad result. I really had no chance to hit it forward to the hole. I could have gone to the right, but if I hit it a little bit harder it might have rolled down the hill. So my caddie and I decided to hit it in the bunker, I'm a pretty good bunker player. We were just trying to make four. And when it came out, I thought it had a chance to go in and it did. Sometimes you do the right thing and it pays off and it works out, which is good.

Q. When you decided to hit that with a putter?
KEN DUKE: Yeah, just needed something with a square edge to get it going back in the bunker. You're not trying to advance it very far, just trying to get it back into the bunker.

Q. There was a lot of talk about those kind of lies popping up, but there doesn't seem to be that much of it. Have you had any other instances like that?
KEN DUKE: I missed six fairways this week, one in the bunker and five I had no chance to hit it forward, just junk. So it happens. That's the way it is here. You really hit some -- you hit it wayward and it's going to, you're going to pay for it sometimes.

Q. Did you get an unplayable lie to the right, with as there room?
KEN DUKE: I could have putted it to the right, but there was just no -- it was better to go back in the bunker.

Q. As demanding as this golf course is, when you look at the leaderboard and see what Martin is doing, 10-under par, does that kind of blow you away a little bit?
KEN DUKE: No, earlier in the week someone asked me what would win and they said over par or under par, and I said under par. I just feel like the golf -- they have moved it up a lot the last two days. They have shortened it up a lot. I didn't think they were going to do that. Obviously we got some rain last night and softened it up, but Martin's obviously playing great. He got off to a great start yesterday late so he came early this morning and kept it going. But there's a lot good players out here and I just think with when they shorten it up like they have, it's difficult. But when you're on top of your game like Martin is, I think it's out there.

Q. That chip-in you had on 5, take us through that.
KEN DUKE: I didn't have a shot to the hole, so I just knocked it back in the bunker and tried to get it up-and-down. That was the only chance I had, just trying to make a four and it accidentally went in.

Q. Do you like the setup, the way it's kind of different this year with being able to advance it?
KEN DUKE: Yeah, it's a great setup. There's a few holes that they moved up I didn't think they would and a few holes they left back I thought that they would move up and they didn't. So they have mixed it up. Even 15, I heard them talking about 15's a tough hole. Today it's just an 8-iron to a front pin. But just an 8-iron. But it's a tough green to hit. Plus you get a little side wind and get a little firmer, it's a difficult hole. It's just a little mound just left of the hole, so it's a very difficult pin.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports