U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 13, 2014

John Wood

JOHN WOOD: It was a hundred percent on me. I was the first one to the ball.

Q. When did you realize it?
JOHN WOOD: Not until I put the bag down on the 18th green and Jamie looked at the ball, and -- because we could tell Hunter's ball was closer, the when we got up there Jamie's ball was much closer. And that's when we realized what happened. And Jamie realized it at first, I think. And it started to sink in. You can't imagine yourself doing something colossally as stupid as that, but I did it. I won't forgive myself very soon after this.

Q. What was Hunter's --
JOHN WOOD: Hunter was great about it. He was great all day. He had no reaction at all. He went back and hit a good shot and ended up turning around and birdieing 1. He wasn't upset. He was not happy, but he didn't visibly change the way he was playing or thinking. I just -- it's one of those things I still can't grasp what happened, it doesn't make any sense to me. Because it looked like -- you are out here every day for 17 years, you know where the ball goes in the fairway. And I can't grasp where the ball ended up, it wasn't there. That was no excuse, it was my fault. I went to the ball first. And there is nothing else I can say about it.

Q. Off the tee shot, was there any pushing from Jamie or --
JOHN WOOD: No, absolutely off the tee it looked like Hunter's was in the left center and Jamie's was on the left edge. And we got up there and they were switched and we didn't realize it.

Q. Were the balls marked similarly?
JOHN WOOD: They both have kind of an interesting slash across the number, which is not a very common marking. The only thing I can think of is I saw a slash and assumed it was Hunter's, because it's not a very common marking. That's all I can think of. But still, it's hard to believe. I don't believe I did something that epically dumb, but I did.

Q. Have you ever done anything like this before?
JOHN WOOD: Not like that, no.

Q. Does he feel any worse because he's outside the cut line?
JOHN WOOD: Oh, I'm sure. Yeah, that's the worst of it. It's probably going to cost us the cut. And he played so good today. The two-shot penalty probably cost him three, because he had a really great look on the shot he hit in there for birdie. It's just one of those things you scratch your head at. I almost want to see the video of the shots to see the tee shots to see what happened to them in the fairway. It's hard to believe that -- again, my fault. It was my fault way more than anybody else in the group. Hunter's kicked right a little bit. Jamie's was right on the left edge of the fairway. And they both have kind of a similar slash on their number. I assumed, wrongly, obviously, that our ball was this one. And I walked up to it and I didn't give it a good enough look. I saw the slash and assumed it was ours. My mistake completely.

Q. Well, back up for a second, don't you think the player has any culpability in this?
JOHN WOOD: You know, I take most of the heat. You just -- it's a rhythm you get into as a group. And if I'm the first one there, I go to a ball, I get a yardage. Maybe a little bit. But there's no reason for Hunter to think that I went to the wrong ball or Jamie or Mick to think that I went to the wrong ball. So I think it's mostly mine.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports