Q. What was clicking for you today, and how did you feel out there?
DENNY McCARTHY: It felt nice to shoot a good score. I haven't played all that great lately, but I've put a lot of work in this week and started to see some good form the last few days.
It's not that easy right now. It wasn't that easy yesterday afternoon either. Seems like our wave kind of got the bulk of the wind. I hope it kind of stays like this for everyone because it was kind of nasty out there at times.
I'm just proud of how I battled. It was really tricky, would blow 25 one minute and then would drop down to 15 and then go to 5 and then kick back up. When it's really gusty like that and changing directions like that, it's hard to get the yardages right.
It also makes putting really difficult, too, when the wind is just gusting. It just changes how much a putt breaks or how fast a putt is. It was a little uncomfortable coming down the back nine for sure.
Q. When you see the forecast like that in the morning, do you naturally enjoy those conditions?
DENNY McCARTHY: I do enjoy these conditions. My weather app said 14, 15, 16 miles an hour. It's a liar because it was blowing like 25 to 30 on the range it felt like this morning. Umbrellas were kind of blowing around. People were kind of just laughing hitting balls. The range is really exposed, and it was blowing really hard in off the left. We were watching balls go nowhere and sail 50, 60 yards off line.
I think it was kind of like a lower your expectations, just kind of go out, try and hit the shot as best you can and move on type of day. I like those days. It's where I don't really have many expectations. I just -- you kind of get out of golf swing, too. You kinda start playing shots. You start countering the wind with certain shots or just playing with the wind on certain shots, not trying to be too perfect, just trying to picture a shot and hit it.
Q. When you were warming up and seeing shots like that, did you think 64 was out there?
DENNY McCARTHY: It's hard to say. I didn't think there was an 8-under out there yesterday afternoon, and obviously the best player in the world shot that. Shane and I were talking, if somebody shot like 5- to 8-under yesterday afternoon, that would have been really good because it was starting to blow, and the direction it was coming from made some of those holes really hard, and sure enough, we got in and he was 9-under through 15.
It's always out there. I wouldn't be surprised if somebody shot what I shot or a couple better today. I wouldn't really say I had a number in mind of what I could potentially shoot today. Like I said, I was just kind of going out, shot at a time - sounds cliche - but just trying to piece together, kind build around pieced shot after shot.
Q. By your standards, yesterday was a tough day putting, and you mentioned that you're putting in a lot of other on other parts of your game. What have you been working on, and does one bad day on the greens actually force you to think about anything?
DENNY McCARTHY: No, I didn't really roll it that bad yesterday. It's just such a dramatic change from last week to this week, greens being really fast and slopey last week and then not as much slope. They seemed pretty slow yesterday; they might have been prepping for the amount of wind today.
So I didn't really feel like I rolled it that bad yesterday. I hit a lot of putts that were good putts, burned edges, so it was a little frustrating because it felt like I could have maybe got a 3- to 5-under out of the round yesterday, and I didn't.
I think most of my ball-striking stuff comes when I creep into bad tendencies, and it's typically posture and how I start my swing. So if I can get that stuff feeling comfortable at the top of my swing, I feel like I'm going to hit a good shot coming through. When it's not going well, it feels like I'm fighting it and have to compensate.
It's felt better the last few days. I feel like I can still improve on it. Like I said, just keep trying to stack days is important for me right now.
Q. It seems like when guys come in and they're talking about how they're working on things, more often than not it's this really unglamorous, much more fundamental stuff. How often do you think people outside the ropes don't really appreciate that those are the very simple things oftentimes that may end up tripping you guys up?
DENNY McCARTHY: Yeah, it is the simple kind of fundamental stuff for me. I try and keep the game really simple. When I start worrying too much about what the club is doing is typically when I'm not playing my best. It's like I work on the stuff on the range and then it's like I get on the course and I'm still doing the same stuff. I might have that small key in my head, but I'm still going out -- it becomes almost like a different sport when you get on the range. You've got to forget what you're doing on the range and then just go out, picture, play, and hope that some of those feels that you've been working on on the range have seeped into your on-course stuff.
Q. On the lighter side of things, sometimes when you destroy a ball off the tee, fans shout out some crazy things sometimes. What are your thoughts on that and what are maybe some of the more fun ones you might have heard?
DENNY McCARTHY: I don't mind it. I think it's a fun part of the game. Obviously you hear the "bababooie" and you hear some of these other ones that you've heard for such a long time. I don't mind it. I think it's just fans trying to have fun out there. Maybe they've got fans listening, like hey, I'm with Rory, listen to his sixth tee shot, I'm going to yell something, stuff like that. It's just a fun part of the game.
Q. Was Oakmont exhausting at all would you say, and did you take any time to rest after that?
DENNY McCARTHY: Typically I would, but I felt like I needed some work. I was on the range from 2:00 to 6:30 on Monday afternoon. I typically don't like to hit balls for that long, but I put a really good session in on Monday afternoon. Oakmont was very exhausting.
You kind of need to throw it out the window. At the same time, I feel like I learned a lot. If you're not on your game, you get really exposed in certain areas, so it really showed me what I really need to work on, what I need to get more comfortable with. So I had a pretty good sense of things I had to work on coming into this week.
Q. Are you following the NBA Finals at all?
DENNY McCARTHY: I am. It's just hard, man. The games start at 8:30, they don't tip until 8:40, 8:45 and I have the first half on and I'd like to watch the second half but I'd also like to go to bed at a reasonable time. I don't really want to be staying up until 11:30 to watch these games. They could put them at 7:30 or 8:00, don't you think?
I am a big basketball fan. My caddie is a huge Thunder fan so he's been staying up late. It's okay if he goes to bed late.
Yeah, game 7 is Sunday night, I believe, right, 8:00 or 8:30? Probably 8:15 tip-off, I bet. But yeah, I'd like to watch it if I can.
Q. So you'll be rooting for the Thunder?
DENNY McCARTHY: I guess, for my caddie's sake, but I do like the Pacers. I think the Pacers are fun to watch.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports