U.S. Open Championship 2023

Friday, June 14, 2024

Village of Pinehurst, North Carolina, USA

Pinehurst Resort & C.C. (Course No. 2)

Wyndham Clark

Quick Quotes


Q. A little bit of everything in this round today. How would you describe it?

WYNDHAM CLARK: I mean, I'd say definitely took a lot of grit. I didn't have my best. For the way I've been hitting it off the tee I'd say it was pretty good. I made a lot of nice putts, hit some good iron shots. This course is just so difficult.

If you miss a green, even though you give yourself all the green in the world, it should be somewhat of an easy up-and-down, but you're into the grain on your chip and then you have to go uphill and then downgrain. It was just difficult. It's really easy to make bogeys out here.

Q. It looks like you're in good shape as far as the cut is concerned. I don't know if that's a concern to you or not, but as far as the championship is concerned, how do you feel about your position at this point?

WYNDHAM CLARK: I mean, I hope I make the cut. For me right now, that would be a huge win. I haven't been playing my best. Missed a few cuts in a row. Not hitting it as good as I would have liked.

But I'm doing a lot of good things. I'm starting to make some putts. My short game really helped me this week. If I make the cut and figure some things out, I'm going to maybe make a run, but if anything just making the cut was a huge win for me this week.

Q. Can you be too far back here --

WYNDHAM CLARK: No.

Q. Is this a place where you can get a lot back in a hurry?

WYNDHAM CLARK: Yeah, if I made the cut and went and shot a 4- or 5-under tomorrow when it's a little softer, then you're only four or five back going into Sunday, and you never know.

I mean, it's definitely an outside chance, but at the same time with how difficult this place is, if you get it going and miss in the right spots, a little bit of luck, yeah, you can do it.

Q. As a defending champion do you feel any kind of pressure when you come back to defend something that you just won?

WYNDHAM CLARK: I mean, yeah, but at the same time, no. I felt pressure to play well these last few weeks just because I haven't been playing well. I honestly wasn't looking at this week as me defending much. I was just really looking forward to having a nice week of trying to gain momentum for the rest of the year is the way I've been looking at it.

Q. You made a lot of birdies today; does that mean you can shoot a low score this weekend?

WYNDHAM CLARK: Yeah, if you hit good shots and they're on the greens, they're really pure so you can make putts. I've got to hit more fairways so I can then hit more greens. Missed too much of those to do that.

Yeah, I think you've got two par-5s and a couple of short ones. You're going to have to hole some putts and hit some nice iron shots, but I think going low is 5-under. It's not 7- or 8-under.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
145253-1-1002 2024-06-14 17:47:00 GMT

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