Q. Did you enjoy it?
RASMUSS NEERGAARD-PETERSEN: Yeah, growing up, this is why I practiced so hard for so many years. So I enjoyed it. That was a bit of a thing for me going into today is also, as hard as it is, go out and enjoy it. We're playing this game, at least I am, or try to all the time, like it's supposed to be fun. So just embrace the challenge and just hang in there.
Q. Try and give me a sense of how big an achievement that round is in terms of your first U.S. Open, there's only nine, ten guys under par.
RASMUSS NEERGAARD-PETERSEN: No, it was good. I feel like I have, even so far this year, I feel like when my game is in a good spot, I can compete with anybody. It was good to see. Obviously first U.S. Open. You always hear stories about how that rough there is kind of like the U.S. Open. It's just not. It's something special, and I really enjoyed it.
Q. How much did it matter getting off to a good start?
RASMUSS NEERGAARD-PETERSEN: Oh, it's massive. Anytime you're playing at a tough condition on a tough golf course, it allows you -- it makes it easier for you to kind of play the sensible shots, play to bigger areas on the green and kind of just try and play to spots where it makes it easier to stay out of trouble, whereas sometimes if you're playing in tough conditions, if you get off to a bit of a tough start, it can be very, very hard just sticking to the plan. You kind of start getting impatient.
Obviously that really helped. 3-under through 4, I couldn't have asked for anything more than that.
Q. How big was it playing with someone who's a familiar-ish face in Laurie Canter?
RASMUSS NEERGAARD-PETERSEN: Yeah, as soon as I saw the draw on Tuesday, I was really happy. Laurie is a great guy, and we've played a fair amount together. I felt like that helped me today. It's a long day out there. It's slow, which when you're playing a golf course this tough, it's going to be slow because it's just really hard.
So I think that helped, as well.
Q. Can you walk me through hole 4, the eagle that put you at 3-under?
RASMUSS NEERGAARD-PETERSEN: Yeah, I hit a great drive and had -- I think I had about 270-odd yards to the front edge, basically try and knock it down there by the green, and I leaked it a little bit right, which as long as it stays short of that bunker and that long rough down there, it was fine. It was right on the first cut there and I had a good line. To be honest, I thought I had -- it was one of the easier chips that you could have, and I just hit a great chip, and it checked up and rolled right down in the hole, so it was great.
Q. What happened on 15 and 16, on a different note?
RASMUSS NEERGAARD-PETERSEN: I hit a good tee ball on 15. It's a tough hole, and I slightly tugged my second shot, so it landed, and it got a hard kick off the lip of the bunker. So I had a really, really hard up-and-down. I actually hit a great little flop shot but didn't convert the six-footer.
Then on 16, I just mis-hit my 5-iron. It's, again, not the worst spot to be down there, but when the lies -- when you get a poor lie in the rough, it's just so hard to get it close.
Q. Anything you learned about that hole that you're going to take for tomorrow?
RASMUSS NEERGAARD-PETERSEN: I mean, I guess I'll try and hit a little bit more up the center tomorrow on that particular one. Again, mistakes out here are going to happen at some point, so it's just kind of how you respond to them and don't let them bother you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports