Q. Obviously coming in here in good form. How hard is it out there?
BEN GRIFFIN: Yeah, very difficult, as you'd expect from a U.S. Open, especially at Oakmont. It really hasn't rained up until right about right now. Just a little drizzle, so I'm sure it'll stay firm for the weekend. But yeah, it's about as tough as it gets, so just got to keep the pedal down and make a bunch of pars and sneak the birdies in when you can.
Q. How would you rate the way you've played the last two days?
BEN GRIFFIN: Yeah, playing great, honestly I just haven't had any birdie putts drop. I've had a lot of really good looks even inside 10 to 12 feet and I probably missed five or six of those that you hope to make when you're trying to win major championships. I feel like I'm managing my game really well. I made a couple bogeys today and honestly it was club selection more than anything was the issue. I feel like from a physical standpoint my game is in great shape, just got to really be disciplined on the course in terms of course management the next two rounds and give myself a lot of looks.
Q. Some guys will get on heaters, it seems like you've been on a little bit recently. As you're entering this week, knowing you're playing really good golf, were you feeling good about the conditions were going to be really hard or did you feel like that shortens the field?
BEN GRIFFIN: Yeah, absolutely. Whenever it's really difficult, it shortens the field. It knocks a lot of guys out. Even like playing practice rounds, just having experience for majors, knowing where pin placements are going to be, really dissecting my practice rounds, dissecting the course during the practice rounds and knowing every single inch is super important. I feel like a lot of my past experience is really helpful. I think that's why a lot of top players continue to play well because they get familiar with the conditions all the time, especially in majors, understand some of these golf courses, maybe they played in the 2016 U.S. Open or whatnot. But I feel like I've been playing really well and I've just got to continue to do the same things I've been doing.
It sounds easy. It's kind of hard. You've got to be really disciplined. But just taking notes of what I'm doing really well and when I get into funks with certain parts of my game, being able to go back on those notes and keep things sharp is important.
Q. I spotted you and Phil chatting on the range earlier. Looked like you were comparing sunglasses. I was wondering what the conversation was.
BEN GRIFFIN: Well, he was wearing a different pair of sunglasses, but was getting ready to put on the same models that I wear, the Uswing Mojing sunglasses. He started wearing them four or five years ago. I think his first week might have been when he won the PGA Championship. The sunglasses are designed for golf, and he pointed them out and I was like, Yeah, where are yours at? He was getting ready to put his on. He was wearing some flashy Raybans or whatever to warm up in. But, yeah, Phil is a great guy, it was good to talk to him.
Q. This might be his last U.S. Open. I'm wondering what your memories are of him playing in this tournament over the years?
BEN GRIFFIN: Yeah, unfortunately my memories of him are not winning, because I know he needs it for the Grand Slam. But yeah, growing up as a kid watching him and Tiger battle it out and some other big names was really cool.
Phil is a guy that I definitely watched throughout my junior golf and throughout childhood and was a good guy to kind of follow and be inspired by.
I think Tiger kind of stole the show for most of my childhood, just the way he was so dominant and winning majors. It was pretty inspiring. I think that's why the talent level is so good nowadays, especially with kids coming out because we're kind of the first generation of guys that grew up watching Tiger, and he made golf really cool and there's why there's such a huge influx of new golfers and the talent pool is getting bigger. Whereas when Tiger first came on TOUR, there was a lot of golfers still and a lot of high-quality golfers, but I think nowadays the pool of people that play competitive golf is just way higher.
Because of that, it's way more difficult, and you're not seeing too many dominant players, except for maybe Scottie Scheffler.
Q. You've had a lot of stuff happen in the last few months with the wins, first wins and whatnot. Do you look at this major because of the form you're in as kind of your next step in the progression?
BEN GRIFFIN: Totally. Yeah. Not that I -- had I not won, I'd still probably come into this event trying to win, but definitely with my recent accolades, I would say my mindset is definitely on winning. Some reporter came up to me on, I think, Wednesday during my last practice round and was like, How much would you pay for even par right now? I was like, I wouldn't pay anything. He was like, What do you mean? Even par is what you want in the U.S. Open. I was like, I don't think even par is going to win it. Like, I don't care about finishing third this week. I'd rather go out there and challenge myself and try to shoot under par and win this thing.
Winning score will probably be 4- or 5-under, 3-, 4-, 5-. So I've got a really good opportunity this weekend to make a few more birdies and clean up a couple things, but really continue to do the same things and hopefully see some putts drop.
Q. You've got a really cool and unique golf swing. I'm wondering if you could help me understand how it came to be.
BEN GRIFFIN: Yeah, just grip the club and try and get it square at impact. I think everyone has their natural motions. I wish my swing looked like Rory McIlroy's or Adam Scott's, but I swing my swing and I own it and I think every golfer out here on Tour, at least top players, all own their swings. Whether or not my swing might look different to some people or not, it feels good to me, and there's definitely some improvements I want to make as I continue on my progression in professional golf. But I'd say I'm in a really good place. Obviously if I can win on the PGA TOUR and contend in majors I'm doing something right.
Q. Are there things you find yourself going back to that help make your swing work, and was there ever a time where you tried hard to make it look like Rory McIlroy's?
BEN GRIFFIN: I go back and look at swings when I'm in funks to try to get out of funks, but at a period like right now I'm trying to get progressively a little bit better with my swing. My backswing is a little short with the driver, been working on trying to extend that a little bit. When it gets short I tend to miss to the right. There's little things like that. But right now I'm not going back and trying to compare my swing to previous swings. I'm trying to actually progress.
But I think golfers when they go into lull's -- I don't know, there's probably a few different examples of golfers that have kind of have funks maybe this year or last year, and they kind of talk about, Oh, Jordan Spieth, for instance, a few years ago talked about, Yeah, I started looking at my swing when I was a junior golfer and trying to go back and look at that swing and trying to learn from it. I think when you're going through maybe a tough stretch with your swing it's nice to look back at film or notes, whatever you might have, to try to get your swing back into kind of your groove, I guess you could say. But yeah, right now I'm just trying to progress, and I look at my swing on film, especially before the rounds, I might take a video or two just to see where I'm at, but otherwise -- honestly, the PGA TOUR does a great job because we get to see all of our shots live during the season after the tournaments. I can go back and watch every single swing.
Two nights ago in bed before the first round I actually went back and watched my entire final round of the Charles Schwab, because even though I was making bogeys down the stretch, I was swinging it really well. So I just wanted to kind of look at that, and I compared it a little bit to my swing now but watch it and try to remember what I was thinking about over shots so I could go into the first round with that same kind of maybe mindset or understanding of my swing.
Q. This grouping that you were in these two days, obviously I'm sure it was intentional, whoever did that. But did that make it tougher not to think about --
BEN GRIFFIN: Yeah, Keegan said whoever was low man after 36 holes was getting on the Ryder Cup, so I guess I'm getting -- I'm just kidding.
No, it was fun. Two guys that I'm really close with. We're all pretty similar in age and have known each other forever. Andrew I've known longer than Maverick. Maverick and I played together for the first time when we were both freshmen in college. So it was really fun.
The Europeans always talk about the culture of their team, and I feel like right now with the way the team is, if Maverick, Novak and I all play really well this summer, I feel like we're really close and know each other really well, our wives and fiances all know each other really well.
It was fun to get some rounds with both of them. We're all pretty close, so it was really relaxing, and yeah, sometimes you see with the pairings they might pair like a top player with the reigning Latin America champion or something like that, so it might be someone new. This felt like a normal PGA TOUR event, honestly, the first two rounds, because I've played with both of those guys a bunch.
Q. Do you like playing in rain?
BEN GRIFFIN: Yeah, bring it on. I'll play in anything unless it's lightning pretty much or tornados. Yeah, rain is tricky. It's just more of an annoyance than anything. I think you're managing your umbrella and maybe your rain gear and keeping your clubs dry. But from a swing standpoint, I don't mind playing in the rain, and obviously it softens conditions most weeks. It'll probably make it maybe slightly easier or maybe we'll have to start thinking about spin control a little bit with the wedges if it really rains.
What's the projection? What does the rain look like tomorrow? Steady all day? Bring it on. I don't really care. I'm down for whatever.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports