Q. Viktor Hovland, 3-over 73. Can you talk us through the round today? It was obviously a grind.
VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, just didn't have it today. Just didn't hit it very good, and I missed way too many short putts, just didn't make anything. It was a grind, but happy to battle back at least, and it was a very nice week.
Q. Ultimately you're going to come up a little bit short, but what are some of the your takeaways from this week? Still a good showing.
VIKTOR HOVLAND: I keep progressing in the right direction, and to have a chance to win a major championship without my best stuff and not feeling very comfortable, it's super cool. So I'm going to take a lot of positives with me this week.
Q. Viktor, you were out working the range late last night. Did you find anything in that process that you could kind of bring into today, or was it still sort of fighting it kind of all day?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: Fighting it a little bit. I wouldn't say I found something, but it was at least re-establish the pattern a little bit, got back to some of the things that kind of ruled out some of the feels that, Okay, I shouldn't try this, and kind of go back to closer to where I was the first couple of days. Just didn't time it up very well today.
Q. What did you do during the break to sort of stay loose, reset, and stay focused?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: Just sat with my parents and chatted a little bit. I was on my phone talking with a few buddies back home. That was about it. It went by pretty quick.
Q. Were you aware of what was going on behind you and in some cases in front of you?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: I saw a lot of stuff. Obviously from the crowd reactions, there was a lot of up-and-downs. I didn't know exactly what was happening. It was kind of annoying with the scoreboards, it had the dangerous weather all the time, so I couldn't really see the scores. I had plenty of stuff to work with myself. I had to grind over so many putts. So I kind of tried to focus on that.
Q. Viktor, you were kind of a witness to the last putt by J.J. there to win the tournament. What was it like playing with him and the way he bounced back after a bunch of bogeys early?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, that was unbelievable. After his start, it just looked like he was out of it immediately. Everyone came back to the pack. I wasn't expecting that really. I thought I had to shoot maybe 3-under par today to have a good chance, but obviously the conditions got really, really tough, and this golf course is just a beast.
Yeah, to watch him hole the putt on 12 down the hill there was unreal. And then he makes another one on 14 that was straight down the hill. And then the one on 18, it's just absolutely filthy there.
Q. The one that hit the stick, what was it like to be out there and see that and see his reaction?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, that's the U.S. Open for you right there. That's pretty tough. It looked like it was going to have a lot of spin, but there was no doubt when it hit the pin that it was coming all the way back. I think he's forgotten about that one now, though.
Q. When you went back out after the delay, how was the conditions? It looked like there was a lot of water. You're probably having to search for a spot sometimes when there's no casual water, was it a little close?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: It was a little close, but it was doable, it was fine. Luckily there's so much slope out here that you can always find a dry spot and the water kind of runs to the bottom. It did work out, but we didn't need much more rain before it got too much.
Q. What was it like to be on 18 and go for it there? You come so close, you could have created a situation.
VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, I needed a birdie or I thought maybe hole one out on the last, that would have been nice. I gave it a good go. At that point, it was a little too late. I kind of had just missed -- I think I missed three five-footers today, and you can't be doing that if you're going to win a major championship.
Q. You were speaking with such confidence the other day. How much does that carry you throughout this tournament? You came in here relaxed, feeling like you could win this Open, and you came back.
VIKTOR HOVLAND: I've been working on that a little bit. I've been tearing myself down a little too much. Even though I do know I need to work on some stuff and get back to where I used to be in a way mechanically, but in the interim, I can still perform at a really high level, and there's a lot of good stuff. Just got to take that with me and be a little bit kinder to myself.
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