THE MODERATOR: We're here with Wyndham Clark, even-par 70. Can you talk us through the round out there?
WYNDHAM CLARK: It was very up and down, holy smokes. I hit some good shots; I hit some terrible shots. Yeah, I was a little frustrated with myself with some of the execution.
You know, at the end of the day, I improved my lead, which is awesome, and I shot even par on a very tough golf course.
Yeah, the more I'm getting away from -- when I've finished, I'm getting more and more okay with some of the mistakes I made. But yeah, overall, good day.
Q. I believe you made over 50 feet in par putts today. How important are those par saves at a U.S. Open?
WYNDHAM CLARK: I mean, they're huge. That's what you have to make to win U.S. Opens. You're not going to have too, too many birdie putts, and when you do miss, it's really hard to hit a gimme, so you've got to make those kind of 5- to 12-footers.
Q. Which one or two of those par saves were you most proud of and why?
WYNDHAM CLARK: I would say -- I mean, the one on 7, I was into the grain, I didn't hit the best of chips, but it looked like I hit it to 4 feet, which is normally good. But that putt was diabolical, and I could three-putt from there, it was so sloped. The fact I made that one was huge.
Then the one on kind of 10 and 11, those ones were -- I was in jail and hit really good shots and then made the putts. Those are kind of the three that stand out to me.
Q. Can you talk about your chip on 11 and why you played it that way?
WYNDHAM CLARK: On 11? I took a 54-degree out of the bunker. I knew it was so sloped, I thought a 60-degree wouldn't get back there. I kind of hit not a full chunk-and-run, but kind of something driving and came out a little bit harder than I wanted. I didn't want to hit it past the pin, but overall, satisfied just to have a putt inside 10 feet, and it was grateful to put that one in.
Q. I feel like there's a perception of you as a golfer who's very volatile. You ride these really high highs and really low lows. Is that something you agree with, if you agree with that perception?
WYNDHAM CLARK: I mean, maybe some. I feel like I'm trying to get more consistent. That's something I've always wanted to be, and I think I'm trending in that direction.
Today was very volatile. Hopefully tomorrow it can be definitely a little more low-key, and hopefully I can play some boring golf. But I don't disagree with that.
Q. Is there a general approach to responding to adversity that you've taken recently, something that stands out to you?
WYNDHAM CLARK: I've just gotten a lot better of moving on and making each shot its own shot and not thinking, wow, why did I do that, how did I get myself here. I've gotten so much at better at going, okay, now I have this shot, this is the new challenge, embrace it, and try to hit the best shot you can.
That's huge in golf, and I think sometimes in the past or especially when I'm playing poor golf, I let the previous shot affect or previous holes affect the next one. That's probably what has really helped me.
Q. You have all these big moments, 13, the par putt, 14, that shot, 16 in. For whatever reason, the crowds were dying out by the end. What are the feelings you have there when you're having these massive moments in your career at a U.S. Open and it's just kind of not as lively out there?
WYNDHAM CLARK: Yeah, it was kind of unfortunate that we're finishing in the dark and people weren't really out there because there were some obviously key, big moments, and it did kind of get a little flat, so yeah, unfortunately.
Hopefully tomorrow there's a bunch of fans and stuff, but for me, it's still really important, and I still felt the moment. It's just maybe unfortunate that there weren't all the people there.
Q. You're going to take a six-shot lead into tomorrow. How do you go about approaching that and maintaining it when you've got Scottie in the final group with you?
WYNDHAM CLARK: Yeah. Scottie is the best player in the world, and he's going to play probably really good. He always does, but it's nice to have a six-shot lead on him.
But really I'm just going to keep approaching it the same way. If I go out and execute and go through my process and hit the shots I know I can hit, I like my chances.
But yeah, we'll address that when we get to it. I'm not necessarily thinking about my lead or anything. It's more of, hey, if I can get to this number, I like my chances.
Q. Do you feel materially different than you would have going into Sunday 2023?
WYNDHAM CLARK: Yeah, I would say I'm definitely a lot more confident and believe I can do it. I'd say in '23 there was still doubts. Not necessarily doubts, but I hadn't done it, so there was a lot of unknown. Now that I have done it, I know I can do it, and I can do it again.
So I'll definitely lean on that experience and other experiences from when I've won that, hey, I can break through and do this again.
Q. More on the gallery energy, can you remember playing in a major championship late in a Saturday with that many empty seats coming down the stretch?
WYNDHAM CLARK: No. I mean -- yeah, actually I can when I was in, like, 50th place or something.
But yeah, no, it's a little unfortunate. I don't know if it's because we finished so late or what, but it's okay. I am still excited to be where I'm at, and I'm not really focusing on that part.
Q. Are you the type of player who feeds off that energy, and did it in any way influence how you were playing?
WYNDHAM CLARK: Yeah, I love the energy. I love making a big putt and feeling that or hitting a good shot and getting the claps. So it was unfortunate it got a little flat.
Also, because of that, sometimes it made it tough to stay really focused because it seemed like everyone was leaving, and it was like the tournament was over, and I had to keep myself really focused and in the present.
I didn't do my best job; I made kind of two poor bogeys coming in. Hopefully there's people there tomorrow and it's a great atmosphere.
Q. In terms of the six-shot lead and how you stayed focused, is there anything from the momentum that you got during today's round that will carry over tomorrow in terms of your mindset as you're going into play and what you were able to accomplish today and how it might impact you as you're getting set up for tomorrow?
WYNDHAM CLARK: Yeah, I mean, my mindset was good. Just a couple of -- the course changed so much. It was very soft and easier to be more aggressive. The fairways got rock hard, so I was spinning my irons a little bit more, and I had some squirt to the right. The greens were bouncing a ton.
That little adjustment, maybe I didn't make as quick as I would have liked. But knowing tomorrow it's going to be like that, I can prepare for it.
But yeah, if I can go out there and try to hit a lot of fairways, it would be a dream to hit 18 greens. That would be -- that's kind of my goal is to just get as many looks as I can with how I'm putting, and hopefully I'm hoisting the trophy tomorrow.
Q. Just wondering, 16th hole, that second shot in, is that the exact line you wanted to take? Can you take us through that eagle putt?
WYNDHAM CLARK: Yeah, I wasn't trying to go right at the flag. We knew as long as we were left of the flag, we'd have a chance to get up-and-down. We saw I think it was Sam Stevens in that bunker. He hit a good shot or at least hold the green, so we knew left was a good miss, right was going to be hard to get up-and-down.
I must say that it went farther right than I wanted. I thought the wind would hold it up a touch more, but I'm not complaining. It was a great outcome. So yeah, all good.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports