Q. Did you know starting out the day that top 10 gets you back next year?
JOAQUÍN NIEMANN: No. I mean, obviously good golf takes care of it. But no, what I was trying to do was put a low round.
I was talking with Pete, and we saw Tommy last year put in a 63 in the clubhouse early in the morning, and I was just focusing on that. I was focusing on trying to hit 63, trying my best. Ended up just short, but really happy with the round today.
Q. When you look at basically the other 71 holes you played, where does it rank in the quality of everything you did? Is it one of your best?
JOAQUÍN NIEMANN: Yeah, I played great. To be honest, I didn't feel -- after that tee shot on No. 6, I've got to be honest, I wasn't feeling that comfortable off the tee after seeing those two balls going that way and then having to play three more times that hole.
But yeah, I think it's part of the challenge. It's a good challenge for -- it tests you to have the right mindset into that hole. Good and bad shots are going to happen every time, and it happened two times in a row.
Q. What was the challenge on that hole?
JOAQUÍN NIEMANN: Yeah, I wasn't swinging it that well. Kind of like an internal feeling. Then we were playing super late. It was a really long day. I teed off at 3 something. The last swing was at 8:20. I feel like I'm not used to that, and my body did not respond the same way it's used to responding.
So yeah, something to learn from and to know better when I have those long days how to prepare better and be more prepared for that situation.
Q. Obviously you've played a ton of golf in your life. Have you ever had anything near a situation like that?
JOAQUÍN NIEMANN: No, it was a really unique situation. I don't remember hitting it two times out of bounds the same shot. I don't remember. I'm glad the third one went in.
Q. It was kind of out of nowhere, right? You weren't losing your tee shots --
JOAQUÍN NIEMANN: No, I wasn't. I was driving it well. I always drive it super, super good. That's kind of my strength.
I was kind of shocked at the tee and walking through the hole after seeing that. I was a little bit shocked. But then I was trying to put the less attention I can possibly give to that shot because two shots out of 40 tee shots that I was hitting this week -- stuff like that happens.
Q. I know you've had a little bit more time to think about this. Do you think you're being made an example of? You did what you did; there was also nobody out there, and we see worse things every -- what do you think about all that?
JOAQUÍN NIEMANN: To be honest, yes. I was not trying to offend anyone. I think it was something more -- it was more something kind of like against me. I was frustrated. I had my expectations, which are always super high. I was playing good golf. I knew it was going to be a tough week, a long week, a challenging week.
After seeing that and knowing that the best score I could do was an 8, it kind of frustrated me a lot. I'm not happy doing that. I'm not proud about throwing a golf club. I get I deserve it in a way; I don't know. But there's nothing I can do. I feel like I learned from it.
To be honest, it was a good throw. (Laughter.)
I never try to offend anybody, not even the volunteers that were there. I know they do their job and they put the flag and they do the best they can. They don't pay them to be there; they do that because they like it. I was frustrated; I kicked the flag. I didn't get pissed because I got a fire ant there.
After everything went through, went back to those tee shots, and after remembering those two tee shots, I just threw the club. It was just frustration, but it's more because of the passion that I have to get better and better.
Q. Did you ever ask afterward why they waited to tell you? Why would they have not just done it then as opposed to waiting until you played --
JOAQUÍN NIEMANN: What they told me was they actually saw it and then they probably went back in the afternoon or in the morning and talked with the committee and the different rules officials or I don't know. They took a decision from there.
But yeah, it was their decision. It probably took a while. I don't know.
Q. Three top 20s now in your last five majors. Do you feel like something has kind of clicked for you in this type of environment?
JOAQUÍN NIEMANN: I mean, I don't know. I feel like I need to improve a lot more. It's nice to see better results. I feel like I -- I've been playing great golf lately. I've got a great team around me. We're working towards our goal. That is obviously winning out here.
We're getting closer and closer. That's the only direction I've seen since I started playing golf, that I always get closer to my goals and my dreams. I know it's one step forward to that.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports