Q. How would you characterize your round out there today?
GARY WOODLAND: Frustrating, but I hung in there. I drove the ball pretty poorly, got myself in some bad spots, but I grinded it out. Would have liked to not make bogey there on the last, but all in all, it was a solid day and should have a pretty good weekend.
Q. You talked a little bit about the driver kind of problems yesterday, but the putter is kind of saving you. I also heard you talking about wedging it well and keeping going with that with your caddie.
GARY WOODLAND: Yeah, the game -- I birdied a couple par-3s early. The iron play and wedge play was really good. Putter was as good as it was yesterday, just had a couple horseshoes. So I feel great there. I'll go figure something out with the driver, get the golf ball in play. You have to do that out here. This golf course is firm enough and it's tough to control it out of the rough. If I drive the golf ball in play this weekend, should be pretty good.
Q. You're the defending U.S. Open champion. Just as it continues to firm up and with the rough, does it seem like a little bit of a U.S. Open-type test?
GARY WOODLAND: It does. It's getting tough, like you said. You've got to get the golf ball in the fairway. The conditions are obviously completely different today, definitely more scorable today. So the key is to get the golf ball in the fairway for me. My iron play is pretty good. If I can do that, I can control it into these firm greens and hopefully make some birdies.
Q. There's some chatter on social that you're working with a new swing coach?
GARY WOODLAND: Yeah, I worked with Justin Parsons this week. I've worked with Butch Harmon for a long time, worked with Pete Cowan for a long time, and I just don't get to see those guys. Justin has worked with Butch, he's worked with Butch for a long time. He's friendly with Pete. I called Pete and he set it up, so I worked with Justin Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and just -- it was nice to have an eye on what Pete -- I haven't seen Pete since THE PLAYERS, since the COVID break. But it was nice to have Justin here, a set of eyes, and kind of get me back on track because I've been struggling for a while with ball-striking, and it's starting to come together pretty nicely.
Q. Could you share some of the things you're working on?
GARY WOODLAND: Yeah, the setup got off. The big deal for me was my takeoff got away, and once I got out of place from the start of the golf swing, you're just searching the whole way, and especially at my speed; a little bit off turns into a pretty big miss.
Got me situated. It took a couple days. It took me until really Wednesday I started feeling more comfortable. Yesterday I played beautifully, and today the iron play was great, as well. It's coming together. We have a long way to go, but it's trending in the right direction.
Q. A little bit surprised how quickly you've taken to it?
GARY WOODLAND: Not too much because it wasn't anything new. It was just getting back to where I was. I'd gotten pretty off and I'd got in some bad habits. I'm still fighting those habits a little bit, but it's trending in the right direction.
Q. Is this just like a temporary pandemic-related switch?
GARY WOODLAND: I don't think so. Like I said, Pete is over in Europe, so I don't get to see him as much. Justin is out a lot. He's in Sea Island. I work with Phil Kenyon who's in Sea Island, as well. I'll still work with Pete when he's over here, but it's easy to see Justin on a weekly basis, especially when he's out all the time.
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