Q. How would you assess the day?
J.J. SPAUN: I thought I did well between the ears today. The game's felt really good for a while now, so I would say kind of when I gave some back on 11 and 12, I could have probably let that round go. But just kind of hung in there. But if you want to say, you know, golf-wise, probably my putting was pretty good today.
Q. Is that kind of key -- not the putting, but the mental side of things when you play around here, knowing how difficult this course can be?
J.J. SPAUN: Yeah, when you get -- when you make the turn at 4-under like I did, you're like, okay, like, I can really go low. But then all of a sudden you bogey a par-5 on 11, and then you compound errors on the next hole and make a bogey and you're 2-under and you're just like, well, this can kind of go one way or the other.
But knowing that it's a tough course, people are going to go through that, and you just have to take it and try to fight through it and rebound.
Q. You talked about how your game's felt really good for a while. Was it the wind that kick-started things or something before then, something after then, that clicked into place?
J.J. SPAUN: I would say after then. Valero win came out of nowhere. I wasn't really trending very well. I kind of gave myself a chance on Sunday and kind of took it. But I don't think that I was playing as good as I am now before San Antonio. So just, yeah, I've been working hard, kind of trying to keep things simple and obviously working hard on the putting. I switched putters, so that kind of gave me a fresh look to look down at when I'm putting. So things are all kind of clicking right now.
Q. Only kind of down weeks in this stretch since Valero are the two majors. Any common things you saw both those weeks that you're trying to iron out before the U.S. Open in a couple weeks?
J.J. SPAUN: Yeah, I thought the Masters was tough because winning the Sunday before and then playing 27 holes on Sunday in pretty brutal conditions, like, kind of wiped me out. Although I felt like adrenaline got me through the week, but I just didn't think I was as rested and recovered as I wanted to be going into that tournament.
And then almost the same thing at PGA. I played two weeks before that at Doral and Quail Hollow that are, like, monsters, and I don't think I've ever played a major as my third week in a row. So I didn't play poorly there. I missed the cut, but I just putted terribly. I think the putting was kind of the common theme at Augusta and the PGA, where if I just putted okay, like, I definitely would have made the weekend.
So the putting's feeling good. I think considering what I needed to iron out going into the U.S. Open I think I've got that with the putter, so hopefully it stays hot.
Q. A lot's happened to you since you were last here in the past year. How would you describe what that journey's been like and what's kept you grounded through it all?
J.J. SPAUN: It's been crazy, yeah, just kind of thrown into the spotlight, thrown into a different territory than what I've been accustomed to. So it's been a little -- it's been fun, but also a challenge at the same time trying to balance, like, what's it like to be an elite golfer now -- considered an elite golfer now. A little bit of a disorienting kind of situation for me. I've always kind of been the underdog, one that's been able to hide in the shadows and background and stuff, but now it's, like, at the start of the year it was, like, this guy's got to show up, this guy's got to -- you know, he's a top-10 player in the world. Like, this guy's got to be playing good.
So I put too much pressure on myself to start the year based off of what I did last year. But try to let it go and remember that I can play really well if I just get out of my own way. Kind of relaxing and trying not to control the outcome too much has really helped me settle down kind of the start of the spring here.
Q. I know you were at Shinnecock just for the media day briefly. Have you played it at all? Have you seen it before?
J.J. SPAUN: No, just that day, but I'm actually going Monday after this week.
Q. What's your perception of it having never seen it?
J.J. SPAUN: It's kind of like Oakmont. But I feel like any U.S. Open course you're kind of like intimidated. But it was cool being on property. It's pretty obvious that it blows there pretty strong. So I think understanding that it's -- you're going to have to control trajectories and stuff is going to be a big deal around that place. But yeah, from what they said at the media thing, how the fairways are going to be pretty generous, they're not going to try to trick it up, it's going to be -- Shinnecock's going to be played how it should be or as it was intended to with the design. I'll get a taste of it Monday.
Q. Anything you remember from playing this last year that kind of got you in a good spot going into Oakmont?
J.J. SPAUN: I missed the cut here. But it was crappy weather Thursday and Friday I think, it was raining. I'm a Southern California guy, I don't really like playing in the rain. Even though I won the U.S. Open in the rain and then Valero was in the rain, it's weird. I hate the rain.
Q. But rain likes you.
J.J. SPAUN: Yeah, rain likes me. I still felt comfortable. Maybe it was kind of a nice little gut check to work on things. I had a nice grind on things at home about the week before the U.S. Open, but I felt really comfortable.
Q. How do you feel like -- what do you believe it's going to be like when you step on property at Shinnecock as the defending champion? What do you feel like the emotions are going to be like?
J.J. SPAUN: I think it will be cool. I only defended once. It was just -- it almost seems like a homecoming. You kind of like relive your success, and everyone's kind of like happy to see you, and people want to talk to you and there's a lot of attention and focus on you. But yeah, I don't know. I think it's something that I got to enjoy, because I don't think a lot of guys, I mean, it's hard to be able to defend a major championship or, I mean, a major event. So I'm just going to try to enjoy it, continue to work hard and stick to my process and add 'em up at the end and see what happens.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports