THE MODERATOR: David Lingmerth, 3-under 67. No bogeys out there, three birdies. Heck of a round. Talk us through your round today.
DAVID LINGMERTH: Yeah, thank you. What can I say? I don't know. Got off to one of those starts, I guess, where just trying to take care of the golf ball. I didn't strike the ball all that great today, especially iron play. I hit a lot of fairways, which is pretty vital in U.S. Open golf usually.
I was never really in big trouble, but I putted really well today, so the putter kind of kept me in it to begin with, and then I started making a few birdies.
I played pretty darned solid on the way in, but yeah, happy with the start, obviously, the driver and the putter was nice today. I've got to go work a little bit on the iron game.
Q. How did the course play today compared to the practice rounds?
DAVID LINGMERTH: Pretty similar. There were no surprises, although the forecast, we pretty much have a different wind every day out here so far this week, and I think that's going to continue to change up until maybe Saturday and Sunday, we might have some similar winds to the last couple days.
Yeah, you've got to stay alert and be ready for anything out there. But the course is fantastic. It's a treat to play.
Q. You put yourself in good position, obviously, after one round. What do you have to do to replicate that the rest of the week?
DAVID LINGMERTH: Just one at a time. U.S. Open golf, everybody really has to dig deep and fight, and inevitably something bad might happen, and you've just got to stay strong and rebound from it.
Q. Can you kind of go through the timeline of getting here and when you found out you were getting in?
DAVID LINGMERTH: Yeah, so I did the qualifier in Columbus, got first alternate out of there, which pretty much ended up being third alternate, and when Martin Kaymer pulled out on Saturday afternoon, that's when I got the call that I was in the tournament. So that was obviously thrilling.
Missed the cut last week in Canada, so Saturday wasn't all that fun until I got the call, and happy to be able to come here and prepare for the event on Sunday afternoon.
Q. I know you had a Tuesday morning playoff; could you kind of walk through that timeline because you had to make it to a second playoff hole or --
DAVID LINGMERTH: Yeah, yeah, it was a crazy finish to that qualifier. We had some delays even the night before, so I played -- I just about played the last three holes in the dark and played them 2-under to make it into the playoff.
Me and Hayden Buckley birdied the first hole, and the other three guys in the playoff didn't, so we pretty much locked up the spot and the first alternate right there.
Then Hayden made a nice birdie on the next par-5 and I missed my opportunity. So first alternate, yeah.
Q. What was your birdie look that you missed that gave him the spot?
DAVID LINGMERTH: Yeah, so I think he made at least a 20-footer, maybe even a little more, and I missed like an eight-footer apparently. Someone said, yeah, probably eight feet. Felt like I should have made it.
Q. What's your status in terms of like PGA TOUR, KFT, and what were you planning to play this week if you did qualify for the U.S. Open?
DAVID LINGMERTH: Yeah, so second part of the question first, last few weeks I was lucky enough to get that start at Memorial. They have been nice to me, extending some invites after having won that in 2015, so that's a treat every year. Then the week after that, got into Canada.
If I were to not have gotten in this week, I probably would have taken a little break. I'm trying to focus a little bit more out there because my status on the Korn Ferry TOUR this year hasn't been that great, either. I feel like I have a better chance on trying to take advantage of the starts I do get out here. I'm playing out of past champion category, and I'm not sure how many events I've gotten in this season, but I would say seven or eight, something like that.
Q. Do you know kind of what you have to do this week to maybe ensure yourself just going out --
DAVID LINGMERTH: Not even looking at it, just one shot at a time, see what happens.
Q. Is there anything in your game that you've focused on the last few weeks or any tweaks or changes?
DAVID LINGMERTH: It's always a work in progress, right, but I feel like short game, putting and chipping has improved a lot in the last few, and I've done some good work with a new coach I've been seeing for a little bit. Still a bit to go with what we're wanting to do there, but he's helped me keep the momentum going. I feel like I'm improving every time we touch base and I work some kinks out.
Q. Where does the motivation come from to continue putting in the work and chasing at the highest level through some of the kind of ups and downs the last few weeks?
DAVID LINGMERTH: Yeah, I've had a tough go since basically late 2018. Had a bunch of injuries and whatnot.
There have been some tough days, not going to lie, and you kind of start asking yourself those questions. But I'm pretty stubborn and I'm not one to give up. Deal with the fact that I am where I am today, and I've just got to try to get better every day.
Q. Do you still love it, the grind and the lifestyle?
DAVID LINGMERTH: I love this. I love these events. The grind isn't always fun, but this is amazing.
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