Q. How much of a test is Shinnecock Hills, and what have you learned about yourself and your game over the last 36 holes?
NEAL SHIPLEY: Shinnecock Hills is such a tough test. You have to do everything well out here, and really it exposes a lot of my weaknesses with short game being so important around here.
So it's nice to hit a lot of short-game shots around here and get a couple of balls up-and-down and gain some confidence on some of the things I've been working on.
Q. What growing pains have you experienced in your early experiences here on the PGA TOUR?
NEAL SHIPLEY: I just haven't been hitting the golf course well to start the first half of the year, and I feel like that's coming around. I hit it really nice the last two days out here, and I think that's why I made the cut.
I was able to really ball strike it and got a lot of out of my game, considering how poorly I'm putting it right now.
Q. Being at such a familiar course last year, what was your experience as a fan? What did you take away last year as a fan at Oakmont that you translated into the last two days?
NEAL SHIPLEY: Well, I think that just watching some things and watching -- I watched my buddy Max play. He played at Ohio State. We played in college. I watched him play a good probably 18 holes out there over the course of two days.
I think watching golf, you get a better sense of the conditions and what's going on. And when you're not fully invested in the shot like they are, it allows you to kind of kind of see it from 1,000 foot view.
I think that that's -- it helped me kind of set my expectations a little bit more out here when you roll up to a shot and are, like, hey, if I hit the green right here, that's going to be really good. I think it's nice to get that perspective just so you're not living and dying by every shot.
Q. Your second U.S. Open start. How would you describe the mentally -- the mentality that you needed for this event?
NEAL SHIPLEY: Patience. Patience is so key in a U.S. Open. I think I did that really well at Pinehurst. Stayed patient. You know, you're going to get your runs. You're going to make birdies. When you are in bad position, just make bogey. Bogeys are sometimes good out here.
I think that is something that's really helped me, and I think when I'm able to play patient golf, I play really good golf.
Q. How would you say that that compares to a regular start on the PGA TOUR?
NEAL SHIPLEY: A lot different. You've got to be a little bit more, you know, foot on the gas pedal at a normal PGA TOUR start.
This week I think I'm 4-over, and I'm 6 shots out of second. It's a bunched leaderboard just because it's so tough. If you shoot poor at any other PGA TOUR event, you're going home, so it's a lot different.
Q. What did you learn from Corey O'Connor at Central Catholic? What was your experience like being at his mayoral inauguration?
NEAL SHIPLEY: Yeah, Coach O'Connor, Corey, we're great friends. He taught me a lot of things. Just from simply just course management. He was always trying to get us high school kids to aim at the middle of the green and just 2-putt from long range.
We didn't always listen too well, but I think that now I'm a little bit more mature and realize that it was pretty good advice. We had a great time.
I'll be honest, I was a lot more nervous speaking at his inauguration than I was hitting my first tee shot here this week. I mean, speaking in front of that many people, props to him, he does it all the time. Not my thing. It was really, really cool to be involved in that.
He's just had a profound impact on my life and just really happy for him and his family and how successful he's been and everything going on right now in Pittsburgh right now that's because of him. I feel like the city is going in such a great direction.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports