Q. Birdies on five and six out there. Can you walk me through those?
CHRIS DEVLIN: That was a lifetime ago, so No. 5, okay --
Q. Par-4.
CHRIS DEVLIN: Yeah.
Q. Downhill, over the water.
CHRIS DEVLIN: Okay, so, yeah, I mean, I drove the ball great all day. I was hitting it into places I wanted to. Was a little bit more spring in the fairway, so many of the dropshots I had were from where the ball went a little further than it had been going in the practice rounds, so I ended up in a couple of fairway bunkers.
But we were able to get it around. That birdie in itself was just a very -- just to hold the 7-iron on the right-hand side so it wouldn't take the slope too far left, and it finished just right there, about eight feet just before the hole and just a little putt. Tried to dribble it down there on the right edge and it and went in, so that was a good place to start.
And then we birdied the next, which was the par-5. Just kind of good drive again and just laid it up just because of where that pin was today. Left it to a good yardage to where I only had 80 yards, so it was just a little lob wedge and just flip it there. Hit it on there to about four feet and was able to make that one for birdie.
So that was -- got us off to a good start anyway.
Q. Awesome. So you played last year.
CHRIS DEVLIN: I did, yeah.
Q. Did you take anything away from that you're bringing in this year?
CHRIS DEVLIN: Yeah, I did, I did. Colorado was very, very, very tricky and the greens out there were so -- you know, it's on the side of that mountain and it took a little getting used to; obviously the magnitude of the event being my first one as I had just turned 50.
Certainly felt like I belonged there. It was just a matter of playing my game and trying to stay in my own bubble for as much as I can.
Q. Yeah.
CHRIS DEVLIN: But it was good to make the cut and get four rounds in there. I mean, there was a couple days where it ate my lunch, but that is going to do that at a U.S. Open. You just got to be ready for the ups and downs.
Q. Absolutely. And speaking of big events, 2021 U.S. Am.
CHRIS DEVLIN: Yeah.
Q. Did you take any perspective from that? A lot of those guys are probably on TOUR now.
CHRIS DEVLIN: Was that Oakmont or Cherry Hills.
Q. I think it was Cherry Hills?
CHRIS DEVLIN: I was playing well at Cherry Hills. I didn't perform as well as I should out there. Oakmont, the one before, was one that was great. I shot 72 at Oakmont that day and greens were running at like 15. They were syringing them every 15 minutes. Even to that day it was one of the best rounds of golf I think I ever played just shooting 72 on that course. It was so hard that day.
But, yeah, I mean, all the USGA Championship are such great events. You guys do such a good job putting them on and they go the extra mile to make sure the golf course is pristine and it's a tough test, which is great.
You know nobody is ever going to run away with anything. You really, really have to really take care of your golf ball, leave it in the right spots. That's what I'm learning the most, a lot of preparation has to go in. If you're going perform at these events, you really have to put in the prep and know where to leave the ball, and that's where my caddie comes in and helps me a lot and keeps me grounded.
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