U.S. Open Championship 2017
Thursday, June 15, 2017
Dru Love
Flash Interview
Q. Dru, can you talk about the round and being
under par in your first U.S. Open?
DRU LOVE: Yeah, I couldn't really get
settled in for nine holes. I just never really felt comfortable, little
nervous, excited. Anxious more than anything.
No, I just had a great
time. I learned a lot about myself, lot about my game. I'm a tad disappointed
with 71 but for my first round in a major, I'll take it, and try to go to the
range and improve on what didn't go right today, and see if we can't get there
tomorrow.
Q. What did you learn most about your game?
DRU LOVE: I don't really get committed to my targets as well as I need to.
Those are big fairways, there is a lot of stuff to aim at. There are people
moving all over the place, and golf carts moving, you know, I'm going to try to
stay a little more focused. I tend to look around a little bit too much and not
stay dialed in on my targets.
I hit some really poor drives today and I
was able to salvage some pars out of, unfortunately a few bogeys. I just kind
of got it dialed in a little bit. I think a little bit of that was the
excitement, looking around, trying to take it all in. There's a lot of people
out there and I've never played before in front of that big of a crowd. So I
just need to be a little more focused tomorrow, be a little more committed to
where I'm hitting.
Q. How much advice did you get
(Indiscernible)?
DRU LOVE: Yeah, well, I asked a lot of guys, not just my
dad. But guys around Sea Island, St. Simons, we have a lot of guys there, and I
was able to pick their brains a bit. Really, most of it was just stay patient.
You never know what you're going to get. I got some wild bounces and some weird
lies. They said you've just got to take what you get and try to make the best
score you can from where it bounces.
So just patience is the main thing
that they really try to get me to stay focused on. I think I did a good job. I
was able to hit some poor shots in some bad locations and I was able to make
some really good pars and a few bogeys, but some good bogeys.
Q.
How's the course playing?
DRU LOVE: The course is playing -- I
thought it was pretty easy this morning. Not easy, but easier than I expected.
The greens jumped up in speed. I think they were a lot faster than I imagined
they would be. I blew a few five, six, eight feet by. I had a three-putt on
nine I'm really upset about. But they were fast. The greens were very
fast.
I did not think it was going to be this firm. Thought it would be
softer with all the rain. USGA has done an unbelievable job setting it up and
making it a fair competition.
Q. (Inaudible)?
DRU LOVE:
Yeah, very tired from the first few days of preparation, but a good tired. Not
worn out, just ready to get going. Woke up at 3:45, left the hotel at 4:30, got
out here about 5:00, 5:15. Went and saw my trainer, Andy Meyers, got loose and
ate breakfast for about 30 minutes with my family and friends. Just listened to
what they had to say, had some fun, and sort of watched a little TV and stayed
out a little bit. Got to the range about 6:00 o'clock and went from
there.
Q. What are you going to do to get focused?
DRU
LOVE: I'll go to the range and I'll pick a few targets. I'm not going to hit
too many. Long walk, hot day. I'll probably just go out there and pick a few
targets, really small ones and just try to hit it into those.
I don't
think I'm going to do anything else. Maybe my putting. Going to work on some
really long, down hill putts that I had some trouble with today.
But, you
know, I think a lot of it was just getting the experience of today. I think
once I get out there tomorrow, I'll know a little bit more about what I'm doing
and not be quite as star struck and in awe as much as I was. I got to No. 9 and
was looking down at the green and the grandstands behind there, and I was -- I
don't want to say freaked out, but I was excited.
I guided a wedge down
there and three-putted. You know, I know it's something that's going to happen.
You're going to make mistakes, but I think that mistake was just a little bit
in the moment, and maybe tomorrow I'll do a lot better.
Q.
(Indiscernible) how special was it?
DRU LOVE: It was awesome. We
got a lot of, Go three and fours, and Go Davis. I think everybody's rooting for
us and wanting us to do well. It's a cool story, and I want to play well for
him, and he wants to caddie well for me. You know, we're both really excited.
I think we both calmed down a little bit.
Go to the range and reevaluate,
get some food, get some rest, and be ready to go tomorrow
afternoon.
Q. Did you have to hit it out of the Fescue at
all?
DRU LOVE: Yeah, I hit it out of there three times today. I shanked
a 4-iron, laying up on the par-4 out of the rough into the Fescue. I had to
chip out.
And then 18, I hit it in the Fescue way right. It's definitely
penalizing, but these fairways are so big, if you hit it in there, it's your own
fault. You shouldn't be too much complaining about it. It's very, very
fair.
Q. Dru, was there one particular shot that your dad --
that you felt like, all right, my dad has really helped me with this?
DRU
LOVE: Absolutely. 17. I hit it left. I was lucky enough to hit it far enough
left to where I was in the matted down stuff where all the fans have been
walking. And I had 190 yards to the hole and it was a little downwind, and he
told me to hit pitching wedge. I remember saying, what? Pitching
wedge.
I flew a pitching wedge 200 yards out of that rough, downwind, it
flew all the way to the back of the green. If he hadn't been there to tell me
to hit pitching wedge, I would have soared it into the grandstands. So he
definitely saved me a few shots today.
I think tomorrow after he's seen
the way the ball's bouncing and the way things are going out here, we'll be able
to dial it in a little bit better.
Q. What are you going to
(Indiscernible)?
DRU LOVE: 190 yards downwind, I probably would have hit
an 8-iron or maybe a hard 9, which both would have landed in the grandstands,
and probably would have hopped off of them. So a pitching wedge, I was very
surprised.
He has all the experience. He's seen all the lies and all of
the possible bounces and fliers. That's stuff that you're not going to get if I
had one of my best friends caddie for me. So it was the obvious choice to get
him to caddie for me, and I think that showed today.
FastScripts
Transcript by ASAP Sports
Rev #1 by #170 at 2017-06-15 17:28:00
GMT