U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP 2021

June 19, 2021

Jason Gore

Torrey Pines Golf Course

Quick Quotes

Q. Jason, you played in the 2008 U.S. Open here at Torrey Pines. How did your experience today differ from the 2008?

JASON GORE: I learned that I used to hit it a lot longer than I did. It was different. It was just different because it didn't have any U.S. Open pressure, you know what I mean? If I screwed one up, I just scoop it. I ended up finishing all the holes, but there was no big repercussions of any big misses because it's lurking in every corner around here.

My whole goal today was to just stay out of Akshay's way. If you want to go first, go first. If you want to putt out, putt out. If you want me to putt first inside, like I was there for him to make sure his day just kind of flowed nicely. It's awkward to play by yourself.

I went to him on the practice green this morning, I'm here for you. If you need anything, just I'll stay out of your way. If I'm in your way, tell me to shut up. If I'm talking too much or you want to talk to me, it's all on you, zoo that's different.

The greens are so much better than they were in '08. They're just fantastic. You can see why players are making so many putts. All I've done is hit putts around this golf course all week. So for me to misread a green is shocking.

No, it's just different. I was out there looking at it more from the setup view and internal view and not so much worrying about my game. I was kind of looking at what angles, where I'm hitting it, what I'm doing, to help us. So, yeah, it was completely different. It was fun, though.

Q. So playing today, bring back any positive thoughts of past U.S. Open championships that you've played in.

JASON GORE: Yeah, any time you can get inside the ropes of a USGA championship, it's phenomenal. It's different because, like I said, there was no repercussions. I wasn't trying to make a cut or make a ten-footer for bogey knowing that it's such a huge putt.

It's like I messed up on 3 and had about a 12-footer or an 8-footer for bogey. I just remember, oh, my gosh, these used to be so big. Bogey is fine. I can walk away with bogey. It's okay. Doubles are just a killer. I just walked up and hit it and scooped it, I'm out of here. I mean, that's obviously a big difference. Like I said, any time you can get inside the ropes at a USGA championship, it's special.

Q. Overall thoughts on Akshay's game?

JASON GORE: Really good. He's really good. He's so talented. He hits it far. He hit some chip shots around there that were just like, wow, that was really good. You can't practice those. That's just God given talent of just you're sprinkled with those. It's something special to have those hands, but he's really good. He's really smart. He played smart, like he hit a lot of good shots.

He didn't have his A game, but it's the U.S. Open. You can have an A-minus game, and it will look like a D game out here. He's going to have a heck of a career. He's just got to continue to love it and just keep working hard. He's 19. It's pretty incredible.

Q. Thoughts on what the leaders are going to face out there this afternoon.

JASON GORE: It all depends on how they want to play. I mean, it's there. There's a lot of hole locations that look really gettable, and they're not. So like No. 1, you can see the whole thing, and you're like, oh, my gosh, I'm going to shoot right at this, and it just kind of boing. It's just going to take off.

You have to play aggressive to conservative targets, that's what they're going to do. The greens are so good, they're going to make putts, and they're at the perfect -- like they're fast enough to be at the good speed where you just -- you can make putts on these. They're scary, but they're not frightening, if that makes sense.

We were really smart about putting the holes in places that -- you know what, you're going to have a frightening putt, but it's not going to kill you. So you have to think hard, play a little bit more break and let it die, but I think the golf course is set up fantastic. They're going to make some birdies. They're going to make some bogeys. You've seen the scorecards where they show them on TV. It's a ton of squares, a ton of circles. Somebody is going to come out of it well.

You can see Jordan and Paul Casey are playing well today. If you've got good ball control, you're going to be able to score. If you don't, you're going to be working.

Q. Overall thoughts on your caddie's performance today?

JASON GORE: He did awesome. It was so much fun. When he said like, hey, if you're in, I'll go all 18 with you tomorrow, I was over the moon. You don't get that kind of opportunity. We joked about it like, hey, what's the one thing you haven't done at a U.S. Open, Mike? Check that box. So it was -- I'm just so grateful he did. It was a blast. It was great to listen to his comments too about the golf course and about what he's seen when he's setting it up.

We were talking about playing, but you can hear the other side of it. Maybe I'm just reading between the lines, but it's like, yeah, you know, you can really see why this does that, and I was like, yeah, you're right. You really can. I learned a ton. I'm so grateful we got to spend the time together.

I kept looking there early, and there was a bunch of people taking pictures, and I go, I hope this isn't your legacy, man. No, it was a great day.