U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 2, 2026

Michael Block

Scioto Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. First Senior Open for you. What are your thoughts after the round?

MICHAEL BLOCK: Yeah, course, super fair. Pins were great; tucked, as they should be for the U.S. Senior Open

Didn't play well. My fault. I can't wait to get back at it tomorrow.

Q. Can you talk about obviously birdie, two bogeys after. Can you talk about that three-hole stretch?

MICHAEL BLOCK: Yeah, a couple of bad shots really, to be honest. I'm looking up at the hole, I'm on the fairway with a 7-iron in my hand -- I usually love a 7-iron in my hand -- and I missed the green.

I did that a couple of times today where I was in these chunk hooks and didn't feel good. I think I was kind of hanging back today. Not sure what's going on, but didn't play well.

I scratched out a 72, I think, which to be honest, 72 with the game I had today makes you feel pretty good.

Q. Anything change going into tomorrow's round, or is it the same game plan as today?

MICHAEL BLOCK: I'll have lunch, go back out, work on my game a little bit. Flip the ball a little better from the outside to in. Come back out tomorrow and 12:40 and go deep.

Q. Any specific part of your game today feel strong, maybe a little weak?

MICHAEL BLOCK: I don't know. Everything is a little off right now. Like literally everything. Driver, irons, chipping -- I didn't chip much actually when I think about it. Putting was off. So everything was off and I shot 72.

Q. When you're playing in a National Championship, is your mentality different than a club pro event?

MICHAEL BLOCK: I try not to. I try to make it all the same. A 7-iron is a 7-iron whether I'm playing a major or home club. If I'm 170 out, I'm still trying to hit 7-iron. Same thing when I'm looking down. If you're looking down, you're not visualizing friends, family, score, anything else. You're only visualizing, hey, drive down 2 degrees left and relax your hands.

Q. You said you were mentioning you were scrambling in all aspects. What does that show about the patience you had out there to just take what you could get out there?

MICHAEL BLOCK: I didn't lose my shit, so that was good. I can lose my shit and I didn't today so -- because to be honest, it was mainly 99 percent my fault. When it's my fault, I just look in the imaginary mirror, where we've all seen what I do, and I try to look at myself in the mirror, even though there's not a mirror or not, and try to learn what I've been doing wrong and try to fix it.

So I did. I came down the stretch. I had a great 4-iron there into 8, my 17th hole; didn't quite work out, but whatever. I hit a lot of good shots and they were just hitting the wrong sides of these bowls. The greens are gnarly. The greens are awesome. It's a good test. I can't wait to get after it. I just want to get after it tomorrow. I can't wait for 12:40.