U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 3, 2026

Alex Cejka

Scioto Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. You rallied on that second nine, two birdies. Tell us about that nine for you.

ALEX CEJKA: It's a grind. Every U.S. Open is a grind. I played pretty good, but the greens are getting firm. You've got to hit the fairways here. On the front nine I wasn't hitting the fairways, so it was tough to make pars. I was hitting a lot of up-and-downs, and I hit a lot of fairways on the back nine; the front nine, had a couple chances, and made two.

I'm very pleased that I got it under par. I wanted to finish today like in the red figures after making the turn at even. So I'm pretty pleased.

Q. Yesterday that front nine, you had two birdies as well. Do you have a nine that you prefer for your game, for your eye?

ALEX CEJKA: No, I can't say that. You know, just if you make good shots, they're kind of similar. I kind of like a lot of the holes on each side. So I can't say, oh, no, I can't play the back nine or I want to play it first.

The course is in great shape. Tricky pin positions. Every pin position is like three off the left, four off the right, so it's a little bit tricky. You've got to play smart.

Obviously when you're not in the fairway, it's really difficult. So I've got to figure out how to hit a little bit more fairways the next two days to have a chance.

Q. You've been in this position before obviously, three majors. How do you like your position heading into the weekend?

ALEX CEJKA: I'd rather be in front, but it's just I'm up there. It's just you look up at the leaderboard, and there's so many great players, experienced players. It's tough. I still have to go and maybe shoot on the weekend 3-, 4-, 5-under maybe to have a good chance. But you never know. You never know what the wind is doing, what the players are doing on the weekend. There is a lot of scenarios.

But I've got to focus on my game, hit fairways, hit greens, make good putts. Try to score under par on both days to have a realistic chance.