I had a good stretch from one to 18 pretty much today. by Jon Rahm

I had a good stretch from one to 18 pretty much today.

Jon Rahm

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You have to battle it. It's very difficult. When it starts raining, you start getting water on the club face and balls start being a little bit unpredictable, a lot of it honestly, is the short game. It's hard to hit all the fairways. It's hard to hit all the greens. You have to grind out the pars and make the best of the few birdie putts you have.

If you can just somehow keep the momentum going and battle out those tough times you might be able to keep a round going. If you completely derail, which can happen really easily, you lose your swing, you lose your touch, it's hard to get it back.

I was so f---ing sure the first time, that is very, very perplexi... by Jon Rahm

I was so f---ing sure the first time, that is very, very perplexing.

Adam was trying to convince me to go right, and when I first got to the ball I was really sure I could [hit the green], i mean, if you give me 10 balls besides that one Ill hit the other one on land. But unfortunately, I got a little bit of doubt in me.

Not the best position I could be in, but I thought after the start today that to play the last 16 holes in four-under par with no bogeys was a good effort.

Taking superb advantage of the par-fives is where everything got together, a lot of momentum going on, especially starting the day with an eagle.

When I made the decision to come straight from Augusta it wouldn't be to just show up and walk around, I wanted to win this tournament, i've been blessed to be national champion from 16 to all ages in Spain. To round my amateur and pro career together in this way and win the last one I had to win and join that prestigious list of Spanish winners, it's hard to explain how good it feels and how satisfying it is.

To be honest, I played a lot better than I expected, especially o... by Jon Rahm

To be honest, I played a lot better than I expected, especially off the tee.

I ’m pretty sure I know who it was. I recognized the two kids that were running the opposite way with a smile on their face. I am 100 % sure I saw the two kids that stole it.

I feel like I played pretty good golf all day. I just saw a lot of( putts) get close and not go in, and to hit two wayward drives in the last two holes and somehow end up with two birdie putts and making the last one to break par on the first round of the U.S. Open, it's quite a big deal.

To be honest, part of the format is not really appealing to me. Shotgun three days, to me, is not a golf tournament — no cut. It’s that simple. I want to play against the best in the world and a format that’s been going on for hundreds of years. That’s what I want to see.

I do see the appeal other people see towards LIV Golf. I do see some of the points and arguments they could make toward why they prefer it, to be honest, part of the format is not really appealing to me. Shotgun three days, to me, is not a golf tournament — no cut. It’s that simple. I want to play against the best in the world and a format that’s been going on for hundreds of years. That’s what I want to see.

A lot of times when I feel like I need a weekend without distractions, or I just come and practice, I will come and do that, we're probably here once every two months. That would be at the very least.

It is a golf course that I love, (and) it’s a city that I love, i have great memories all throughout my career here, my latest win being here as well. Just very excited to be here. It’s one of those weeks that I look forward to every year.

That coastline reminds me of home quite a bit, the weather is similar to what I grew up in.

I’m happy to be back, it’s a place I’ve been coming to for a very long time, played in college. ... So, I feel comfortable. I live in the desert.

If the wind doesn’t pick up, you know you’re going to have to go out there and post a score, but we all know it, so it’s almost like a green light to be aggressive.

It was a bit of a bittersweet feeling because you can’t help to feel good about the game and how good I played, but I still finished second.

It was pretty remarkable, we were going back and forth. It was a lot of fun, hard to describe. Keep the foot down and try to make as many birdies as possible.

We had a fun battle today and I’m guessing tomorrow’s going to be more of the same, we’re going to need a lot of birdies to get ahead and get the win.