Intro:

Players spoke to the media after their first round of the US Open, at Pinehurst No.2, in North Carolina on Thursday (12th June).

Script:

SOUNDBITE (English) Justin Rose, 2-over par, on being defending champion:

"It's been good. I think it's been very easy, to be honest with you. I've had very little demands on my time, less than I'd imagined and I've had the preparation exactly how I wanted. It's been great. Being a different golf course I never really treated it as -- it was always going to be a new test, anew test paper. So I just try to focus on the golf course. But in terms of -- I feel like I'm playing pretty free out there. I feel like I'm playing the golf course more aggressively each day."

"It's been good. I think it's been very easy, to be honest with you. I've had very little demands on my time, less than I'd imagined and I've had the preparation exactly how I wanted. It's been great. Being a different golf course I never really treated it as -- it was always going to be a new test, anew test paper. So I just try to focus on the golf course. But in terms of -- I feel like I'm playing pretty free out there. I feel like I'm playing the golf course more aggressively each day."