2013 U.S. Open: Hunter Mahan 'a little surprised' by poor scoring

Hunter Mahan spoke briefly with the media Saturday morning at Merion Golf Club after completing his second round in the U.S. Open. Here's a transcript of his remarks.

It's penalizing. You've got to hit it well off the tee. You've got to place your iron shots on the greens. And the greens are rolling true and they're fast and they're unfamiliar to us. We're kind of learning on the go, here. You hit it on the greens and trying to avoid mistakes, as usual. But the greens are good.

You are two shots off the lead. In terms of your outlook and optimism and feeling as a golfer, how does being two shots on this course differ from being two shots off the lead on Hartford or Doral?

Yeah, you still have to go out and play golf. The leader is irrelevant, you're just trying to play good and hit your shots. Thinking about the lead or your position is a waste of time because it's a tough golf course, you're going to make mistakes, they're going to make mistakes. To lead out here every day would be an incredible feat.

Would you have thought 1 under would be leading when you got here?

I'm a little surprised, thinking about the weather and everything. You really don't know until you get out there, even in practice rounds you don't know how it's going to play until you get out there. It's a serious test, because you just can't make mistakes.

The U.S. Open tends to make sure that if you hang around somewhere close to the lead you have a shot at it.

Yeah.

Discuss the fact that you are in it.

It's only the second round, we're halfway there, we have a long way to go. I don't think you're really in it until the back nine Sunday, when you've got nine holes left and a lot can happen. Still trying to do the same stuff. Hit fairways, hit greens, play to my strengths and play as good as I can.

Does ending the second round and starting the third round on the same day have any impact on what you're doing?

No, you keep on going until they tell you when to stop and they tell you to go again and you go again.

Good weather, good conditions today?

Yeah, I think it's going to be a great day. It's going to be warm. I don't think it's going to change too much, except the greens might be a little quicker. They've had too much rain for the course to dry out. Keep doing what you're doing and fairways and greens never hurt you.

Philly.com has complete coverage of the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club.