THE MODERATOR: We would like to welcome Collin Morikawa two-time major winner to the interview room here at the 2024 Travelers Championship. What's it like being back here?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: This was my third start as a professional, so it's obviously nice coming back to this place. I haven't played well the past couple years, but you always remember kind of that first summer, feels like it was yesterday, and it feels like there's been a lot of tournaments in between that and now. But excited to get this week going and hopefully put together four really, really strong rounds.
THE MODERATOR: You're coming into this week off of three top-5 finishes in your last four starts. What's the game plan for this week and how do you plan to feed off that momentum?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: To win. You know, this is kind of, I think this is 10 out of 12 weeks for me, so this is kind of the most I've really ever played in my career, and it's just to kind of continue what I've been doing, kind of refine a few things, but for the most part kind of use my head as best as I can to navigate around this golf course and make things as easy as possible.
THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up to questions.
Q. You're an L.A. kid like me, and this heat out here today and this week, it hits different. How does that affect your game?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, I actually live in Vegas now so I'm kind of used to the heat. It's a lot more humid, but I've, we do it every week. This past kind of summer has been really, or past kind of month has been really hot, so I'm used to it by now. But I don't spend that much time out on the golf course. I kind of do my work, get out when I need to, and call it a day. So it's not that bad.
Q. You talked about the Masters and even before just kind of battling your swing and figuring things out with that. With this kind of consistent top play that you've shown yourself, do you feel like you're not battling the swing as much anymore?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, I mean, it's a lot easier, I'm not getting as frustrated I'm not getting mad over bad shots because I know the good shots are really good now. But it's tough because it's such a fine line. Like, I look back at where I was, let's call it February -- February, March, and sometimes it's just like one small thing that keeps you going. And I thought I found something at Augusta, and then the week later a week and a half later I'm on a completely different swing thought. So that's golf, that's how I kind of operate at least, that I kind of rotate around a handful of swing thoughts and you just cycle through those. Right now it's a nice little thing that I've got going and hopefully I just kind of continue that, especially with the irons.
Q. I remember talking to Kurt and Min Woo at the PGA and they recalled seeing you on the range and saying maybe the solution isn't as far off as you often think. Is that something maybe you've realized in the last few months?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, but it's tough because when you, when it's not going well you don't really know what to look for. And you have your coach there and you have people around to kind of tell you this and that, but you never really know. And that's the hardest part is that, whether you're trying to find something to make it better or you're trying to -- yeah, you're always trying to make something better, but whatever you're trying to find, if you're not hitting it well and you're trying to be a little bit better, or you're hitting it great and you want to make it even a little bit more precise, sometimes you don't really know what you're locking for. And when you go down a rabbit hole, which we always do, it takes us down these paths that it sounds good for that split second, but then you realize like a month later or a week later that maybe I shouldn't have done that. So, for me, like, I don't regret anything I've done, and I had to go through it, it's just now it's like really just knowing the pieces to kind of put it together and saying, okay, this is the basics of what I need and then kind of work off that.
Q. There have been some minor changes to the golf course, but at 6,800 yards and change, it gives up really low scores. You shot 63 here last year on Friday. Do you see anything that's going to change that trend? Are you anticipating seeing really, really low scores here?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, I think there's a few holes -- I played the front today -- like 7 changes my kind of strategy a little bit. Before you can kind of bomb driver up there, but the long fescue on left, you might lose a ball now. I would say, you know, with poa greens, and even if it doesn't rain -- it looks like there might be a little bit of rain -- but even if it doesn't rain these greens still act on the softer side. I think when you see soft greens -- sometimes there's nothing you can do about it -- that's when we make a lot of birdies. Guys are able to go at pins a little bit more and get a little bit closer, so it is what it is. Yeah, I shot 7-under, but I think I still missed the cut and I shot 4-over the first day or something. There's going to be a lot of low scores, I think.
Q. Coming towards the end of a stretch of really high, really sort of challenging tournaments, do you find that it's more difficult for you to deal with physical fatigue or mental fatigue and sort of just being mentally tired at the end of a longer run?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, I mean, you're mentally fatigued, I think, when you're in contention. So after Memorial you definitely feel the weight of that, after kind of the past month you feel it. For me, like, I get enough rest, I feel great, I kind of know what I need to do when I'm out there and I don't spend too much time just being out on the golf course, because that's what other guys are doing. So I feel like I've kind of had a nice balance to make sure I'm not fatigued even though this is 10 out of 12 for me, I think.
Q. Does it feel like where you're at with your game the last kind of notch is just to get a win with where you're feeling?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, I still haven't felt like I've hit my irons as good as I want, and when that happens, hopefully the putter gets hot, and that's how you put together four really, really good rounds. I feel like I'm at a point right now where even with my game even, if it doesn't happen to be the A game, it's like I could still contend and have a chance to win. If you're in the final few groups on a Sunday you've got a chance. So hopefully we can kind of continue that.
Q. How have you enjoyed the cadence of the Signature Events and kind of mish mashed with the majors -- we got another major coming up here in a few weeks.
COLLIN MORIKAWA: It's been a lot. I feel like, I think this year has just felt a little bit more of a sprint, let's call it. But I think that's just because of the season, not having a fall portion or at least not having a fall portion that's counted towards this season. I think that's an adjustment, but I have nothing wrong with it. Every other sport they're playing every day, every few days. Granted, our weeks are a lot longer and, yeah, we get pretty drained as well, but a lot of these tournaments I would have played no matter what, wherever they were on the schedule, and you kind of work and them. So it kind of worked out in my favor where I wanted to play the week before a major, a lot of 'em lined up like that. So just kind of continue that.
Q. I asked Scottie, since you're going to be going to Paris representing the U.S. in the Olympics, do you anticipate that you guys on the team going that you'll act as a team or do you think the best way for the U.S. to win a medal that you can contribute is for you to sort of go about it as if it was almost a regular week-to-week tournament, that you sort of need to sort of stay dealing with your self and not necessarily sharing work as a four-man pod?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: No, I think we're going to do a lot of practice rounds together. In Tokyo we played practice rounds all together. If a guy didn't want to go out at a certain time -- but I remember in Tokyo I think four of us or at least three of us every day would go and play together. At the end of the day, yeah, it is still an individual competition. There is no team aspect of it. It would be cool if there was. Caddies are definitely going to scout the course together, they're going to do you all the prep together, a lot of sharing information, just as if it were a Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup kind of in that sense. But when it comes down to it on Thursday, it's our event, it's our own individual event.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports