Q. Not a terrible finish.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Know, it was good.
Q. Take us through the back nine. What got hot for you?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I hit a good drive on 10. Kind of unfortunate to end up where it did.
Didn't hit that bad of a shot into 11. I got in a rake mark in the bunker, made that shot that was really kind of a good miss, a really hard spot and end up with a 5.
I think the chip-in on 12 kind of turned around the day. I hit good drive off the tee there, got in a weird spot. Hit a pretty good shot from there and got in another weird spot. It was nice to see that ball go in.
Q. Did you say earlier this week that you would have taken 4-under?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah. That's before they decided to only single cut and water the greens. All I remember was, last year it was so hard, and they definitely didn't do any of that. Because I remember Friday afternoon when we went out it was definitely kind of the harder end of the draw and the scores were pretty high. I was just fortunate to get through to the weekend.
Q. Looks like it could be another battle between you and Viktor, just like last year. You are currently looks like you will go out in the final group. What do you remember from last year about that battle and what do you expect this year?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, should be another fun one. That's what's exciting about our new schedule. I think we're going to have a lot more of this stuff. I'm sure Viktor's looking to beat me this year and I'm looking to do the same. There's a lot of talented guys on the leaderboard though. I'm not going to be too focused on anybody else other than myself going into tomorrow. But so many talented players out there. It should be a really fun battle.
Q. Curious about 17 and the 9-iron there. Was there any other shot that was more difficult than it might have looked, based on yardage or club, that you're proud of?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: That was more difficult than that one?
Q. Yeah. Or that you were proud of.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Proud of?
Q. Happy with. Trying to simplify this for you.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: (Laughing.) Thank you. Well, what I was proud of? I executed a lot of good shots today. I hit -- none of them really stand out to me other than that one because it was really kind of in the kick-in range there. I hit a really good one into 9 and missed a short putt.
Other than that, I hit a lot of really solid shots today, but that one stand out, for sure.
Q. What are you trying to do that on 17?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Hit a 9-iron as hard as I physically could.
Q. And hope it did what?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Stayed on the green. No, seriously. You get back there and that section of the golf course and it's down off the left. You can't feel it off the tee box, you're looking for the flags that are back there on 18. You're looking at palm trees above the houses on the right. And it's really hard to tell how far the ball's going to go. Teddy was actually thinking we needed to take some off of it. I had to back off once because we couldn't feel the wind and decided to smash one. I hit it as hard as I could and it barely covered. So it's definitely a tricky part of the course.
Q. At this place when you don't get off to your best start how challenging is it to remind yourself you're not that far out?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I mean, it could go both ways to where you try and force things. But I think today was a day where I just tried to keep it in my mind that nobody was going to extend themselves really far away. I couldn't -- if I'm 1-over through five holes, I can't try and get it to 10-under. I just have to stay patient and pick your spots. Because the minute you try and force around this golf course you're running into a spot where you're going to make another bogey and things are going to spiral out of control from there.
Q. Did you have a feeling that you had a good run in you or it just kind of started?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I was hoping. I was trying to stay patient. I didn't want to put myself out of the tournament. I think around this golf course, as you see today, there's guys that have gone from very far behind to in the lead. If this was Sunday Viktor and I may be going into a playoff and he started pretty far behind. Around this place if you can get hot you're never too far out of it. I just tried to keep reminding myself of that.
Q. Was this win last year more meaningful in the sense that it kind of validated that first win in Phoenix?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I'm not sure. I think I was proud to win on two golf courses that are extremely different. Waste Management being more of a birdiefest kind of place. This place being where it is where I won at 5-under. I think I was definitely proud of the ability to kind of grind it out. Kind of do a little bit more than I was able to in Phoenix. Just kind of a different style of play.
Q. Few would blame you because you got a pretty good piece of clothing a few weeks or a month or so after this event last year, but do anything special with the red cardigan or just go in your closet?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I got 'em sitting right next to each other in the closet. Every win to me is very special. The Masters will stand alone for a long time. Especially with it being the first major and all that stuff. But the red cardigan is not leaving my closet. I don't have to return it like I do the Green Jacket if I don't win this year.
Q. What are you expecting tomorrow?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Another challenging day. I think it's going to be a great battle. There's a lot of talented players on the leaderboard. You got Viktor, obviously, who plays great around this golf course and he's a proven winner out here. Then you got Kurt's up there on the board. He's won a bunch of times worldwide. He may not be a household name here, but he's won a bunch times worldwide. JT up there. I saw Jordan. I mean I'm going to miss a few guys, but there's a lot of guys up there.
Q. You kind of alluded to this a minute ago. But the course could have been a lot worse than it was the last couple days?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I think so. I would argue it was harder last year. I remember playing Sunday to that pin on 17 and not being -- I was just glad I hit it probably 10 paces left of it where there's another five paces of green and I barely kept it on. I remembered it playing a bit tougher. We'll see what tomorrow's like. Depends what they do to the golf course.
Q. Do you think they will stick it to you?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I would be surprised if they didn't.
Q. Have you talked to Kurt at all? Have you talked to him about basketball at all?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: No.
Q. He was an all-state point guard.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Oh, really. No. That would be fun. I wish that it wasn't as dangerous as it is to go out and play. It's more fun when you're playing with your buddies. If Kurt and I were to go out and play I think we would have a good time, because we have an understanding of where everybody's supposed to be and you're not -- with basketball, if you get guys that don't, didn't play at a high-school level or something like that they may not have an understanding of where to be and where not to be where people can get hurt. But there's some decent basketball players out here. It would be fun to get a little game going every now and then.
Q. Does your experience in the Texas wind help you at all out here with some of the cross winds and things like that?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I think so. You have to learn to control your ball. When the greens get really firm and the wind starts whipping like it is today any little bit of spin you're going to apply to the ball is going to have a huge affect. So learning how to control it is definitely very important.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports