THE MODERATOR: Like to welcome runner-up Nico Echavarria into the interview room here. Nico, can you just recap what went on out there. I know it's not the outcome you were looking for. Just go through your plays of 18.
NICO ECHAVARRIA: Well, well, both great shots, great second shots. Not great third shots. It was -- I misjudged the lag putt on the last hole. I didn't think it was going to be that slow. Didn't consider the wind.
The wind kind of held it and my lag putting today was a little off which is a strength of mine. But, I mean, just one bad putt can't define a great week.
Q. Speaking of great week, what are you going to carry, what confidence have you gained this week heading into the season?
NICO ECHAVARRIA: As of lately I've been able to put myself in the mix and I've been able to stay there and compete for the tournaments. Even starting bogey-bogey today, I fought hard and shot 7-under in the last 16 holes, so it shows a lot.
I'm playing really good golf, and hopefully I can carry it on.
Q. And anything you learned about yourself this week, how you handled everything?
NICO ECHAVARRIA: It's just I've been working my ass off and I've been working hard. It's been really rewarding to see that things are falling their way.
I'm having a pretty simple mentality of hit the best shot you can every time you step up. I've been doing that and it's been going well other than that last putt.
Q. Two things: On the putt, did the collar hold it up, just not enough pace?
NICO ECHAVARRIA: Just came out very slow. I thought it was a little downhill. It was downhill but the wind was pumping. It just was very slow and never released.
So just a bad lag putt overall.
Q. Must have been thrilling to make the putt on 15, make the putt on 16, bunker shot on 18 was really nice. What did it feel like after? On 15 did you feel like you had a chance or if you made one mistake it was over?
NICO ECHAVARRIA: Yeah, one mistake and it was over because we were down by two. If I missed that putt on 15, it's down by three with three to go. So it was some clutch putts coming down the stretch and a really good bunker shot on 17 and 18, too, to put myself in a playoff.
We didn't think with 16-under we were going to be in a playoff, us two by ourselves. If Nick doesn't chip in I win the tournament, so it's just little things that end up making a lot of -- matter a lot.
Q. You talked about how you started off slowly today. At what point early in the round did you feel like, hey, I got a real shot at this now and not give up?
NICO ECHAVARRIA: This course is tricky. The leader never -- I mean, the previous two years I've noticed that the leader doesn't go away with it.
It's a course that everyone gets bunched up. I had a number on my head coming into the last round. It was 16-under. After starting bogey-bogey I was pretty far from shooting 16-under.
I didn't miss many shots coming down the stretch, and there we are.
Q. You brought up the kind of fluke nature of Nick chipping in and making a 10-footer to extend. Do you regret anything or just say that's golf and that's how weird the game is?
NICO ECHAVARRIA: I regret not hitting it hard enough. Other than that I just played phenomenal golf. At the end of the day, the ball on the first hole of the playoff could have been pin high, putting for eagle, and ended up in the rough. It's little things that I already said make a lot of the difference.
Q. When you won in Puerto Rico and it's early and then you're just there for a while, what turns I guess toward the end of last year, winning in ZOZO and a great chance today; you must feel like your game has really peaked.
NICO ECHAVARRIA: I believe in myself now. I believe that I'm one of the best golfers in the world, and every time I'm close to the lead I like the way I'm performing. It makes a very, very big difference because it was like that at Sea Island, too. I wasn't hitting it great; I was making the putts. Being around the leaders or having the lead has been a lot of fun lately.
Putting myself there was the hard part. Now I've been doing it more consistent, which is not easy.
Q. If you look at the last two, are you finding yourself thinking about RSM and finding yourself more comfortable than you would've been before?
NICO ECHAVARRIA: Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. I've been sleeping better on Saturday nights, too. It's something good, being around the leaders or being in the lead and you're able to sleep well the night before. After Saturday in Puerto Rico I might have slept two hours and yesterday I slept like a baby, so, yeah, it's been fun.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports