Q. Wondering probably a month ago fighting for a top 15, top 10, you probably would have had higher expectations, but just given everything that you've gone through, are you pleased with how it's gone so far?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, yeah. I'm over the moon right now, and I know I have one more day. I have 18 more holes to keep fighting. It's not going to be easy. I mean, each day I wake up, it's want easy to keep doing it.
But, you know, I love it, and very grateful that we get to do this. But, yeah, I think the position I'm at right now, at the beginning of the week, Monday, Tuesday, even Wednesday. I'm pretty thrilled with how I'm playing.
Q. How is the mental progress in terms of where you felt like on Tuesday as opposed to where you are now?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Slight comfort, but not enough for me to change how I'm swinging. There's just too much risk to test it. As much as I wanted to, you know, especially Monday and then by Tuesday kind of after I finished playing, I realized that, like, nothing was going to change.
I'm hoping that it does, but even if I woke up feeling 100% tomorrow, it would still be hard for me to just go out all out and swing. It's just something I had to monitor this week, and we'll figure it out after tomorrow.
It's working enough so far.
Q. Can you explain how difficult it is to cope with the anxiety of your swing when you're not fully confident every time, especially at a place like this?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: It's impossible. When I get to hole nine, hole ten, hole 11, downhill lies are near impossible because I don't want to fire into my left side. I'm just trying to hit middle of the green, walk away with two-putt pars, and I've done a decent job with that.
You just never know, right? That's the hard thing right now is just going out and just taking it one shot at a time, sticking within my comfort zone, and right now, like I said yesterday, it's like it's in that 50% swing range with a lot of arms.
Q. Given the context, where does this rank in where you've been on a Saturday in the ranking given what you've had to deal with?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: It's phenomenal. It's going to be in its own category, but it's some of the best golf I've played, because it is truly putting a mental test into me from the start. Not even from the start of hole one, but from the start of the day when I wake up to just make sure I'm doing the right steps to make sure I can tee it up on the first hole and then get all the way through today and then doesn't stop right now. I've got to go do all my PT work and all the stretching.
Q. Have you had to make any, like, short-term, say, Band-Aid technical changes just because of the physical situation?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: I mean, a good amount. This whole idea of 50% swing is in my head I am swinging it 50% speed. I know my arms and everything is moving a lot faster than that, but that is how I feel is I am swing it 50%.
When that happens, obviously my legs aren't moving the way they used to, so then I'm throwing my arms, and I'm having to time up my arms. So, like, every swing I'm putting at, I am essentially just throwing my arms at the ball hoping that it squares everything up.
I've done a decent job at that, and I've seen some shots throughout the week that are going to happen, and I'm more accepting because, you know, the shot I hit on 11 on Thursday, I mean, I yanked it 40 yards left of where I was aiming immediately off the face.
I would never hit that shot, but it's just because of how I'm having to time things up right now.
Q. And just kind of cultivate a move that is getting the ball around?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, I'm staying really hard on my right side, on my back leg and just kind of throwing all my effort essentially into that. Like I said, I am just trying to time everything up with my hands at the bottom of the swing.
Q. Wondering, I don't know if you're a guy normally that has a performance coach, mental coach, just with how this has been progressing, have you tried to talk to anyone either caddie, coach, anyone about kind of getting over mental hurdles, or is that something you're considering?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, this week was figure out how I was going to be able to play for this week. I'll figure out -- I think it's going to take time. I think it's just going to take a little bit of pushing, a little bit of 55, 60, 65 and just relearn how to trust the body.
But this week is not the week to test. You know, I was testing a little bit trying to push how much I could get out of it before I came over, and then once I got out here, it was like, okay, where am I going to net out? I've netted out at 50. I thought I was going to be able to swing at 60%. I've truly netted out at 50% this week.
Q. Has it been difficult to keep a positive outlook given how well you were playing prior to the injury?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, a little bit. There's a handful of shots out there where I look at Mark, and I was, like, oh, this would be a nice healthy 5-iron or a nice healthy wedge, but it is what it is.
I'm in this position. I can't do much about it, but what's great is that my golf overall still feels really good. I know I'm kind of just slapping it around and doing what I need to do, but from an overall aspect of whenever I do get healthy, I feel like the game is in a really good spot to where I can hopefully just kind of snap into that and hopefully go back to where we were a month and a half ago.
Q. How close were you to deciding this might not be a good idea this week?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: I don't think I was ever to the point of, like, where I was going to pull out. Maybe that's a little selfish of me, but I was very thankful that the weather was going to be like this, that it wasn't going to be soft, and I was going to have to carry drivers a lot farther.
I can kind of hit some low runners. I was worried a little bit about the firm greens, but make pars out here. I think I've played enough out here to where I know I can kind of work it around some holes and get away with it.
Q. Collin, Rory last night said he wouldn't describe himself as an intimidating player. What does intimidating mean out here to you, and would you describe him as intimidating?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: I would say -- I think the biggest intimidating thing out here, especially when you've never been here, is just how grand everything is, right, and how vast it expands.
We stand right here, and you can see -- if you're a little taller, you can see 18, 9, 8, 1, 2 over there, 7. It's just so vast and large in the sense of you don't really see that at many places.
I think when you're able to really focus in on every hole, you're able to play golf and just focus on that one shot. I've been able to do that.
Intimidating, is Rory? I don't know. When the guy is driving the ball lights-out, I don't know if intimidating is the word, but it's a feat of itself and it's pretty impressive.
But I've learned to figure out how to play golf courses myself, and when I'm on, I feel like I'm on, and hopefully we're able to keep up with everyone.
Q. (Indiscernible.)
COLLIN MORIKAWA: No. Am I supposed to?
Q. I was just asking.
COLLIN MORIKAWA: I remember when they changed it, made it longer, yeah.
Q. Based on what you have managed to get to this point right now, how proud are you of yourself? What does that feel like that you're here?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: It's awesome. I mean, it's awesome. It's going to be one of the best tournaments in my entire career. I know I still got 18 more holes to go fight it out tomorrow and I got a whole bunch of work to do, but yeah, it's been a mental battle.
I mean, it's not easy. Every step out there is not easy, and I'm just kind of one step at a time, but I'm really proud of myself so far.
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