.
Q. Really blustery out there; how much did that contribute to the roller coaster?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I mean, it contributed a little bit. I definitely could have been a bit sharper on the back nine. Just a few too many mistakes. But overall I did enough to stay in the tournament. Three shots back going into the weekend, it was very challenging out there on the back nine, so I took advantage of my opportunities, and hopefully I'll clean up the card a little bit tomorrow.
Q. When the ball sailed into the Azaleas or whatever on 12, what was going through your mind?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I've hit it back there before a couple times. The miss there is technically long, and when you're playing for the wind to be into and it turns around and goes straight down, I mean, it's very challenging.
I was fortunate to see the ball come out of the bushes there and was able to take advantage of the break.
Q. What wasn't as sharp as you would have liked on the back nine?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I mean, I had a couple three-putts. I didn't hit as many fairways. I got myself in trouble off the tee on 18.
It's really tough out there with the conditions. Extremely challenging when you get greens this fast and you get that much wind, especially when it's gusty. It can be quite challenging.
I did a good job of making some key up-and-downs, and I had the chip-in on 12, good up-and-down for par on 13, took advantage of a look there on 14. Overall I felt like I did some good things out there to stay in the tournament.
Q. What do you think you'll need to be most sharp going into the weekend?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Golf is a funny game. It's a day-to-day thing. Yesterday I felt really sharp. Today not as sharp. Could the conditions have contributed to that? I'm sure a little bit.
It was definitely much harder to hit the ball where you were looking today just because the wind was blowing from everywhere. That's what's great about this golf course is it's quite challenging and you get winds like that, you've really got to manage your expectations, manage yourself around the course.
Sometimes I did a good job of that. Other times today, maybe not so good.
Q. Can you talk a little bit about being an athlete, your golf swing, feeling athletic. What does that mean exactly? How do you be an athlete?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: It means I'm not really thinking about where the club is at the top of my swing or where any positions when I'm out there playing. I'm just trying to play the game.
When I'm practicing I'm working on my fundamentals, I'm working on my swing. But when it comes time to go play golf, I try to go play.
Q. There's a lot of golf left, obviously, but there's quite a star-studded leaderboard that you're a part of. What can golf fans expect to see this weekend?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Well, we've got a great golf course, conditions should be really good, challenging, and we've got some great guys on top of the leaderboard, so it should be a fun weekend.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports