Q. What do you feel like you need to do for the last two rounds?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Got to think through my shots a little better. Thinking through shot lines which is good but distance control has been a little off. We have got so many wedges out here that you got to be smart about where you're landing them and I'm thinking I can skip it maybe a couple yards, but they're just going to stop and spin back. But it was good to see a good shot on 18, the last wedge shot, even though it was my third. And hopefully I can learn from that for the next few.
Q. Going so quickly, England to United States to here, are you fatigued at all?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: No, I think I do a really good job trying to get as much rest as I can and I'm not out here all day just grinding, I'm going to go back and relax and try to enjoy the afternoon even after these weather delays. But for the most part what I've learned over the past couple years is to really just step away from the golf course. You have to. I think I do a good job and I feel as prepped as I need to be for tomorrow.
Q. I know you're two days into it but if someone from home had said what's it like playing golf in the Olympics how is it different from any other tournament you play, what would you share with them?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: It's just so special. Rory and I were walking a few holes ago towards the end and he asked if I had watched the Olympics growing up and you do, but you watch a lot of the prime-time sports, the swimming, the gymnastics all that stuff because it comes on at night. But to finally call your self an Olympian and I think it will probably hit me once the tournament is over, no one can take that away from you. You see so many other athletes and so many other sports and before golf was in it four years ago you never thought that you could become an Olympian, but when you have that title of an Olympian it just puts your, whether it changes our career or not put that aside, it just changes who you are I think because you've reached a peak for so many other sports to have that title amongst what else you do in the golf world is really special.
Q. When you looked at the number of Americans in the Top-12 of the world right now, I would think more than any other country you can't take for granted but I can't wait for Paris?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: That's four years or three years is a long time. I obviously hope to be there, I'll definitely be going.
Q. Hard team to make.
COLLIN MORIKAWA: But, yeah, there's -- American golf is so strong that think about this, I was two years ago I wasn't even a professional golfer now we are here at the Olympics. What other kid right now might we start talking about in two years that might move up the World Rankings, we don't know. I hope to obviously sustain and keep playing better, reach that No. 1 spot but American golf is really strong which is great.
Q. I think Xander was No. 540 in the world at the last Olympics.
COLLIN MORIKAWA: There you go. Exactly. You better look at who is 540 right now.
Q. In 2019 which would have surprised you more, learning you would be a two-time major champion in two years or an Olympian?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Probably an Olympian. Because yeah I mean I didn't, I wasn't computing, oh, if I win two majors, I'm going to probably make the Olympics, but the Olympics was a far shot goal, it wasn't really a goal at the time I turned pro. When I turned pro in 2019 it was get my card, how do I use these exemptions and obviously try and win, but glad I'm glad I'm here now.
Q. Given where the goal here is to get a medal does that make where you are on the leaderboard a little more manageable going into the weekend?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: A little bit. Right now I'm seven shots off the lead, who knows what Carlos is going to do. But seven shots going into the weekend I think is very manageable there's so many good guys out here and the course is playing very favorable to guys that are obviously hitting it well off the tee, but just hitting everything really well. Because everything's so soft. You can get away with misses, you can almost short side yourself in a sense and get away with a short sided chip shot because they are so soft. So whether that changes my game plan or not here or there I got to look back at what I need to do a little better but overall I think we're still within reaching distance hopefully and we're going to definitely need a good one tomorrow.
Q. The U.S. team, you got four guys here. If you left here as a team without a medal, what would you rate that as being in your mind?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: It's tough because it is a team sport, but we are here playing as individuals, there's no team A plus job here, so I couldn't really judge that. This is golf. I think we have only seen it certain times throughout everyone's career where guys are going to finish top 3 every single tournament and that's the toughest thing is that how do you find a format to where other sports are going to show their best player. But that's what makes golf great is that anyone can play great at any given time, right? So I think you can ask me that question on Sunday if that happens.
Q. How would you feel if in the future Olympics it did have look a team aspect instead of just individual play?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: I think it would be great but once again it's tough. You look at the top-15 guys in the world for the U.S., there's a lot of us and how do you decide two guys versus we have four now or how do you decide whatever and for other countries? I think there could be work involved but right now stroke play is who is playing their best at the given moment and this is the biggest stage and some guys are obviously showing up a little more than others.
Q. Did you enjoy the Match Play in Austin?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, other than my early exit. And my half point win. Yeah, I think we don't get enough match play and I wish we got a little more match play is always fun.
Q. Could you see it working here?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: I think it would add more drama to maybe TV, but I think there would be a lot of thought that goes in. I mean what if the top guys get knocked off quick? I guess maybe they're upsets, but golf is so different than every other sport, it's so tough to just go through heats, you can't put us in one day qualifiers and hope all the best get through, like a swimming where a lot of the guys will make it to the final heat, it's very different. So I'm sure we're going to learn over the next so many years and maybe adjust, maybe not, but I'm just glad to be here. I mean it gives us a shot and gives everyone a shot to play well and medal.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports