THE MODERATOR: Scottie Scheffler is with us at the 107th PGA Championship.
Q. Scottie, hi. Congratulations on a very impressive round. You know exactly what it takes to win the majors. How do you assess where you are right now going into the weekend given your advantage, maybe another place you don't know what it takes to win majors?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I mean, that's a good question. I like the position I'm in going into the weekend. Obviously I wish I was a little bit further up the leaderboard. I think I got a lot out of my game the last couple days.
I felt like, as the round went on, my swing continued to get bet R, and I was able to hit some key shots down the stretch to give myself some opportunities. Looking forward to the weekend.
Q. Are you just in a good place right now? Do you just feel good? A lot of this is about mental well-being, mental fortitude.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I think on the course in difficult setups like this, in major championships, you know you're going to run into some bumps in the road, and there's going to be challenges out there. It's all about how you bounce back from them.
I didn't really feel like I made very many good swings today until probably the 14th hole, and I was able to kind of put some stuff together coming down the stretch. I bounced back really well I felt like most of the day.
I missed a fairly short birdie putt on 10.
Came back, made a really nice par putt on the next hole.
I hit a really poor iron shot on 13, made my first bogey of the day.
Bounced back with two birdies right after that.
So just did a good job of staying in the moment, not letting the mistakes get to me, and kind of just grinding out a decent round of golf.
Q. It seems like two days in a row you've kind of like worked your way into your swing. Is that the case?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I mean, yeah, I'd say that's a pretty good observation. I wasn't far off the fairway to start the day. Besides the 1st hole; I was like way off the fairway. Besides that, I was at least close to the fairway.
It just felt like a couple bounces here and there.
My tee shot on 3 bounced a little left.
Tee ball on 7 bounced a little left.
5, I was surprised how far it went.
So I was close out there. It was just I didn't give myself as many opportunities as I would have liked to early in the round, but I was still able to shoot under par on the front nine. I kept a clean card, made some nice up-and-downs.
Overall, I was pleased with the score I posted today.
Q. What part of you thinks it's not the best, but you're two, three off the lead? And what part of you thinks why can't I sort this out for the whole round?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I think most of me is just glad to be close to the lead. If you're going to play a 72-hole golf tournament, there's going to be days and stretches of golf where you're not swinging it your best.
Over the course of a tournament this long and on a major championship setup, there's going to be, like I said, some bumps in the road. It's all about how you respond to those.
I did a good job of responding to those mistakes today and keeping myself in the tournament.
Q. Speaking of bouncing back, looking at where you are now, does it look even bigger in hindsight, how quickly you put the double on 16 behind you and didn't let it sort of tank your round or anything like that?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, that's a good point. I think that's part of also being in a good head space. Like I said, there's going to be bumps in the road. There's going to be challenges out there. Yesterday the mud balls were definitely a bit of a challenge.
It's always frustrating when you lose shots really just due to a bad break and not really making a poor swing. It's all about how you bounce back and staying in the moment yesterday and today on two days where I really didn't swing it my best and was able to keep myself in the tournament really.
Yesterday and today were days that were pretty challenging out there, so I'm proud to still be in the golf tournament and looking forward to another couple of days.
Q. Rory had that good run on the back nine; birdied the 10th. As one of those players capable of putting together good runs, when you're playing with Rory and he starts putting those runs together, what are you thinking? Did you notice the way he's going on a run, and you had to sort of not think about it? As a player that's been in that position, what's it like when you're playing with one of the big guns who starts to put a couple birdies together in succession like that?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: That's a good question. When you're out there competing, I'm mostly concerned about myself out there. I notice what's going on, but it's not like another sport. Like if we were playing basketball and he's hitting a bunch of threes in my face, I'd probably have to adjust something because it's more of a one-on-one game.
In golf there is -- outside of us two there is 154 other people in the field this week. It's a big field, and there's a lot of guys. I think mostly we're competing against the golf course at times, especially the first two rounds. If it was late on Sunday and he was making a charge to get three ahead of me, maybe I'd have to change something.
But in the second round, it doesn't really make much of a difference to me.
Q. Scottie, how much more firm was it today, or is it? Can it even get firm after all the rain we had?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: The greens will definitely get very firm. They're going to firm up a lot over the next couple days. I think we're supposed to get a little bit of wind tomorrow. I'd be surprised if they throw too much water on them.
The fairways, I mean, they maybe will firm up a little bit, but we'll see. To be honest with you, I'm not really -- I mean, yeah, they'll firm up a little bit. Who knows how much? I really don't know.
Q. It's really not much roll, right, or not what you would normally expect?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: The fairways will definitely not be firm and fast would be my guess. Like I said, we'll see what happens with the weather. I've been surprised at golf tournaments before. We'll see what happens over the next couple of days.
Q. Early days on TOUR, like your rookie year, first couple years, was there ever a time where you saw a name on the leaderboard that made you think, or did you ever pay attention at all?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Like made me think about what?
Q. Seeing a name and it getting your attention.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Like maybe Tiger, but just because he's Tiger.
Q. Otherwise no?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I mean, that made me think? Not really. In golf -- it's not like other sports because I can't play defense. If I'm thinking about what somebody else is doing out there, that's not going to be a good thing for me.
I'm out there to get the most out of myself and try to beat up on the golf course, and at the end of the day, that's what I'm focused on.
If I could play defense, things would change a little bit, and I'd be paying a lot more attention.
Q. Could you play defense if you had to?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I was a good defensive basketball player in high school. I was the lockdown guy. I was the hustle guy. That's what happens when you don't have a lot of talent, you've got to hustle.
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