Q. How would you assess the day?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Still really good. Look, this is a tough golf course and it's going to play tough. Very unfortunate finish with 17 -- I mean, 17, from where I was at in the fairway or in the bunker I would have taken a par, but after I hit that shot, obviously I wish I had the putt. But overall still really, really solid.
Q. Not to oversimplify this, what is it that makes it so hard? It's soft, the greens are running well, is it just getting out of position.
COLLIN MORIKAWA: This golf course? Just everything. The greens have a lot of angles to them, and if you're not in the right spot in the fairway it makes a lot of approach shots tough.
I had a wedge on 15 or 14, the short par-4, and I almost put it in the water. You're within yards of hitting a really good shot and you're yards within hitting a very poor shot. It just requires every, the focus from tee all the way to the green.
Q. Make you defensive at all at times?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Defensive I wouldn't say is the right word, it's just being smart and playing the correct shot, because if you play defensive you can put yourself in a worse spot and end up -- yeah, you might be safe from the water, but then you might have an impossible chip shot and you're chipping to the middle of the green and hopefully making 5.
Q. I don't know if you had a chance to look at the leaderboard, but it's loaded. It's what you would hope for at a major and on a Sunday. What do you think of what you see already out here with that?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Look, I think the guys that are playing really well are at the tops of their games right now and they're putting together really good scores. Hopefully we can put together three more and come together by Sunday.
Q. Is it fun when you know right away for three more days you're going to be competing with Scottie and Xander and all those guys who are obviously elite players?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, I mean, it's fun. I want to beat 'em, so -- no ill against them, but I want to play better than they do.
Q. Do you have any experience at all at Pinehurst?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: U.S. Kids, like Boys 12.
Q. How did you do?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: I don't know. I actually don't know. I think I did all right. I couldn't remember a single shot I hit.
Q. Do they do the U.S. Kids at No. 2 or just at Pinehurst?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: We either did it at 2 or 4, and when I played at 13 again it was either 2 or 4, so I played it one year. I played Pinehurst 2. I think I played all right. I have no clue.
Q. Probably hit it a lot farther now.
COLLIN MORIKAWA: A little different golf game.
Q. The shot on No. 2 for the eagle, just what was the club and what was the idea on the shot shape?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: It was like 127, 128 yards, straight down wind, a little downhill lie. We decided to hit sand wedge just so I could hit it as hard as I could and I was never going over the green. Before the ball's landing I think J.J. was talking about it going in, and thankfully it did, and it was nice. I haven't holed out in a while and that just shows I think kind of where the irons are getting to.
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