Q. It looked like on 18 -- first of all, describe the challenge of that chip and it looked, from your reaction, you thought it was going in or it had a chance at least?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: I mean, yeah, to be honest, I thought it was breaking right. Completely whiffed that one and it broke left. But that's such a tough chip shot. All you had to do was just kind of nestle it on the green. I hit it exactly how I wanted it and you can't complain when you're hitting shots like that down the stretch and you're doing things like that.
So, look, the tee shot, I thought I hit perfect. It was in the middle of the bunker and wind. What are you going to do? But it's just -- it's a tough pin. The finishing handful of holes is just very, very tough. We're talking about yards of hitting great shots.
Q. Just describe the challenge of playing today with both the pressure of chasing Scottie and just the conditions of this course.
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, I knew it was going to be tough. With where my game's at, I felt like if I can get to 10, we would have a chance and obviously 10 would have been plenty. There's a balance. You always think someone's going to take it low on a Sunday. Obviously, there weren't too many guys around us, but you figured maybe one of the guys at 3- or 4- would have been 4- or 5-under at some point. But that's why I love this golf course, is because you see it throughout the week, you don't have to trick up anything, you just -- it's just tough golf and you just have to hit good shots and that's what a great golf course is and that's why I've loved this golf course since I've set foot here.
Q. How different did the greens play from the beginning of the week to today? And then did it surprise you at all -- 16's pretty fast there, right? Did that affect the way you wanted to chip that or where you wanted to land it?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Greens changed drastically. We were spinning back and stopping 8-irons on Thursday after the rain. By today, it was impossible to even get it to stop within 5, 6 yards. 16 was just a little bit of grain into me and I was kind of going back and forth between 60 and 56. Thought I could kind of toe down a 60. Just too much loft, got a little behind it, and I ended up where it was. Tough shot. It wasn't about how fast it was because I had the upslope. I just didn't pull it off.
Q. You've been paired with Scottie now on Sunday a couple different times. How do you feel like this is -- you were one of the low rounds of the day. Do you feeling like you made some progress and you feel a little differently than you did previously?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, I mean, I would love to be on the opposite end of this. Yeah, I mean, we talk about progress. Look, I've done it before, so it's not like I'm trying to learn how to close out a Sunday round. I'm still just trying to put together the whole golf game and kind of piece everything together. It's coming together, but there's still little -- a few little things you look back through out the entire week that you just clean up and things become a little bit easier, right?
It's a lot of fun, obviously, being in these final rounds and being in these final groupings. I haven't seen it for quite some time and to kind of have this like two-month stretch so far, it's been a lot of fun.
Q. It seems like you've been a lot more consistent this season. Do you feel that way and what's led to kind of having some more consistent results?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, I mean, it probably all started right around Augusta, but it's just kind of keeping things simple and just playing with what I have and truly not trying to go against the grain. It's hard to do that in this kind of sport that we play in because we want to perfect things. But things are coming together nicely and it's just about going out for next week, the next couple weeks, for me of just staying true and not trying to force anything because, look, today could have gone any direction, I think.
Q. Scottie goes into next week the shortest odds favorite in 15 years in majors. How do you assess your challenge? Obviously, you showed today that you can take it to him. You must be confident the way you've played the last few weeks going into a major?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: No, if I could play like this heading into every major, I would take it in a heartbeat. Scottie's obviously proven himself this year and the past, let's call it three, three and a half years of what he's capable of doing, but majors are majors and you got to show up and you got to have the good bounces, especially I think next week, a lot of the sand dunes and the bushes around, like, things got to go your way and then sometimes, you know, it's not, but hopefully next week is one of my good ones.
Q. Does it help in a way for the rest of you being under the radar because everyone expects him to do it?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: I guess. I mean, I feel like I'm always under the radar, so I just kind of show up and do my thing. Look, I'm not flashy, by any means. The golf game doesn't spurt out long drives or crazy putting or whatever, but I just kind of find a way to get it done and that's kind of what I've stayed true to.
Q. You're super solid. What impresses about his game?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Everything. The guy could be off balance and the ball's right down the middle of the fairway, so you really never know. Look, his ball striking is incredible. Growing up, his short game and putting was always amazing, but how good he hits his irons and the control he has is amazing. Distance control is key and it's king and he's got that.
Q. This tournament is typically two weeks before the Open, this is one of those years it's the week before. How do you assess and feel about this tournament the week before a major?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, look, my whole plan this year and the reason why I played San Antonio before Augusta was to play the week before a major, so it perfectly fit into my schedule. I don't mind it. I think a lot of guys don't mind it, to be honest. It gets us into the major week. Obviously, majors are a long week, and, you know, finishing 2nd or 1st or top 5 tends to kind of drain you, but we do this week in and week out, we kind of know how to prep and what to go into for next week and I have enjoyed this a lot.
Q. You've had success here, you won the Workday thing four years ago during the pandemic, been close a couple times. Why do you think your game suits this course so well?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: I don't know. Sometimes you show up to a golf course and you just love it and you feel like you can make birdies on every hole. Some courses you just have that feeling. When you're able to -- when you feel like -- I mean, look, I played hole 12, 3-under par this week, and that's ridiculous. I looked at my caddie today and I was like, I don't know if we're ever going to do that again. But every hole out here I feel like I can birdie. Even though they play tough, that's a great mindset to have. And you can't force that, like I can't go into next week and be like, I'm going to birdie -- I can birdie every hole -- some holes are just hard. But out here even the hard holes I feel like I can get away with shots and make my birdies and miss 'em in the right spots. So it's just one of these courses, hopefully down the road, hopefully sooner rather than later, we can kind of have that final handshake with Jack and come out on top.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports