Q. Tough conditions, obviously, but you rallied nicely. Can you talk about how you finished.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I mean, I was in the rough or off the green on basically every single hole until about the 13th where I hit a nice wedge in there. Then 14 is a really hard wedge shot today with that wind direction and hit a nice shot in there. Was able to hit a few shots coming down the stretch and give myself a couple looks. Holed a long one there on 16, you definitely feel like you're stealing one. Parring 17 and 18 today is a good score as well.
Q. The layup and the shot into 15, wind was kind of gusting there. Take me through both those shots, what you were trying to do.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: The layup, just get the ball in the fairway. The wedge shot the green kind of slopes a little left-to-right. So with it gusting hard off the left and in, we backed off, waited for it to settle down a touch and then hit a really nice wedge in there and it landed in the side of an old cup and kicked it straight right, and then you're kind of like, all right, well, I guess now I got 25 feet instead of 10 to 12. Did a good job of staying patient and knocked one in.
Q. Did you ever feel like you were along the cut line there after the string of bogeys?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I felt like I was going to shoot about 90 today. I don't know if you were out there on the course, but I was going to be hard it find if you were out watching my group. I felt like I got my first birdie putt of the day on the 13th hole. I maybe had one on 11, but I couldn't imagine I hit more than six or seven greens today. So around this golf course, with heavy rough and deep bunkers, you got to be hitting the ball in the right spots and for a long time today that was definitely not the case for me.
Q. Given what you just said, how happy or proud are you that you did make it? I mean, you don't have to grind like that too often. Golf is a grind, but you know what I mean?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I think I grind like that every day. I think that's just part of the game. That's maybe some of the worst I've hit it in a couple years out there and I still managed to shoot even par around a golf course that requires to you strike the ball really well. Yeah, I'm definitely very proud of stuff like that.
This tournament was one that definitely could have got away from me, but right now I'm only nine shots back and still have a chance going into the weekend. With the conditions the way they are, you never really know what's going to happen around this golf course and just getting inside the cut line you still have a chance.
Q. On a day where you felt like you might shoot 90, those were some good pars on No. 3 and 5. Were those helpful to your round?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, anytime you're saving strokes. Like, 3 especially, I had a poor tee shot there, got up -- I mean, shoot, I had a nice 2-putt after a really bad wedge on the second, good up-and-down on 4, good up-and-down on 5, good up-and-down on 7. I mean, I just hung in there pretty much most of the day.
Q. Did you have nothing on 9? I didn't see the shot. You were probably right --
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: My layup? My second shot? No, I had nothing. You can't hit it in the rough on that hole. Maybe left rough, maybe you might get a lie. But right enough rough, you got no chance.
Q. Is it helpful to your U.S. Open preparation to have a course difficult like this, is it better to have a 25-under winning score, or does it matter either way?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I don't think it matters a whole lot. I think we're still two weeks out from the U.S. Open and I've always had a good feel for kind of where my game is at. No matter what the golf course was, if my swing felt the way it did today I was going to go hit some balls after the round. But fortunately I hit some nice shots, especially some iron shots on the last few holes, kind of keep myself in the tournament.
Q. Do you know why you started hitting good shots?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I'm about to go find out.
Q. You obviously hit some good ones coming in though, right?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: No, no, I did. I hit a really nice shot into 14, good wedge on 15, good iron shot on 16, 17 and 18. So I'm going to go try and remember those, versus the first like 12 holes.
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