Q. Very impressive finish today. What's it like sitting here with a lead at this point?
TROY MERRITT: I really wanted to make that last putt. I figured it would give me a five-point lead, and it's a two-and-a-half-birdie lead had I made it, and I missed it. But a six-point lead would have been really nice. You just try to keep building. The points change so quickly around here. You saw between Matt and myself a couple five-point swings in the last five holes. You just try to go out, keep making birdies. The mindset is they have to come and get you, don't go backwards. So we'll just go out, try to keep hitting the fairways like we have been and giving ourselves some looks and hopefully make the putts tomorrow.
Q. With that being said, is patience quite a virtue in this?
TROY MERRITT: Yeah, absolutely. You're going to have a lot of birdie looks out here. If you find the fairway, you're going to have a lot of putts inside 20 feet, and obviously you're not going to make them all, but if you can hole three, four, maybe five of them, you'll be doing just fine. If you can give yourself 14, 15 looks, you'll be doing just fine and make a par putt every now and then. Yeah, the key to the game out here is fairways and greens, especially with this system. You can't let a bogey bother you too much because birdies are worth two and a bogey just the minus one. You can get them back a little more quickly, just got to just let those bogeys go and make some more birdies.
Q. You were quite the superstar with the microphone earlier this week. I don't know if there's any chance you'd do it again tomorrow?
TROY MERRITT: Yeah, you can slap it back on me again if you can guarantee me another 11 points. It does help me control my temper out there. I tend to lose it off and on, so keeps me in check a little bit, so yeah, I'd be more than happy to wear it tomorrow.
Q. Your plan today was less bogeys. I know you mentioned yesterday that was something you wanted to eliminate?
TROY MERRITT: Yeah, I hit my driver really well, found a lot of fairways. Missed three, but the three that I missed I still hit pretty good drives. We had tap-in birdies pretty much today. That was really the key. Not a lot of stress. Like I said, I had just the two bogeys. I couldn't get the par putts to go, but nonetheless, if you're going to make any birdies, you're going to make up for two bogeys pretty quickly. Just a lot of fairways and greens and give yourself a lot of looks and hopefully a few fall.
Q. What's the mindset heading into tomorrow?
TROY MERRITT: Don't get beat again like last year when we had the lead after 54. No, you've got to keep pushing forward. In this format guys can get hot and make up ground in a hurry. The key is not to go backwards if at all, keep going forwards, and if you can make the odd bogey, then birdie is going to make up for that and another point. Just keep going forward. There's birdies out there. Guys are going to make birdies, so you have to keep making them, too.
Q. What would it mean to win this week?
TROY MERRITT: Yeah, pretty cool. Last year we didn't do anything really wrong down the stretch and Collin birdied four out of the last five to win, so it would be nice to finish off the job this year.
Q. Just talking about that, do you feel like a victory tomorrow would give you a little redemption?
TROY MERRITT: Yeah, it's always nice to have a win. Had we thrown it away last year and struggled down the stretch, you might feel a little bit different, but we played solid. We just didn't make enough birdies. Collin finished great last year and deserved to win. Hopefully we can have that same position coming down the back nine, have a two-point lead and just get the job done tomorrow.
Q. How big a finish was that for you today with birdies on 16, 17 and almost at the last?
TROY MERRITT: Yeah, it was nice to have tap-ins on 16 and 17. I hadn't really made a birdie putt since the fifth hole, and nothing was really going in as far as that goes, but yeah, a couple tap-ins and then I hit a good putt on 18. I really wanted to add two more points and distance myself a little bit more, but just a little bit too high, so hopefully that one falls really tomorrow at some point.
Q. Talk about that shot on 17.
TROY MERRITT: Yeah, I think we had 208 front, so with the 10 percent it's playing about 188, just a soft little breeze behind us. My 7-iron goes about 182, 183, so just a nice solid one would cover that front, and you're just at the mercy of the green after that, and just ended up in a nice spot right below the hole two feet.
Q. And just finally coming into the week, you weren't in the PGA Championship and a victory here would have gotten you in, but now you're in given a couple of withdrawals. When did you find out about that?
TROY MERRITT: I found out shortly after my round on Thursday that I was in. Honestly, I wasn't too stressed about it. It's great to be in the field. It's always an honor to play in a major, but my focus is on this week. I knew that a win this week would take care of business anyway, and that's been my goal ever since I got here on Tuesday afternoon. No, just going out, I'm going to try to get the victory tomorrow, and that's more than just getting in the PGA; that's two more years in Maui and PLAYERS. Just looking forward to a good day tomorrow and hopefully we can just finish the job up.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports