Q. How would you characterize your round today?
JON RAHM: Not my best. Great off the tee, I must say. Man, hitting it really good off the tee. Just wasn't as sharp as I wanted to be with my irons.
It was one of those days where there was a lot of in-between numbers, right. It was just I don't think it happened once today, a perfect stock number, no doubt about it. There was a lot of three-quarters and finessing around, and certain holes I just played a little bit more conservative, and didn't give myself the best chances to make putts, right.
I felt like I had a lot of putts between 20 and 30 feet today and with the hole locations we had, it's not like it was the easiest putts, right.
But I hung in there, gave myself a couple chances down the stretch. Too bad I couldn't make one of the putts, but still a good round within what it is, right. This golf course is not easy. So with what I had, I posted a good score and I'm in a good spot for tomorrow.
Q. When Patrick went four ahead, was there any concern to not let him get too far ahead?
JON RAHM: Nah. No, because I know, listen, it could happen that he could keep up that play, but it's very unlikely. I knew sooner or later at some point he was going to stop. I think a key moment was me making that putt on 13, me making the putt and feel like I stole one and him missing the tee shot on 14, that's where things got a little bit closer.
I never panicked because I knew I had my chances. I was playing the back nine great all week and was full of confidence. Hopefully I'm the one that comes tomorrow with a solid game and puts on a lot of pressure.
Q. Is there any part of his game that's similar to yours?
JON RAHM: He's a very well-rounded player overall. There's not really anything that you can say is a weakness.
I can say, especially this week, we've both been putting pretty well. We do things a little bit differently, and that's maybe the stats can show that. There's definitely some things that I think he does a little bit better than me, but there's other things I do better than him, right. I wouldn't be able to tell you what's similar.
Obviously we are both good ball-strikers, right. We are both consistent players in that sense.
Q. Do you like going head-to-head with him?
JON RAHM: Of course. I like going head-to-head with anybody. You know, it's pretty cool that a whole year race technically is ending tomorrow, and not that we separate ourselves a lot, because J.T. had a good round today, but if we keep playing the way we have, unless somebody posts a really low score out there, hopefully it will be a good show down on the back nine with me and Patrick. Hopefully, like I said, I come in with my A Game and guns blazing.
Q. You are spending a lot of time with him on the golf course. How well are you getting to know each other?
JON RAHM: Well, we are not on a date, so we're not -- I can tell you that right now. There's some talking early on. And as the round progresses, I'm maybe more likely to talk to his caddie because we are walking together at some point and not him, nothing against him. It's an intense moment and we want to do our best and we get a little quiet, that's it.
Yeah, I don't know, I couldn't tell you anything in the last few days that I didn't know already.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports