Q. Andrew, what are the emotions that you're feeling at the moment?
ANDREW NOVAK: Not so much as far as emotions. I'm not as frustrated as I thought I would be. I feel like I did a lot of good things. I'm pretty proud of putting myself in that position when I really felt like I wasn't swinging it that great this week, the fact that I was able to scrap out almost a win with not really swinging my best. The irons were giving me issues at times.
I hit a few good ones down the stretch, which was cool, because with the pressure on it usually gets tougher, and I was still able to pull off some shots. I was happy to see that. I thought I was a little more comfortable down the stretch than maybe I have been in the past.
Justin just went out and won it. There's nothing you can really do about it.
Q. Nervy down the stretch at all?
ANDREW NOVAK: Yeah, at times, a little bit. I was definitely feeling it. I would say 18 I was definitely feeling it. Kind of once I saw Justin miss and I knew I had a chance, put a good swing on it, then had a good look with the putt and I just misread it. I thought I executed pretty well.
Q. Big picture what you've done at Valero and here and everything, do you feel like you're just right on the edge where you want to be, that you've made the kind of progress --
ANDREW NOVAK: Yeah, I need to go out there and get a win at some point, but all of these finishes are great. I have big goals for the year. Obviously this is going to look good for Captain Keegan, and I've got a lot more to do as far as that, but I'm putting my name up there, and next step is just to win.
Q. 16 you knew you had to do something. Talk about what happened at 16, how you put yourself there so you had a chance at the end.
ANDREW NOVAK: Yeah, I knew I didn't get 15. I saw Justin made one on 15, so I knew I was one back. 17 and 18 aren't the easiest birdie holes, so 16 after the tee shot I hit, I knew I needed to take advantage, and the putt had a lot of break, but it wasn't too fast. It was one you could just kind of throw out there and let the slope bring to the hole. I just hit a great putt.
Q. What was the conversation like with your mom, your wife, your dad, all the people that were there?
ANDREW NOVAK: They just said they were proud of me. I was obviously very blessed to have them here this week and to get to see this week. This is a home event for me. I had tons of fans in the crowd. It was really cool just to have a lot of love out there while I was playing.
Q. Kind of crazy you're in your first final pairing and you've got people yelling "go Raptors" when you're walking down the fairway. Is that kind of a wild thing to hear?
ANDREW NOVAK: Yeah, this is a tournament I've been wanting to get into for years. I knew I was going to have a lot of support this week just with it being a home event, and it definitely surpassed my expectations. The fans were awesome. They were showing so much love. It was a lot of fun playing with that atmosphere this week.
Q. Are you playing New Orleans?
ANDREW NOVAK: Yeah, I'm playing New Orleans.
Q. And then the PGA?
ANDREW NOVAK: We'll see. I'm supposed to be playing Byron, PGA, all that. I'm playing good golf right now, so I'm going to keep playing.
Q. You've pretty much wrapped up a spot in the PGA and the U.S. Open. Is that kind of a consolation?
ANDREW NOVAK: I think I've got to be a lock for the PGA, right?
Q. PGA and U.S. Open.
ANDREW NOVAK: I mean, that's awesome. Obviously PGA and Charlotte, I'm going to have so many Wofford people there; that's going to be awesome. That's another one, I've never played Quail, so I'll wait until Tuesday to play that and hopefully we can run back some magic this week.
And then Oakmont for the U.S. Open, my caddie is from right up there. We're going to have so many people at that, too. I really couldn't ask for better spots this year to be playing those majors in.
Q. Were there nerves on 18 coming back on the playoff? What were the nerves, and was it what you thought it would feel like playing a playoff at your "home tournament"?
ANDREW NOVAK: Honestly, I felt a lot better, a lot more level in the playoff than I did on 18 in regulation. I felt like maybe getting in scoring settling down, realizing, at this point you can't make a mess of it. It's either first or second, time to go for it. I kind of settled down and I was in a pretty good head space in the playoff. I hit a good tee shot. Second shot maybe misjudged the wind a little bit. I guess it took a funny hop, landed soft. That putt has got my number. It went right from that angle. Didn't turn in regulation, so I don't know. I just missed on the reads there. I obviously didn't hit it hard enough in the playoff, either.
Justin made birdie. That's a good birdie to make. It's hard to beat.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports