Q. 7-under today, going low final round. Tell me about your final round, how you feel about it.
SAM STEVENS: Yeah, it was great. Ten back to start the day, so it was weird. It's weird to be in third place or fourth place and not really feel that much pressure.
I was still playing for a little bit, get into next week. Obviously you want to play well regardless of the situation. Played really free. Kind of stayed off the leaderboards and made some putts early, which kind of is nice just to get the mojo going. And kept it rolling on the back nine today.
I got off to a good start yesterday playing with Scottie in the final round and kind of let it slip on the back nine a little bit. So it was nice to kind of keep the pedal down a little bit today.
Q. You've used these opportunities before to get in the Aon Swing 5. What do these opportunities mean when you knew you had to go low to get into the field next week?
SAM STEVENS: The elevated events are such a big advantage, and I've gotten into all but Kapalua this year. The elevated events, I haven't played that well so far in them. I played decent at Pebble, but the others I kind of finished towards the bottom.
Hopefully, I can just go play free. I played really free this week. Obviously this course is birdies, easy to play free when you know you have a lot of birdies out there.
Just kind of a mindset change, and hopefully next week regardless -- the best players in the world are there, it doesn't make any difference. I just need to play free and let it fly and hopefully make some more birdies.
Q. Something you learned that maybe you didn't know coming in.
SAM STEVENS: I don't know. I do struggle to kind of play free. I play with a little bit too much -- I guard a little too much. So it's always good. Not that I didn't know this before, but these weeks where there's a lot of birdies and you've got to kind of go for it, it is great just to realize, hey, like I don't need to guard, I just need to go.
Playing with Scottie yesterday, it's the same thing. He's just going -- obviously. He's 32 or whatever he is under par right now. He's not afraid of anything. He's really freakin' good, but I need to get more of that mindset.
Q. Out here is more of a marathon than a sprint, especially with the new guys. Is that kind of what you're finding? Some of these guys have been out here a long time. Do you find that you keep getting better and better?
SAM STEVENS: Yeah, you definitely have to stay patient. I think I've done a good job of that.
I was even talking -- earlier in the week, I was talking with Max McGreevy. We played Zurich last week together. I was just kind of asking him what he thought about my game, and I wasn't feeling all that great about it. He kind of gave me the same advice. Hey, you're good enough. You just have to wait for the good golf to come.
I think I've been impatient when I'm not playing well, and I think this week I kind of started off the week with just a good mindset. If I play well, great, but just going to keep being patient, keep letting the game kind of develop and hopefully get a little better. Certainly a marathon, not a sprint.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports