Q. Nick, are you still in the mode of pinch-me a little bit because of where you are now?
NICK DUNLAP: Yeah. I mean, I should be playing the U.S. Am this week, and I just got done playing a round of golf with Scottie. It was pretty cool.
Q. Would you have been defending your title?
NICK DUNLAP: Yeah, absolutely.
Q. You would have?
NICK DUNLAP: Yeah. I mean, don't win Amex, I don't have any status. I think Luke Clanton did it, and he finished second. You get two points, heck of a week, get some NIL out of it and move on. But yeah, it's definitely pinch-me almost every week.
Q. What have you done well each day this week, not just today?
NICK DUNLAP: Putted. Putted really nicely all three days. My lines on my putting have looked great. Everything has kind of matched up. Played great, honestly, the front nine, and for whatever happened on the back, I just hit some really loose shots and the putter kept me in it. Hit some good chips, and it all added up to even par.
Q. Do you turn on the U.S. Am at night?
NICK DUNLAP: Yeah, absolutely. I've tried to watch it every day that I can. I haven't seen what's been going on today yet, but I've watched it most days.
Q. As accomplished as you are already with two wins, you walk off the golf course with the No. 1 and a former World No. 1 in Justin. Are there things you can learn from being with them for 18 holes?
NICK DUNLAP: Absolutely. I've played with Scottie a couple times in practice rounds. But to actually play a real tournament with him and see what he does with certain pins, with certain winds, it's very impressive, and I can see why he's done what he's done. It definitely gives me something to work on.
Q. You're 20 years old, you just finished a round with Scottie Scheffler and Justin Rose, guys who have accomplished big things in the sport. What is it about your mindset or your game itself that allows you to stay cool, calm and collected in a situation like this?
NICK DUNLAP: Yeah, I'm just trying to kind of do my own thing. I think Hunter does a really good job of keeping me level headed. We've got a game plan and we're just going to go out and try to execute that and get it in the hole in at least amount of shots as possible.
Q. Can you talk us through your adventure on 12 today?
NICK DUNLAP: Yeah. I almost missed the ball completely on the tee. My right hand slipped off the club a little bit, and I thought it was out of bounds. I didn't even know there was grass over there, to be honest with you. I thought it was houses.
But got a good break, was able to kind of hit it back left. We really didn't know how far it was over the water. We were just kind of eyeballing it. We had a rough guesstimate. Yeah, hit it up there, was able to kind of bump it up the green and got it pretty close and was able to make a putt.
Q. You're five back of Hideki. How do you assess your chances going into tomorrow?
NICK DUNLAP: Yeah, 17-under is pretty good out there. That's really solid. Same thing, go out there and execute what I'm trying to do, and hopefully it's enough.
Q. Once again, you get off to a hot start birdieing 1 and 2. What have you seen in those first two holes and what's been the key to attacking early?
NICK DUNLAP: Yeah, I think the first couple holes, they're fairly gettable if you're able to hit it in the fairway and can give you some wedges and a couple of looks.
Yeah, I don't know, I've hit some good wedges, hit some good tee shots on those holes and made a couple putts.
Q. You played in the worst of it two days in a row. Can you talk about the heat and the conditions out here and how you stay with it?
NICK DUNLAP: It's pretty hot. My trainer, Clark, from Alabama, he's here helping me this week. Been doing cold tubs, hydrating as much as I can. I've been eating more than I normally do on the golf course. I feel like that's a big thing this week. Yeah, try not to let it consume you. It is hot, but everybody has got to deal with it.
Q. You put yourself in a great position to get to Colorado next week, a year on from where you won the U.S. Am. Can you put into perspective what you've done this year?
NICK DUNLAP: Yeah, I'm honestly looking forward to a little bit of a break and to kind of recap the year and sit back and celebrate and look back on some of the things that have happened this year. It's honestly incredible, and I never would have thought I'd be standing here. But I am, I'm very fortunate, and yeah, hopefully I can look back in a few more weeks.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports