JHONATTAN VEGAS: There's a pretty good chance. There's a lot of stuff to be played and a few guys to finish that could impact the results, but it looks solid.
Q. What are you most proud of that you were able to do today that we talked about you needed to do?
JHONATTAN VEGAS: Yeah, it was a fight. It was one of the hardest rounds of the year I would say. Didn't feel great physically. It's been a long week, heat, all of it. Didn't feel 100 percent. I started kind of shaky the first six holes.
I knew that my best wasn't out there, so I just had to fight, and I had to get my mind in the right frame. Luckily was able to do that and turn around and make some great birdies on 7 and 8 that kind of got the ship pointed the right direction.
But it was a fight all the way. I knew it was going to be that way today. That's kind of what this time of the year is all about. You know you're going to have to sweat it out out here.
Q. How would you compare the pressure of trying to advance to next week to the pressure of trying to win a tournament?
JHONATTAN VEGAS: It's totally different. We have to take into consideration everything that is at risk or that we're playing for right now. With all the elevated events, with everything that is at stake with finishing in the top 50, it's a massive gain for next year.
Usually a tournament you're just fighting until the end and you're fighting hard to win, but when you're trying to put things in perspective who's playing well, who you need to jump, what one birdie might mean, like I just had a 10-footer or 9-footer on 17, and if you start thinking about everything that that putt could mean, it's just hard to make it.
Like I said, it's just that type of round today. But I'm really happy the way I finished.
Q. Can you take us through the approach on 17?
JHONATTAN VEGAS: You know what, I had a really good number. I had 180 yards to that pin, which was my 7-iron. Usually right pins are not the best for me, but I just knew that to have a better chance I had to make birdies on the last two holes, and I tried to hit a fade and hit it absolutely perfect, just exactly the way I was looking. But it was one of those shots that you have to hit in the moment and you have to risk it all in that moment. I'm glad it worked out.
Q. After a very up-and-down front nine and a bogey on 10, how important was it to birdie 11 and 12 to get back to under par?
JHONATTAN VEGAS: Well, every birdie felt massive today. Obviously it was all about momentum, so like I said, the best for me was just about staying massively in the present and just fighting and trying to birdie every hole just to give myself the best chance I could to advance.
Like I said, I'm very fortunate that it looks like it's going to be that way.
Q. Are you one of those players that tries to look at the leaderboard out there or do you just focus on you?
JHONATTAN VEGAS: No, obviously you have to be aware where you were, but at the same time, you've just got to keep your mind on task. That's all I was trying to do today. Good shots, bad shots, you've just got to deal with it and do your best.
Q. 17 obviously you gave yourself some cushion but 18 is no easy hole to finish on. Can you take us through what you were thinking?
JHONATTAN VEGAS: Yeah, obviously 18 is a little bit of a complicated tee shot. Even though I hit, I would say, three great shots the first three days, just obviously trying to be a little bit overprotective on that tee shot today knowing that par most likely was going to be done. Bogey might have been a chance. I just needed to give myself a chance and hit it a little bit more right than what I wanted but I ended up with a great lie, a great angle to the green and hit a really good second shot.
Q. What did you have in for your second shot?
JHONATTAN VEGAS: I had 184, I think, but I was just trying to land it on the front of the green and let that ball chase. Like I said, making that par felt massive, felt like a pretty positive step for the whole year.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports