Q. Austin, 6-under 65, another nice round. Bogeys on 3 and 10, and you fought your way back from those, really impressive fashion on both nines. If we can get some comments.
AUSTIN SMOTHERMAN: Yeah, a soft bogey on 10. 3, just an okay iron shot that gets a little ride on the wind, maybe feeling like I had too much of a perfect club to stuff an 8-iron in there, which is kind of uncharacteristic to the rest of the round. I've just been super patient, hitting our spots, knowing that I'm just trusting these 15-, 20-foot looks and making a couple of them throughout the day. That's been pretty nice.
Then just driving it really well on these par-5s and then having some shorter clubs in and getting it greenside around the green and having some easy 4s.
Q. If you'll take us through 17 and 18.
AUSTIN SMOTHERMAN: Yeah, 17, funny enough, my pitch number on 8, which was 10 past the pin today, was the pin number on 17, so we joked that it was just the same shot I hit 30 feet long on 8, on 17. Yeah, it came out nice. I thought I was going to have maybe too much spin and come back down the slope, but it was just a nice 54-degree, peeling a little bit off of it. And it stays kind of tight. That putt was actually a little tricky, kind of a little left to right early, late breaking back, and actually just barely got the right edge, so I was excited to see that go.
Q. Which club did you hit there?
AUSTIN SMOTHERMAN: Sand wedge, 54-degree. Just a nice -- good solid strike, but it was same exact swing I had made on 8 earlier in the day. Then 18 I've hit some of my best drives all week on, getting it way down there and having today a 6-iron in, which fits perfectly into the left fairway cut over there, left of the green about 30 yards.
I really wanted to hit that one close. I don't know if I just got a little nervy on it or whatnot, but I think I'm going to go make a few swings just to see the ball start on line for tomorrow.
Yeah, chipping it nicely, and rolling a 10-footer to finish the day feels really nice.
Q. Advantage or disadvantage having multiple challengers to contend with along the way? You had Kevin Streelman at one point and you had Doug here down the stretch. What was it like seeing them hit their shots and how that motivated you to finish and get the job done?
AUSTIN SMOTHERMAN: Yeah, no doubt. I think if anything, it kind of encourages me to stay in my bubble, realizing that there's some separation at the top where it can kind of feel a bit of a two-horse race or a three-horse race kind of thing, playing some match play scenarios, where this course is just -- good boring golf does a lot for you. You can get some lava love out there, but it's driver down the fairway and just control these iron shots into different sections, and there's enough gettable holes that if you're patient and ready for those opportunities, I feel like you can go ahead and pick them apart, which I've been doing.
If that's the case tomorrow and it takes a little longer to make a few birdies, so be it, but there's a lot of looks early too.
Q. Does being in the last pairing add to the pressure or help you focus a little more?
AUSTIN SMOTHERMAN: I think it's good pressure. That's what we work for. That's the spot you want to be. Coming down, you kind of hold all the cards. Yeah, I'm sure there's going to be some energy. It's a long Sunday, and got to sleep in tomorrow, so go get a good meal in me from here and call it a night.
Q. What would a win mean to you tomorrow?
AUSTIN SMOTHERMAN: It would be just a lifelong dream come true really. The amount of work that I put in with everybody around me in my camp, we'd all get to celebrate it together.
My wife is traveling out here tomorrow morning. I don't know if she's going to come to the tournament or not, but it was planned for her to come to Japan next week, and I have encouraged her to have just a spa day, hang out in Vegas until I come meet her for the charter flight.
I know that's kind of sidetracked. But a win, just a lot of emotion, a lot of hard work and reaping the fruits of our labor.
Q. What's it going to take to get it done?
AUSTIN SMOTHERMAN: Just staying in our bubble. Me and Zach got a good thing going where we chat and we're friendly and we do our thing out there, but then we feel like we've added just an extra level up of just lock in, dial in. I don't know if it's something with the altitude and playing at elevation that does it. We felt the same way in Asheville. Had a really nice week still. But just a little extra thing to focus on, I think, kind of takes away from the mind drifting a little bit too much, so that's kind of what we've been focusing on.
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