Q. Do you feel like you found something these four days?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: I don't know if I found something. I think it just taught me that just go play golf. This year has been so much focused on trying to hit that cut and trying to be so perfect, and that's who I am, but just go out and play.
Things are going to be tough. Ball is not going to go exactly where you want, but just figure it out.
I remember in college and now we have TrackMans, we have coaches, we have caddies. We've got everyone looking around. College is kind of like, oh, today I'm in five-yard cut and not a ten-yard cut, and then you just go and play.
I've lost a little bit of that, but after this week it was a huge boost heading into the last little stretch of golf.
Q. You were making birdies. You think if you could get to 3 or 4, you would have a legit chance here?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: I really did. I thought the putt on 12 hurt, and then we birdied 13, which is a great birdie. 14 I thought I hit a really good wedge shot. Came up just short. Missed that putt.
I had some momentum kind of carrying on. I felt like if I got to 3, a long shot. If I had 4, it would be a nice number to post. Still going to be a few short, but it was a much needed round today, especially after yesterday.
Q. Did you see yesterday at all coming in some way, shape, or form?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: No, I didn't see it coming. I think when you are playing well -- you'll make doubles, right, and doubles aren't acceptable, just like three-putts. Yesterday with two doubles, you just can't play with that.
I know you can kind of rebound from that, and I think Scottie kind of bounced back and still kept himself around there, but I just -- the game and the approach shots and just off the tee, I was playing out of the rough yesterday, which is just impossible at a U.S. Open to play well and to kind of hold and maintain pars.
So I didn't think it was coming. I hope many 7-overs aren't coming in the future, but it just kind of made me refocus and kind of just get back into things, right, and just really start from the tee, get it in the fairway, and then worry about it from there.
Q. What did you think of this course this week? I think generally the reviews have been very positive, and it almost kind of makes you wonder when is the next time we're going to go back here? What was your overall assessment?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Other than the tiniest chipping green, I thought it was the best place I've played in a while. There's only been a handful of courses where I really step foot on property, and you see it for a short period of time, and then you think you're going to love it, and this was one of them. There's no B.S. around that. It's a good golf course.
You really have to plot your way around the course. You've got to think through it. I thought it was a course that you could play pretty well at and a course that could kind of hurt you in the back pretty quickly.
I think I got both ends of that, but overall, yeah, I loved it.
Q. What are the few other courses that you have stepped on and liked right away?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Muirfield was one of the first ones. That was before the redo. I have mixed reviews. I have mixed reviews after the redo.
Q. The setup.
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah. I have mixed reviews. That one was one that I just stepped foot on and I don't know if it's just good vibes or what. You hear other courses, guys say, oh, I love it. I'm, like, I like it, but I don't love it, love it. This is one of those.
Q. Any non-TOUR courses that you have stepped on that you have really loved? You have played a lot of them.
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Obviously we have LACC coming up in a year. When I step foot there, obviously, there's importance to why I was stepping foot and playing that course, but I like that a lot too.
Q. Did you see who was going to win on the Korn Ferry TOUR today?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: Is Norman going to win? That's awesome. That's so good. I haven't seen him in a while, but it's so good for him.
I mean, obviously, you look back on your Walker Cup squad, we have seven guys on TOUR, I think. He was one guy who a lot of people thought he was going to be out here a lot quicker, but that doesn't mean he is not going to be out here.
Everyone is going to grind. Everyone has their different path. He was so young, and I think as he slowly matures, it's really cool to see.
Q. What's your best Will Zalatoris story?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: My best Will Zalatoris story?
Q. Didn't you go toe to toe in Cabo one year?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: No, that was me and Wolff. I have no clue.
Q. He seems like a fun personality.
COLLIN MORIKAWA: I'm trying to think. He just goes out there and it's funny because whenever I hear a press conference, he always talks about everyone else around him like Scottie and Jordan and all these guys.
I'm, like, dude, you have won everything since you have been a Junior too. It's not like you're sneaking up behind. If anything, I've snuck up behind these guys just kind of, like, made my name out there versus what he has done.
He has played well ever since we've been a little kid, and it's not surprising. I know -- I think he won the Trans-Miss, and then I won it, and then he won something else, and then I won it after that. We're following suit, so if he wins, hopefully I'll win next year.
Q. Have you been to the Old Course?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: No, it will be my first time.
Q. Level of excitement if there is any?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: That's so rude. No, I'm kidding. I'm very excited. I think I'm going to have to really do a good job about prioritizing every single day and splitting up what I need to focus on, whether it's the golf or whether I need to enjoy just being there at St. Andrews, being back as a defending champion.
I think last year I was able to settle in a little quicker because I played the Scottish and you just kind of showed up. Time zones, everything, it was just go and play golf.
This year I think there's going to be a couple more distractions just with being the defending champion and just knowing that it's such a golf-centered town, but that doesn't mean by Tuesday midday all I'll be focusing on is golf.
Q. Are you playing the Scottish?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: I am, yeah.
Q. One last Will question. We focus on his putting a lot. Pro to pro, when watch Will on the green, what do you see?
COLLIN MORIKAWA: I pray for him. I mean, look, I'm not going to beat around the bush. I think and I've said it since college, anything outside of kind of that 8- to 10-foot zone, I mean, it's as smooth as anyone else's stroke.
We've seen some squirrely putts. Not that I'm the best putter and I have had that little squirreliness too, but it's a little -- I think we all kind of get on our toes when we see it.
But, look, you just have to get it done. That's what I've learned. If you have just have one week, that's all you need. Just because we're not the best in putting doesn't mean you can't get it done. I think he has proven that he has kind of stayed around for a while, and we'll see if he is due today.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports