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TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

September 21, 2018

Justin Thomas

Atlanta, Georgia

Q. What do you think of the scores late in the day? Is that sort of the nature of the course?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, that's the thing. It's just what I love about this golf course. We don't play very many places like this where if you have control of your ball, if you have control of your game, you're probably going to have a good chance to win, and it's just really about you're not going to make very good bogeys. But I drove it so poorly today, this is probably in my top 5 rounds of the year I'm most proud of just because I easily could have shot 4- or 5-over today and not had a chance to win the tournament. And I hung in there and birdied two of the last four, and I have a chance.

Q. What does it say when you have your B game and you're still putting up a good number?
JUSTIN THOMAS: I wish I had my B game today. I would say I had my C or D game today. It was weird, I got a really bad break on 1 there, just with that left kick and having to take an unplayable, but kind of brought it back and then got it to 2-under through 7. Then just made a terrible double there on 8, and then another bad bogey on 10, and it just was like, I couldn't get it in the fairway to really attack some of those pins.

Yeah, it just was -- I was grinding like hell out there to try to shoot under par, so I was really happy to do so.

Q. Any idea how to fix it for the weekend?
JUSTIN THOMAS: It just was timing. At least it was all the same direction, or for the most part. Well, I guess I should say it was kind of both. It was left at the start and then it was right, so it wasn't like kind of -- know what I mean? It wasn't both throughout the entire day. But I don't know. I'll get comfortable, hit some balls tomorrow, get some rest and be good.

Q. When you birdie 18 like you did today, do you think about where the hole location was last year?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, yeah, it was probably a little -- it was farther back. It was probably six paces farther back, five paces farther back and right. But, yeah, I thought about it because the pin on 16 today was pretty close to where it was last year on Sunday. And then the pin on 17, I mean, that putt I had was pretty close to that birdie putt I had on Sunday last year. I remember it broke a little bit more than I remembered, so I played a little bit more break today.

Q. Birdie at 4 kind of emblematic of fighting through things?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, yeah, I always have a hard time with that tee shot for some reason. It's such an important fairway to hit, and I just never hit it. I hit it in 5 fairway yesterday, and I hit it left of the world today. And I played it 1-under, so I guess I'm doing something right. But yeah, that was a pretty good example of getting it in the right spot. And I hit a pretty good chip, and any time you make a chip like that, it's like stealing one.

Q. Did Rory kind of laugh after you made it?
JUSTIN THOMAS: He just kind of said it looked like a 3 the whole day and I kind of laughed because I played with him at THE PLAYERS and I chipped in three times that first round with him, so I guess he's good luck for me.

Q. As tough as it is for you guys out there, is there any danger (indiscernible)?
JUSTIN THOMAS: No, next week being a Friday start, we're going to all do everything we possibly can to make sure we're ready on Friday. Monday, we're going to have off. It's a travel day. If guys want to go practice, they can. You will not see me out at the facilities practicing Monday, but everyone is different. I think all of us that have worked hard and have this goal of being on this team next week, we've primed ourselves and gotten ourselves ready so that we're in shape come next weekend. I have a lot of confidence in our team, that's for sure.

Q. Generally speaking, how much are you enjoying life right now, significant wins this year, you seem very effective here again this week, the Ryder Cup. Talk about the plus points.
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, I'm very fortunate, but I work extremely hard to play the way I have and to get where I have. But it's also -- everything that's happened in the past is in the past, and I just need to continue to grind and continue to get better for the future. I need to get myself ready for my round of golf tomorrow because that's the only thing I can control right now. And then from there, we'll worry about next week. But I'm very excited and I'm very fortunate, and it's been a great little run I've been on. But I'm hoping to make another 10 or 15 years out of this run.

Q. Rickie was talking about Tiger yesterday, how great it is to see him playing so well. Can you speak to your thoughts on that?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, it's great for the game. It's great for him. I know there's probably nobody else I'd rather be down at the last hole tied with having a chance to win than him. It would be pretty cool. But then again, I'd rather be one or two ahead, saying that. But yeah, it's great for the game. I mean, the amount of people that come out every tournament each week, I think it speaks for itself.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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