PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

August 8, 2020

Collin Morikawa

Harding Park Golf Club

Flash Quotes

JOHN DEVER: Good afternoon. Welcome back to the 2020 PGA Championship here at TPC Harding Park. Pleased to be joined by Collin Morikawa who posted a third round 65. He is currently 7-under for the championship.

Collin, big move here on moving day. It started out early and it kind of west consistently all the way through. Was that your feeling as you went through it your.

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, I felt really good. I didn't practice yesterday after the round, but I kind of had some thought of what I wanted to do before the round. Obviously playing with Adam Scott, great ball-striker, great swing, and it kind of helps when you play with someone like that just to kind of get the momentum.

I hit some really good shots off the first few holes and had a little stumble on 12 and 13, but knew I had to regroup especially with 15 coming up, or 14 coming up. It's not an easy hole. So definitely want to get out with at least a par.

But overall, I felt really good. Rolled the putter really well, and keep that into tomorrow.

Q. When we spoke at Workday, you talked about you didn't feel as comfortable as you would like early in the round. How comfortable are you this week?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: I feel great. You know, two months in with no fans, it's obviously -- it's very different. I think if there were fans, I'd feel a little bit more of that major, big crowds. But you know, what's the difference between tomorrow? Tomorrow's obviously 18 holes. Who knows what I'll be at by the end of the day. Hopefully I'm within you know, striking distance.

But I feel very comfortable, and that's always a good sense, especially coming by the third round, finishing like that with three birdies in the last four holes shows that I'll be ready for tomorrow and tomorrow morning, and hopefully the rest of the day.

Q. At this point in your career, you haven't had a lot of tournaments where you've played where there's leaderboard watching as part of the component, but would you consider yourself a leaderboard watcher?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah. I mean, I look at it. I don't think it affects how I play. I think it's good to know where I'm at because if you don't, you don't want to look down 18 and realize you have to make birdie or you can make par or whatever it is.

So yeah, I look at it. I think throughout college, I've been able to see some here and there. Obviously the past year and a half now that I've been able to play events, I've had a lot of leaderboards. So I've been able to kind of just look around. I don't think it's affected me. I've kind of just been a player where I want to take inasmuch as I can and just let everything else that I don't need in one ear and out the other.

Q. Do you think with no crowds, is it something you'll discuss with your caddie just because it's so hard to tell and the leaderboard looks like it's going to be pretty bunched, do you think you guys will have a discussion about that, about, hey, you know, help me keep kind of apprised of what's going on?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: No, I think we're going to stick to what we've been doing. It obviously worked today. It's been pretty solid throughout Thursday through Saturday now. But you know, like I said, I've got to stick to my game plan. I can't control what anyone else does out there. If someone starts off really well; if they don't start off really well, who knows.

But like you said, it's going to be a crowded leaderboard. Anyone is within reach, really, within a few shots, so we'll see what happens later this afternoon or later today, and wake up tomorrow and just be ready to make some birdies.

Q. How different is it on Sundays? You've gone through it at Colonial and Workday to be in the hunt, and how much different do you expect -- you talk about you're still comfortable in a major but now making that next step to a major on Sunday, I guess a pretty good leaderboard, a very good leaderboard?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: There's a lot of players out there and a lot of players want to win that major. This is the PGA Championship. This isn't just another PGA TOUR event.

Yeah, you know, I think I've got to stay as comfortable as I can. Obviously you're not going to get that full adrenaline of just having crowds. If you had a hundred people here that just showed up out of nowhere, you're going to feel that. I think any player is going to feel that, and that's what the best players have gotten to learn how to control that and use that to their advantage.

You know, I haven't played in a major championship crowd yet, or even Pebble, it's not like I was playing that well to have that many people.

So yeah, you know, tomorrow is just going to be another day. It's going to be, you know, 18 holes I don't have to focus from hole one. I have got to not get away, not get lazy like I did yesterday afternoon towards the end of my round, because it's going to be a grind tomorrow for sure.

Q. Any example of a hole today where your background and familiarity with Harding Park helped you?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: No. I wish it did. But other than knowing how to get here off the freeway without my phone and not get a ticket by the police, no, it has not helped me at all.

Q. On 16 and 17 clearly you weren't rattled. You made those putts. But were you aware of the Indy 500 going on behind you?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, we heard that on 17. On 16, it was funny, there was two kayakers trying to figure out who Adam Scott was and they figured it out. But yeah, that was well before we were putting on 17, so it had no effect.

Q. Were you able to phase that out?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, it's nothing.

Q. Obviously a big opportunity in front of you heading into tomorrow. Tonight and tomorrow morning, as you prepare for this final round, what will that be like for you, and will you allow yourself to think about holding the Wanamaker Trophy in that time period?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Tonight's going to be a great dinner. I don't know where it is. I'll have my girlfriend, and her best friend lives out here, they'll pick out somewhere; we're being very safe.

But no, I mean, I think it's nice to have her. This is the first week she's been traveling, to sort of get my mind off golf and not have to worry about that at night sitting in the hotel room by myself. We can talk about anything, more about her day.

But no, I mean, tomorrow, I've been in position where I've been close to the lead or leading or whatever it is, and so it's how do we get to the first tee and be ready and not think ahead but be ready by the first hole, not try and warm up through three holes. I've got to be ready for hole one, and then be physically and mentally prepared through 18. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of swings, a lot of lead changes, a lot of good play out there, a lot of bad play tomorrow, who knows what it is, but everyone in the field, but I can just control what I can do, so hopefully get off to a good start tomorrow.

Q. It's been an eventful two months dating back to the restart, but can you talk about what the range of emotions have been like from Colonial where you felt you should have won to workday where you did, and here with a chance to win a major, and what things have you learned along the way that will maybe help you tomorrow?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: I don't think I should have won. I definitely -- I missed the putt and you go back to there, it's all learning experience. You have to close it. And I had a putt on 18 to win. I got ahead of myself in the playoff. There's no like, "I should win this tomorrow, I should play well, I should do this." It's all about figuring out what I need to do to prepare.

So I'm still going to do the same thing I've been doing. Get my good stretching in. Get prepped for tomorrow, and come out here. I don't know what the weather is like. I don't think it's supposed to be crazy. I think it's supposed to be pretty similar to today. Obviously conditions are only going to get tougher. Fairways are getting a little firmer making everything just a little more narrow, especially some of these doglegs.

But over these two months, yeah, I've had some highs and I've had some lows. It's all been a learning experience. I've looked back at everything and just kind of use that for tomorrow. But everything feels good, so why not come out tomorrow hot out of the gates and keep that going.

Q. Does it feel like it's been coming fast for you, whether it's been success or dealing with disappointment or whatever? There's been a lot of stuff that's happened in just a short period of time.

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, I mean, the past two months have felt pretty fast. We are fortunate to be out here playing. With everything going on the TOUR and this week and The PGA of America we've just been pretty lucky. You look at the other sports, the things they had to get through just to start up, and to be one of the first sports out here, we were super lucky. We've done an awesome job. I'm really fortunate to be out here.

Yeah, it's crazy to think back that it was only a year ago or a year, whatever, a few months that I was out here across the bridge in college, but I felt ready. I think this is where I belong and like I said, we get back to being comfortable, I've been more comfortable every single day I'm out here. So it just helps a little bit more.

Q. Starting the day six back, was there any sense of urgency?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: I had to play well. I didn't know, you know, who knows if one of the leaders shoots 5- or 6-under and really takes it away and separates themselves. If I want to have a chance, I had to shoot a pretty good round at least. Tomorrow is the final round. Anything can happen to anyone.

Q. The traditional sorry if we came late and you already addressed this. The Harding Park theme, I guess my question is: Would we make too much of it if we said your comfort factor was a major role here? Did I hear you alluding that it's not?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, I mean, it helps. I've played here maybe a dozen times. So it's not like I played this and this is my backyard and I played it every day, but I've played it enough. So it helped coming from the WGC in Memphis last week, flying on the charter on Monday, showing up Tuesday and knowing the course already. I knew at least the layout. I didn't have to figure out where the putting green was, where the range was going to be. I knew -- and that's time for me, especially a year into these tournaments, not playing, not being here, it helps. It helps just to at least get out and not have to worry about learning the ropes, because for me that's big, learning the layout and just kind of getting comfortable.

You know, it helped in that sense. Did it help getting ready and getting prepped for this course and what it was going to be like? Not too much. It's not like I'm able to draw on certain shots that I hit in college or in Stanford's event when they had it out here that I remember specifically. There's good and bad, or I wouldn't even call it bad. Just kind of mediocre there.

Q. Has the athlete portion of your brain already figured out a way that the ending at Fort Worth is going to be helpful long-term for you, or is that just crazy?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: No, no, of course. You know, it's not going to be the only time I'm in a playoff where I've got to make a putt, but I've learned from it. I was not comfortable from that tee shot; I got very comfortable -- I almost got too comfortable over the putt and thought about the next hole. It was a bad tee shot, bad second shot and good chip and we're like, okay, we're through this hole, but we weren't. The hole is not over. The hole is not over until the last putt drops and we know that. That obviously helped a lot for that workday playoff with Justin. I was very comfortable through that three-hole playoff.

So tomorrow, I just have to be ready bit first hole. That is key No. 1. If I am ready by the first hole, feeling good, and you know, just stick to that game plan through every single hole.