PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

August 9, 2020

Scottie Scheffler

Harding Park Golf Club

Flash Quotes

JOHN DEVER: Good afternoon. Welcome back to the 2020 PGA Championship here at TPC Harding Park. Thrilled to be joined by Scottie Scheffler. Scottie closed with a 68 today, finished the championship at 10-under par.

Scottie, great, valiant, noble push today and all week long. That's a packed leaderboard that you came into. You knew about it today. You played well yourself, but it wasn't enough. Kind of what was your mentality going into the round and throughout it?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Going into the round, I just wanted to get off to a good start, keep doing what I was doing and just play solid. I swung it really well and hit a lot of fairways and hit a lot of greens. The putts just weren't falling. I hit a lot of good putts, especially on the front nine, that were just kind of on the edge, and back nine my speed was off just a touch and putts just weren't going in.

JOHN DEVER: So you go to the back nine and you're right there at 9 or 10, I think you got to 10 at one point there and one of six or seven players. What kind of charge is going through your body as you see that packed leaderboard and only six or seven holes left?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I mean, I knew it was going to take a pretty special back nine and so I tried to just give myself as many looks as I can, which I feel like I did a good job of. Hit a lot of greens on the back nine. Put myself in the fairway a lot and wasn't able to make enough birdies. Had kind of a silly bogey on 13. But other than that, I had a lot of good looks. The putts just weren't falling.

Q. Curious how big a step do you feel like this tournament was for your career moving forward?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Definitely a step in the right direction. I would have liked to have played a little bit better today, but like I said, the putts just weren't falling, but it was definitely a solid week out here. So good steppingstone going forward. I feel like my game is starting to turn around, going the right direction. Looking forward to the Playoffs.

Q. What would be your take on this new wave of young players like you, Cameron, Collin obviously, Matthew, Viktor, you can go on down the list?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I think golf is in a great spot. You've got a lot of young guys playing well. It seems like anyone can win on any given week, so it's exciting to come out and watch -- or not come out and watch, but watch on TV. I think you saw it today, a lot of guys had a chance towards the ends and congratulations to Collin, he had a great back nine today and a good golf tournament. Yeah, I think golf is in a good place.

Q. Does it bother you who is on the leaderboard you? Guys are so young; in the old days, people would worry about if it was Jack or Tiger or whatever. Does any of that bother you at this point?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Honestly I don't completely understand the question. I don't know what would bother me. Whoever is on the leaderboard is, who is up there, doesn't make a huge difference to me who it is. Yeah, not quite sure on that one.

JOHN DEVER: Let me ask you this. How long have you known Collin, and maybe what were your first impressions of him? Tell us a little bit about his game and his personality.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, Collin, I've known Collin since high school and junior golf. We played a lot of junior golf together. He's always been a great ball-striker and he really made a turn in college and improved his short game a lot and his game's gotten better as time went on and he's obviously a fantastic player. You're seeing that now. I mean, we knew that in college. It was just kind of a matter of time getting out here for him, and we're really happy seeing him win. It definitely gives the rest of us confidence as well.

JOHN DEVER: This really was an arrival of sorts for the young 20-somethings. We saw a bunch of 20-somethings, shifting toward 30, but the young 20-somethings this week, you, Collin and Cameron kind of announced your arrival this week.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I guess so. Cameron has won twice out here, so he's had some success early on, and I think that's Collin's third win. I think you're seeing guys come out and win, which is pretty cool. I guess it's some sort of arrival, if you want to say that, but yeah.

JOHN DEVER: Thanks for stopping in all these times. We've enjoyed getting to know you, and best of luck the rest of the season.