PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

August 9, 2020

Cameron Champ

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 Cameron Champ once again. Cameron closed with an even-par 70 today. He finishes the championship at 8-under par.

Cameron, obviously everybody knows and you were well aware, packed, packed, packed leaderboard going into the day, and you were riding high through seven or eight holes, a couple birdies in there, and then a wayward tee shot on 9, I think it kind of set things a little bit adrift. Talk about that and how much you tried to get it back.

CAMERON CHAMP: Starting off, I was struggling a little with the driver and then on 9, kind of the same thing. You know, I tried to battle back. Just didn't get any putts to fall, and obviously got one on 17 to go at the end.

But all in all it was a solid day. I fought, even when I wasn't hitting it well. Things just really weren't going my way. You know, like I said, all in all, I'm happy with the week.

Q. Two questions. One, if you could talk about 16, that's been a tricky yardage for you this week. I saw you hit it right. If you could take us through that. And then also, if you don't mind sharing anything you remember about your time with Collin playing on the Walker Cup Team.

CAMERON CHAMP: Yeah, 16's been an awkward number all week for me, even today. But I thought, why not, with that pin; I just have to hit a little bleeder cut in there. I hit it soft.

And then as far as Collin and the Walker Cup, he's been an extremely solid player through junior golf and college, and my hat's off to him. He played a flawless round. I don't think he made one mistake today, and I was joking with him, I said, "The shot on 16 looked like it was out of a video game." The way it came off and the way it bounced right up there, it was awesome, and again, I'm super happy for him.

Q. Can you just talk a little about what this week has meant to you? Maybe not obviously the finish you wanted when you start the day just one stroke back, but how much has this week meant to you to be in position and to show the continued growth in your game?

CAMERON CHAMP: It's huge. I mean, like you said, I've been playing well. I just haven't really put things together, and obviously on a championship golf course, it tests all aspects, and even today really when I did not have anything at all, I was able to fight and just keep it going and not turn a 70 into a 74.

You know, I'm taking a lot of positives from this week. Like you said, just all-around game, and just keep moving forward.

Q. You said you had some history with Collin. Can you explain how long you've known him, how much chatter there was today -- obviously it's the final round of a major and you're focused on your games, and finally the way he plays; seems like he plays a different style than you do?

CAMERON CHAMP: Yeah, can go back as far as AJGA days, playing through all that, and then through college, he obviously went to Cal, I went to A&M, so we didn't play much, maybe once a year depending on the tournaments, and obviously we played Walker Cup together.

Today, yeah, like I said, he knows his game and what works for him. His iron play and off the tee is amazing. He doesn't -- rarely misses a shot and obviously with his putting and chipping is all world-class, as well. Like I say, he earned it, he deserves it. I give him props, like I said; he played a flawless round today. I think he shot 6-under, right? It was awesome to watch.

Q. You mentioned his iron play. That seems to be the standout skill, and yet he hits the biggest shot off the tee today, and you described it as a video game.

CAMERON CHAMP: Yeah.

Q. What was your vantage point on that? It seemed that hole, as short as it is, there's trouble with the trees?

CAMERON CHAMP: Yeah, when he hit it, it came off perfect and you could see it was starting to float perfectly by the hole, and we're looking at it, and hopefully it got a straight bounce and it did, and it just bounced right up there. I would definitely say that was the shot of the tournament. That was pretty awesome to watch.

Q. Just talk about the course setup today and how your approach and how your game was maybe different today compared to the first three rounds, just knowing that the course was going to be set up differently, and knowing that players early in the day were able to put up some low scores.

CAMERON CHAMP: It was no different. I just went about it the same way as I did the last three days. Again, I just didn't hit it well off the tee and here it penalizes you greatly if you don't hit it in the fairways.

Again, I fought back. You know, just tried to find as many fairways as I could and kind of scrambled my way through the round. Definitely my strategy never really changed. I always want to stick to what we were doing that was working, and just today I wasn't able to execute it.

JOHN DEVER: Terrific play all week long. We appreciate your time with us, and best of luck moving forward.