SONY OPEN IN HAWAII

January 14, 2021

Jason Kokrak

Waialae Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. You took advantage of the conditions when they died down?

JASON KOKRAK: Yeah, it was a little bit windy to start the round. Made a couple nice putts in the middle to keep things going. When things died down, you could point-and-shoot. It was a few yards one way or the other but nothing too crazy. Glad the conditions were as such and glad to take advantage.

Q. Came close to a couple eagles, an edge there and just one on the finishing hole?

JASON KOKRAK: Yeah, it was a great shot in there, in between clubs and didn't want to be short. I knew middle of the green was going to be a crazy two-putt. The one on 8, played right next to the hole, played a sand wedge from 110 and didn't think it was going to go that far.

The only miscue was the pull on 6. Other than that I played a really nice round of golf.

Q. What was your experience like last week in Maui and do you think that helped you here this week?

JASON KOKRAK: My feet are much happier this week. Love Kapalua. Great. A little windy. The course is in great condition. I had a lot of fun. Just a tough walk.

Q. How would you describe your round?

JASON KOKRAK: Very solid round. I played solid all day. Kept the ball in the fairway. A couple miscues here and there but hit it right on No. 1, but made a nice putt there for par. Didn't hit it really that close out of the bunker on 18, but other than that I made some nice putts in the middle of the round but took advantage when the conditions lightened up. Very little wind to finish my round and could kind of point-and-shoot.

Q. Is it a comparable round to your final round at the CJ Cup, bogey-free, stress-free kind of round?

JASON KOKRAK: I definitely think I hit it a little more solid CJ Cup than I did today but I think things are winding right into shape like they were at the CJ Cup. I think I'm playing well and if I can drive it like I did on the last like five or six holes, I think we'll be right there.

Q. Did you honestly deep in your heart think you could win every time you teed it up before Vegas, and was there any difference in your self-belief coming out of Vegas?

JASON KOKRAK: Obviously after getting the win, there's different self-belief in myself and what I can do. It's just whether or not I was going to get it done.

Yeah, I definitely tee it up every week trying to win and knowing that I can win, every week I don't have my best stuff. But knowing I'm going into the week with something good I know I'm going to be right there at the finish. Quite a few years, it was all ball-striking and I never putted that well.

Switching to this putter, 36-inch putter, I think I'm putting well and the speed has been great. I'm very pleased with the ball-striking and I think if I can tidy it up a little off the tee I think we'll do some special stuff coming up.

Q. How messy was it?

JASON KOKRAK: It wasn't too bad. Just one of those things that it's just into the quite as solid as I want it to be and not where it was two or three years ago. I was really driving it great but I'm definitely keeping it in better play. My misses are a lot less than they used to be.

Q. What was your best par today?

JASON KOKRAK: Best par was probably on 1. I didn't hit a very good chip shot. I hit it right off the tee. Had to hit it up over the tree and lay it up. I thought if it caught a really big flyer it might get to the front edge. Didn't hit a very good chip there and left myself 15, 18 feet and rolled it right in the middle and that gave me a little bit of confidence. That was at the turn.

Other than that, played really solid. A couple missed greens on the back side but chipped it to inside five feet.

Q. 18, the way you can play that shot, what did you think of the in-bounds, out-of-bounds?

JASON KOKRAK: I've never taken it left so it doesn't really affect me. I'm kind of shocked that anybody would put in-course out-of-bounds, no matter what tournament you play in.

I could see with fans being here but there's really nobody around. So I was kind of shocked that they had not done it in the previous years, but, hey, that's not my decision.

Q. Did you say anything to the R&A at Portrush? Did you play that Open?

JASON KOKRAK: Yeah, I did. I didn't say anything there, either. Keep my mouth shut, keep my head down and just try to make birdies.

Q. But if you win, you'll go say something?

JASON KOKRAK: Maybe.