HONDA CLASSIC

March 21, 2021

Chase Koepka

PGA National Resort

Quick Quotes

Q. Walk me through this week, takeaways, ended on a high note with best round of the week.

CHASE KOEPKA: Yeah, definitely. It was nice. I played fairly solid golf today. I made a few putts that I kind of needed to. That was really the only difference. I think takeaways on the week, just needed to drive the ball just a little bit better. I was just a fraction off. Really other than that, I gained a lot of confidence. I felt like my composure out there stayed pretty even-keeled, even yesterday when I was going through some trouble on 14, 15, 16, 17. I think in years past I would have put my head down and kind of put too much pressure on myself, but it showed that I could bounce back, especially today. Overall it was a great week and just excited to be out here.

Q. Being kind of like the hometown hero, what was it like to see familiar faces out on the course and perform here kind of locally?

CHASE KOEPKA: Yeah, it was amazing. The fact that I could play in front of my family and friends. I know a lot of people haven't been able to see me play golf in a while and for the first time a lot of my friends got to see me play, just in general. And I think that was just something really, really special.

Q. You've done this at the PGA TOUR level about seven or eight times. How do you rate your finish here at the your hometown course versus the other times you've played on the PGA TOUR?

CHASE KOEPKA: I definitely was less nervous, I would say. It was nice having the support of the family and friends out there. I got, I feel really comfortable out here, I would say. Overall-wise, I mean, I probably had like my C-plus game, C game, still some things to improve. But I just liked the way I battled back, especially on this really hard golf course. I wasn't far off, but definitely could improve a little bit there.

Q. If you look at yesterday, especially on the Bear Trap and that back nine if you kind of take out that stretch that you mentioned from 15, 14, 17, you might have finished 4-under, 5-under. What did you take from the struggle you had there and then fix it today? Because that was the only time that you struggled on that portion when I look back at the scorecard.

CHASE KOEPKA: Yeah, today I just felt a little bit more comfortable with my iron game, so it made it a little bit easier. Yesterday it was just a very, very tough wind. Playing into a lot of those shots were just very difficult. If you didn't have the perfect strike on it you got in a bad spot, and 17 yesterday with the wind blowing where it was, it was, if you at all missed the green, it was, you were looking at double bogey. You just had to put that ball on the green yesterday. And today it was only about a three-quarter pitching wedge, which played, it played a little bit easier, but that pin location's very hard to get to today. And just overall just striking the irons a little bit better today I think just made the huge difference.

Q. And how happy are you with closing with that birdie on 18 even though you hit it into a bit of a bad spot there but getting it out of there and finishing it strong? How happy are you with the way you closed things out here at home?

CHASE KOEPKA: Oh definitely. It's actually really funny. I had a really, really good yardage to just hit like a little high cut in there and I was thinking of like when Tiger and Rory kind of hit some pretty cool shots to that flag and I was just watching it and I was thinking it was going to be great. And I may have actually gotten a break that it plugged in the lip of the bunker because if it pitched on the green there, I don't know if it would have stayed on the green, just with how firm everything was. But, yeah, I mean, I hit a fantastic little bunker shot out of the, right underneath the lip and made a nice little putt there. So it's always good to finish on a birdie, a high note. Got a lot of things to work on and improve and I just can't wait to be out here doing this full-time.

Q. I saw the FaceTime picture that Brooks had posted. Any interaction with him through the weekend and try to get advice because he's played this course so many times as well?

CHASE KOEPKA: Yeah, he tried to give me a little bit of a hard time yesterday, but he knew like it was playing tough. I think my caddie told him that technically my track record here is a little better than his. I don't have a missed cut here and I think he's got a number of them. He does have a second place finish. I'll give him that.