THE 149TH OPEN

July 17, 2021

Collin Morikawa

Mixed Zone

Q. Collin, you've obviously never been in this position in this tournament before. What goes through your mind tonight as you prepare for tomorrow in an unfamiliar situation for you?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Do you mind repeating that again? Sorry.

Q. You've obviously never been in this position at this tournament before. What goes through your mind tonight that helps you prepare for tomorrow in an unfamiliar situation?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, that's an interesting question. I've never been in the position all the previous other times. To be honest, you build a game plan and we see what we need to do all the way the tournament and I stick to it. That is exactly what I am going to try and do tomorrow.

Obviously being in a final round at a major is different, but I'm going to try and keep it as similar as possible to every other tournament I've played.

Hopefully trust the process and just be committed with that.

Q. Similar question but in a different vein. I think you have been in this position before, one stroke back today, a couple strokes back at the PGA, and it looks like there is just a half dozen to a dozen players that have a shot of winning this. I'm wondering just if this feels any different in terms of how confident you are going into Sunday and if you'll be able to draw anything from your PGA Championship victory?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest thing I can draw from the PGA is just knowing I can get it done. But I think confidence just comes from hitting good shots, quality shots, seeing putts go in. There is a lot to draw from, especially this week.

I don't have much experience on links golf, and pretty much all the highlights in my head are from this week. Thankfully there is quite a few. Hopefully we can just use that momentum from the first three days and just bring it into the last 18. It's going to be a grueling 18, but I look forward to it.

It's position you want to be in. As an athlete, golfer, you want to be in this position. I love it, so I really look forward to tomorrow.

Q. What was the key for you in maintaining your composure?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, I think just believing in myself. I wasn't hitting that poor of golf shots. Just wasn't turning out great. What happened on 2, I still can't explain to you what happened. I thought it was into the wind and hit a pitching wedge from 118, 120 and flew the green, and then 5 you just get unlucky. I thought I hit a good 5-wood.

So just believing that I was still hitting good shots. No matter what happens tomorrow I know I produced good golf shots already this week and I'm capable of it. I just have to stick to that and believe in the process. Hopefully we can just put it together from hole 1 all the way through hole 18.