RBC HERITAGE

April 13, 2022

Collin Morikawa

Harbour Town Golf Links

Press Conference

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Look, after a major you're always drained. When you win you're even drained even more. And to follow it up the next week it takes a lot out of you, right?

Last week took a lot out of me but I'm fully ready to come out here because I want to get back in the winner's circle. Seeing what Scottie's doing over the past couple months it's really cool to watch that, but I want to be there as well, like I feel like I'm able, if I could put together some good rounds, hopefully we can kind of spark something.

So we're looking for that one little spark and this is a course I love the past couple years I've come out to play and I think it fits my game so hopefully we can put together four really solid round and be there on Sunday.

Q. Your thoughts on the changes at 2 and 5, backing the tees up. How will that change your approach on those holes and what do you think how do you think it will play?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: 2 will be playing into the wind normally, I got to hit two really good shots to get there. Before you could probably get away with almost 5-iron, 6-iron into the green, depending how good your tee shot was. Fairways are a little wider now since we are a lot farther back.

But 5, I mean, I can't see myself really getting there in two unless I hit a really good drive, because it's, again, it's going to probably be into the wind and even if it is downwind off the right it's not the easiest green to hit and it's a wedge pin, it's a wedge green that you kind of just lay up.

But adding that extra length I think, I don't know, I don't think the scores were ever really low out here to where you needed that extra length, but I understand it in the sense of like, okay, maybe it's not great to see guys hit 6- or 7-iron into par-5s. But these greens are so small they're actually getting a lot firmer and quicker out here today and that's great to see, it's only going to make the test a little tougher.

Q. There was a time not long ago when players prime was late 20s, early 30s whatever. Now the top four in the world, yourself included, are under 25 or younger. Has prime aged dipped or did you guys just come out with a different kind of mindset?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: I don't know. I mean, I think that's what you guys label like and what you can look at after the fact of like, oh, what was your prime. But we really don't know what our prime years are until you look back and look a long time after and say, okay, you played well in this year or these two years, and then it kind of tapered off, right?

But, look, what we're given in college and the resources we're given and that are at our fingertips growing up and especially even in junior golf now like you have these opportunities to be prepared. I think what Scottie, Viktor, myself, what a lot of these young guys -- even like JT and Jordan, they kind of just inspired us and gave us that belief that it's possible to get out here really quickly.

But JT early on gave me the best advice which is kind of everyone's got their own path and I think everyone's got to realize that. You can't just, just because we did it and just because they might have beat us a couple times in college or a handful of times or whatever, that doesn't mean you automatically come out here and you're going to have success. There's a lot of hard work, there's a big team behind us that we don't give credit to and/or enough credit to.

And I think that's what those kids need to understand is that there's a lot that goes behind rather than just simply playing golf.

Q. (No Microphone.)

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Look, I felt like I was just as prepared as I could have been. I didn't really reach out to many guys, I didn't really reach out to any, but I did my prep on what I needed to do during these weeks. It's kind of just figuring it out as you go and how mature are you going to be.

You're living alone, you got a friend or you got a girlfriend or a wife with you, makes it easier, but we're going to places that we've never been to, you're staying in hotels that you've never and cities that you've never been and it's all about how comfortable can you get really quickly.

For me it was like I love traveling, I love being around the world and it was easy. Some people don't get that transition as easy and that's just part of professional golf, you have to play around the country, you have to play around the world. If you can get comfortable with that setting and get comfortable to just the routines Monday through Wednesday then hopefully by Thursday all you have to worry about is just going out and making birdies.

Q. You were saying how this is one of your favorite courses and the small groans and stuff. With that and just kind of the tight course is there any other course like on TOUR that's quite like this?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: You've got like a Colonial kind of reminds me of this. Where you kind of have to work the ball a little both ways off the tee, narrow fairway, smaller greens. Not saying I don't like the other golf courses that we play, but it's just, it's different.

Coming from a place like Augusta where the greens are really big, a lot more slope, wide fairways, makes you focus in a little bit here. You can't get carried away with your self and hit it 30 yards off line and be all right. Out here 30 yards off line might be OB. So you got to pay attention, you got to be ready to hit some quality golf shots.

Q. Strange question, but do you ever get a sense when you're going to win or when the week might be a week that you can win before you actually start playing or does it always take you by surprise?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: It doesn't take me by surprise. No, you have these weeks where you feel really good and I had those weeks at PLAYERS, Valspar and Match Play and I think I played awful. So, no, sometimes it doesn't work like that.

But sometimes everything's just at peace. You have nothing to worry about, you're relaxed, you're not worried about the golf, you're not worried about stuff at home, family, little issues, whatever, little things, friends texting you for anything. Some weeks just go by really, really, really easy and when you look back it's like, oh, you were kind of just in a peaceful zone and you got out there and you go play golf and do your job and make a lot of birdies.

But no, I have shots like that where like I think they're going to go in. Like 18 at Augusta, like when I walked up I was like, oh, this is going to be really good. But you only have a handful of that. Through three years I only had a handful of those shots, they've come at pretty good times. But tournament-wise, winning, I wouldn't say so.

Q. (No Microphone.)

COLLIN MORIKAWA: No. I felt, it was the chip shot on 14 at PGA. When I took the lead for the first time, that one I walked up to J.J. and I was like, this one's going in. And you can't, like, you can't force yourself to do that, you can try and convince yourself, but it's a different feeling, it's just like a gut feeling.

THE MODERATOR: All right, Collin. Thank you. We appreciate your time and best of luck this week.