LIV GOLF JEDDAH

March 2, 2024

Jason Kokrak

Royal Greens Golf & Country Club

Smash GC

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome, Jason Kokrak, with Smash GC. An awesome round of 8-under today gives you a total of 10-under and a tie for third. Talk us through your round a bit today.

JASON KOKRAK: Yeah, I told my caddie on maybe the second or third hole I was going to commit more to the target lines and the shots that I was going to hit.

I did just that, got a few to go early to gain the confidence, and went out and hit a couple quality iron shots, gave myself a lot of looks and made a few.

Q. I think there was a six-, seven-hole stretch there, between you and Abe, there were like 12, 13 birdies. Were you bouncing off each other a little bit?

JASON KOKRAK: I think we were vibing off each other a little bit, too. I at one point, I think on 3, Abe's caddie said, "Just fill it up, boys." It was good. I think we were definitely feeding off each other. He was making putts. I was making putts. Seemed to birdie a lot of same holes.

When you see a good quality shot into a hole, it kind of gives you the confidence to go do the same thing.

I was just happy that I hit some quality shots, committed to the lines and targets, and had a good round.

Q. When you got finished with 5, did it cross your mind, 59? You were 9-under at that point with two left.

JASON KOKRAK: Not really. I was just trying to make birdies. I never want to get ahead of myself. Yeah, I knew I was 8-, 9-under par. I didn't know exactly what I was.

I just wanted to hit some quality shots, like I said before, commit to the target lines, commit to the shot, and just don't get too far ahead of myself.

Q. What's it like when you hit a hot streak like you did there kind of starting at 15? Is it like a different feeling than a regular round? Do you feel like anything can go in?

JASON KOKRAK: Well, yeah, I think when you get on a little bit of a hot streak or a little bit of confidence, I think you're hitting it closer. You're hitting quality shots. Once you see a few putts go in from outside of five to seven, ten feet, I think that gives you the confidence that you know you're rolling it well and just pick your line, pick the right speed, and once you see a couple go in, that's kind of -- it opens the hole up pretty good.

Q. Going into this week, obviously Brooks won the last two events here, do you guys get together and game plan as a team, talk strategy? Do you pick his brain a little bit? How does that work?

JASON KOKRAK: Every once in a while I think I'll step to the side and either watch Graeme chip it around some of these spots -- Brooks is I think one of the most underrated chippers out there. It's fun to watch him chip, too. Every once in a while I'll stand back and watch these guys, where they're putting or chipping or hitting their shots from.

But no, we never really get together. Every once in a while if I have a question, I think Brooks and I kind of hit it about the same distance, so we kind of see the golf course similarly. Just being aggressive off the tee or bunkers we can take out of play.

But no, we never really get together and game plan anything like that. We're all veteran guys. We're all good players. I think we all know how to play our own game, and I think we trust each other to do just that.

Q. How much would it mean to have another Smash guy at the top of the podium there?

JASON KOKRAK: Obviously to get my first victory with LIV would be amazing. But another team victory to move forward would be awesome. Like we said earlier in the presser this week, Brooks brought this team together to win a lot of team events, and I think you'll see the four of us at the top of the leaderboard quite a bit.

Q. A few of the other guys struggled with their scoring compared to yesterday. How did you find course conditions compared to yesterday?

JASON KOKRAK: I think yesterday, I think the wind kind of died down in the middle of the round and I think guys kind of took advantage of that. Some of the holes that are normally into the wind were downwind. Today was kind of back to a normal wind that I'm used to.

I think the pins were a little bit tougher today, but I hit it a lot better, hit it a lot closer, gave myself a lot of looks. I think that's what I saw, again, just kind of feeding off of Abe and him playing well, too. Very pleased with my round.

Q. The group that you were in, in a seven-hole stretch, you were like 14-under for the group. How good was that in the conditions?

JASON KOKRAK: Yeah, with the breeze not quite as heavy as it normally can be here, I think we were trying to take advantage. Obviously we both birdied -- Abe and I both birdied No. 3. We went on a nice little stretch there. I think we were both hitting it within 10 feet every hole. I think both of us were putting it well. We saw a couple go in early. Abe made a couple nice five- to seven-, eight-footers for par early, and I think he got a little bit of a confidence boost with that, started hitting it a little bit better, and I think we were both right there.

It was a nice guy to feed off of. Abe is a great guy. Benji is a great guy. We had a great group.