TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 29, 2024

Collin Morikawa

East Lake Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. When you make six birdies in a row, do you forget how hot it is?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: No, not at all. It was very hot today. I guess this is the longest run of birdies that you've had.

Q. I saw that somewhere. Find it hard to believe. What do you attribute that to, especially on a new course and the layout?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, after nine I told myself to start only thinking about my shot and not worrying about if the ball is going to be perfect or not. We executed some shots, made some putts.

Look, the game is good enough to come out here and win. I've just got to get out of my own head. I've talked a lot about that. It's hard because you try and perfect this game, and it is what it is. Sometimes it doesn't go your way, but you make doable scores. Today just got in a nice rhythm kind of around that turn.

Q. Was this one of those runs you've talked about seeking?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah. I wish it would have started on hole 1, but it's going to be a good reminder going into the next three days that I've just got to see my shot and execute. I was just thinking a little bit too much. Not that I'm trying to do too much, but there's this nice flow and rhythm in your routine sometimes when you're playing well, and it's how do you find that. Sometimes it's just barely off but it causes some bad shots.

Q. Was any of that from knowing the greens were firm and trying to be perfect?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: No, honestly, it's just me. I get in my own head. It's what I end up trying to do a lot of the times. It kind of goes against me a lot of the times when you try and do that, when you try and play golf.

Q. In your head why?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Just because I want to see the perfect shot. I want to see this kind of high, peely cut that I've always hit. You work so hard on the range and the weeks before to hit the shot and sometimes it doesn't produce that. But it doesn't mean that you have to play golf like that.

At the end of the day, it's like I'm trying to hit it 150 yards. I just want it to land 150 yards and figure it out from there.

It's knowing what to accept and what not to accept out there.

Q. You don't seem like you're thrilled, though.

COLLIN MORIKAWA: No, I am. It's the first day. I've got three more days.

Q. You've played well here in the past. Is the course fundamentally different than it was in the past?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, you hit some different shots -- the looks into the greens, the approach shots are very different. Before, the greens were pretty standard. They were just kind of circular, all back to front, not a lot of slope.

You've got a lot more slope now. I think it penalizes you a little bit more if you're in the rough. You're going to get jumpers so you can't necessarily run it up and just end up in the middle of the green as easy as you did before.

But with those slopes and with wedges in your hand, you're able to knock it a little closer to some holes because of those slopes and use the slopes.

There's a balance. You hit it well just like any other course, you're going to give yourself opportunities. But definitely played a little bit shorter than I thought it was maybe just because of the wind direction that we had today versus kind of what we had in the practice rounds.

Q. You spoke yesterday about feeling like even being six shots back was not too big of a margin to overcome. You've done it before. Was that on your mind as you began the day?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: No, I just wanted to keep making birdies and climb up the leaderboard as much as can could after the start. After nine I jut figured if I had 3-under, three on the back with no bogeys it would have been nice to kind of end the day, and it was nice to string that together.

I wish I had one more on 18, but it is what it is. I'm going to use that back nine to hopefully push ourselves the next three days.