TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

September 1, 2024

Collin Morikawa

East Lake Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Collin, 5-under round today. How would you assess how you played?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Solid. Look, especially after that kind of shaky-ish start, not finding fairways, not hitting the best shots, 5-under was a great score.

I needed a lot lower and I knew that. But I fought hard, and all week, honestly, that's kind of the golf I missed playing. Hopefully we can use this as a steppingstone into next week.

Q. After the first two holes, I think Scottie was up seven at one point and then you make the turn and it was only two. Kind of a drastic shift there in the middle of the round. Did you feel like you were in it heading into the back?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, I think it was 3 because he ended up birdieing 9, but right after 8 it felt like anyone's game. I knew he wasn't just going to come backwards and I still had to make a lot of birdies.

Just got -- 9 is such a tough hole. You've got to hit it perfect. I think you barely land it on and it's pin high.

10 I just needed to hit the fairway. It's those little momentum shifts, that if I make one birdie in those last three holes I'm three back, four back. It's like you're still there, but five shots is a lot, and you need a lot of special things to happen. Just didn't put myself in enough positions to do that.

Q. Is there any pride or silver lining you take by if there weren't the starting strokes you would have won this tournament?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, it's nice. I knew that was kind of the goal for the week, right, to come out on top on this kind of fake leaderboard and see how things played out.

Ultimately Scottie was second or third on that leaderboard, so it didn't really help my case.

Look, that was the goal. I knew six shots was a lot to catch up, but I know I've made it up before. It was just nice to put together four good rounds throughout a week.

Q. What was your reaction to his shank?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, honestly, very surprising. Yeah, I knew I had to make the putt because I had a weird feeling he was going to make par, and I think he lipped out his par putt, even after the bad chip.

Look, I made the putt and he was two back, but like I said, he's not going to just start making bogeys after that. He's going to do the opposite and he's going to start hitting golf shots. It almost brought his focus back in for a half second, and that's something you can't teach. You just either have it or you don't.

Q. What impressed you most about the way he played this week?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Just nothing fazes him. Whether I was close in gaining some ground or he was gaining ground, it didn't change how he walked or how he played or how he went through every shot. That's something to learn. I think his mental game is a lot stronger than a lot of people know.

It's amazing what he's been able to do for this entire season, and honestly kind of over this past, what is it, three years now. It's been really cool to watch him, and hopefully I can draw something from that.

Q. What do you take from this 2024 as a whole? You've put yourself in contention probably more times this year than you have in the past couple.

COLLIN MORIKAWA: I've got to start playing better, better final rounds. That's what it comes down to. It's not like I had to do anything special in a handful of those rounds. It's not like -- I didn't have to shoot 63s to win. I was in these final groups, I don't know how many final groups I was in this year, but enough to where I can think of a few easily off the top of my head, and when you can do that, you hope to think of the wins.

I've got to figure out how to -- not sustain the energy but just sustain the golf and figure out how do we shoot a 5-under in a final round where it's just kind of effortless.

Q. In previous years the swing, you felt like maybe that wasn't sustainable. Does that feel like a sustainable part of the game now?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: It's getting there. Honestly irons might have been close to my weakest part this year. Irons I think are the biggest aspect and asset of a golf game that you can have. I think Scottie shows that. I've shown that in my first few years.

Look, if I can dial it in and get back to who I was before and even better now, it'll be hopefully a fun 2025.