Interviews and transcripts following the third round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club.
• Alex Smalley
• Matti Schmid
• Nick Taylor
• Jon Rahm
• Aaron Rai
• Ludvig Åberg
• Rory McIlroy
• Xander Schauffele
• Kristoffer Reitan
• Chris Kirk
• Joaquin Niemann
• Scottie Scheffler
Alex Smalley
Matti Schmid
THE MODERATOR: Matti, a 65 for you today. What can you tell us about your third round?
MATTI SCHMID: Really good. I drove it very good, the best off the tee this week and also the best on the greens for me this week.
Iron play was okay, I would say. I’ve hit my irons nice the last couple of days as well.
But, yeah, trending in the right direction.
Q. A couple of things. The wind keeps picking up. By the end of the round, it was like that. What’s your way, how do you deal with these conditions?
MATTI SCHMID: Yeah, you have to, on this course, kind of play for the angles a little bit, even though sometimes it’s really tough to hold the fairways. Sometimes from the right angle from the rough, you have chances to hit the greens and give yourself a good birdie putt.
The greens are so perfect, so even like if you’re inside of 30 feet, you still have a decent chance to make a few of the putts.
Q. You had a couple of players probably shorter than you explaining that being tall with this rough is a big advantage. Do you feel that that’s true?
MATTI SCHMID: Yeah, absolutely. I played the first two rounds with a couple guys who were shorter than me, and yeah, they struggled a lot more than I did. I have a pretty steep attack angle — or I can have a pretty steep attack angle, and that helps, for sure, out there.
Q. I don’t know if it’s possible to keep track of the leaderboard. Did you even bother trying? And what do you think when you look up? At last count 14 different players have at least had a share of the lead. You’re one of them.
MATTI SCHMID: No, I was pretty busy with the conditions out there, but I saw myself on top once, and that was good, yeah.
Q. Do you consider yourself under the radar? If so, is that kind of a comfortable place to be playing from?
MATTI SCHMID: Definitely not the center of attention, I would say, but I still have to focus on doing the things that I have to do well enough and just focus on myself, trying to be the best version of myself tomorrow again. Hopefully it leads to a really good round, and then we’ll see.
Nick Taylor
THE MODERATOR: Nick, 65 today. What can you tell us about your third round?
NICK TAYLOR: Everything was very good today. I drove it great on that front nine to give myself a few wedges and be able to go for the 9th hole par-5 in 2.
The iron game was definitely kind of back to myself, in a sense, where it’s the strength of my game, and today gave myself a lot of opportunities.
Just hit a lot of greens, gave myself relatively routine pars. It was a steady day. It was comfortable pairing with Corey. I felt we were both rolling it early. Unfortunately, he didn’t kind of finish the round off, but it was just a comfortable day, and it was nice to have momentum.
Q. Yesterday Jaeger had no bogeys, no birdies. Then we had Rory with no bogeys and three birdies, and now we have Nick Taylor with no bogeys and five birdies. How difficult is it to do this today?
NICK TAYLOR: Yeah, I don’t know. Like you said, no birdies yesterday, but it was kind of a grind of a day, and today just hit it really nice, had a lot of opportunities. I made two great saves on 10 and 12, where I had to kind of wedge it out of the rough and then get up-and-down from 70 to 90 yards, which really kept the round going.
Yeah, bogey-free round around here is no easy task, so I’m proud of that today.
Q. If you had to pick one or two of the birdies today, can you describe it and tell us why they were especially good?
NICK TAYLOR: On the back nine, I made two great birdies. 14 is a tough par-3. Hit a 7-iron in there to go probably 12 feet and made that. And then 16 — actually, 15 and 16 I was in the rough. I hit 5-wood up and around the green, was long on 16, and I made a really good up-and-down there.
So there was three or four holes there where I could have maybe leveled out the round, but stayed patient and made some great up-and-downs and really turned it into a great round.
Q. Did you leave here last night saying, okay, you can go get it, the first nine? Was that kind of the attitude? It seems like everybody is saying you can score on the front. Is that the goal?
NICK TAYLOR: When it was going to be warmer, it was a slightly different direction with the wind, but I feel like watching this morning, I watched some of the golf, and there was a lot of birdies out there. So you kind of knew that some of the pin locations were a little more accessible.
Corey and I both made three or four birdies on that front nine, and I had that momentum going. And I feel like the back nine here, you kind of try to hold on to what your score was on that front nine. You’re going to have a couple opportunities, but there’s a lot of difficult holes. So to kind of make a bunch of pars there was key on that back nine.
Q. I’m curious, do you look at leaderboards out there, and if so, could you possibly figure out the leaderboard you are looking up at?
NICK TAYLOR: I think it’s so bunched, it’s kind of pointless. I’ll definitely be aware late tomorrow, if I’m in that position. But with so many things going on, it’s just a distraction if you start looking at it.
Luckily I’ll have a chance tomorrow, whatever that will be, and we’ll kind of take it from there.
Jon Rahm
Aaron Rai
Ludvig Åberg
Rory McIlroy
Xander Schauffele
Kristoffer Reitan
THE MODERATOR: Kristoffer, what can you tell us about your 65 today?
KRISTOFFER REITAN: It was good. Came off to a little bit of a slow start. Again, it’s been a little bit slow for me this week, but got it rolling a little bit on the back nine, so that felt good. Yeah, two eagles helped for sure.
Q. I was wondering the mental process going through 11, 12, 13, and what’s going on here, I mean recovering again and having another eagle after.
KRISTOFFER REITAN: Yeah, I didn’t really think too much about it. I was like, yes, finally, I dropped a putt. It was just a good feeling to hit some good golf shots, but also hole a few putts. Yeah, I haven’t really been doing enough of that the first couple of days.
I even changed my putter going into this round, just to get a different feel. I felt like that worked out a bit and was evident on the back nine at least.
Q. What were your thoughts entering the day? One of the last things McIlroy said last night was if the conditions are calm, you can go out and a lot of wedges and get it on the front nine. He didn’t say that you could get it on the back nine. How do you explain going out in 35, but 30 on the back? The eagles help clearly, but…
KRISTOFFER REITAN: Yeah, clearly, but I thought the front nine was gettable today. That’s why I was a little bit frustrated that I wasn’t able to take care of any of those chances.
Yeah, it can be gettable on the back nine, too. You have a drivable par-4. You have a par-5. If you hit a good drive, you can reach it fairly easily, especially with today’s wind.
Yeah, overall I think the pins today were a little bit more forgiving or they weren’t as perhaps crazy as they were a little bit the first few days where they were sitting on top of the ridges a lot. So I felt like the birdie tries that you did have didn’t necessarily have like a fall-off right behind the hole. So it was a little bit easier to be a little bit more aggressive with the putts.
Yeah, it is somewhat gettable on the back nine, too, if you hit some good shots. For me, holing some putts was crucial, because I haven’t really been taking care of many opportunities the first couple of days.
Q. How common is it for you to make a putter change mid-tournament? Is it one that you’ve played around with recently? Was it pretty foreign to you coming into this week? What was the thought process there?
KRISTOFFER REITAN: I mean, I’ve had that putter for 2 1/2 years. Then I changed before last week and putted well with it, but I don’t know, just something about the feel of it that, yeah, just didn’t really work.
It could have been my fault too easily, but it was an easy choice to give the old putter a new go today, and I’m happy that I did. It’s a little bit different and it feels like I can be a little bit more positive with it because the insert is really, really soft.
That was actually a good feeling to be able to actually put a proper stroke on it and not being afraid it’s going to run away from you, if you know what I mean.
Q. Just on the easier scoring we’re seeing so far today, how much of that is the wind being down and how much of that is the pins being a little bit more accessible?
KRISTOFFER REITAN: I think mainly — I think they’re probably halfway responsible, both of those two factors. At least I found the pins to be a little bit more accessible today, but obviously just when I was about to finish, the wind started to pump pretty hard and even swirling quite a bit.
So I don’t know how it’s going to look like this afternoon, but happy to get out early and try to take — or take advantage of the early morning conditions.
Q. What’s this week been like for you kind of bigger picture? I know you’re used to playing a lot of back-to-back golf tournaments, but this one must feel a little bit different coming off such a big week last week?
KRISTOFFER REITAN: A hundred percent. I mean, playing after a win, and especially on the PGA TOUR, is something completely new to me. So I’ve been trying my absolute hardest to just reset. It’s a difficult thing to do.
Yeah, I just — it’s also been my ninth tournament in ten weeks, so I feel a little bit drained at this point in time. But it’s still a major, so that gives you a little bit of extra energy. Hoping I can kind of try to keep going.
Yeah, I’ll have a couple of weeks off after this tournament is finished. It’s difficult to reset for sure, but I’m going to try my hardest, and hopefully I can be reset at this point and try to play some good golf tomorrow as well.
Chris Kirk
THE MODERATOR: Chris, 65 for you today. How would you summarize your third round?
CHRIS KIRK: Really good. Obviously finishing with a double on 18 stings a little bit, but played some really great golf, and nice to see some putts go in.
Putting has been a little bit of a struggle for me so far this year. It was nice to just have a day where I felt like I was seeing the lines good and rolling it nice.
Had a number of putts that, despite all the ones I made, still, a handful of other ones that looked like they could have gone in. So, yeah, it was nice.
Q. I’m just curious, it’s such a bunched leaderboard. What were you thinking last night? Were you thinking, just calm conditions, I can go out and maybe light up the front and take it from there?
CHRIS KIRK: Obviously that’s what you’re always trying to do on a Saturday morning, I guess. It’s funny when we played the — I can’t even remember what the tournament was called that we played here in 2011, and it was — the tournament was normally played at Congressional.
I played — I remember playing pretty decent the first couple days, but nothing special, and I shot 63 or 64 or something like that on Saturday, kind of the same deal, and played really great and played myself kind of up into contention.
So I have some good memories from that and was able to put a similar performance out there today.
Q. I was wondering when you finished 7, if the mindset is this is one of those days we’re going to let things happen and go with it, or you were pushing anything?
CHRIS KIRK: Yeah, I played really aggressive on the back nine. I was basically firing at every pin. That’s kind of always my mindset.
I’d say, when I’m not playing particularly well, I tend to play much more conservative, and when I do have a day where I’m hitting it really nice and making putts, then I’m going to just try to keep the pedal down as long as I can.
I was trying to make that putt from the front fringe on 18. It just doesn’t always work out that way. Yeah, I definitely kind of lean towards, when things are going well, to try and push it a little bit and get more aggressive.
Q. I see a smile on your face, so after that one on18, the disappointment didn’t last that much, I guess. You had a great round today, no?
CHRIS KIRK: Yeah, like I said, it stings to finish like that, but I think it will be pretty easy for me to look at this round and see all the really overwhelming positives much more so than that one.
Q. Chris, we’re already seeing a lot of lower scores out there today in addition to yours. What’s the biggest difference so far in today’s setup versus Thursday and Friday’s? Is it the pin locations or something else?
CHRIS KIRK: Pin locations is a big difference, for sure. There’s a handful of really tough ones out there still, but for the most part, they’re much, much more accessible than they have been the last few days.
The wind is definitely picking up out there, but it’s a little bit less wind and much warmer, which for me makes a massive difference just playing in warmer temperatures.
I was laughing, on Thursday I teed off in the morning, and it was really cold, and it was really cold yesterday in the morning as well. The difficulties I’ve had with my back over the last few years, those cold mornings are just so difficult.
Like I did such a great job in the gym and on the range Thursday morning and like really getting loose, really getting ready to go. On the 1st tee, I felt great. I piped it right down the middle on the 1st hole, and by the 3rd hole, I felt like I had a fat suit on, or like one of those T-Rex inflatables trying to swing the golf club, because it just was cold. The younger guys may not have that same problem, but it just really was a struggle just trying to get my body to move in those colder temperatures. So a nice warm day like today helps me a lot.
Joaquin Niemann
THE MODERATOR: Joaquín, 66 for you today. How would you summarize your third round?
JOAQUÍN NIEMANN: Good. Yeah, it was a good day. I feel like Saturday is always this — the way I finished yesterday, I wanted to go out there and put a low round. I feel like it’s hard to have that mentality knowing that it’s a really tough course, tough positions of the pins.
I had to kind of be even more patient and kind of have the same strategy as I did the first two days.
Yeah, I just started on the first hole, I just got a little bit too aggressive, missed on the wrong spot and start with a bogey there. I feel like that helped me out a little bit to kind of wake up and just keep the game plan, so yeah.
Q. Do you feel like this is the level of golf you’re playing right now? Like today reflects where you are in your golf and what you can do tomorrow?
JOAQUÍN NIEMANN: It’s a good day. It’s nice to be in that position. I feel like there’s a lot of golf to play yet. I would love to be in that position having nine holes to play.
So, yeah, I mean it’s fun. Definitely it’s going to be a little bit more tense. It’s going to be nerves for sure this afternoon and then tomorrow all the expectation, and I feel like that’s the way it always works.
Yeah, I feel like it’s looking — you know, I play good golf, and that’s it, nothing else.
Q. Can you talk about the second shot at 16?
JOAQUÍN NIEMANN: Yeah, I feel like I made eagle there, I think more because of the tee shot. I think it’s a really tough tee shot. The fairway is all left to right, went to the left, so I needed to hit a high draw. And I’ve been hitting more kind of like mid fly, carried fly all week. There I just had a good setup.
When I needed to, hit a beautiful draw, keep it on the fairway. Then I had a 9-iron. During practice round we thought that we couldn’t go for that pin because it’s pretty firm and it’s hiding right on the edge, and it’s not a good miss anywhere there. So thought about hitting the middle of the green and had a 9-iron there. I think it was the perfect number. And hit a beautiful shot.
Q. It’s been a bunched-up leaderboard this entire tournament. You’re in a chasing position going into tomorrow. How do you think it’s going to kind of play out in terms of like do you feel like —
JOAQUÍN NIEMANN: No idea.
Q. — it’s going to be a bunch of guys up there at the top even tomorrow?
JOAQUÍN NIEMANN: No idea. It’s going to be what it’s going to be. I just — I know what I need to do. One guy can just run away. It could be stuck in the leaderboard like it is right now. There’s many things to happen. There’s a lot of golf to play today for the leaders.
I just know that I’ve got to stay in my place, in my world, and try to execute the best I can and enjoy my lunch and my dinner now. There’s not anything else I can do.
Q. How much more comfortable are you now after 54 holes with this course than say —
JOAQUÍN NIEMANN: It’s a tough course. It’s a tough course. It’s really tough. The rough is brutal. I mean, you want to be on the fairway every time, so every tee shot is like you must hit the fairway so you can score.
Then the second shot is also the same. You’ve got to peripherally know what’s going on on the greens, where the uphill putt is, try to leave yourself that. And there’s some pin placement that’s are pretty crazy that we never thought they were going to put them, but they did. So, yeah, we had to play with it.
I feel like it’s just try to miss the best you can in a way, so yeah.
Scottie Scheffler
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
Related: Round 4 hole locations
