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RBC HERITAGE

April 16, 2017

William McGirt

Hilton Head, South Carolina

Q. Talk about today. Until the last hole there you really had a chance. You played great all day long. You had a chance to win this thing.
WILLIAM McGIRT: Yeah, I hit it great all day. I made one bad swing off the tee on 12. Took my medicine, made my bogey. But I've never left that many putts three inches short for a week. Seemed like I never could get the speed. And seemed like they got slower every day, honestly. I just kept hitting my lines and didn't get it there. Probably it was coming off last week. Everyone I talked to said they felt like they were slower than they've ever been this week. They were rolling beautifully.

Conditions were perfect this week. It was by far the best week in my seven years playing here. Usually we're wearing rain gear for warmth and tightening up your hat a couple of notches. But it was a beautiful week and a lot of fun.

Q. You're walking up 18 and they introduced you from Spartanburg. Took your hat off. That had to be special. I could see it in your face?
WILLIAM McGIRT: Oh, yeah. We only get to play in front of the kind of home fans a couple of times a year; here and Charlotte. Last week I had a bunch of friends in Augusta. But it's pretty special to get to play every now and then in front of your friends and family.

And one of these years we're going to win one of these tartan jackets and keep it in our state for a year. We tried. I don't know who is winning right now. Does Wesley still have a chance?

Q. Yes.
WILLIAM McGIRT: Good. Good, maybe we'll keep it in there this year, then.

Q. Talk about the rest of the year now. You're playing solid golf. You have to be really confident about the rest of the season?
WILLIAM McGIRT: Yeah, I finally feel like it's starting to come around. I spent the first half of the year kind of messing with too much equipment, trying to get a little bit better. And finally had enough of it about a month ago and went back to all the old stuff that I played well with last year. And it's finally coming around in shape. I've got a few things that I'm still not comfortable with. But we'll get there eventually.

Q. Overall how do you feel about your game right now after this?
WILLIAM McGIRT: Yeah, I played really well this year. Tee to green I gave myself so many chances over the weekend, I just couldn't get it to the hole. Seemed like I left everything a turn or two short dead center. I hit enough good putts on the back nine there today to run away with this thing.

I feel like everything is progressing nicely. And hopefully the next couple of months will be as good as they were last year.

Q. Is this one of those frustrating days on the greens as far as being in the hunt and being that close?
WILLIAM McGIRT: Yeah. Especially you hit it 12 feet on 10 and 11, 13, 14, 15, looking at all those putts. You've got to make a couple of them, but every one of them is uphill. First downhill putt I had since the front nine was on 16. Got it to the hole and made it. Might be something to it. I kept trying to hit it above the hole.

They're rolling great, they were just slow. I couldn't hit it hard enough. Like I said earlier, coming off of last week everything is going to be slow. But everybody I talked to this week felt like they were slower than they have been the last couple of years. But they're definitely the best condition I've ever been in. The whole golf course, everything is perfect this week. I just didn't do a very good job of making the adjustment.

Q. Seems like a lot of guys struggled to make putts on the back nine. Did the pin positions or wind or anything --
WILLIAM McGIRT: I don't think it had anything to do with that. I think everybody struggled with the same thing, which is speed. Did you watch how many left them short? I guarantee you it was a bunch. I think that was the biggest thing.

Q. You go home and think, hey, great week, tied for third, another nice check. Or do you go home and think I might have let one really get away there?
WILLIAM McGIRT: Well, a little bit of both. Go home knowing that I played well two weeks in a row. And I had a chance to win here, but kind of half pissed off because I didn't get it done. When I hit the shots good enough to win the golf tournament and really hit a bunch of good putts, and I thought I made the putts on 10, 11, 13, 14, 15. I had a chance to shoot 29 or 30 pretty easy on the back nine. And just couldn't quite get it to the hole.

Q. Tee to green, you would be hard pressed to find anybody that hit it better today and even this week. Talk about your swing coming into the tournament?
WILLIAM McGIRT: Feels better. Still not a hundred percent comfortable with it. I got away with some shots out here this week. I've got a week off. I might hit a golf ball or two, might not. We'll see.

Q. We all know how much fun you had at Augusta. You come here and contend in front of the home crowd. Is this about the best two weeks you had outside of the win?
WILLIAM McGIRT: Yeah, honestly I put last week ahead, almost ahead, but definitely equal with winning Memorial. This week it was more of you know you've got a chance to win and give yourself the opportunity, just don't get it done. So now it's more -- I have a four hour pissed off ride home. It's just the way it is. I felt like especially going into today I kind of felt like being four back, I still felt like I had a really good chance to win it. I couldn't get it in the hole.

Q. Keeping your eye on the leaderboards, and seeing that nobody was running away with this thing?
WILLIAM McGIRT: I couldn't find one on the front nine. Until 11 somebody yelled I was one back I had no clue. I couldn't find a leaderboard anywhere, and if you did it was on advertisement, so it wasn't doing a lot of good.

But I gave myself plenty of chances. I was pretty aware of where I was. And like I say, I kept hitting good shots and felt like I was hitting good putts, and just couldn't get it to go in. It's golf.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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