TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP

June 28, 2026

Collin Morikawa

TPC River Highlands

Quick Quotes

Q. What do you make of those conditions and seeing everybody have to battle with that?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, I was really, really happy. Obviously the way I finished, 16 -- 17, I thought I made birdie, but sometimes they don't go in. Then 18. But then, yeah, I was selfishly hoping they would keep playing, but you want everyone to be safe and it's a waiting game now. Obviously it's going to be getable, soft greens, not like it wasn't getable before. But yeah, right, now just ate an ice cream sandwich, kind of just enjoying some time, just waiting a little bit more time to get back out there to see if I need to rewarm-up the body.

Q. Started the day nine shots back. What was the mindset coming into today?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Just have a good round. This was my third week in a row. The thought of actually having a chance, waiting it out, didn't really cross my mind. But I told my wife earlier this morning that, you know, let's shoot 61 and end the three-week stretch on a good note and sometimes the way you manifest things works out.

Q. Bogey-free final round, with a birdie on the last. How do you feel about that final round?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: I mean, I was really happy. The goal -- I told my wife this morning the goal was to shoot 61 today. And you never know how things are going to go, but I think starting, when you're that far behind, you just want to play a good final round. We've given ourselves a chance and all we can do is wait. But at the end of the day it's like, now it's, like, I want it to happen. I want to be able to have a chance to hopefully win this tournament. So we'll see how the guys finish out, but pleased with kind of how everything played out today.

Q. Getting on 18, what was the talk, were you talking with your caddie, like, one more birdie would be nice to get into the clubhouse?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, we knew that making par on 15's a little unfortunate, but it's an incredible drivable par-4. After missing the putt on 17, we knew it's just one more chance. I was watching leaderboards, I knew where I stood. Yeah, the rain, I was debating how much I should wait to see if I could wait it out. Didn't look like it was getting any better, but it didn't look like it was getting any worse. So thankfully just, numbers worked out great. I've been working on my fairway bunkers over the last week and just played it to perfection. At the end of the day, you still have to make the putt and it was nice to make a putt on 18 like that.

Q. Take me through that shot. What's it like when you hit that kind of shot out of the bunker, it's starting to rain, a lot of stuff coming down?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, the thoughts were everywhere. But for me it was focusing on kind of the stance I had. My heels were packed up against it. At first -- it was like 140 yards, at first I thought I was a little bit in between a pitching wedge and 9-iron. The wind was a little bit behind us. I just didn't feel comfortable at first with a pitching wedge, just because I felt like the way I'm swinging it, I'm not able to give a hundred percent swings. So, ball below your feet, that's kind of the worst for your back and putting the stress on that. But the way the wind was, if there was any wind, the wetness, the hardness of the sand, just played into my favor, I just had to make good contact. I flushed it, it looked great, really, really pleased with that shot because truthfully it could have gone anywhere, I could have bladed it in front of me, but put a lot of work into that.

Q. When did you know it was good?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Immediately after contact. I knew it was kind of the right weight, it was just whether, how close it was going to be. Honestly, in the air you're kind of begging for it to go in, I mean, it looked that good. But it was pissing rain, so it was nice to have a shot like that and be able to have a good look at it.

Q. Week three in a row playing, what does a round like this do or things you've been practicing kind of finally come into play?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, really I haven't been able to practice as much as I would have liked. Still kind of dealing with the back stuff a little bit. It's a lot better than what it was at the Masters, even through the PGA, but still not comfortable. I'm still kind of dancing around things. Each shot I'm out there I'm focused so much on making contact versus hitting shots, and that's a hard way to play. But thankfully the game feels good enough where I'm able to put some scores together like this, and I think I'll be able to use this heading into The Open Championship. When you go over there, you have to hit quality golf shots, you can't miss it out there. I've seen both ends of it. So, you know, being this is my last round until then, a lot to draw upon going overseas and hopefully we can use that momentum essentially for a few weeks from now.

Q. Play is literally about to restart. What does this next little bit waiting around look like for you?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, just same thing. Just wait inside, slowly get moving. I'll see where the leaderboard stacks up. There's a few guys that can definitely make some moves. If I give myself 40 minutes to slowly work my way out, I'll be fine. But we'll see how everything plays out. It's just kind of a waiting game right now.

Q. When is the last time you recall posting a number and waiting around the clubhouse on a Sunday?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: I don't think I've ever done this, I honestly don't. I feel like the weeks I played well I've kind of been near the lead or at least the last few groups. Yeah, it's a weird position to be in, but it's a great position, there's a lot worse problems you can have. So I'm happy, really, really happy with the way I finished and hopefully we give ourselves one last chance to somehow be on top.