	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 10, 2016

Bryson DeChambeau

Augusta, Georgia

THE MODERATOR: Good about afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. We welcome Bryson DeChambeau to the conference. Bryson is now the low amateur for the 2016 Masters, and finished his 18th hole with a great birdie putt.
So congratulations, Bryson, and we wish you the best of luck going forward.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Thank you.

Q. A day like this, you were out there chipping on 6, you had quite a nice up‑and‑down on 6, and then 7, one heck of an up‑and‑down there. Talk about the way you managed yourself around this course today specifically.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Well, first and foremost, I was tired today. I didn't manage my energy very well beginning this week and that's just experience. Wish I could change that and I think I'd be in a different position now.
Going back to getting up‑and‑down on a couple key holes, shoot, getting up‑and‑down on 15, 16, 17, to save‑‑ well, 15 for birdie, 16 for par, and then 17 for par over the green, I caught a flyer out of the rough and went long and was able to get that 30‑yard pitch shot on the green somehow. It was very difficult to even keep that ball on the green, and then made that 15‑footer and then made a 20‑footer on the last hole for birdie.
I personally can't believe that that ball was up there first and then it started trickling down as I walked up. I was like, oh, look at that. It was pretty exciting to see that ball come down and to make that putt to end my amateur career was pretty special.

Q. Were you thinking about that this is my very last putt for my amateur career?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Funny enough, no. Just thought it was another putt. Hit it and it went in, and I went, wow, that's pretty special. I realized it after, not before.

Q. Can you just summarize your week here, first Masters?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Well, Augusta National has been too nice to me. They've allowed me to play quite a few times and get ready for this event, so first and foremost, thank you to them.
Again, going back to preparation, the only thing I would change is how I spent my time resting, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.
Unfortunately messed up and, you know what, I'm 22, I'm still young and learning how to manage my time. That's the one thing that I think I'd change. I don't know if that answered your question.

Q. How so? How did you mess up?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Well, again, we just‑‑ I thought that, okay‑‑ well, first and foremost, it came about because of a club change a little bit. I was trying to make sure that these irons were perfect for me, which they ultimately were. And we just kind of messed up on that because it came Monday and, look, I was still trying clubs out. So that Monday, I wasn't going to play, but I decided to go play nine holes, and wasn't the best decision.
I mean, the only reason why we did go play nine holes was because I needed to check out those golf clubs. And that was a bit disappointing.
Then we go to Wednesday and I also played nine holes in the morning, which was fine, but at the same time, I should have been resting. Ultimately my body took a toll this week and my hip. Really haven't talked about it too much, but my hip gave out the second round, on 15, and ultimately led me to pull those two shots. I wouldn't say that's the full reason, but at the same time, it did affect me. It was unfortunate, but again, it's a learning experience.

Q. Which hip?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Right. Right hip, yeah.
But it's better now and I'll be ready for next week.

Q. You just alluded to it, next week. Are you ready to be a pro now? Kind of a rhetorical question.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I think so. I hope so. I've had six or seven months to prepare to be professional. I've played in numerous professional events, and traveled across the world trying to gain experience, and to end it off here at the Masters is something special, so yes.

Q. Speaking of Harbour Town, how could you come down from the Masters and this high that you're on, and kind of get back in the swing of things?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Well, I think, got to be careful with how I say it, but it's just another golf tournament next week. I've got to go prepare just like I would for this week, or this past week, excuse me.
You know, this one's a major, obviously, so I prepared a little bit differently. But next week, I'll have contour maps, I'll have slope numbers, so I won't have to spend as much time out there as I did for this golf course.

Q. Just curious to get your take on, there seemed to be a lot of attention, curiosity about you from the galleries, kind of really throughout the week. Just wanted to get your thoughts on, could you sense that and sort of what do you make of it?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, I think there was some hype, I guess, about me playing pretty well in the first two rounds.
It was fun to see, first and foremost, and they were too nice to me. They could have been, oh, this guy's weird and said some mean stuff. But they said, oh, this guy is different, he's cool, I want to know more about him. That was nice of them to do that.
I hope to project a decent image of myself. I'm not trying to project anything else. So in regards to that, I think that it's just fun to interact with the fans, and I love doing that, and it's a part of what I do.
I mean, I won't forget, on 15 yesterday, when I even made the double, it was my second shot. Pulled it left and hit a‑‑ took a 5‑iron out, because that's what I was going to lay up with. Had to move some people back and the wind changed a little bit, so I stepped off the ball. And I moved a pine cone behind the thing and kind of flinged it over to the gallery. I said, "Oh, I'm sorry, sorry, sorry." I forgot we weren't in a college event (laughter), because that's what I've been used to.
But it's fun just interacting with the fans out there, and it's something I enjoy. So it was great to get to see everybody have a positive image of myself, which was nice.

Q. Speaking of interactions, what about the overall interactions with some of your peers and pros out here now, just this week, how would you sum that up?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Well, it was great. Brooks today was a gentleman. He was very nice to me and respectful. We had some nice talks, and just, look, we're walking in the park, hitting a golf ball around in a nice place. He was super nice and Jordan was nice, and the rest of the guys were gentlemen, as well. They don't look down on me, which is great. They don't say anything bad about me, to my knowledge, which is nice. And I hope to be friends with all of them out there.
Look, it's just a game of golf, and yes, we want to win. We want to beat each other, but at the same time, it's just golf, and if we can get past that and say, hey, look, let's be friends. Let's still have fun and let's go after it, that's all that matters. That's what golf is about; it's a gentlemen's sport.

Q. Now that you've played the course under tournament conditions, are there any different holes that you will play differently next time around?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Well, I definitely wouldn't leave that wedge shot short on 15 yesterday. I just made a dumb error hitting it right at the flag, and then not hitting it crisply and wind picking up and it landed two yards short with spin and it was gone. You just can't allow for that to happen.
If that happens and you err on the long side, then it's right next to the hole. If it's nice, you've still got to putt from ten feet down the hill.
There's just a few management errors that we had out there. I mean, I could have hit 3‑wood yesterday on 13 instead of hitting driver and being stuck right behind a tree. Just a few things that could have gone either way that would have allowed me to be right up there next to Spieth. But unfortunately, it is what it is, and learn from it and hopefully do better next time I'm here.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297