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MASTERS TOURNAMENTApril 6, 2018Patrick ReedAugusta, Georgia MODERATOR: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Pleased to welcome Patrick Reed to the press center. Patrick followed his first round 69 with the low score of the day, a 66, that included three consecutive birdies, three different times during the round, holes 1 through 3, holes 7 through 9, and holes 13 through 15. Patrick, terrific round. Can you take us through both the highlights as you see them, as well as the challenges out there? PATRICK REED: You know, I think the biggest highlight was kind of getting off to the start I did. Hitting 3‑wood off the first, and yeah, it's a hole I've always loved to hit driver‑‑ want to hit driver on the hole, but I've always gotten myself in trouble for it. My wife always tells me it's a 3‑wood, hit 3‑wood. Finally I've listened to her. I've hit 3‑wood both days, just played down the middle of the fairway, and that front left flag, it's such a hard flag to get close to. You know, I was able to kind of hit wedge just to the right of it and probably about 15, 18 feet. I think that was kind of the crucial point, to make a putt like that where it's double‑breaking, so speed sensitive, and yeah, just kind of got my round started and just kind of got that confidence and that step that I needed going into the day, especially being last tee time off and seeing how the guys are kind of struggling out there and not really a lot of low scores early, guys seemed to be making bogeys, 1‑over, even, 1‑under here and there. To be able to get a birdie out early, especially on the first and knowing you're going into a par 5 and that if you hit it into the fairway, you're going to have a chance to go for it in two, just allowed the day to start out on the right foot. Q. Which is the more significant stat to you: 22 1‑putts or birdieing every par 5? PATRICK REED: I would probably say birdieing every par 5. You know, it's important to attack the par 5s and to make a lot of birdies there because you can make a lot of 1‑putts if you're leaving the ball in the right spots. Even if you're missing a lot of greens, but if you miss in the right spots, easy chips, you might make a lot of pars. To be able to go out and capitalize on those par 5s and to make a lot of birdies there, it kind of allows you to be really aggressive when you feel like you're really comfortable with a shot, or at the same time, even though you might have a short iron, because of what you're doing on the par 5s, you might play a little bit on the cautious side. So the par 5s are huge around here to be able to pick up ground on, and, you know, it's just one of those things that you kind of have to do it around here because you're not going to shoot a low score if you don't. Q. There are lots of guys who want to win majors, and then there are guys who know that they can win majors. Where are you on that spectrum, and why? PATRICK REED: Everyone wants to win, and if you don't believe you can win them, then you probably shouldn't be playing in them. I believe that if I play the golf that I know how to play, that I can win majors. And just one of those things that I have to go in and not get ahead of myself and go into tomorrow and just take it shot by shot, hole‑by‑hole, like I've been doing. 36 holes, there's a lot of holes left, and I just need to go out and keep to my game plan, play some solid golf and just go out and continue shooting in the 60s and see if it gets the job done. Q. Historically speaking, you and Augusta National didn't seem compatible your first four times here. No rounds in the 60s. What's changed this week? PATRICK REED: Yeah, well, I mean, any time you get to play, the more you get to play out here, the more comfortable you get with the golf course, the more you kind of find little subtleties and nuances that you need to know about it. And I also feel like I'm in a better frame of my golf game and kind of mentally coming in. I feel like I've done all the work. I feel like I know where I need to leave the golf ball, and most of the pins out here, and it's now just going out here and executing the game plan and staying disciplined enough to actually stick to that game plan. I've been doing that the first two days, and it's allowing me to kind of attack this golf course and not make a lot of mistakes. Q. You've been vocal about obviously wanting to do better in majors in the past, and you did that late last year, and I think this is the first time you might be leading in one of these events. Do you envisage it being any different tonight sleeping on the lead, if you will, in such a big event? PATRICK REED: Not really. I slept on the co‑lead at Chambers Bay, U.S. Open. I finished second at PGA where I had a chance to win a golf tournament towards the end if I made a couple more birdies. It's not a position I feel it's really any different. It's just kind of one of those things, go back, probably have dinner, hang out with the kids, play with the kids. And, you know, the only thing is when I wake up in the morning, I get to play with the kids a little bit in the morning rather than come to the golf course and practice. Going to treat it just like another day, go out and try to do what I've been doing and stick to my game plan and try to make some more birdies. Q. Given the time you spent in this city during college, what does this place mean to you? PATRICK REED: It's Augusta National. I mean, this golf course is one of the best that we ever play, and, you know, it's a place that with the history that's around Augusta and Augusta National, to be able to drive down Magnolia Lane and see just the perfect grass and really just the lush, green fairways, it's basically golf's heaven. You go out and you have to play well, and it's just a place that is very special to me, special probably to a lot of the guys. Just go out and play some good golf. Q. When you were at Augusta State, did you sit around with the guys or in private just dream of leading the Masters? I think everybody would normally think that maybe, and here you are? PATRICK REED: Are you talking my teammates, did we sit around? Q. When you were there, did you contemplate what it would be like to play here and lead? Nobody thinks of playing here and not doing well, so was there... PATRICK REED: That was always something I thought about ever since I was really small, as a little kid, just growing up through my whole entire life. I don't know how many times on putting greens I was like, all right, well, this putt is to win the green jacket. It's one of those things that all kids growing up think about, and to have the reality to be able to sit up here after Friday and having the lead in the tournament, it's great. But, you know, we're only halfway. I've got a long way to go and just need to continue doing what I'm doing. Q. Can you tell us a little bit about coming here as a college player and what's a favorite story or two of how you experienced that way? PATRICK REED: Favorite story, the golf course was so long when we played during college because it was always pretty cool and cold. So the ball just wasn't traveling. Fairways were softer, so the ball wasn't running. The shortest club I hit into 11 was a hybrid. I mean, you just don't see that. You get here and my first Masters, I came, I was like, man, this golf course is going to be so long, it's going to be so hard. And then all of a sudden you hit some tee shots and you're like, wow, I can get to the par 5s, I can get to some of these holes. Now, all of the sudden, it wasn't the length that was the issue. It's now, well, the greens are a lot firmer and a lot faster, and I had to figure out the greens. There was a lot of times we came out and played with the members, it was just an awesome week, to be able to go out, one, to be able to play Augusta National, but also to spend time with some of the members and get to know them and get to know kind of just Augusta National in general. I mean, everyone knows it from the tournament, but what is it during an off‑week when the tournament's not here? You know, the way the guys are in the locker rooms, the way all the staff is, they are great, and they treat us with same respect, whether it's tournament week or not tournament week. Q. If I can follow that up, so did you have some expectations for yourself coming here the first time because you had already experienced it? PATRICK REED: Coming in, coming in before I played a practice round, my expectations were par is going to be a good score. Once you play your first couple practice rounds and see how much shorter it was playing, because it was firmer, faster, and then how tough the greens were, then you just didn't really know. Just coming in with an empty frame of mind and trying to see‑‑ kind of post some numbers and kind of see how it's going. You know, I've definitely learned throughout the past four times here at Augusta that you really just need to‑‑ you just need to stick to your game plan and play your game and hope you can go shoot as many rounds in the 60s as possible and, you know, try not to make those big, catastrophic mistakes. Q. Want to go back a little bit farther than Augusta State. Do you remember 8th grade career day and signing a ball for someone and saying you're going to be a pro golfer one day? PATRICK REED: I don't. That was so long ago. Q. I think the person still has the ball. But it speaks to your confidence. How long have you had the confidence to know that‑‑ or do you remember thinking, this is what I can do or want to do as‑‑ with my career? PATRICK REED: I mean, the kind of player I've always been, I've always been really confident that I can always play at the highest level. But reality probably set in whenever I was in high school and I was winning All‑State championships, I was winning a lot of golf tournaments in high school and when I got to college, and playing the way I did throughout college and through the NCAAs. That's when the reality really set in that you can always believe that you're‑‑ you know, you're good enough to play and good enough to compete at the highest level and win golf tournaments at the highest level, but to actually go and do it is one thing. You know, I felt like just the confidence I had built through high school and college golf kind of brought me into the kind of frame golf I've been playing recently and playing ever since I turned professional, and it's allowed me to really believe in myself that I can compete out here, win golf tournaments and compete and hopefully win majors. Q. Probably people know you as well from The Ryder Cup as anything else. You've succeeded there. Does that success in that intense pressure translate to a major championship at all? PATRICK REED: You could say that. I mean, it's hard to tell. I mean, I try to treat every event, whether it's a major, regular event, or Ryder Cup or something like that, like it's a normal event. Of course, Ryder Cup, just it gets you kind of high‑‑ high adrenaline, just kind of craziness going on. But it's just one of those things that, to me, it's still golf. You go out, you play golf, and you just try to go stick to your game plan, shoot as low a number as possible. And hopefully at the end on Sunday afternoon, it's good enough. Q. I wondered if you could elaborate on your wife convincing you to hit 3‑wood off the first tee? And does she club you often? PATRICK REED: She should (laughter). Every time I step up on No. 1, I always try to hit driver. I hit it in the left trees or I actually hit it straight, and you think it's going to be perfect, and it's just in the left rough. I'm a drawer of the golf ball. That fairway is so narrow if you're drawing a driver because you have to fit it between the bunker. I've hit it in the right bunker. I've hit it all over the place. I've never hit that green when I've hit driver off the tee. I usually make a mess of that hole. So yeah, the game plan last year was to hit 3‑wood every day, and I get here and it's blowing 30, and I'm like, well, if I hit 3‑wood, I'm going to leave myself 4‑iron into that green. So what do I do? I hit driver and hit it in the left trees. I'm only hitting 3‑wood off that hole. And Kessler knows, don't allow me to pull anything else, and if I'm going to pull something else, pull 3‑iron. Just don't hit driver. And because of that, I've hit the fairway both days and I made birdie today. Yesterday I didn't hit the green but I left myself in a spot where I knew I could get up‑and‑down. You know, that's just been key, just get the ball in play off the tee and attack the golf course from there. It's worked so far, and I just need to continue sticking to that game plan and execute that game plan the best I can. Q. Are you a mudder? Do you play well in the bad conditions? PATRICK REED: I am from Texas. It blows 40 and rains every day it seems like. I'd say I like it when it's challenging. Q. There's eight major champions in the top 30 behind you. What does that mean for your approach this weekend? PATRICK REED: Nothing. I'm just going to go ahead and do the same thing I've been doing. My game plan has gotten me to this point, and I have 36 more holes to stick to my game plan. And the biggest thing is to execute and stay patient out there. Give myself opportunities to make birdies and try to roll in some putts. Q. It was a long round. I think you waited ten minutes to hit your tee shot on 15, at least. What do you do to stay in the right frame of mind? Is that frustrating? PATRICK REED: You expect it. After watching the golf after I got done yesterday and seeing the final group at 7:10 was still on the golf course, you knew that it was going to be a long day. Knowing that, just a lot of small talk with the guys we were playing with, small talk with our caddies, just trying to stay loose and just wait for those flags to go away so you can tee it up. Q. In college sports, you don't often see a mid‑major program win back‑to‑back national championships. When you arrived at Augusta State, did you think you were capable of elevating the program to that level, or did you even shock yourself? PATRICK REED: Well, you know, when I was coming to Augusta State, the coach always preached to me that we just need one more really good player. You know, because they had Henrik and they had some solid, probably three and four, five guys, but they needed that one extra spark. For me to be able to come in, and knowing that if I play the golf I'm supposed to, I can compete and win golf tournaments at that level, as well. I was able to kind of feed off Henrik and I battling back and forth, and when I would play well, it seems that he would get going and start playing some solid golf, and vice versa. And because of that, I mean, our one‑two punch I felt like could hang with any college in the nation. You know, I felt like we had one of the solid‑‑ most solid probably No. 5 guys, which is so crucial, especially in match‑play format now at the NCAAs, because there was no throw‑aways for us. We had such a solid 5 guy that even if our other guys were struggling, he didn't really shoot very high and didn't really shoot very low, just very steady, 73, 74 shots. To have a that in your 5 guy is crucial, and to have the one‑two punch of myself and Henrik seemed just to be kind of that mix. Q. It was tough out there this morning and par was a good score. Curious how much you watched the golf this morning, and are you surprised in any way that you can birdie half the holes out here today? PATRICK REED: I did, I watched a lot of it. I normally do. It did look tough. I think it just kind of settled me out going to that first tee knowing I could play pretty conservative and get the putter going, and for that, if you roll in a long putt here or there, you're going to build some momentum. I think the biggest thing was after birdieing the first, being able to get that first birdie out of the way on No. 1 and going into that par 5 No. 2 where the wind was favorable for my draw and being downwind, I almost felt like if I didn't birdie that hole, it was kind of a mistake. To be able to get off to 3‑under through three start, you know, couldn't really have built my confidence any higher than that. Going into a day that you know birdies were going to be tough and getting off to that quick of a start, it just allowed me to feel like I can play pretty aggressive because I feel like I'm putting well, hitting the ball solid, and with doing that, it just allowed me to get a little bit more on the offensive side rather than kind of always playing to the cautious side. MODERATOR: Last pairing of the day. Patrick, thank you very much for your time, and best of luck this weekend. PATRICK REED: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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