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MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 12, 2019

Tony Finau

Augusta, Georgia

Q. How do you feel about your round today overall?
TONY FINAU: Feels good. Started to turn over for me after 15. I had pulled my tee shot and I had nothing‑‑ I hit a high flop over the trees on the left side to layup and I still had 132 yards. And then that's when play got called. So not the shot you want to be thinking about.

Q. It was a good shot.
TONY FINAU: Third shot. The layup was good, but it gave me a chance. But the third shot‑‑ the wind switched on us so I made birdie and I thought that was huge, just coming in. I felt like I needed at least one, one more. I thought it was a good run.

Q. You're only four off the leaders right now.
TONY FINAU: Yeah. I feel like I played some good golf. I haven't had any great stretches. I birdied the par‑5s for the most part. I know it's a golf course I can score on. We've got 36 holes.

Q. (No microphone.)
TONY FINAU: That's good. I think it's going to be a fun weekend.

Q. Did the rain bother you at all the last three holes, did that make any difference?
TONY FINAU: Yeah, I mean on 15 I was not liking it. And it laid down, and it was pretty nice the last two holes.

Q. Hard to tell the difference from the first two rounds? How did it play? What was the difficulty, I guess, from the firmness to the pin locations that you experienced between Round 1 and Round 2?
TONY FINAU: Well, it's softer today. The course played a little longer. The ball wasn't rolling as much. But I feel like the firmness and the speed of the greens were exactly the same. Really fast and really good pins. I think the scores kind of tell you that. It's a really crowded leaderboard but the way they set the pins up, I don't think they wanted guys to go way too low too early. So it may change on the weekend, but I like how I've played this far. I'm draining it really good. If I can put together a really good round I'm going to put myself right in contention.

Q. So it's nice to go around the golf course without having to worry about your ankle?
TONY FINAU: Actually I didn't think about it, honestly. Yeah, it's been nice.

Q. Not having to worry about it?
TONY FINAU: Not having to worry about the ankle. It's been quite a different feel this year compared to last year. Last year I was thinking about my ankle quite a bit. The pain was there, especially on the weekend. But this year quite a bit different. And I'm a different player this year than I was this time last year. But piggybacking off that so far this year.

Q. Jason Day said with his back injury sometimes that can be a bit of a diversion. And you focus on trying to get around rather than thinking about the situation or results. I imagine that's what you experienced last year. Are you feeling different in that regard this year?
TONY FINAU: Yeah, a little bit different, yeah. Last year, I don't know if I felt the nerves as much. But I was focusing so much on the ankle. This year quite a bit different. The first tee shot was probably what I would have thought would have been how it would have been last year.
But I enjoy this golf course and just the atmosphere. There's nothing like it that we experience all year. Even the other three majors, they're great majors, but there's something special about this place, the patrons and the golf course. I've got 36 holes to make up four shots and I'm looking forward to the challenge.

Q. Your short game has been spot on. Are you pleased with how you're playing so far?
TONY FINAU: I am, yeah. I haven't hit it as close as I need to to score. And when I have, I haven't made the putts. So that hasn't all come together, but I do like‑‑ I love the way I'm driving the ball and I'm getting up and down for the most part around the greens. That's a recipe for success. If I hit the irons closer and make some putts and we can score. I know there's a 65 or 66 in me on the weekend and I'm going to need one of those if I'm going to win this thing.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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