MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 6, 2021

Webb Simpson

Quick Quotes

Q. So can you just, first of all, talk about how you're finding the golf course and the conditions this week.

WEBB SIMPSON: Yeah, golf course is awesome. It reminds me of Saturday, Sunday at the Masters a few years ago when we had dry weather. It's been a few years since it's been like this. The greens are already showing some brown, but the course is perfect. It really is. They've done an awesome job.

I think we all wondered what it would be like after -- I think they probably did their overseeding a little early to get ready for November, but it's great.

Q. Is it easy to forget about November because it was such a one-off and remember this as the Masters?

WEBB SIMPSON: You know, it's been interesting because November is a Masters that we'll probably never see again. You know, flying hybrids, 5-woods, 3-woods to the hole and the ball stopping. So it's good, I think, to forget about that because that's not our normal Masters.

So, yeah, it's in a way relearning the nuances of -- we even changed some of our chipping spots around the greens that in November were fine, pretty easy to get up-and-down. Today very difficult. So a little bit of relearning, I think.

Q. You gained three-quarters of a shot per round on the par-5s at Augusta. What is your secret to success on the par-5s here?

WEBB SIMPSON: Well, I think, one, it helps that they're my favorite par-5s in the world, especially 13. But we've always felt like, you know, especially on 13, a little bit on 2, that we're going to position ourselves off the tee -- I've laid back on 2 to stay on top. On 13, I've hit 5-wood where a lot of guys hit driver. So I think there, those holes especially, I take the mentality if I can just get it in play, I'm going to have a birdie opportunity, and that's led to a bunch of birdies and some eagles over the years.

Q. Can there be a temptation to be too artistic around here sometimes and sometimes overthink a couple of shots?

WEBB SIMPSON: I think so. You're tapping into a part of your brain that we don't use a whole lot.

It's amazing some of these putts from 30 feet playing at 15 feet out. So when you do get a straight putt, you've got to remind yourself you have these putts all the time. Maybe not here as much, but, yeah, you need to tap in that side of your kind of artistic mindset around the greens because there's so many shots you can play, and you really have to dial it in to see what's going to give you the best opportunity to save par.

Q. Was there a piece of advice years ago that you relied on?

WEBB SIMPSON: Yes.

Q. What was it?

WEBB SIMPSON: I actually didn't get it directly. It was indirectly from Phil Mickelson. He said every hole here gives you a bail-out. Every hole there's a safe side of the hole, where that's not typically thought of at Augusta. Everyone thinks of Augusta as, you miss the green, you're going to have a really tough chip.

If you know where to miss it, for example, No. 9, anywhere left to a left pin is pretty much dead, but if you miss it right of the green, and you got 20 yards over there right of the green -- hopefully, you don't hit any people -- but it's an easy up-and-down.

So when I took that mentality a few years ago, it really changed the way my bad rounds started becoming even par 1-over, and my good rounds, I was starting to shoot in the 60s more just because I was playing smarter and missing it where I needed to. Thanks.