MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 6, 2021

Mike Weir

Quick Quotes

Q. Woosie said something yesterday about how this course kind of fetches the best out of your game. Do you feel like, even at this age, when you come here, you find a little something extra?

MIKE WEIR: I think so. I think it brings out creativity for sure. I think is just tests all aspects of your game, and you have to be really on, and the margin for error is so slim. So I think you get your focus and your attention to detail a lot more. So I think it just brings that creativity, and I guess the experience of playing here and knowing all the little shots and you remember all the shots you need. So everything gets heightened a little bit. So, yeah, it brings out a lot of good things.

Q. Can you get too creative at times here, though?

MIKE WEIR: You know, I think simplicity is good at some points. There's many options on the greens. If you're just off the green, you can chip it with a 60-degree or bump it or putt it. I found this week, the way the ball's rolling, that putting it just off the fringe is good. Maybe that's a little simpler than trying to hit some crazy creative little flop shot or something.

Q. Speaking of something that's not simple, have you paid attention much to what Bryson's been doing over the last year or so?

MIKE WEIR: Yeah, for sure.

Q. You're a guy that's tried to chase speed and get longer, and you have, but what's your appreciation or amazement with what he's been doing?

MIKE WEIR: Well, it's amazing. I haven't really -- I've never gone down that road. I've just tried to chase consistency. What he's doing is great. He's doing it his way, and he believes -- I think that's the biggest thing, if you believe what you're doing is right, you have conviction in it, and he certainly does.

So to put on that much speed is pretty amazing. That's a lot of work. A lot of admiration for someone who puts in that amount of work to get that kind of speed.

Q. When you see him carrying the bunker on 1 here --

MIKE WEIR: Did he? I haven't seen it.

Q. Yeah, but knowing he's going to try to do that and he's done it, do you think that could maybe cause some concern for people?

MIKE WEIR: For like just --

Q. Just for purists or people who love the course.

MIKE WEIR: I think sports evolves. All sports evolve. There's better athletes in every sport you watch. You watch NHL Network and you watch the classic games versus today's game and the evolution of the players, it's quite remarkable there too. You watch Connor McDavid skate compared to the guys back in the day.

I mean, there's evolution in sport. Not everybody's doing it. He's the only one doing it. Some other guys that have tried, they kind of struggled with it. So he's figured out a good recipe for him.

Q. What's your take on the whole distance debate? Are you a roll-back guy? Are you not? Where do you kind of stand? You have more perspective than a lot of people who have commented on it.

MIKE WEIR: I don't know about roll-back. Again, I'm with athletes evolve and we figure it out. The teaching's better, the equipment's better, just everything's better. Agronomy is better, so it's more challenging. The golf courses can be more difficult through agronomy and everything.

I think we'll figure out a way to have a nice healthy balance with the evolution of golf courses and the power game that the game is, but still you've got to get the ball in the hole, and he does other things well. He wedges it well and putts well. If everybody could do it, everybody would. He seems to be the only guy right now who can put the whole package together.

Q. How's your game right now?

MIKE WEIR: It's good. I feel good.

Q. Mike, how was the round out there today with those two cohorts of yours?

MIKE WEIR: It was fun. It's always fun to play with those guys. Always impressed with their games. Their games look great. Yeah, we just had a good time out there. Corey may have skinned us for, you know, $2 or something. Two here and there.

Q. How do you feel now about your game compared to five years ago, coming into this tournament?

MIKE WEIR: Yeah, it's quite a bit different than five years ago. I feel much better about things. Just at a great place in my life. 50 years old is good. I'm enjoying playing the Champions Tour, but coming back to play here as past champion is always special.

I'm in that nice place in the middle where I watched the Mark O'Mearas and Nick Prices and Greg Normans and José María, who's won here. I'm somewhere in the middle with Mickelson and Tiger, and then we get the young guys we were talking about, Patrick Reed and Bubba Watson won and Spieth, seeing just how the game's changed over the various years. Fun to be in the middle there and watch but still be competitive. I feel like if I play really well, I can play well here.

Q. How would you gauge a successful week this week?

MIKE WEIR: Geez, I don't know. I think a good high finish, I don't know. I mean, you never know. I like to keep my mind open. If I play well and I'm in a good position going into the weekend and the conditions favor me, you never know what I could do on the weekend.

But it would have to be a very special week, obviously with the distance I'm giving up. But all aspects of my game feel pretty good.

Q. You've been around this tournament for a long time. What do you see in this golf course? How does it play compared to other years?

MIKE WEIR: It's finally back to having a little heat on it. The fairways are running nicely, but the greens are firming up. The faster greens have a little more pace to them now. You really have to think. I mean, those landing areas shrink down when the greens get firmer like this, and the precision shot making is heightened.

So I think Augusta has done a great job. The course is as good as I've seen it in a long time. I think it's going to be a really exciting tournament. It's not going to be 20-under. I'd say anywhere from 10 to 14 would be a really, really good number, and I think you'll see, if we get a little variable winds out here, you'll see some tough things happen.

Q. You talked about your chances going in here. Would you be surprised if Mac or Corey was in the hunt on Sunday afternoon?

MIKE WEIR: No, I wouldn't be. I told them out there, I said, you guys are ready. You've got the experience now. You've been out on TOUR long enough. You've played enough big tournaments. You've got to have that self-belief.

I think they are. I think they're both ready to do it. They're both swinging well. They're both coming in with good form. Their confidence has got to be high. I hope for good things for them.

Q. Can you tell me about your new relationship with Golf Town?

MIKE WEIR: Yeah, Golf Town, exciting to sign with them and hopefully do some fun creative co-things with Golf Town once things open up and I'm able to get up to Canada.