MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 6, 2021

Patrick Reed

Quick Quotes

Q. I hear it's playing nice and firm and fast out there.

PATRICK REED: Yeah, the golf course is firming up nicely. I was here last week a couple days, and the week before you always expect it to be a little softer, and when I got here Sunday night and was on property Monday, you could already start to see the greens starting to brown out. They're getting some firm bounces in certain areas, and that's what we want. We want this golf course playing firm and fast with really tough pins because that's what we expect. We expect this place to play hard and we expect it to be a mental and physical grind.

Q. When you show up here, what's the mental approach you take?

PATRICK REED: For me I try to treat it like it's a normal event. I try to not get into all the hype and the extra pressures that the first major bring. I try to come in and just kind of do my normal routines on Monday through Wednesday and try to keep it as loose and as light as I can to keep the energy for the week.

Q. How close were the conditions yesterday and today to the practice rounds the year you won?

PATRICK REED: Feels pretty close. You know, I feel like right now they're a little bit more brown, the greens are, with a little bit more brown tint to them, which just means they're going to get firmer and firmer, but they're rolling so true and they're -- I feel like they're right where they want them. They very easily could make this place really, really fast, really firm. They don't really have to do much to it. It's going to just naturally do that.

For me I feel like it's going to be a perfect test this year.

Q. Do you feel like -- do you hope in the future when people talk about Dustin's victory, it's not always with the caveat, well, it was in November?

PATRICK REED: He's a Masters champion. He is now owner of a green jacket. It doesn't matter what time it is. You have the best players in the world coming in and playing at the most coveted golf courses on the planet, and he went out and shot a really low number and did what he had to do to win a green jacket.

Q. Do you feel like you're coming here a little under the radar?

PATRICK REED: No, I feel like I'm playing really well. I feel like I've been trending obviously in the right direction. I feel like I've been playing some good golf. Just coming into the week just trying to focus as much as I can on the golf game and really just conserving energy going into the week because you know when the golf course is getting this firm and fast it's going to be a grind out there.

Q. What's your game plan on 12, and how has that evolved through the years and does it change depending on the hole location?

PATRICK REED: It obviously definitely changes depending on hole location, wind and kind of how you're playing. That's just one of those holes that it's hard to sit there and have a game plan when wind and how you're hitting the golf ball that day and kind of where you stand in the tournament, what the pin placement is. I think the biggest game plan there is you put a big red X on the water. You try to avoid that at all costs, whether hit it in the bunker or over the green and figure out how to get up-and-down or have a chance to make birdie.

Q. We haven't historically seen a lot of putts holed there, particularly on Sunday by the leaders through the years. It's one of the flatter greens on the golf course. Is it a challenging green to read in your opinion?

PATRICK REED: It is. I feel like the biggest thing with trying to read the putts on 12 is not only is it kind of subtle, but at the same time being there near the trees you get a lot of shadows, so you go a lot of times from sunshine to shadow to sunshine, and trying to read putts through different conditions, especially different light, makes it a lot more difficult not only just to figure out the grain but also figure out the exact break.

Q. If you could choose, would you be under the radar or would you be in the spotlight? When do you want to be under the radar and when do you want to be in the spotlight?

PATRICK REED: As long as I'm in the spotlight on Sunday, that's all that matters, right. For me it doesn't matter if I'm under the radar or in the spotlight. I just go out there and try to do what I'm supposed to do, and that's try to play the best golf and give myself a chance late on Sunday, and at that point if we have a chance late on Sunday, then just put the blinders on, go out and play golf.

Q. Last fall when Bryson was talking about the 48-inch driver, people thought maybe there would be a rule to limit the shaft length. Do you anticipate in the future any local rules like that, whether it be the ball?

PATRICK REED: Honestly I haven't really thought about it that much because I actually went a little longer with my shaft, but me going a little longer is like 45 and a half because I was really short, and I went longer because of the golf swing. I was standing taller and kind of now instead of swinging down on it, swinging up on the golf ball, and with my short length I couldn't get the club to the ball. Mine was more to fit the golf swing than trying to get extra length.

For me, I'm not really going to be -- I'm not the type that's going to try to chase distance or really -- that's really not a good question for me because I'm just going to play the golf I know how to play and try to fine tune everything that I'm doing just to hit the ball as straight and as consistent as I can and let my short game do the work.

Q. So you're fine with Bryson flying it over the bunkers on 5 and 1 and just chipping it?

PATRICK REED: You know, if it wasn't Bryson it would be somebody else. Somebody else would be able to do it.

Yeah, he's ahead of the curve. He's doing it now, but there's going to be more guys that come out here that are going to be able to hit it forever, and at the end of the day the great thing about this golf course is you have everyone from long hitters to short hitters that have won here, guys that hit fades to draws. Whoever is in complete control of their golf game and who can think themselves around the golf course and who can pull off not just the shots but also make the putts when they need to.

Q. Cameron was talking about No. 1 flying it over the bunker. What's your usual line?

PATRICK REED: Well, I can't cover the bunker even if it's downwind. They'd have to move the tee up a little bit for me to cover. I've something down there in the wider part of the fairway and allowed myself to attack with an iron.

I've hit wedges into that green before during practice rounds, stuff like that, and because I spin my wedges a lot it just seems to -- because of how slopey 1 is, just seems to kind of over-spin on that green. For me it's just kind of hit the fairway off the 1st and run from there.

But it's one of those things; around this golf course what's so good about it is there are aggressive lines you can take. Guys that can cover 1, they have an option to send it over if they want, but at the same time, if you don't hit it absolutely perfect, you're going to put yourself in a spot, now you're going to be scrambling for par, and I think that's the biggest thing around this place is having full control knowing where you're putting the golf ball and having a game plan going to attack this place.