MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 6, 2021

Matt Wallace

Quick Quotes

Q. What are your thoughts on the golf course?

MATT WALLACE: Great condition. Obviously it's my third time being here. Last year in November a bit wetter, softer. I think it's exactly how they want it set up really with the firmness of the greens. Very firm, in fact, firm and fast for a Tuesday especially. Just played with Westy and Danny and picking their brains on the golf course and have they played the course like this before, and they have, and this is how it's normally set up. So completely different to how I remember it from November where you hit some shots and it's stopped and it's kept from rolling, but it's good fun, and I'm in good shape.

Q. What were some of those little things that they taught you out there? Is there something in particular?

MATT WALLACE: Being below the hole is very important. Major golf, this is major golf, and it's sometimes what you get prepared for U.S. Opens and the Open sometimes. You need to be below the hole, the right side of the hole, and this is definitely one of those.

Coming from Valero last week where the greens were relatively flat for the most part or the biggest percentage slope would be four or something like that, this is an extreme, so you need to change your mindset and your visuals for that.

Q. Do you almost have to forget everything that you learned in November?

MATT WALLACE: Yes. To an extent. Off the tee, no. I was just going over it with my performance coach there, and we played a lot the same off the tee, a lot of the lines off the tee, and it's similar shots into the greens, but you just need to be wary of the slopes a little bit more. I missed a couple shots last year, and it hits those slopes where you shouldn't go, and it was okay. So you need to forget that part because you can't do that. You need to actually play -- I'm playing better now than what I was doing last year.

Q. You played so well last year, in contention all week. How much confidence do you bring from that into here?

MATT WALLACE: A lot. It means I don't have to work as much this week on anything. I'm doing the same things. I'm confident. I'm in good shape, obviously. Took a lot from the stats from last week. One of the negatives from that was nobody has ever lost with the strokes gained tee to green that I had last week, but that's massive for around here. If you can play well tee to green, you'll be in good shape.

Q. The 12th hole, obviously it's been a turning point during this tournament through the year. What's your approach there?

MATT WALLACE: Pretty simple, left flags you can be a little bit more aggressive to. You're still try to play something just over the front, but every other flag for me is straight over the middle of the bunker at the front and in the middle of both traps. Not trying to do anything special there. If you can hit that eight to ten-yard gap between the bunkers, you've got the bunkers as the buffer, so you can get up-and-down from especially the front one, and if not, you'll be in trouble. But that's my aim, to try and just hit it right in between those two bunkers.

Q. Certainly that being the low point of the property, the wind can swirl there and 11 and 12 can almost feel like different directions. What's your formula there to make sure you've got a good beat on it?

MATT WALLACE: Try and just trust my caddie. Lordy has got a very good read on the wind a lot of the time and my shots and stuff like that. But ultimately at the end of the day it's trusting exactly what you've spoken about and trying to hit that shot because if you feel anything different and you come out of the shot and you slightly miss it, that's when things can go wrong. Or you try and hit it harder and you do hit it harder and that wind switches -- as long as you stick to your shot that you choose, that's the most important thing to, I think, being successful on that hole.

Q. Do you ever catch yourself thinking about that tee shot when you're standing on 11 green?

MATT WALLACE: Oh, no, no, because 11 green is tough as it is. This is a place where you need to just think of what you are doing in that moment right there and then because it's so tough anyway. I may think about it in bed at night, but no, when you're playing 11, you're thinking about the 11th, and then you get to the 12th, and hopefully I can just be in a good mindset where I just commit to that shot that we've spoken about.

Q. What's the biggest key for you at Augusta this week?

MATT WALLACE: Doing the same as what I did last week. Tee to green, keep swinging, keep the same feels, doing the same shots, don't step away from the process because it's not just about this week, as well. Of course I want to have a great week. Of course. But if I can carry this on, then I'm going to give myself chances like I did last week most weeks, so not stepping away from that process and doing the same things.

Q. Do you feel more confident having played the PGA TOUR a little more --

MATT WALLACE: Yeah, and this week it kind of feels to me, I've stepped on the range, I know it was only last November we were here, so not so long ago, but it feels like it's a genuine stop twice a year maybe. It feels like you come here quite a bit. It's nice to come back and feel really relaxed and come off last week and nice and chilled and just keep going and just try to get my head around the greens and chipping and have a good game plan for the pins.