MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 7, 2021

Joe Long

Quick Quotes

Q. Hey, man, you've got a lot of interesting stories coming into this week, though.

JOE LONG: Yeah, for sure.

Q. First off, how is it playing -- I hear it's the first time you've ever played in America this week.

JOE LONG: Yeah, no, that's right. I mean, yeah, so when I came about 2 1/2 weeks ago, I came here on holiday about ten years ago my first time. My first full 18 holes was here as a practice round, so it's a pretty special story to say the least.

Q. Yeah, for sure.

JOE LONG: Yeah, it's awesome.

Q. Today you got to play with two major winners in Koepka and Lowry. Are you friends with Lowry at all?

JOE LONG: I kind of -- I know his coach well, so I kind of reached out to his coach last night and just said, Is he up for nine tomorrow?

I was due to play the back nine, so he said yeah. And then Shane said, We've got Brooks joining us, which is a pretty nice treat as well.

Q. Did that put any butterflies in your stomach at all?

JOE LONG: Kind of picked his brain. So it was cool, real cool.

Q. Any good tips come to mind?

JOE LONG: You know, like if you're in a sticky situation, it's quite easy to make a double. Kind of like on 12, if you're in -- if I was in that back bunker on the down slope, you chip it out to the right or make sure you hit it in the bunker to kind of save a double and make bogey.

So stuff like that, because it can get away from you quite easy out there without doing too much wrong.

Q. I came out on 16 right after you guys hit, but I heard a big roar. Did you get to skip one across there at all?

JOE LONG: Yeah, I've done it on Monday. I didn't get one across this week though all unfortunately.

Q. Did you hit one close on 16 today?

JOE LONG: Yeah, I hit one, kind of pushed it right, and then it caught the slope and it kind of looked like it was going in from the tee. It was kind of a little bit short.

Q. Any birdies today?

JOE LONG: Yeah, I had a few birdies. 13, some of the holes. I can't really remember, to be honest. It was kind of like just putting to different holes and getting some lines on tee shots, adjusting them a little bit, and just kind of making sure I know what our game plan is really.

Q. I heard your caddie is out with COVID. You have a local guy. What's his name?

JOE LONG: Yeah, that's right. Yeah, Johnny Chance. Yeah, I was fortunate enough to have Johnny for the four practice rounds about like two weeks ago. He's awesome. He's been here almost 20 years, so he kind of knows the course like the back of his hand, especially on the greens.

So that's the main thing, the greens for me. Some of the slopes are so extreme, so to have his knowledge on the bag is really, really helpful and useful.

Q. I heard about your surfing incident in South Africa. When was that?

JOE LONG: Yeah, that was six weeks ago this Thursday -- tomorrow. It's still not good. Like at the start of the week it was fine, and I went to the physio tent yesterday, and today it was playing up a little.

Q. So your right?

JOE LONG: My left glute. It started off as a big tear, but it's smaller, but it's still there. After this week, I'll probably take a few weeks off before the Walker Cup.

Q. I'm from northern California, so I'm into the like surfing mavericks and stuff. Is the surf scene in South Africa big?

JOE LONG: Yeah, the surf scene is big. The ones I was on weren't big. It was my first time.

Q. First time surfing?

JOE LONG: Yeah. I kind of got a little ahead of myself as well. I enjoyed it, but my friend took us out to the deeper ones, and, yeah, just messed up a little bit.

Q. Who are you teamed up with tomorrow?

JOE LONG: Playing with Bernhard Langer and Sal Torres, which is awesome.

Q. That will be pretty nice.

JOE LONG: Yes. Just introduced myself to Langer on the 18th. That's awesome. A mentor of mine, Gordon Brand Jr., sadly passed away a few years ago. They were best friends on the TOUR for a few years. That will be something nice to chat about.

Q. Gordon Brand Jr.?

JOE LONG: Gordon Brand Jr. Yeah, he played many Ryder Cups and won a bunch of times on TOUR.