MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 8, 2021

Henrik Stenson

Quick Quotes

Q. Let's just talk about your round real quick. How would you assess it?

HENRIK STENSON: That was hard work. I think I made 11 up and downs in total, including the four birdies on the par 5. So, it was a lot of scrambling out there. I'm struggling with my game, but I put a good effort in. I was fighting hard for every shot. It's a golf course that's playing pretty tricky, and now the wind picked up and started to swirl again on the back nine, as per usual.

So it's not the easiest out there. The greens are pretty crispy and slick. You've got to position your ball well and do all the right stuff if you really want to play well. I guess, with some experience and some magical short game skills, I still managed to keep it together and probably turn a 77 into 73.

Q. What was the biggest challenge when the wind kicked up, maybe in the afternoon?

HENRIK STENSON: Trusting it is one thing, but I think, even if you do trust where it should be, it was going in different directions. It's classical back nine at Augusta. You're standing in a hole where you feel like you've got wind behind you. You're looking to the right, and one pin is going 45 degrees in a different direction and the other one is going 45 in the other direction. You just start spinning. What am I going to do?

So you've got to commit in those circumstances and maybe try and give yourself a bit more margin. But we're at Augusta, and there's not always that much margin around.

Q. How tough was 16? I've seen a few scores, a bogey and such.

HENRIK STENSON: Yeah, did they all double bogey like I did? Thanks for reminding me.

Q. I'm trying not to say it.

HENRIK STENSON: 15 should not have been playing as much downwind as it did, and both of my playing companions said they winged it way over the green. I kind of half trusted it was playing shorter but still managed to hit it just over. And then on 16 it should have been bumping pretty good downwind, at least at that moment, and I pulled it a little bit, and when you're going left of that pin, the carry gets longer and longer, and it went in the water.

So I had to settle for double there. That kind of put a shame on another decent scorecard given the circumstances and how much I had to fight.

Q. When you're struggling with your game like you say you are, is it hard to kind of get that mental focus to really grind and fight? And how much confidence can you take out of the score that you did post today?

HENRIK STENSON: Yeah, I've got to give myself a big pat on the back for the fighting effort, but it's a hard golf course when you're playing well, but it's even harder when you're not playing well. I was just trying to keep it together and not bring any big numbers in, and I managed to do that for 17 holes at least. So we'll live to fight another day.