MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 8, 2021

Patrick Reed

Quick Quotes

Q. Patrick, I know you left a couple of shots out there today, but are you still happy with a 2-under 70?

PATRICK REED: Yeah, with how firm and fast this place played, and then on top of it, with the wind kind of picking up -- you know, it was kind of swirling there early in the round -- yeah, I'll definitely accept a 2-under par round. I would have loved to make the last putt to get to 3.

Still I felt like I made a lot of quality golf swings, felt like I was hitting a lot of good putts. That's the thing about this place. When this place plays this firm and fast, you're going to hit some good golf shots and end up in some bad spots. You're going to hit some bad golf shots and end up in some okay spots. So just one of those things, you have to handle it mentally and just kind of move on.

Any time you can come out and shoot under par around here, especially in the opening round, you definitely have confidence going the rest of the week.

Q. What was the most difficult aspect of the conditions today?

PATRICK REED: I think the hardest part for me was the par 5s when you're going for them in two. Because you're using such low lofted clubs coming into the greens, they're just so hard to hold. Of course you know -- our group, we had no chance of holding No. 15. That thing was so firm by the we got there. I was watching wedges land next the hole and end up towards the back of the green.

So you have stuff like that that's like, okay, do I lay up and try the wedge shot, or do I take it on and accept over the green? Or you could put it in one spot over the water that you can't put it in in that right bunker like I did today.

But, you know, I felt like that was the biggest thing. On the par 5s, yes, you want to make a lot of birdies on the par 5s, but at the same time, they set the par 5s up today challenging, where you have to hit almost the perfect golf shot to make a 4 or even have a chance to make a 3.

Q. Do you think this type of golf plays into your hands more than most guys in this field, especially on this course?

PATRICK REED: I love this type of golf, especially around here because you have to be creative. You can't just play golf swing after golf swing. You have to start using slopes. You have to play out of different windows into greens. There's a lot of thinking and thought process and creativity that goes through this golf course, and I feel like that's usually when I play my best, when I sit there, and rather than sitting there talking about a golf swing, I sit there and think about shots and try to hit different kinds of flights and all that stuff.

Q. How much are you hoping the rain holds off?

PATRICK REED: I'd like a little sprinkle, but we don't want this place getting soft. This golf course is, I feel like, where they want it. They want it firm and fast. But this is definitely the firmest and fastest I've ever seen it on a Thursday. I'll be curious to see what happens the rest of the week.

The great thing, even with rain in the forecast, it's going to obviously soften up a little bit, but even if it misses us, it's Augusta National. They can do wonders to this golf course, and they have full control over this place that, even if it misses us and the wind picks up, they're able to get these greens where they're supposed to be.

Q. Do you think there's going to come a time where you might lay up on some par 5s and kind of shift your strategy?

PATRICK REED: Yeah, I should have today on 13. I didn't, and that bit me. It's one of those that it would all depend where the pin placements are. On 15, with the pin on the front, you can't really lay up. No one's getting that wedge shot really close. So you go for that. If it goes over the green, you're chipping back down the hill. 13 was in the back, so if you hit a good tee shot there, you have a chance to go for it.

I feel like now with how firm it is, it's all pin related. Unlike a couple years ago and even earlier in November, you were worried about spinning the ball off greens. You're trying to fly everything to the hole, and right now you're trying to figure out, okay, how is the best way to attack this to get it close? I mean, there's a lot of times that going for it is not the best option.

Look at what Zach did when he won. He laid up on every single one and absolutely obliterated the par 5s. I guess I should have done that a little bit more because I went for every single one of them and played them with even par.

Q. With so many players on the leaderboard now and presumably throughout the weekend who haven't won a green jacket, do you feel like you have an advantage having won this golf tournament before?

PATRICK REED: It's hard to say I have an advantage or not. I feel comfortable. That's the biggest thing. To go and close off how I did in '18, I feel that that alone gives me a comfort level that, if I'm in that position come Sunday, I can bounce off those ideas and go back to those memories that allow me to stay a little bit more comfortable.

That's the biggest thing around here. You're never really comfortable over any golf shot because you have to think about everything. Even wedges, you put it in the wrong spot, you're going to hit a putt, and it's going to be six, seven feet past the hole.

That's the best thing is being in a little more comfortable position as well as a little more confident position, I feel like.

Q. I see Kevin over there. What's your coaching situation like right now? Are you back with him full-time?

PATRICK REED: I've been working with Leadbetter and Sean Hogan. And KK, I see him all the time in Houston. We're still really good friends and talk all the time. I bounce ideas off of him, but really right now I've been working with basically Lead and Sean.

Q. Is Lead here this week?

PATRICK REED: He's not.

Q. So having Kevin here could come in handy?

PATRICK REED: Right. And Sean is his -- Sean and him work together. So Sean is here this week for me.

Q. What is it about your preparation, your mentality, that allows you to seemingly thrive when the conditions are most challenging?

PATRICK REED: I think the biggest thing is I just love a challenge. I love having your back up against the wall and you having to go and produce, try to do something. I love just the satisfaction of pulling off crazy golf shots or the tough up and downs and things like that.

I feel like, to me, that's something I've always done as a little kid. I love to put myself behind trees, just kind of on the practice range. We had two trees on the range as well as hit different windows and then do a lot of short game games. When you get around a place like this, you have to use that creativity. You have to hit different golf shots. It's just not just a basic chip ever around here.

Q. How much -- do conditions, how they are right now, help the guys that aren't considered bombers kind of factor here?

PATRICK REED: It's hard to say. You sit there and you think there's some holes that you're going to have longer irons on the greens and they're going to have some wedges, which is always nice, but at the same time, there's some of those holes, if they hit driver and they get too close to the green, then they can't stop it on the green.

Me not being a bomber, I still got myself too close to the green on 3 today. I hit the best shot I could and basically held on the back edge. It's stuff like that I feel like just makes you think more. It's not just set up and send it as far as you can because really, even if you hit it in the fairway, if you leave yourself an awkward number where you can't get any spin or any kind of gravel on it, you're not going to have any control.

Q. Do anything different in your tournament prep this year?

PATRICK REED: No, same thing. Always do the same thing this year.

Q. Josh mentioned, talking about Zalatoris, the two people who stick to their process no matter what and don't really change much over the years that he's seen, are you and Zalatoris. Do you agree with that?

PATRICK REED: Yeah, I don't know Showtime that well, but the time I've spent with him and also the time I've seen him practice and everything, he seems like he has his routine, and he sticks with it. That's how I've always done it. I've always come out and had my routine and stuck with it.

Once you start changing your routine, now all of a sudden, you start sitting there thinking one event is bigger than the other, and you start putting extra pressure on yourself when really, if you think about it, you're out here playing golf. You try to shoot the lowest number you can, and at the end of the day, whoever has the lowest score wins each and every week. That's what I try to do is I try to treat every week like they're the exact same rather than putting pressure on yourself.

Q. Is Showtime a nickname you gave him?

PATRICK REED: Yeah, that's a nickname I gave him.

Q. Why?

PATRICK REED: Why? Because he's supposed to be in Hollywood. He's supposed to be in films.

Q. He was in Happy Gilmore.

PATRICK REED: No, I wasn't going to call him that. I couldn't call him that. He doesn't hit far enough.

Q. He was the caddie.

PATRICK REED: Was he?

Q. No, I'm just kidding.

PATRICK REED: I was going to say. Yeah, but he -- every time I've seen him, he always just has this kind of walk about him, and the way he -- that's just kind of the way he is. He could either play golf or be in Hollywood.