MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 9, 2021

Viktor Hovland

Quick Quotes

Q. You described yesterday's round as "wild." I'm curious how you would describe today's.

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, in similar fashion. Got off to a better start today, and disappointed that I gave a lot of shots back throughout the middle of the round because 2-under par through four holes is kind of -- that's a great start. If you can just stick it together in the next couple holes you can shoot a really low score, and I just happened to miss in the wrong spots in the middle stretch of the round and found myself 3-over for a point there and knew I had to finish strong, and I did, and then some.

Great chip-in on 15 there and nice putt on 16 and another chip-in on 17. It was a very nice way to finish the round.

Q. There was a point at 13 where you and Shay had a discussion on the approach shot. You changed clubs. That was kind of the turnaround moment for the round. Can you describe what was going on there?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: I mean, it was just kind of in between clubs I thought. It wasn't really -- 6-iron wasn't in the discussion. It was just a straightforward 5. I thought a good 5-iron was going to go past the pin, but hit a great shot and it went up in the air and landed really soft, so it was the perfect club.

Q. After Puerto Rico last year you said you sucked at chipping. I guess that's not an issue anymore?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: I've done some really good work this week with Jeff Smith earlier in the week and kind of figured something out, and I feel like I'm clipping it more consistently, and then I can kind of let my imagination take over in a sense. If I know I'm going to strike it in the middle of the face and get some spin here and there, I can rely on my touch a little bit better.

Q. You were 4-over after 12, I think --

VIKTOR HOVLAND: I think 3-over.

Q. And you probably knew just about where the cut line was going. What went through your mind just before the turnaround started?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, I mean, I couldn't make a complete fool of myself the remaining holes or else I wouldn't be playing the next couple days. But I knew 13 and 15, if I just played those solid, I don't have to do anything special to get through, but obviously it creeps in, and you don't want to think about it, but when you're not playing that great, you've got to make sure you play the weekend. It was nice to finish the way I did.

Q. How much does that strong finish help you momentum-wise towards the weekend?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, the field is so stacked, and this course you don't -- you never know, you can easily be 4 or 5-over without playing too poorly, but you could also on the flipside, if you hit some good shots and make some putts, you can also make a lot of birdies out there. Hopefully I can kind of get going tomorrow the way I started and just make less bogeys and doubles.