MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 11, 2021

Charl Schwartzel

Quick Quotes

Q. Charl, how would you kind of assess your week?

CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Frustrating. I don't know. I played -- I think it was about as comfortable as I've ever felt here, felt like I hit the ball as close to I've ever hit it here. I just really got nothing out of it, which means in laymen's terms, I didn't make any putts.

So that's why I say frustrating because it could have well been very different.

Q. That's truly the most comfortable?

CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Sure.

Q. As a past champion, that's the most comfortable you've ever been?

CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Yeah. I felt very prepared. I felt like this is about as happy as I've been with my game for a long time. This place obviously sits well on my eyes. So a lot of the shots, I see them better. Feelings are better. Yeah, it's about as comfortable as I felt.

Q. Charl, you spent a lot of time with Hideki in the Presidents Cups. Just give us a bit about your time with him during the Presidents Cups. Just give us a little background, something we don't know about Hideki.

CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Well, it will be quite ironic because ten years ago, when I won the green jacket, he was low amateur. So he was sitting next to me when I was at presentation. So that will be a nice little story to have.

Regarding Hideki, he's just a great player. I'm sure he's shown us all over the last ten years that he's been out here that, when he gets going, he's a guy that feeds off confidence. I think he can get down on himself when he starts playing better. He sets high expectations. But as you saw yesterday after the rain delay, that's how Hideki plays when he's got confidence, straight at every flag, and he seems to pull them off too.

By the looks of it, he started off pretty solid. So I'm sure he's pretty comfortable by now, and he's definitely more than capable of winning today.

Q. You played all around the world, Charl. What would a win for Hideki, for Japan mean to golf there?

CHARL SCHWARTZEL: It would be huge. You know, I felt sorry for him last night because I think last night was probably one of the hardest sleeps he's ever had. A lot riding on him, but he's won a lot of big tournaments. Like I said, once he gets comfortable, he's gone through seven holes now and he's kept it together, so he'll be fine.

Q. As far as like his maturation, as far as where he's come as a player, what have you seen as far as these ten years where he was sitting as low am next to you to where he is today?

CHARL SCHWARTZEL: He's had his ups and downs. He came out -- I don't have the exact facts here, but he's -- when he was high there, he was winning quite a bit. He won the WGC, the Bridgestone, and many other tournaments. The last couple years, he looks like he struggled a little bit with the putting maybe, but this game is such small margins. Yesterday he played well and made a lot of putts, and he's obviously doing the same out there today.

It's difficult, but it's difficult to everybody. Zalatoris is probably the closest to him. The guy's a good player.

Q. Lastly, is there something we don't know about Hideki, that we maybe should?

CHARL SCHWARTZEL: I don't have anything, no. He was a great teammate. I played with him at Liberty. We lost that day, but he's always been very friendly, very -- you know, just a good guy.