COGNIZANT FOUNDERS CUP

October 10, 2021

Caroline Masson

Mountain Ridge Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. 7-under 64. Just take us through your round.

CAROLINE MASSON: Yeah, it's been fun. It's been really, really solid round. You know, I think we came in with the game plan of, okay, the conditions are going to be tough. We want to play smart golf, hit a lot of greens, and I think we did exactly that.

I was able to hit some close, make couple putts. Nothing crazy, but just played solid for all 18 holes. Kept it bogey-free and make a ton of birdies.

Q. Are you a mudder? Is this your kind of weather?

CAROLINE MASSON: You would think I feel right at home being from Germany. We have a lot of this at home. I don't know. I just had a really good mental approach today. Okay, we know it's going to be tough, going to be raining probably. Just take it shot by shot. I was really, really calm out there. Didn't get ahead of myself.

I think that was really the biggest thing. It's not so much how you hit it or whatever, it's more about embracing the situation I guess.

Q. This positive momentum you're going to be riding into the rest of the season, what does that do for your confidence heading into the last few events?

CAROLINE MASSON: I can't tell you how big this is. It's been a little bit rough this summer. Honestly, like mentally it was really, really tough stretch, probably the toughest in my career.

So to come back out and have a good week last week and feel like I'm getting really close, you know, I know I'm pretty far away from winning this week score-wise, but it was pretty close. Pretty amazing. Just got to thank everybody on my team for being there for me.

Q. You were 7-under through 13 holes. When you get on a run like that, how do you stay in the present and not get ahead of yourself?

CAROLINE MASSON: Yeah, I mean, every time I feel like my thoughts were drifting I was just going to remind myself to stay in the present and hit the next shot and do the best I can. I hadn't really seen any leaderboards out there, which was a good thing. I didn't want look at them. I just want to do my thing and keep within myself.

My caddie and I, Derrick, we did such a good job of just taking every shot as it came and just really picking a spot to hit it and pretty much hit it there every time.

Q. Is it a little easier to do that when you're battling the elements? You know, you're trying to keep your hands dry...

CAROLINE MASSON: Yeah, you're pretty busy, so I think it's just about a good routine and taking your time to get everything dry, ready to hit the shot.

But, yeah, maybe it was a little bit of an advantage that conditions were...

Q. We talked about yesterday and you just alluded to the tough summer that you had. When we were discussing this. You were talking about how difficult it sometimes is to separate Carol the golfer from Carol the friend and Carol the golfer outside the ropes. Are you going through any processing to get better at that?

CAROLINE MASSON: Definitely getting better. Nobody is perfect when it comes to that. I think we all invest so much into golf from a very young age that it's very hard to say it doesn't really matter. It's what we do most of the time and it's super important to us.

I think it's normal that that happens. But as I'm getting older I have a really good balance in my life, which really helps, I mean, Jason and I hopefully getting married soon. Supposed to be married already for about a year.

Just a really good personal life as well. That definitely helps me keeping the balance. I do have to remind myself all the time that bad round of golf doesn't define me.

Q. So the public knows, you guys are not married because you couldn't get family over or you couldn't get back?

CAROLINE MASSON: Yeah, we were going to get married last September, and obviously COVID hit and it was really hard to plan. I mean, my family can only come starting in November, so we're kind of starting over again with the wedding plans, which is mine. I always said if that's the worst thing that happens, we're going to be just fine.

Q. I can tell just by the smile on your face... (indiscernible).

CAROLINE MASSON: I think today and all week probably my putting. You know, I hit a lot of good shots but I kind of made everything that I had to make. Just gave myself like good looks, even the putts that didn't go in had were really good putts.

So my putting was definitely up there today.

Q. (Regarding the slopes on the greens.)

CAROLINE MASSON: Yeah, it's just about feeling the putt I think. You have to be really, really creative on some putts. Just that last one on 18, I don't think I've ever played that much break on a shorter putt like that.

So just feeling it and obviously feeling the speed, because speed is probably most important, even though you play a lot break, if the speed so not right it's not going to work out.

Just trying to get it together.

Q. We've seen a lot of players being more open about their mental health in 2021. Is that something that's important to be transparent about?

CAROLINE MASSON: Yeah, definitely. I had a really tough week at the Scottish Open, just mentally not in a good place. I think you have two choices: You can either not say anything and just crawl in your little hole or you can actually be outspoken.

I have had great response from that. A lot of players, people in general reached out and said, That was really cool that you did that and I'm proud of you. We've all been there or we're maybe there right now. I think the more we can talk about that, I think the more it'll help.

It's just about accepting that it's a real thing and that it can hit anybody. As mentally tough as we all are being out here, it can hit anybody. I think it definitely helps to talk. I said to those players, Hey, whenever you need to talk, I'm here. Everybody has kind of been there, but I think just the overall theme in the sports world right now, obviously Naomi Osaka is dealing with a lot of stuff. I think it's a good thing and I think it helps.

I think we can got to all stick together when it comes to that.