MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 6, 2022

Sandy Lyle

Quick Quotes

Q. I wanted to ask you questions about your practice round with Collin. It seemed like you all kind of joined up there on 4.

SANDY LYLE: Yeah, I went out just to have a walk around really, not maybe to play every hole for nine holes. So I went across to the 3rd because I thought the 3rd hole with the new swale at the back of the green, and then Collin was in front there. So we ended up teaming up together because we had four balls in front and four balls behind us.

Yeah, it was good. I enjoyed watching him play. I've seen him on TV enough times but never got to meet the guy. It was good.

Q. This was the first time you watched him hit it in person?

SANDY LYLE: Yeah, so I talked to him about the open championship at St. Andrews coming up because he's obviously an Open winner. I said this year is a very special year. He kind of goes why? It's just another Open. I said it's the 150th anniversary of the belt.

So it was a little bit of a history lesson I gave to him because the belt used to be played as The Open Championship. Tom Morris Jr. won it three years in a row, so back in 1860-something, they gave him the belt, and then they had nothing to play for in 1871. Hence why we play for the Claret Jug now.

So I gave him a little history lesson. I said, if anybody comes up to you panicking, saying we need to present you with a British Open Belt after you've had the Claret Jug, at least you know what it's all about because I got caught that way as well. These people from Prestwick Golf Club want to give you a belt. Can't you see I'm busy? So that was a little history lesson, so he enjoyed that.

Q. With all your vast experience, any other advice about this golf course or any insight he reached out to you about?

SANDY LYLE: No, I just pointed out that the fringes around here are a little bit easier, they're firmer. First bounce, the ball's releasing, which we never do before. It's always known as the sticky fringes. I played quite a few chip shots around the edge of the green. Normally I would use a blade or a 5-wood or something or a 3-iron all the time. Never thought about trying to chip it into the bank.

So I found this year especially the fringes are releasing when it hits the fringe, and then you get some sort of control with it, probably better than my blade shot, which is unusual. So that's a little difference from previous years, so not quite the usual sticky fringes that we're used to using, or I'm used to using.

That's really the main thing. The course is playing as long as it needs to be, way too long for me. But the big boys can turn these par-5s still into reachable in two. That's the big difference. They're hitting it 40, 50 yards way past my drives.

So I'll have to do a Langer and work away at it and sneak in under the radar. Hopefully at the end of the week, hopefully on Sunday, I'll have a nice week.

Q. You two shared a laugh on the green on No. 5. Can you tell us what that was about?

SANDY LYLE: That was really talking about the belt. I was talking about the belt going down there and the British Open Belt. That was his history lesson. I think he enjoyed that.