MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 6, 2022

Xander Schauffele

Quick Quotes

Q. Tell me a little bit about I've been coming back to Augusta. How are you feeling? How is the course? Kind of the --

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I feel good. I showed up Sunday and played Monday, limited holes Tuesday, what's going to be limited holes today on Wednesday as well. It's pretty wild the overall change in play, the change in green speed. Lines off the tee are the same, but putts and breaks and landing spot.

When I played Monday, it was as firm as I have ever seen it. I haven't been here that many times, but I started on 10, and I remember hitting out of that right bunker, and it was playing to those back pins. When it's like this, when it's wet and rainy, you can kind of take it on and end up 6 feet low, but when it's firm and fast, you have to sort of -- one, your contact out of the sand on chips and little shots like that is so crucial, and then you're playing 15 feet of break versus sort of taking the hole on when it's soft.

I think mentally it's sort of a bit of a scramble to identify how the course is playing that morning or that afternoon.

Q. We talked a little bit about this. This course not only changes day by day. It changes during the round even, no?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: For sure.

Q. How much do you have to read the signs and see what's going on?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: You really have to pay attention and collect as much information as possible. As something as important as watching your playing partners hit. If you are hitting first, you have to be even sharper into a par three or into something like that, or playing off memory or putting off memory is something you have to kind of consider or be careful with due to the big difference in green speeds and firmness.

Q. Talking about memories of last year. Good and bad, no?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah.

Q. Can you go through it a little bit?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Good and bad. Bad because I didn't win, but good because I was way out of it and then was able to sort of get myself back into the tournament. Yeah, I would say with three or four holes left to play, I had a decent chance momentum and emotionally, I guess, to win the golf tournament, which is always something that you want to do in big major championships.

Q. I remember last year when you finish. I mean, you thought it was the right shot on 16, so when you practice this year, do you rethink that, or do you think that was the right shot?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah. I walked up and hit a 7 iron this year. The green was concrete. My ball landed right near the hole and skipped all the way to the back of the green. The crowd was murmuring, and I was, like, I waited a year to hit that shot again. In the moment, no. My caddie talked to a couple of caddies of players behind that hit pretty much the same distance or even a hair shorter at times, and they hit the same club that I hit on that hole.

It's sort of the wind, and I feel like the golf ball at the time too was a little on the spinier side, which I liked. Obviously, with that shot I didn't like it, but now I think I have better equipment and better set for that sort of -- with a little bit of variability and wind, I think I'm more suited for now just with my equipment.

Q. Going through the season and the evolution until now, what things have you been working on and what things are going to hopefully work this week?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I think it's always the same thing for me. When I come out here, I practice a lot off of uneven lies. Trying to hit sort of elevated pitch shots where you can't really see the surface. Trying to turn tee shots a lot more than normal.

I think that's sort of what I try and get used to coming into this week or what I would consider my personal Masters prep is more of a shot-shaping ability and sort of a touchy shots around the green off sort of weird slopes.

Q. Of the changes that you've seen this week, what would be the main things and how much -- will you take?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: The wind is supposed to be very constant you just more or less. If you plug that into the new holes, like 11 and 15, 15 kind of stands out. With the wind being in, even if they put the tee all the way up to the front, it's just such a long hole now that it sort of -- it used to be a good 5 to 6 iron. If you catch a groove thin, you're looking into the water there. That could be your tournament.

Now it's almost just a forced layup because into a left to right wind off of 15, I don't think anyone will have enough guts or only a few guys will have a short enough club to hit an iron in. With the wind you'll have to hit a driver or 3 wood, and everyone knows if it firms up a little, that ball can go over the green quickly or you can't stop it on the green. Looks like we'll be laying up a lot on that hole.

Overall, it seems to be the biggest change to me. Behind the green on 3 is a much steeper slope. I think they're trying to take that bail-out that left pin away from people, so that may make me feel more inclined lay up and maybe hit a full wedge in so I can get the ball to stop versus trying to hit that sort of 50 yard, 60-yard shot to a blind surface that's table top-like. Besides that I feel like overall the course is playing relatively similar compared to years prior.

Q. You have won big tournaments, but kind of that feeling of last year at the Masters that almost winning the Masters, that's a different feeling, no?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah.

Q. Does it prepare you for being there again, and what do you have to do mentally?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I think so. It's a cliche sort of you have to put yourself either kind of get lucky and you get away with it your first go-around and kind of have the beginner's luck as they call it or you sort of put yourself in that position enough times to pull it off. You do need things to go your way every single time you're in a position or you're just playing at such an extreme level that you're going to win regardless. Most of the time with fields like this and major championship course setups you need a couple of things to go your way in order to pull it off.

Q. You talk about the changes with the golf course, but it's also now kind of the changes with all the patrons being here, all the -- it's busy, no? It's different.

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It is, for sure. I think Monday was insane, and I think credit that to Tiger Woods sort of teetering there. He is playing how obviously everyone was anticipating just based on him being on property so much, but because have him Monday felt like a Thursday or Friday. It was insane.

People are clapping on chips and putts, drives and stuff like that where normally it's just kind of quiet and more low-key. It's definitely an awesome feeling having the people here. It's what makes this golf tournament special.

Q. So everybody is asking this: How amazing it is that he is here? Did you expect it?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, I expected him to -- I'm sure as soon as he was able to walk again, he was probably hitting in a simulator trying to hit the sort of high cuts and high draws and getting the feel back so he will be able to compete. This is the only thing that's kind of on his mind, you know, and major championships in general are on his mind. He said it himself.

I think that kind of goes for everyone that is really competitive. He will only show up if he feels like he can win. Clearly, he is probably feeling pretty decent if he is saying something like that.