MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 7, 2022

Viktor Hovland

Quick Quotes

Q. Viktor, a little bit of a grind out there today. You got it to red numbers a couple times but finished even. Just talk about the round.

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, I'm pleased with the day and then a little dissatisfied as well. Making five birdies around here is pretty solid, and I'm happy about that, but a couple swings that cost a little too much today.

Q. Why the roller coaster?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: I think the front nine I played pretty smooth, just left it in a couple bad spots. Made a tough spot on No. 3 hitting it in the bunker there. You're going to make bogey there a lot. And hitting it short of the green on 6. It's hard to get that one up and down.

Other than that, I played very, very solid. I had a mud ball on 11, and I was aiming it way right of the green, and somehow it still hooked 40 yards and ended up in the water. So that cost me probably two shots.

Then on 13 as well, had a hanging lie. You kind of have to take that pin on because there's no bailout on the right side in the water. So I hit it left in the azaleas there, and those two swings just cost me probably four shots.

Q. How do you approach the short turnaround and you've got to come back out here tomorrow morning?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, I kind of like it because you don't have to sit around and wait for too long like we kind of did this morning. I'm kind of in the mindset already. So just go to bed and sleep, and then it's wake up and right back at it.

Q. You mentioned mindset. What is your mindset when you walk to the 1st tee here on Thursday? Do you attempt to get a zen place, block everything out? And might it be different than other tournaments?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: It was hard to keep the zen going today. When it's blowing 25 miles an hour into your face on 1, it's not a very fun tee shot. It's just kind of super cliche, but just try to stay patient and have fun.

I hit a lot of great shots today, and we had a lot of fun in the group today. But I think we'll have even more fun if we play a little bit better tomorrow.

Q. When you put the peg in the ground on the 1st tee, is it different here than other places and why?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, I'd say so because we all know what we're playing for, a green jacket and playing at this special place. It's hard to beat. When you're out there playing, you've got to kind of separate yourself from that a little bit and just focus on every single shot, yeah.