MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 8, 2022

Tom Hoge

Quick Quotes

Q. Good start for you.

TOM HOGE: Yeah.

Q. Was it exciting?

TOM HOGE: I made a nice one on the 1st hole that wasn't really expected and made a good birdie on the 2nd. Nice way to start the round before the wind picked up here.

Q. Did it really get worse the last half hour or so?

TOM HOGE: For sure. I would say, when we were hitting the second shot on the 17 straight downwind like that, really noticed it. 18 was quite challenging. It's going to be a tough afternoon for a lot of guys.

Q. By the way, do you know Mark (indiscernible)?

TOM HOGE: Yeah, a little bit.

Q. I've known him since '90. I talked to him again after the ruling. Was that a difficult chip given the circumstances?

TOM HOGE: Where are we at?

Q. 2.

TOM HOGE: I wasn't expecting to get relief there. I was just checking just to see. Just a little bit of unknown with the stuff they put down here for where everybody's walking. It was kind of right in the spot where I knew I wanted to miss it coming right up the hill there. So I knew I had a pretty good backstop to kind of hit it into and hit a good shot. It was fun.

Q. I was talking to Jim Lehman earlier. Have you gotten any personal knowledge here from Tom?

TOM HOGE: I have not gotten any from Tom, no. I really haven't gotten much of anything, but I was able to play a practice round with Jordan Spieth and some of those guys. It was nice to see them, how they use some of the slopes around the greens for sure.

Q. How do you feel about where you stand right now?

TOM HOGE: I'll take it. I'll probably move up as the day goes on here. I left a few shots out there with some short putts today, so a little frustrated with that. But, yeah, we're in a good spot.

Q. Do you ever think about the beauty of this place when you're playing it, or are you too locked in?

TOM HOGE: There's a few spots where you definitely think about it. You get around 12, 13, just incredible golf holes. Take it all in for sure.

Q. Can you walk us through 11, particularly your third shot, what you were thinking through that?

TOM HOGE: First of all, the second shot was brutal because you're standing there with a 3-wood into the green from the top of the hill, and I hit it way right, which I was kind of trying to bail out over there, just not quite that far. I was in the middle of everyone there.

Honestly, just trying to get a putt for par today. Everyone would be happy with a putt for par. If you sneak one in with a 4, great. If not, you make a 5 and move on. Such a tough hole there.

I hit a perfect shot for my third. Unfortunately missed a short putt there, but it was kind of fun.

Q. Coming into this week, you were leading the PGA TOUR in score on par-3s. How do you approach these par-3s, having a couple rounds prior to this, and today being the first competitive round?

TOM HOGE: 4 and 6 are so hard. You're just trying to make 3s there, same as 12. 16, with a pin like today, you felt like you could make a birdie because it will funnel down to it. For the most part, you're just trying to hit the green in a spot where you're got a doable putt.

4 today, that wind was brutal over on the right side. 6 has had some hard pins so far. Just trying to make a 3 and get out of there as fast as I can.

Q. Looking at 12 (indiscernible). Are you prepared for that?

TOM HOGE: Yeah, for sure. I think my game plan is to hit it over the bunker every day. Hopefully I can find the middle of the green and get the yardage right. If not, I'll be in the bunker just over the back, and I should be fine.