MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 8, 2022

Mackenzie Hughes

Quick Quotes

Q. Got the cheering section.

MACKENZIE HUGHES: I do. I do.

Q. Big clutch finish. How does the whole day feel?

MACKENZIE HUGHES: It was really hard. You guys were probably out here all afternoon. It was gusty, inconsistent. You get moments like this, and then you get moments where it's blowing 30 miles an hour. I mean, we had a ball roll on the green like a foot. Luke was putting on the 14th green, and a gust came through, and he was over the putt, and it blew a foot. You have gusts like that, and then you have times like this where you feel like if you got to hit now, you got a bit of a break or a putt when it was like this, but it was so difficult.

Then I made it hard for myself. I just did the only thing you can't do on 13, and it's hit it left. I can hit a great drive that just clipped the tree. It would have been perfect had it just gone by that tree. It just clipped it; went in the creek. And I made a mess of the hole and made 7.

That was what I would say was the turning point in the wrong direction. I feel like I was in control, and then that happened, and I was fighting to make the weekend at that point, and I fought hard.

And the birdie on 18 was all-time. I was in that first bunker close to the lip with a marginal lie, and I'm not understating that it was the best shot that no is ever going to probably see. I mean, as bad as the shank was yesterday, this was as good of a shot that I can hit. To make birdie when I needed to, I'll remember that one for a while.

Q. You talked about the finish the last round and this round. Two of them. Sort of what that does for you mentally and sort of what a funny game this is.

MACKENZIE HUGHES: With the finish yesterday --

Q. You saved the --

MACKENZIE HUGHES: The putt? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, the finish yesterday was sweet. You never like to make a bogey on the last, and so I knew that putt was big just for my psyche, and when that went in, that was nice.

I mean, this one my odds of making birdie from where I was were so slim. We weren't even sure I could get over the lip, and I took a club that I could maybe get to the front of the green, but I had to hit so hard and hit so perfect for it to just get on the front. Just happened to come off so perfect. To see that putt go right in the middle on the last hole was a pretty sweet feeling.

Q. Did you know you needed --

MACKENZIE HUGHES: I was very certain that it was -- I knew 4 was much better than being at 5. It looks like 5 is not quite going to be enough, so I'm feeling pretty good right now.

Q. When it's this difficult and this tough out there, what do you do to stay patient?

MACKENZIE HUGHES: I think you're trying to remind yourself that it's hard for everybody. You're not having a battle, and it's just you out there having a battle. Everyone is fighting the same conditions, same things, so I think that helps.

Then as cliche as this sounds, you are so focused on what you are doing in front of you that it's hard to get too far ahead of yourself and what not, so every shot requires all of your attention. I think that in a way kind of brings you back in and lets you focus on the task at hand. But, yeah, it was really hard, and it was tough to -- when you make a mistake like I did on 13, you feel like it's magnified because on a tough day you want to get the par fives. I got three of them, but I also made a 7.

That one got me a little bit, but I just told myself that I've got some holes coming up that I can make birdies and just to try to stay the course. It was too early in the game to kind of let my emotion get the better of me.

Q. Where are we ranking that bunker shot on 18?

MACKENZIE HUGHES: I'm going to say it's obviously very fresh in my mind, but I'm going to say it's top five. Top five shot I've ever hit because, like I said, I didn't think -- we almost didn't think we would get over the lip. The lie was so marginal, and so, yeah, I put that pretty high on my list.

Q. Do you feel like there's a low round to move up considerably over the weekend?

MACKENZIE HUGHES: Now I'm at a point where it's not nothing to lose, but it's just that I'm far enough back where maybe I take a few more chances. The way the golf course is playing, though, too, if you shoot 68, you're moving up a ton.

And I don't know. The weather is going to be cold and blustery tomorrow again, so a day like 3-, 4-under when it's tough is still going to -- it's probably going to feel like a 65, to be honest with you. That round is in me. I just need to be a hair tidier, but I think I have a round like that in me, and I've got two chances to find out.