MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 8, 2022

Scottie Scheffler

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good evening, we are pleased to welcome to the interview room Scottie Scheffler.

Scottie, after three wins and a world No. 1 ranking in your last two months, you're now leading by five strokes at the 86th Masters Tournament. Your round of 67 today included seven birdies.

Congratulations on your incredible start and we're going to open it up to questions.

Q. When you hear that, a lead that big, what goes through your mind?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Not too much at the moment. I just got off the golf course and I played solid golf today. I kept myself in position. I had a really good back nine and I'm looking forward to the challenge of tomorrow but you know, I wouldn't say much changes. I mean, I'm still playing the golf course. There's still 50 guys in the field, something like that, I'm sure, and I can't worry about what those guys are doing. I'm just going to go out and play my game and just keep doing what I'm doing.

Q. This last two-month stretch since Phoenix, can you explain exactly what's happening and maybe why you're playing so well right now?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: That's a good question. I mean, I feel like I've been very committed to my shots. You know, I haven't -- I've done a really good job mentally of just setting up to the shots and accepting hitting bad ones and being fully committed to hitting good ones. For me I've prepared for a long time to be in moments like this and to win golf tournaments. And like I said at the beginning of the week, I've done all the preparation I can do. And if I win this golf tournament, then great; and if I don't, that's okay, too, because I did everything I could and I'm prepared and the rest isn't up to me.

Q. Would you describe yourself as tough, and then also, heard a story about maybe you won a state high school title on a broken ankle or something like that. Is that true or could you share that story as well?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: So the way I broke my ankle was not tough, but I did play on like a sprained ankle or whatever in the state tournament. I was running down -- we were playing outdoor hoops at one of my buddies' houses like a week before the state tournament, and I was running down the outdoor court, and I stepped on an acorn of all things, and my buddies will still make fun of me to this day because of it.

I stepped on an acorn. Because they were freaking out. They're like, Oh, my gosh, we heard a pop, we heard a pop. And I was like, my ankle isn't broken, but it definitely was stinging for a while. It was my left ankle, and I just played all week with my foot turned out to the side and just kind of grinded it out I guess.

Q. Left or right?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Left ankle. So I flipped it like that and just kind of used my hands and just went out and played.

Q. Can you talk about your confidence level this week and how your success in the past few months have played into that?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I feel like my game is in a good spot. Like I said, I've prepared as much as I could. I worked really hard this off-season and I have put myself in a position now where I'm in position to win this golf tournament, and I couldn't ask for anything more after 36 holes.

It's nice to be somewhere near the lead. And for me, my game feels like it's going in a good spot, and just going to keep doing what I'm doing, just be committed to my shots and not really overthinking things.

Q. Even par was considered to be a good round. When you teed off, what number did you think was going to be a good round?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I thought even par was going to be a really good score. I was pleased -- really the only thing that went through my head before today's round was I just wanted to get off to a decent start. I bogeyed I think 1 and 3, and then after that I played really good golf. I made a great par on 4, great par on 5 and great par on 6.

And I think my tee shot on 7 kind of changed the day for me. I hit a great shot off the tee there -- and that's not an easy tee shot, it's probably one of the toughest on the golf course -- and put it out on the fairway, and hit a great shot into the green, and I just kind of got things rolling from there.

Q. I know you have a love of board games. Anything that you might play tomorrow to kill time?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, that's a good question. I'm not really sure. We didn't actually play anything this morning. It was just Meredith and me at home. I have to get out of this room before I figure out what I'm doing tomorrow morning.

Q. Take us through your birdies on the par 5s, and maybe the second shot on 18?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: So just talk about the par 5s?

Q. Yeah. What was the key to those?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I think I hit every fairway, and then after that I just tried to put myself in a position where I could get the ball up-and-down. A good example of that is probably No. 8 where I was in between 3-iron and 3-wood, and 3-wood I could have hit a great shot and put it in there close, but with the way the wind direction was, I wasn't -- you know, a guarantee I was going to hit the green, so I opted to hit a 3-iron out there short of it and trust my short game and got up-and-down.

On 13 there was some mud under my ball, and I flushed it, and it flew like 40 yards right, and I got a good break over there. You know, I guess a good and a bad break, mud under the ball is not necessarily a good break, but it happens around this golf course. And it was fortunate to stay up, and I took advantage of the good break.

15 is the same thing. People can get greedy with that pin. Like you saw Tony in my group fly it over the green, if you hit it at the pin and it goes into the water -- so basically the pin on that green for me was almost the right edge of the green. And I hit a good shot, and the wind just took it to the right, and made a nice up-and-down.

So, for me, I was just trying to keep the ball in position.

Q. You've played this golf course twice before, and four rounds. How have those eight rounds helped you kind of negotiate this -- navigate today?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I talked about it at the beginning of the week a little bit. I was fortunate to play the final round in 2020 with Tiger, and then I played two rounds with Phil last year, and I learned a lot just by watching those guys manage their way around the golf course. I've seen tons of highlights and plenty of stuff, and I feel like I'm constantly learning about this place.

One of my goals coming into today with the way the wind was, Teddy and I talked about it, we are just going to try to play this golf course like Bernhard Langer does and just kind of plot your way around. The guy seems to play good every year, and he is -- I don't know how old he is now, he's not young, he's definitely one of the older guys in the field here, and he continues to beat people around this golf course.

Q. A lot of the top players on the PGA TOUR play one predominant shot shape and they stick to that regardless of the course. How many different shots do you feel like you're playing throughout the course of a round here?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: A lot, yeah. I couldn't put a number on it. I mean every shot is a little bit different. I have different feels for different things. But every shot is pretty much different, especially when you get 25- to 30-mile-an-hour gusts out there. I mean, every shot is its own challenge for sure around this golf course.

Q. Have you always been comfortable shaping it both ways, high, low, left-to-right?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: That part of the game has always been really fun for me. I've always enjoyed being able to hit shots out of the trees. I got way too much experience with that in college with how I drove the ball in college. It's one of those things that it's just fun. That's the part I enjoy. It's really cool just to see what you can do with a golf ball. And like Bubba Watson is one of my favorite guys to watch play golf because he seemingly does whatever he wants with the ball, and Tiger is the same way. They just hit all kinds of shots. That part for me fun.

Q. Some of these guys are coming off the course like they have been in a boxing match with the conditions, not really enjoying what happened. You seemed impervious to that. How does that happen?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Well, you know, I definitely I feel like I was in a fight today. I guess, you know, the only thing I would say to that is maybe I just performed a little bit better. But I'm definitely a little bit tired right now after the grind of today, so I'm just looking forward to getting home and getting some rest.

Q. Congratulations, world No. 1; that, a lot of people care about. Just want to know, you said you just wanted a decent start today at the early start, but you had bogey, two of the -- you know, first three.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah.

Q. How did you keep your cool?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: For me, in my opinion, the way the wind was blowing, if I was 1-over through five holes around this golf course, really even six where that pin was today, that's a pretty good start. Outside of No. 2, every hole is hard. So No. 1 is really hard. No. 3, with how hard the wind was blowing, is a hard hole today. And then No. 4 is really hard, and 5 is arguably one of the hardest holes on the golf course. So for me getting used to the conditions and being 1-over through five, I felt like that for me was a pretty good start at the time.

Q. So how would you rate today's round among all the important round of your career?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I mean, today was pretty important. I want to put myself in positions to win tournaments, and that's what's fun for me. That's what I've done the first two days here, and hopefully I'll keep things moving this weekend.

Q. As you get deeper into the back nine there, did you have a sense that you were pulling away from the field a little bit? Did you know exactly how you were faring compared to the rest of the players?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I saw the leaderboard, and I think a few guys were at 3-under, and I didn't really pay much attention to it at the time. I mean, I was only, you know, 27 holes into the tournament or whatever.

So I'm still quite a long way to go. It's nice to build up a little bit of a lead, but I'm not really going to be thinking about it tonight or anything. You know, I've put myself in position to play well and to win this golf tournament; and going into tomorrow, I'm just going to approach it like I did today and just be committed to my shots and hope for the best.

Q. When you said it definitely felt like a fight today, what was the hardest part of that fight for you, strictly the wind, or was it, I mean --

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I think -- so two parts. The wind and then trusting the other aspects of your game. When the wind is this high, it's hard to make putts, and it's hard to get the ball up-and-down. But if you try to force your way around this golf course, you're going to get yourself into trouble really, really quickly and make a big number.

For me, my goal and what Teddy and I talked about at the beginning of the day was just being committed to the shots because the wind is going to move around, you're going to get bad bounces, you're going to get bad gusts, all these things are going to happen because the golf course is playing so tough.

But if I'm committed to my shots, I'm able to live freely in that and know that I did my best to hit a good shot and I didn't let the conditions or whatever it is bother me. I just hit a good shot and it didn't work out. It's not overly complicated.

Q. The par save on 11 was a nice one. Just curious if there was any other shots that stood out to you as being really important to you in the course of the round?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, that was really important, and that was one of those ones where you're sitting up on the hill and hitting that shot downhill and the wind is blowing 25 in off the right, and I'm sitting there like I have no idea how I can even get the ball on the green; and if I do, it'd be kind of a miracle shot.

And the at right side, there's room. Granted, it's not an easy up-and-down, but 5 is the worst score I'm going to make. What we talked about was hitting a punch shot and trying to run it off those mounds up onto the green. And if it didn't, I was over there on the right side and I could manufacture something and give myself a look for par. That hole is a par 5. We walked off, and Teddy goes, Nice birdie. It's just a hard hole.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, and good luck the rest of the way.