MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 9, 2022

Patrick Reed

Quick Quotes

Q. We've been talking about the wind for a few days now, but today you were battling the cold out there. Just talk about how you battled the conditions.

PATRICK REED: Through the first four, after you got through basically hole four, it was gettable, the golf course was. With this wind direction, the par-5s play a little harder because they all -- besides from No. 2, they're all into the wind.

The golf course wasn't as firm as I expected it with it getting cold like that. The greens obviously sped up, but because there was no real sunshine that would dry them out, because that, you're still able to attack. You're still able to hit quality golf shots and have chances to make some birdies. I'm just not doing enough of it.

Q. You had a tough stretch on the last couple holes on the front. What happened on 9?

PATRICK REED: The ball was barely in the rough on the left, but it was a perfect lie. Haven't really caught a flier all week. I had like 137 adjusted to cover the ridge, and you know anything landing in the ridge is not going to bounce up. I just had 132.

I hit a full 51 degree on 7 that flew maybe 132. So I was sitting there going, well, this has to be an 80 percent pitching wedge, caught a flier and sent it over the green. From there you're dead. I don't care what you can do from there. I thought I hit a pretty good first chip, and it ended up going off the front of the green. I was playing away from the hole too, and I just missed a good look for bogey.

Q. A couple of birdies on the back nine. You talked in the past about maybe not having a lot to take from one round to the other in the past couple days. Was there anything in the back nine that maybe gave you a bit of confidence heading into tomorrow?

PATRICK REED: Because of how cold it was, early in the round I wasn't really moving. So my hands are getting too involved. Then I got on the back nine, the soft shots, I felt like I was hitting some soft shots really well and hitting my lines off of iron shots and hitting some solid tee shots and really just putting the ball in play.

I think that's what you have to do. My only blemish on the back nine today was a three-putt because the ball stayed in the ball mark. Just past the flag on that right side on 16, it's a pretty severe slope where the ball stayed, but it ended up being in a ball mark and just couldn't come back. From there, downwind, downhill, I had to make a five-footer coming downhill and couldn't make it.

I started to hit quality golf shots, whether it's pins on left or pins on right, which is always hard to take from, especially going into tomorrow. Obviously what Scheffler's doing is insane, but that doesn't mean I can't go out there and shoot a really low one tomorrow and get myself into the top five, top four in the event.

Q. You were the last Texan to win here. What is it about Texas that kind of translates to Augusta?

PATRICK REED: You have to be able to control your ball. It's not just curves here. It's also flights. You never know, even when it's barely blowing here, five, seven miles an hour wind, it always swirls through the trees. So you have to be able to not -- you have to be able to learn how to play the ball kind of down, but then at the same time, use slopes to stop balls. If you need to launch one, you can.

Q. You see those swirls at the Woodlands and stuff like that?

PATRICK REED: Yeah, it's always blowing at the Woodlands. Not only is it windy in there, but the reason why it's called the Woodlands, a ton of trees. The ball gets turned in those trees. Above the trees, the wind here, even above the trees here, the ball and the wind is kind of the same direction, but the trees are tall, these ones. Because of that, it's hard to get the ball above them.

Q. Crenshaw and a lot of those guys, they say winning as a Texan, just to be part of that lore with Hogan and Nelson, for you, to be a Texan, to have a jacket, to be on that trophy --

PATRICK REED: It means a lot. It just shows that with the past and the guys from Texas with all the different wins, just having to be a shot maker. I think that's the biggest thing about this place. You never have a flat lie. You're always having to create something whether it's ball above feet, ball below feet, downhill lie, uphill lie. You're having to do something. It's never just a step-up driving range swing. It's always having to manipulate it in some way.

I feel like we're able to do that really well, and I feel like just in Texas in general. I went to college here at Augusta State, and some days it will be 75 and sunny, next day it will be pumping, just kind of like at home. Because of that, you know how to adapt and adapt quickly.