WGC DELL TECHNOLOGIES MATCH PLAY

March 22, 2023

Lucas Herbert

Austin Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. You made it interesting.

LUCAS HERBERT: I made it interesting? I don't think I did anything. I think Russell made it interesting.

Q. But how much fun was it to pull it off at the end?

LUCAS HERBERT: It was very satisfying now. I wouldn't say it was fun. (Laughing.) My nerves are fried. But, I mean, I played great. I think I made seven birdies today. I didn't give him any holes. I made him hole 25, 30-footers to win holes and he did it. So if you're not going to win a match or if you're not going to win holes, at least you want to make the other person win them and he did that.

So I said to him on the last, that's probably nine of the best holes I've ever seen in my life.

Q. In a situation like that you're 5-up at the turn and he creeps back into the match, what do you tell yourself?

LUCAS HERBERT: I just kept telling myself that I knew I was playing well. I hadn't made any bogeys. I didn't give him any holes where it was freebies. I think through about 13 holes he had a closer approach shot than me maybe twice.

So I knew I was playing good. I knew he was just making some putts. He probably, he didn't play great the front nine, but he could have made similar putts on the front nine and the match doesn't look as weird as what it did in the end. But those putts just started going in for him and there's not a lot you can do when someone's playing like that, you just got to try and match him. And like I said, I knew I was playing well, so just don't let it get to me and get me down.

Q. In a round robin group situation like this how important was it to get a first win out of the first match?

LUCAS HERBERT: Yeah, definitely. You're behind the eight ball if you lose the first match. So to get that first win on the board is good. Hopefully do it again tomorrow and try and get past this group stage.

Q. Is it all about just thinking about this week and what you need to do about this week, considering you are playing for something else? Is the Masters in mind?

LUCAS HERBERT: Yeah, there's a lot of pressure on me to make the Masters and I would love to go. I'm not going to dance around that. But it's all in my own hands. I don't need someone else to play well, play poorly, do whatever. It's all in my own hands. So just trying to, yeah, focus on what I can do. I want to go out there and be attacking like I was that first nine holes and even the second nine holes.

It's not -- I don't have an invitation in the mail for the Masters yet, I have to go and earn one. That's not for me to defend. So I don't want to play like I'm playing to defend anything.

Q. Potentially a lot of golf to be played this week, do you take it easy the rest of the afternoon? What do you do?

LUCAS HERBERT: I think we've earned an afternoon off after those last nine holes.