MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 3, 2023

Harrison Crowe

Mateo Fernández de Oliveira

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, please join me in welcoming two first-time competitors at the Masters, Harrison Crowe and Mateo Fernández de Oliveira.

Harrison earned his invitation with victory in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship last fall, and Mateo's invitation is a courtesy of his win at the Latin America Amateur Championship earlier this year.

I'll begin with Harrison, if I may. Ten years after the great Adam Scott became the first Australian to win the Masters, here you are getting set to compete in your first tournament. I understand you spoke to Adam shortly before the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship last fall. Maybe you could share with us some of the advice that he gave you at that time, which obviously was good advice.

HARRISON CROWE: Yeah, I met him the week prior, I played in the Pan Open and didn't have a very successful week there. I spoke to him after the second round and, yeah, gave me very simple advice. It was just to go reset and go out and get after it. My game to switch in the span of two weeks was awesome. It was simple advice but just kept me forward a little bit, especially into that week in Thailand.

THE MODERATOR: Can you emulate any of his swings?

HARRISON CROWE: Try to. Can't quite get there.

THE MODERATOR: One year after finishing runner-up, you won this year's Latin America Amateur Championship in record-setting fashion. How did your finish in 2022 motivate you entering into the 2023 championship?

MATEO FERNÁNDEZ DE OLIVEIRA: Of course, having that experience, the previous year, going into this year's final round, it was definitely something that I used in my favor, finishing runner-up last year, of course it hurt. But also it taught me a very good lesson. Going into this year's final round, I just did what I needed to do to get it done. Actually, ended up paying off, so I was happy about it.

THE MODERATOR: If I could ask both of you the same question, what has been your biggest impression since arriving at Augusta National over the last week?

HARRISON CROWE: The course is definitely longer than I expected, but more so just the aura around the players is so mesmerizing. You go down Magnolia Lane, it's so special. Driving the car down there, it's definitely a life-changing experience, and then being here today, especially seeing how many people are out there, it's nerve-wracking, but it's more so exciting.

It's going to be an unbelievable week, unforgettable week, and excited to get it going.

MATEO FERNÁNDEZ DE OLIVEIRA: To be honest, I'm very impressed about everything out here. Everything is so special. I'm just trying to enjoy every second of it. As soon as I drove in Magnolia Lane, it just makes it way more special and how perfect is everything out here. It just makes it super special.

Today watching all of the people go crazy and just all the crowds were so amazing, and watching the line was very impressive.

Q. You've been to Augusta and played it before; what was it like playing with crowds? How did that make it different, and what advice did Min Woo and Jason give you earlier out there?

HARRISON CROWE: It definitely made it a lot more real out there today with the crowds. Obviously there was no crowd, and to see so many people out there, it was so noisy. I was lucky enough to be on 15 green when Tiger's group was out there on 16, and it was so loud. It kind of gives you goose bumps being on the golf course hear that, it's unbelievable.

Playing today with Jason and Min Woo was awesome. Got to pick their brains a bit about the course, and Jason was extremely helpful with all the piece of advices.

I actually just heard him say he's going to take it a little more conservative, a little less aggressive, and I did watch that out on the course today. Really showed his experience playing holes like 13 and 15, has a substantial longer length on 13 and makes it a lot tougher. Just say, if you can go around a couple under, and you stay out of trouble, it's to attack.

Yeah, lots of pieces of advice around the greens and where to be around certain pins and breaks, but no, it was awesome.

Q. What is the line between amateur and professional, and what kind of factors determine your transition from one to the other?

HARRISON CROWE: There's a lot more going on in professional events, and especially this week, compared to most amateurs are used to. There's a little bit of adjusting to do in terms of trying to make sure that you stand a little bit in the moment, and I'm sure that will get tested come Thursday.

But for me, it's just kind of just treat everything as I normally would, a day of golf, and enjoy everything and soak everything in and all the perks. But when it comes to the first shot, just really just stay in the moment.

Q. If you can take us through your club selection on 13 and 15, you've played the course a few times in the last month, if you can share that, please.

MATEO FERNÁNDEZ DE OLIVEIRA: When I was playing the course, it was playing long and most I played into the wind. 13 being longer, I just hit driver straight. I'm not going to try to squeeze it into the dogleg. Depending on the pin is where I'm going to place my lay up on the second shot, so let's say, probably the two pins on the left, I'm just going to try to be as close as I can to the creek so I can have like a 40-yard shot up the hill.

15, I think if I can send a good driver there, I might have a good chance to get it there in two, but if not, same on 13, look at the pin, where is the ball spot to lay up, and from there try to make a four.

Q. You have Cabrera's caddie this week. In what ways has he helped you? What will be Brad McMakin's role for you this week?

MATEO FERNÁNDEZ DE OLIVEIRA: Brad's role is pretty simple, he's here to support me the whole time. It's special for him to have him this year this week.

Ruben, my caddie, he's a good guy. He won here. He's got the experience to give me some good advice out there. He's a funny guy, too, and that's one of the main things for me. Just try to have fun. Get me a little distracted in the moments that I can and just?

Q. Can you talk about, first-timers may want to limit friends and family around them. Can you talk about the number of people that have made the trip and who are the members of the team this week, and also same question for Harrison.

MATEO FERNÁNDEZ DE OLIVEIRA: So I got a big crew with me this week. We rented a house, and we are around ten staying there. My family and my girlfriend's sister are getting in tonight. So we're going to be even more. But I've got four friends from back home, my dad, my mom, girlfriend's sister and my brother. So we have got five rooms, and we've got everyone settled. We are just trying to have fun out on the golf course, which is going to be a very important factor for me this week.

HARRISON CROWE: For me it's the same as Mateo. We've got I think 11 or 10 in the house in six rooms. I did shotgun one of the rooms. And we're kind of squeezing in bits and places. But I've got a big crew over here this week, and it just makes all week even more special. And there are so many other Aussies from my home club that are over this week. There are going to be at least 20 people that I know that are over here.

It definitely makes it probably a little more comfortable having some people here that I can kind of go to or just know that they are there, and if I'm not doing it for myself, I'm doing it for them. It's truly special.

Q. Can you just take us through those last few holes at Amata Springs where you played so well, and any comparison you want to draw with the kind of pressures that you will have over here, and also how the last couple of months have been after -- more than a couple of months at Amata Springs? What have you been doing up to this tournament?

HARRISON CROWE: Yeah, the last few holes, well, that whole back nine, really, at Amata Springs, I really just proved to myself that I could do it. I wasn't in a great position going into the back nine, and just to flip a switch and get things going again, apply some pressure, just cemented within myself that I've got the game. There's definitely a lot of positives from that week to draw from, not only this week, but to going in, going forward in my future and my career.

Yeah, so it's been a bit of a wild journey. Arriving home to see so many friend and family after that week was certainly awesome. I had close friend and family waiting for me at the airport saying, "We're going to the Masters."

And we're here. Came around very quickly. But yeah, for the last couple months, it's been just kind of making sure that I'm doing all the right things and taking good steps towards this week.

A month ago, I was able to spend a few days here. Really just try to get over kind of the aura and mesmerization of the golf course and just focus on how I'm going to attack the golf course and go out there and just do my thing.

Q. It was a privilege to see you win at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship. I just asked Jason, what is golf Australia doing so right that it's producing a lot of really young and talented players, and he said the use of technology, apart from your talent. How often do you FaceTime with your coach or use technology for your game?

HARRISON CROWE: Yeah, I see my coach quite often. Not necessarily for all his technical lessons. It's just more so, I'll see him once a week, if we just go out for some holes and he'll play with me.

But in terms of myself and all the access I've got back home in Australia, it's great. I try not to focus too much on technical stuff and changing too many things. A lot of the times, it's just refinement. So when I'm at home, my coach, John, a lot of the time, it's just kind of talking through things, playing things out, making sure everything is tidy. More than not, just have fun and just continue to just to play the game of golf.

I think in Australia, we've got such a great atmosphere around us, no matter what state you're in, no matter what golf course you're in, we've got so many opportunities to travel. Such a great performance for us to go through, they are definitely doing all the right things.

Q. You have a title to defend, and it's going to be at home. Are you looking forward to that?

HARRISON CROWE: I am. I am. I think -- I haven't looked that far forward yet whether I'll be there. I'll hopefully make the plunge but first thing's first, just to get ready for this week, I think.

Q. You hit a memorable shot last year during the Dunvegan. What kind of reaction have you gotten since then from that?

HARRISON CROWE: A lot of positive, which I'm quite thankful for. A lot of people have really come to me, especially played the Australian Open at the end of last year. I couldn't believe the crowd support I had amongst playing with Cameron Davis and Adam Scott.

I think it just -- I think hitting that shot just kind of shows the person that I am; that I'm not really afraid to give everything a shot, and kind of shows a little bit more of the Aussie culture a little bit, as well; that we are pretty laid back and we are ready to do things.

Q. Is there a shot that you could see that would be similar that would be fun to hit here?

HARRISON CROWE: I want to re-try the skim shot on 16 tomorrow because I hit that straight in the middle of the water. So that's probably the one shot I really want to go again at.

Q. As an amateur, how grateful are you that you're able to come to the Masters and do what's inaccessible for amateurs to come here and experience this week? Things like the Drive, Chip & Putt, do you think that's encouraging to kids back home to get involved in the game, if we created that in Australia in some way?

HARRISON CROWE: Yeah, absolutely. Back home so many of my mates don't play golf, but they know the ins and outs and they are glued to the TV. But what they have got going on here, the Drive, Chip & Putt, everything they have got going on with the lead-up to the Masters, it's so including, and for Mateo to have the opportunity to play amongst all the best golfers in the world, it's definitely going to be an unbelievable experience.

I spoke to Curtis Luck who played a few years back over the last couple weeks. He basically gave me a rundown of the whole week and didn't have single bad thing to say about it all. Yeah, there's no words, I guess.

Q. How often or how many times did you get to play here prior to this week, and who did you play with today, and who are you playing with tomorrow?

MATEO FERNÁNDEZ DE OLIVEIRA: Yeah, so I came first trip in January. We played two days, but I got 36 in each day. We were with the whole team, with the Razorback team, so it was a lot of fun to be out there with friends, people who played here before, joined us and gave me some really good advice.

Then I came here in February and took one of my close friends, Thomas, who caddied for me at the Latin America Amateur Championship. We spent two days working on the course. Then I came in March two weeks ago and just played for three days, walked the course with some people that are very close to me, and we had a lot of fun. Also we kept working on the golf course, and just, I mean, it was -- every time you came out here, it's so special, that we had a great time.

Q. And who did you play with today?

MATEO FERNÁNDEZ DE OLIVEIRA: I played today with Taylor Moore. He's a former Razorback. He's a lot of fun. And Brad was there walking with us.

Tomorrow the plan is to play with the Latino guys, Mito, I don't know if someone else is going to join or not. And then on Wednesday, hopefully get to play nine holes with Collin Morikawa in the morning. That's going to be a fun experience for me. Just trying to get to know as many players as I can and getting some very valuable advice from them is also very good to get from this week.

Q. Who are you going to play with tomorrow?

HARRISON CROWE: Tomorrow, so I'm playing with Adam Scott, Cam Smith, and Min Woo.

Q. For the people that are not that familiar with the events, can you describe how important and how many juniors in your region are looking forward to playing the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship or the Latin America Amateur Championship?

HARRISON CROWE: I know for the last few years with all the guys I played with at home, there's always that race to get inside the top six in the World Rankings, just to play in that event. For the last few years, I haven't -- I've been kind of close but just missed out.

And I had a really, really good stretch of events, and I was sitting pretty comfortable to make the team. And, I mean, for my first appearance, to do what I did last October was so special. And then to be here this week, it's almost a bit of a blur at the moment. But yeah, I think it just kind of cements the confidence in myself.

Q. How about the Latin America Amateur Championship, how important for the region?

MATEO FERNÁNDEZ DE OLIVEIRA: Yeah, I believe the Latin America Amateur Championship is growing the game so much in the region. I mean, I played it five different times. Every time, I did something different, I came close in the previous year to winning, and I saw my friend, Abel, winning a couple years ago. I mean, it's just giving a lot to the region, and to be sitting down here as a Latin America Amateur Champion feels very special. There are a lot of Latin American players doing good on tour, and I think that's a big part of that.

Q. Curious about the EA event last night. What did you guys think of that experience?

HARRISON CROWE: Yeah, it was so cool. It was a lot of fun. It was so entertaining and to see all the graphics in the game itself they created, it's unreal. And for it to be so spot-on with how the course layout is, I'm not a gamer myself, but definitely be tempted to go back home and tap my card away and grab one.

MATEO FERNÁNDEZ DE OLIVEIRA: It was a great experience. There were a lot of people, all little kid from First Tee, and the Drive, Chip & Putt, they were so loud, and there were huge crowds for all the teams playing. As Harrison said, the game was so good and the greens were super accurate. It was pretty useful just to see breaks and going on to practice rounds these days, just to see if it was actually going that way or not.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you both for your time. Congratulations on playing your first Masters, and thank you for being here.