MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 3, 2023

Chris Kirk

Quick Quotes

Q. How is it out there today?

CHRIS KIRK: It was awesome. Definitely felt like we got a little bit lucky and dodged most of the rain, but yeah, it was a great time playing with Sepp and J.T., two of my really good friends. Abe Ancer joined us too.

Had a fun little game. Golf course was pure. Sepp made a hole-in-one on 12. It was pretty fun nine holes.

Q. Totally agree with you on the weather. For you, when you came back here, whether it was yesterday or today, what was the first thing you noticed and what kind of hit you?

CHRIS KIRK: It's been is since 2016 since I've been here for the Masters. I've been a few other times since then.

It's an unbelievable week. Obviously the golf course is heaven on earth, but to be back here with all the people and with the course and the kind of condition it's in, it feels business as usual a little bit, but also you pinch yourself at times.

Q. What does it mean to be back in this field after your journey?

CHRIS KIRK: Yeah, I'm very thankful that things have worked out the way they have. I made a few good decisions and got really a whole lot of help from a lot of people along the way. God willing, I'm here.

It's pretty amazing. It feels like a culmination of a handful of years of really hard work, but also looking at it as like I want to be here for a lot of years in a row.

Q. You've been open about your struggles and things you've been through. I know you get asked about it plenty, but it seems like an intentional decision. Have you really wanted to talk about it for other people to hear, for folks who are in similar situations? What's gone into that for you?

CHRIS KIRK: The reason for purely being open about it was just I spent a lot of years really hiding a lot of things and lying to people around me, lying to myself. So once I kind of got where I felt like I didn't have anything to hide, it felt so good and freeing to be honest about it.

So it was really for me. I didn't do it with the intent of putting out a message to anybody else. It just feels good to wake up and look myself in the mirror and like what I see for a change. That's really all it was.

Q. You've obviously had success, trophies and doing well out here. But what does it mean just for you personally being here? Is this something you've had -- not a light at the end of the tunnel, but something as a long term goal coming back here?

CHRIS KIRK: Yeah, absolutely. I knew, if I just sort of plugged away, I always believed there was a good chance I could do it. No for sure obviously, but it's an honor to be back here for sure. I love everything about the Masters.

I think Wednesday will be extra special for me this year. My two older boys were so little the last time I played, and wilder, my youngest son, wasn't even born yet. To have them here at the ages they are now, 5, 9, and 11, will be just an unbelievable memory.

Q. You're going to have three caddies in the par-3 tournament?

CHRIS KIRK: Three, maybe four. My wife will probably be out there to try to manage the other caddies. I'll probably end up carrying the bag myself. But, yeah, it will be a lot of fun.

Q. Course-wise, what are the biggest changes you've noticed? I know you said you've been back a couple times since playing in the field, but what have you noticed since the last competition here?

CHRIS KIRK: Since the last Masters I played, obviously 13 is new for everybody. This year the 13, and 5 is a lot different than it was the last time I played in the Masters as well. I haven't played the front nine this week, but I played a few weeks ago. It's definitely a very different hole.

But the overall feel of the place is still the same.

Q. We saw Kevin Kisner and Brian Harman come through earlier. You're playing with Sepp obviously. What is it about Georgia guys that keeps that bond together?

CHRIS KIRK: It's a cool thing we have so many playing on the TOUR and so many playing at a high level as well. I think we have eight. Is Bubba playing this week?

CHRIS KIRK: Yes.

Q. I think he is. So we have eight Dogs here in a small field. We have the best field in the world. We had eight at the Dell Match Play a few weeks ago. So to have that many players from one school up really high in the World Rankings like that is just an awesome thing.

We're all playing really similar schedules. A lot of us stay together on the road every week and usually rent a house, and we all kind of hang out and stay together.

It's definitely a great relationship that a lot of us have and a really special bond for sure.