MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 5, 2023

Sandy Lyle

Quick Quotes

Q. Last par-3 contest as a Masters competitor. Is it emotional even though you know you'll be back playing this --

SANDY LYLE: Yeah, it won't be that emotional playing around here. I'm not even thinking about it because I'm come back next year and play here in the par-3 but under different rules. I won't be competing in the main tournament.

It's not a hard decision. I'm not going to get that emotional about it. It will be probably the last hole or so thinking, thank God I don't have to go out here for -- this is a beast of a golf course, and the young ones hit it so much further than me.

I suppose Nicklaus said the same thing in '86 when he was 46, and I was lucky enough to be playing with him, and he was basically classed as almost too old or over the hill, and he proved to everybody else he wasn't over the hill.

I'm not expecting to do the same thing, but it's just age catches you up. Club head speed lowers down without you even trying sometimes, and then the course is getting longer and I'm getting shorter. Not a good combination. The young ones are so good these days that I can't really compete against that.

Q. You said last year you were going to have some more family. I guess your sons were going to be down this year. Is everyone still here together this year?

SANDY LYLE: Pretty much. Not all of them, but we've got quite a bit of the family here, so they've been around there today, and some other friends have come from far away from Scotland, so yes, it'll be nice coming up on Friday, whatever the weather might be. I think we're going to have some indifferent weather. I'm looking forward to it and competing tomorrow and see how we go.

Q. I heard you and Larry got pretty emotional last night at the dinner --

SANDY LYLE: I was okay. The one guy I thought was going to be even brilliant was going to be Larry Mize because he's used to speaking to people, a man of the church, whatever you want to say. He's done lots of readings, and I thought he'll have no problem at all, and he clammed up like a clam shell. He just stood up there and had a glass of water and another glass of water and we all (whistles), but obviously we've all got feelings. He's tough enough to win a Masters, but when it comes to that kind of emotional thing, we've all got feelings.

He's going to be very emotional going down the last two holes I'm sure. I will be, as well, but I maybe don't show it as much as he does.

Q. Did you hear Freddy a couple days ago called you one of the "beautiful people"?

SANDY LYLE: Well, I don't know. That's up to them, whatever they decide. I don't go out there promoting my beautiful people. I think I've always tried to treat everybody with dignity no matter what race or whatever they are, because when you play in Europe, you play with all sorts: Koreans to Africans, South Africans. You just treat everybody the same. Golf is a great leveler, brings everybody together.

Q. Did you notice that was kind of the vibe last night, everyone regardless of everyone's differences --

SANDY LYLE: Regardless of all the different things that's been said in the last week, so it went off without a hitch. There was nothing from Gary Player or whatever or Mickelson. It was all very hush-hush and just went as normal.

Q. Besides the tequila, what was the best part of Scottie's kind of message or hosting duties last night?

SANDY LYLE: Generally everybody enjoys the food. I've never really had bad food there yet. I had the soup and had to sort of swab the top of my head because it was perspiring. I like hot food; I'm used to curries and things like that, so I'm not too bad.

But I think Couples was like holding his throat, oh, my God. So it caught a few people by surprise. I think we needed some more yogurt out there and stick some yogurt in it, and that would have calmed it down.

I suppose it's a little bit like when I had haggis. A lot of people didn't know what haggis was, from Scotland. So there was a lot of dishes going back still full.

Q. Tiger didn't have any haggis, though?

SANDY LYLE: No, he had cheeseburgers. He kept it safe.