MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 5, 2023

Tony Finau

Quick Quotes

Q. You look refreshed. Do you feel that way?

TONY FINAU: Yeah, I feel good. Body is healthy. Mind feels pretty good leading into the Masters and just major championship season in general. So I'll take that as a compliment, thanks.

Q. When you look at the forecast and you know you might have rain, can you worry too much about that?

TONY FINAU: No. I mean, you can't worry too much about that. I think you just try and be prepared for any conditions.

As we're out there, like I played the back today, and hitting a couple wedge shots into 13, I think the greens are going to be pretty soft. So hitting some shots where I'm visualizing the greens being soft and skipping some shots to the back pin or do I fly it back there?

I think we try to have an idea of what the conditions are going to be like just to be prepared for it. But I don't think you really worry about it. I don't think worry is the right word. It's just more being properly prepared by looking at the conditions.

If we knew it was going to be sunny all week, then we know the golf course is going to firm out. We knew we're going to have some rain. So it's probably going to be pretty soft.

Q. Going into the Masters, you practiced that third shot into 13 more this year than in the past?

TONY FINAU: Yeah, it is. I hit a couple more shots than I probably would into that green. For the most part, I've gone for that green in two as long as I hit it pretty much on grass. I even hit it from the pine straw a couple times trying to hit the green.

This year is different. We're 35 yards further back. The one thing I haven't heard a lot of guys mention is just that your second shot is from a lot -- the ball is a lot more above your feet than before. The further you hit that tee shot, the less slope you have to deal with.

Today I hit a 4-iron. It felt like the ball is about at knee height. Yesterday I hit a 6-iron, and it felt like it was at waist height. That also makes the shot a lot more difficult. You're hitting from further back, but you're also hitting with the ball a lot more above your feet.

Q. How do you practice that shot if you're not here in the weeks leading up, or do you not practice it?

TONY FINAU: I don't really practice shots with the ball that far above my feet. It's a feel shot, that's what it is. It's a feel shot.

That's what I love about this golf course. It's a shot maker's type of golf course. I think it's an advantage to know how to work the golf ball. It's something I've had really no issues with my whole career, bending the golf ball both ways and being really creative.

It's a place that I enjoy because of that. You're able to use contours and things like that.

Q. You don't go on the side of the range and practice that at home?

TONY FINAU: I don't. Maybe some guys prepare for it. I try to practice some of the tee shots I might have.

As far as that, again, it's just feel. You choke up on it a little bit and just try and feel the shot. We don't really get faced with that much slope on any golf course, but this week we are faced with it, and you just kind of try to hit the shot as well as you can when you have it.

Q. Do you feel like out of all the players in the field, you have the toughest decisions to make when it comes to the par-3 contest?

TONY FINAU: Toughest or easiest, depending how you look at it. I know what not to do. A lot of guys haven't made huge mistakes yet, so they don't know what to do yet.

In all seriousness, it's fun. It's one of my favorite traditions that we have here. I get to have my kids inside the ropes with me and running around the course where they're allowed to. They can get away with running on the golf course. It just makes it fun. I like that tradition a lot.

In about an hour, we'll be teeing it up here at the par-3 course with all five of my kids, and we'll have a good time.

Q. I wasn't even talking about the ankle. I was just about how do you decide what kid to caddie, or you have them all out there?

TONY FINAU: I just have them all. I just have them all inside the ropes. My oldest is probably going to be carrying the bag, my official caddie. We have them all in there, my wife in there. It's a big party.

Q. Do you have them all line up and read the putt?

TONY FINAU: Yes, sometimes, and I might have each of them hit a putt. It's just a lot of fun.

Some guys choose not to play it, totally understand. It's a tradition that I like a lot, mostly because I get to have my kids in there. You never really have that opportunity on this type of stage or in this type of event. So it's a cool tradition for us.

Q. For the average recreational golfer that gets to play this course, what would you say the hardest shot is on the course?

TONY FINAU: The hardest -- there's a lot of hard tee shots, but I would just say No. 12. To hit that green, I don't think you can really respect how narrow it is. It's pretty wide. I would guess it's 25, 30 yards wide, which is pretty wide with an iron, but you've got to get the distance right.

When you have a 9-iron -- today it was an 8-iron, about 160 yards into the wind, you've got to get it just right. There's no miss. Hitting it long is not good, and hitting it short obviously is not good.

I could see amateurs struggling a lot just trying to hit it on grass, and let alone escaping the hole with less than a 6. It's got all of us -- if you play this place enough, it's a hole that you probably won't avoid making a big number on at some point.

Hopefully those big numbers are behind me and not in front of me, and I'm able to play it pretty clean this week.