MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 6, 2023

Sahith Theegala

Quick Quotes

Q. You had said that you were kind of nervous for this since the end of Match Play. How did it compare to what you thought it would be?

SAHITH THEEGALA: It was good. I was really nervous on the first tee. I was just like wanting to keep it in the field of play. I kind of like got so under the first tee shot and kind of saved it, it just like hit on the right side of the right bunker and it went to the middle. So I got kind of you lucky I was in the middle of the bunker. But honestly hitting the green there and then made like a three and a half-footer, which out here is no gimmie. So that settled the nerves and the rest of the way was great. Like kind of how I imagined. Like get the first tee shot, first hole out of the way and the rest of it was awesome. I just didn't chip and putt well today. But played, I hit the ball fine, actually.

Q. You played the course a bunch of times before this. Anything different about under the gun?

SAHITH THEEGALA: Yes, yes. Just like some shots that you take for granted yardage-wise, because you're just shooting it with the gun. We want to -- I went a couple rounds where we didn't use the gun and I had a couple, obviously, Augusta caddies caddie. But like actually doing every yardage, every hole -- there's a couple where it was like elevation -- I don't know. There was just some more thought about the actual getting the distances to the holes on the approach shots that maybe was one or two off or didn't feel a hundred percent on. But I think Carl did a great job and as I get more rounds tournament rounds that will be a lot easier.

Q. You have the slope numbers in the book?

SAHITH THEEGALA: No, everything is, yeah, everything. We just gunned it and then had the slope numbers and we double checked it with the caddies that we came out with before. It was all pretty spot on, but just like even angles -- like hole 9 today, like the angle how much uphill it is to the left side of the green versus the right side of the green's going to be different and then obviously the cover number is a little bit less on the left side. So there's just like a shot like that there's so many variables and maybe messes with the cadence a hair just of the whole preshot routine, at least for me being like a first timer. I mean, if you played it a bunch I think you know kind of, like that shot, it's like one or two less to the back left pin and it might be one or two more uphill. So actually ended up evening out. But just little stuff like that.

Q. Overall though pretty satisfied with the debut?

SAHITH THEEGALA: Yeah, yeah. Like I said, I played well. Like I hit the ball well. I just had a bad five-hole stretch. I made five 5s in a row 7 through 11 where I didn't do that badly, I just like kept not -- I had up-and-down chances, but I kept chipping it to like 12 feet and not exactly the 12-footers that you want. I might have hit it in a new place on 7. I had 62 yards for my third shot from over the green.

Q. What did you do?

SAHITH THEEGALA: I hit it to like 20 feet. Which was great. But I don't think anyone's hit it 62 yards over that green. But, yeah, it was just, that was probably the one hole where it was just like, whatever. But, yeah, honestly played well, just didn't hole a single putt outside of three feet, four feet.

Q. (No Microphone.)

SAHITH THEEGALA: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I striped driver, but just that, I had 231 flag. It was just always going right. I almost hit the green just right of the hole. That's a great example. I hit it kind of right where I was supposed to miss it, hit a good chip, just skidded a little bit, all of a sudden I have a 9-footer that breaks a foot. So...

Q. That's Augusta.

SAHITH THEEGALA: Yeah. It is. It was fun though.