MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 9, 2023

Patrick Reed

Quick Quotes

Q. How would you assess your round?

PATRICK REED: A little up, a little down, a little left, a little right. It was all right. I felt like I hit the ball a little better today than I scored. It was weird, the wind seemed to kind of swirl a little bit, especially early on in the round.

Xander and I both hit two golf shots that -- I flagged it on 1 thinking it's going to be perfect, and it lands on the front edge of the green. I took a club that if anything I would have thought would land past the flag and if anything use that backstop because I don't know how many times I've messed with that false front.

I mean, don't really think I hit a good golf shot on 2 to make 7, and then I bounced back with hitting it solid again, and I make birdie on 3 and miss good looks on 4, 5, made the one on 6 and just kind of like an up-and-down day like that. Hit a lot of good golf shots, ended up pretty close. Hit some that didn't end up where I wanted them to and made a couple putts.

Q. (Indiscernible.)

PATRICK REED: Yeah, I feel like the game is good. I feel like it's solid, steady. Just obviously I need to work on a few things here and there. My distance wedges could probably get a little better. Hit too many wedge shots this week to 15, 20 feet rather than normally five, ten feet. Can tighten that up.

You always can drive it better. I hit a couple loose ones out there this week that cost me, but as a whole, it was a solid kind of steady week.

Q. Inside the ropes I'm sure it was what it's usually like at the Masters; what was outside the ropes like this week like for you?

PATRICK REED: They were fine. The fans were good. I heard a lot of "Go 4Aces" out there, had some cheers and the usual every once in a while a little kind of murmurs here and there.

As a whole, everyone was great. They were very respectful, and the fans were how they always are. They're always really good. Especially seeing some of the guys and a lot of guys I haven't seen back players-wise, it was as if nothing really changed. We're competitors playing golf, and they treated us all the same way.

Q. There's some people that maintained this week might have been important in some ways in regards to the LIV guys getting together with the Tour guys and that they can show everybody can coexist. Did you feel that way?

PATRICK REED: Yeah, no, I felt that way even before this week. I've played on the European Tour in events there, and all the guys have been fine there in the events I've played. I guess they've treated me the same no matter what. I think it's mainly because I've always shown support of their Tour and I've gone over and played even when I was part of the PGA TOUR and now being part of LIV, I've gone over there and showed my support, and I think the guys like that, the competitiveness, guys coming over and competing, and it's the first time really seeing the PGA Tour guys, and like I said, they were all great. They all acted the exact same way, whether I was part of LIV or whether I was a part of the PGA Tour.

Q. (Indiscernible.)

PATRICK REED: Yeah, you know, when we played at Presidents Cup, that place was an immaculate golf course. Really firm, can get hot and fast. I have no clue what the weather is like this time of year, but I'm hoping it's warmer than the past couple days here.

I hear the golf course is good. I can't wait to get down there and play and travel some more and see how the game fares on the long trip.

Q. (Indiscernible.)

PATRICK REED: Yeah, I enjoyed the golf course. I enjoyed playing there. I wish -- I felt line Webb and I, because I teamed up with him the whole week, I felt like we played pretty well as a group, just we kept on getting the short end of the stick, kept on getting the guys that were running hot. It was good down there. Our team was able to go get the win, which was awesome, and I'm looking forward to going back.

Q. (Indiscernible.)

PATRICK REED: Well, considering they sold out within no time down there, weeks in advance of Mayakoba they sold out, and they added more tickets and they sold out again really quickly, I would think the reception and the fans going to be great.

Q. Just your overall thoughts on how 13 played this week?

PATRICK REED: Yeah, with how I played, unless you drive it really close to the edge of the tree line, it's a lay-up. It's kind of taken some of that fire out.

But you know, it's hard to really assess it fairly because of how cold and how wet it's been. The day that it was warm, on the first day when I played, I hit 5-iron into that green and was just short of pin high but just left and had a nice horseshoe. I feel like that hole owes me one, that's for sure, especially the new way.

No, as a whole, I feel like it's a little too early to tell. I definitely understand where they did it. You don't want to see Bubba and some of these guys, I bet you Rory has done it before, I'm sure DJ has done it, as well, where you're hitting wedges into that green. A par-5 isn't made for wedges; par-5s are made to actually have a long iron if you get really aggressive, and if you're really, really long maybe less than that.

Yeah, time will tell, but when it gets firmer and faster, I could see how you could get an iron in your hand. They were smart this week; on the days it got really cold and kind of nasty, they moved the tee up a little bit, so you could actually get around the corner. I think that's the biggest thing. You might not be able to get it around the corner and left, but you've got to at least hit it straight and get it around the corner where you have an option.

Q. So you think it was necessary?

PATRICK REED: I definitely think it was necessary to add some length there, yes. You know, I always thought there's two ways they could have done it, they either add length, or what they do is they have that tree line that stops on the right, to continue going all the way down, all the way basically even to split 13 and 14 in half. That would be the only other way so then guys just can't hammer it over the trees and just hit it as far as they want, as long as they get past that last tree on the right.

Now with moving it back, it makes you actually have to hit a tee shot, and if it's into the wind, makes it easier for me, I can just hit it straight. I don't have to worry about turning it around, and I can't really get through with it being colder. You just hit it straight down the middle of the fairway and you just accept laying up and having to hit a diabolical wedge shot around that green.