MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 11, 2024

Christo Lamprecht

Quick Quotes

Q. Christo, opening round here at the Masters, something you've been waiting for for quite some time. A little bit of a rain delay before you started out. First tee I think they measured your drive at 353. A little adrenaline before the opening tee off?

CHRISTO LAMPRECHT: Yeah, a little doubt. There's a couple of wedges I hit a little further than I should have. No doubt, adrenaline. Obviously it's normal to have some nerves, especially for your first Masters and first time teeing it up in this event, so yeah, for sure.

Q. People in the world of amateur golf know how far you hit it but there's people in the galleries that may not be familiar with your game. Any noticeable oohs and awes that caught your attention?

CHRISTO LAMPRECHT: Yeah, I caught a hold of one on 8 and there was a lot of oohs and awes. I drove it pretty good today. I had one bad tee shot in my opinion. But drove it really well, played really good golf. I felt like I deserved a little better score than what I got, to be fair. But I was pleased with the round.

Q. What are some aspects of the back nine that you ran into some trouble that maybe you could account to less experience than other players here in the field?

CHRISTO LAMPRECHT: Yeah, I think as everyone knows, the back nine on the Masters is so volatile. You can hit a good golf shot and make a lot of birdies out there, or you can hit a good golf shot and be penalized for it.

I think 10, 11, I kind of didn't draw it off the tee on 10, kind of ran out of room, and on 11, I thought I hit a good drive, got behind the tree, and I couldn't miss it left. It's two great holes, and they're really hard today into the wind.

On 15, I'm going to be honest, I hit a perfect wedge. I took more club trying to not spin it because I knew I didn't want to spin it off the green, landed it three yards past where I wanted it. Literally a perfect golf shot in my opinion, and just spun back off the front. I think the little bit of rain might've softened the greens up, and I don't think I was thinking about that.

But once again, I'm pretty pleased with the round of golf I played today.

Q. Solid day; did you have an idea of what you needed to shoot today or was it having an open mind and seeing how it went?

CHRISTO LAMPRECHT: Yeah, there was no scoring expectations for me. I think obviously I got off to a really good start. I knew the wind was going to start blowing. I thought if I -- I would have been coming in the back nine after bogeying 9, 10, 11, I thought if I shoot under par I'd be really happy with it. I thought besides 15, I did what I wanted to.

Q. I noticed your driving is the highest average today. Do you think the long drives will help you get into better positions? Do you think it will help you on this course?

CHRISTO LAMPRECHT: Yeah, I think if I hit it straight, it really gives an advantage on this golf course. I think your approach shots and leaving yourself in the right positions is so crucial. I think having that benefit of having a wedge in versus a 7-iron or something really helps. Yeah, I hit the driver good today, and I might have not taken enough opportunities, but I'm really pleased with how I drove the golf ball today.

Q. Was there a "welcome to the Masters" moment for you today?

CHRISTO LAMPRECHT: 15 was that. No, I think when I hit a really good drive on 11. I just think this Amen Corner is -- it's popular for a reason. They talk about it for a reason. I had a blast out there today. Obviously 15 wasn't great, but I had a really, really fun time out there.

Q. Was the experience last year at the British Open, how did that help you deal with everything this week?

CHRISTO LAMPRECHT: Yeah, I think I had a lot less nerves on the first tee than I did at The Open on the first tee. I think I couldn't feel my legs at The Open, and I was really confident on the first tee.

I felt good about it, obviously hit a great tee shot, too. Obviously being in that position, kind of knowing a little bit more about it really helped me a lot.

Q. Do you reckon you can be a bit more aggressive tomorrow? Or are you going to be conservative and try and make your way to the cut?

CHRISTO LAMPRECHT: Yeah, I think that's the amazing thing about this golf course, it's a fine line between stupid aggressive and stupid conservative. I think I didn't do bad today. It was just -- yeah, besides 15, I played really good golf. I shot 1-under par.

Besides 15, I played 1-under par, and in this wind, I really am happy with that round. I'm pleased. I thought I played solid.

Q. How tough was the break on 9? It looked like you would have had a pretty decent approach shot and then it hits a chair and goes into the bunker.

CHRISTO LAMPRECHT: No, I mean, to be fair, that was probably my first bad shot of the day. I should never miss it left of that flag, nor long. I kind of tried to flight down a 9-iron, just tugged it left, and it wasn't a great golf shot. I deserved that bogey, to be fair.

Q. Charl was saying he's never seen anyone hit it to some of the places you were hitting it on 1, flying the bunker on 2, 8. Did you know during the practice rounds you were going to hit those spots, or with the wind today were you just like, holy cow, I'm just going for it?

CHRISTO LAMPRECHT: Yeah, obviously the wind helped on a couple of downwind holes like 1 and 8 and a couple others. Yeah, it's normal for me. I guess it's not normal for a lot of people out here.

That's kind of how I play my game, so I knew kind of what spots I was going to hit them to.

Q. What's it been like during the practice rounds to today, hearing from patrons?

CHRISTO LAMPRECHT: Yeah, I think I'm totally aware that I'm probably too tall to play golf. But it really is a blast, and obviously it's nice to have this kind of atmosphere and getting this exposure as an amateur.

Yeah, I'm taking it all in and enjoying it.

Q. You had two pretty almost pars that probably felt like birdies on 16 and 17. Can you take us through those?

CHRISTO LAMPRECHT: Yeah, obviously 15 was really brutal for me mentally, and then just kind of making those two putts and not losing any more shots than what I should have.

So that was nice to really not put a sour end of the day. Yeah, it's pretty gusty right now. I'm actually glad I'm in.

Q. Charl is like a veteran here. It seems like he just steps away from his ball during some of the wind gusts. Did you talk to him about what to do during these windy days?

CHRISTO LAMPRECHT: I mean, yeah. I guess Augusta is very popular for its gusts. I guess change of wind on some holes, wind direction. I'm a newbie here. I try to learn as much as I can, and I obviously made a couple mistakes on the back nine judging the wind.

To be fair, I think I did really well my first time around.

Q. After you decompress for an hour or so, hit some balls, and after you see what the wind has been doing, will you have a different feeling about your round after the first-round leaderboard is set?

CHRISTO LAMPRECHT: I think obviously the sourness is there, a little bit of a bitter taste in my mouth. Obviously looking back at it, I'm still really pleased. I think I played really good golf tee to green today. Just a couple holes I got a little bit unlucky, in my opinion.

Yeah, once again, as a little bit irritated as I am, I'm still very pleased, and I think I'll be fine going to bed tonight.

Q. Did the wind just take the shot on 15?

CHRISTO LAMPRECHT: No, I had 110 meters, 120 yards, and I told my caddie, Devin, I just want to land it a couple yards past and let it feed back, and I did the exact same thing, what I thought I was going to do. I took more club to take off the spin on purpose because we knew what it could do, and I think it's just a little bit of rain softened the greens up a little bit.

It was two yards away from being really a great golf shot and a birdie opportunity.

Q. It just spun back?

CHRISTO LAMPRECHT: Yeah, it landed a couple yards past the flag and spun back into the water.

Q. Do you do anything when you're on the 16th tee and you see all the people in the water, is there anything you do mentally to prepare for those moments?

CHRISTO LAMPRECHT: Yeah, I think as a professional you have to zone out and kind of really forget about all of that and really just focus on your target and really think about where you want to hit it and just zone in on a person or a little bit of a tree mark or something where you want to hit it and forget about all the people and the trouble around.

Q. On Thursday you can play yourself out of the tournament, and you did the opposite. You're kind of right there. How nice does that feel? Are you happy with everything, and are you going to go to sleep excited for tomorrow?

CHRISTO LAMPRECHT: Yeah, like I said, I'm really pleased with the round of golf I played today. I think I'm far from out of it, especially with this wind picking up for the guys in the afternoon. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, and yeah, hopefully if I keep the driver straight again, I can definitely score a little bit.