MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 13, 2024

Patrick Reed

Quick Quotes

Q. Patrick, how do you evaluate --

PATRICK REED: Awful. You asked.

I mean, it didn't really feel like I did anything well today. I drove it poorly, hit my irons all over the place, couldn't figure out my yardage.

Then when I did figure out the yardage, I hit it above the hole. Had to putt defensive all day.

I mean, I did have a first. Hit a 4-iron into 17 for the first time and it was downwind. So that was a first.

No, there's nothing good out of today. I guess the only good thing is I didn't make a double. That was about it.

Yeah, it was a frustrating day. It was one of those days, when you did hit a good golf shot, you left yourself above the hole. So I was putting defensive, having the biggest breaking putts and the fastest putts.

When you have to do that out here, especially late in the afternoon, the greens get firmer, get glassier, and it's hard to hole putts. I think that showed throughout our entire group today.

We were talking about it a second ago in there, five birdies as a group. We made two birdies on par-5s total as a group.

Around here, I mean, you have to eat these par-5s alive. With it being benign winds today, the only one I would say is really challenging is 15. With the back tee, the tee is pushed back a little bit and into the wind. When we got to that hole, it seemed like the wind started to pick up a little bit. There's no chance to get home.

Yeah, just kind of one of those days at that far left pin like that on 18. You have to figure out a way to either get to the perfect number on a wedge or luck out by going for it and putting it in the right spot.

Yeah, just a frustrating day, but you never know.

Q. Do you not take some, I guess, solace or satisfaction or what have you about really hanging in on a day like that when you're not really --

PATRICK REED: Yeah, my chipping is amazing. That's the only thing that's halfway good right now. Feel like I can get up-and-down from some pretty gnarly spots. Yesterday with how bad those conditions were, I felt I shot decent yesterday but hard to hit anything close.

I was able to kind of salvage the day by getting up-and-down from spots. I only hit eight greens yesterday; shot 2-under par, so that's pretty good.

But a day like today, stepped up on the 1st, perfect little cut driver, which I've been really good at recently. I step up, and I had 232 yards until I double crossed it right into these trees and came up backwards.

I mean, that's one of those days -- I mean, in stats I think the fairways were okay, but every fairway I missed it cost me. A couple of wayward iron shots and just a bunch of putts. I felt like I hit good putts that just didn't go in.

The speed today compared to yesterday, it was a lot faster obviously because they're getting more dried out and later in the afternoon. I just couldn't dial it in. Kept on kind of getting short and popping it rather than kind of being smooth with it because of what the speed's been the past couple days.

Ran a couple six, seven feet by. Luckily I made most of those.

Yeah, I don't know where I'm at position-wise. I know I'm not happy with where I am in the position. It's one of those that you go out, you shoot a low one tomorrow, you never know. Now you have a good finish, but the leaders don't seem like they're moving very much.

What did Rory shoot? Rory shoot 63 here on Sunday?

Q. 64.

PATRICK REED: 64 on Sunday. You shoot 8-under around here and post a number, you never know what can happen.

Q. In terms of mindset tomorrow, not only trying to go as low as possible --

PATRICK REED: You got to stay patient. You got to stay patient.

Q. There's still ranking points to play for, especially as you try to look ahead to PGA?

PATRICK REED: That's the thing. I don't really think of the world ranking. I don't think of points or anything like that. Every golf tournament I play in, no matter where it is around the world, I play for a trophy. I play to go win the golf tournament. If you do that enough times during the year and win enough golf tournaments, that takes care of itself.

For me it's about coming out here and competing and trying to win my second green jacket. Today didn't help, that's for sure. Hopefully, you never know. Get hot early and make some birdies early and get on that hot streak and get going. Like I said, anything can happen.

The biggest thing is to go out and hopefully get everything reset this afternoon and tonight and come out in the morning fresh and trying to make a Sunday charge.

Q. If you don't make the Sunday charge, your major streak is on the line with the PGA. Would you go play in Asia to try and get in the top 100?

PATRICK REED: I don't know. We have to wait and see. Really the biggest thing is to go out and focus on playing some good golf tomorrow and kind of see where it all takes care of.

I definitely believe some of the guys that aren't in that have been a part of LIV that have just kind of free-falled down the world ranking system isn't because it's an accurate reflection of where they are in the world, it's just we don't have the opportunity to get the world ranking points.

Hopefully the PGA and the U.S. Open and The Open Championship take a look at things like that and take consideration on who they're deciding to give exemptions to.

Like I said, that's out of my hands. All I can focus on is playing good golf. Depending on what happens tomorrow will kind of depend on what's going on forward.

Q. Is there one thing you want to do --

PATRICK REED: One thing, walking up that 18th hole and seeing my ball in that big-leafed tree on the right again where I could barely advance the golf ball, and my caddie staring at me in the face and saying, your driving has cost us a lot this week. I think I'd probably say driving.

You know, he says that, and yesterday it was blowing 50 and I only missed four fairways and that horrendous finish I had to start the morning. I ended up par-3 making a bogey, hit the middle of the fairway on 17, made bogey, and hit it in the tree on 18 and made double.

So it's just kind of one of those things that I don't really know if it's as much the driving, it's just make sure I don't hit it into that one tree on 18. That tree is now -- I'm in that tree twice, so I've made a double and a bogey there because of that stupid tree.

Yesterday afternoon I actually hit right of the tree about four yards right of the tree, and I was able to snap hook it around and chipped it up there close and made a par.

Yeah, I don't know. Maybe I need to aim right at that tree and expect to miss it because trying to go left of it has not worked. Yeah, biggest thing is driving the golf ball, I guess.

Q. Good thing your caddie is a family member, right?

PATRICK REED: Yeah, exactly. I'd probably be dragging him up that last hole, I swear. Just what you want to hear as you're looking at the ball in the tree, and he goes, you need to drive it better. Thanks, Kessler. I appreciate it. Great words of wisdom. Drive it better.

Q. Any more holes?

PATRICK REED: No, just one tree. One tree on 18 I might get rid of. 17, I had a 4-iron in there today. That was stellar downwind. I guess it played really hard into the wind when I played there.