MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 14, 2024

Adam Hadwin

Quick Quotes

Q. How was it out there today?

ADAM HADWIN: Well, I mean, shot under par, so it's certainly a lot better than shooting 82. I think things are a little bit softer. There's barely a breath of wind. It was going to be as scorable as it could be all week. Just a few too many loose shots, otherwise it probably could have been a decent number today.

Q. Based on how you came off the course feeling yesterday, is it a funny game how a day later you can come out and shoot under par?

ADAM HADWIN: Two completely different days. They turned the sprinklers off, hardened everything, wind was blowing still and some impossible pin locations versus today. There's some pins in bowls and no wind and more receptive greens.

I think that if I had have shot the same score as I did yesterday, I would have played a lot better.

Q. Is there an ongoing education when you're out here time after time?

ADAM HADWIN: I guess so, yeah. You try and learn from every round you play. As a guy who has to kind of qualify every year, part of it is just you want a chance to come back and try it again.

Q. On 14 did you think that ball ended up in the hole or could you not really see?

ADAM HADWIN: I could tell it got close. I was hoping to replicate Shane. I hit a perfect golf shot and it came off exactly where I wanted it to and used the slope like I thought I could. Executed perfectly.

Q. Three straight birdies on the back nine; was that the momentum that you had there missing at some points this week?

ADAM HADWIN: Yeah, definitely. That was a stretch I made a bunch of those 8-, 10-footers. Tap-in on 14, but 13 I made like a 10-footer, 15 I made like a 10-footer, and touchy little downhill putts, too. I missed a couple of those on the front, and it was nice to see a couple of those go in.

Q. How would you compare how the course played with all the other times in your career here?

ADAM HADWIN: Honestly, it's hard to say. I wish I had better memory. I don't honestly recall.

Q. Playing with Vijay today and Freddy earlier, what did you take away from playing with guys -- Vijay making the cut here, and were they gracious with information, or what can you learn from playing with guys like that?

ADAM HADWIN: Yeah, just watching how they carry themselves, go about their business. It's very impressive. Freddy has got some of the best hands I've seen. His touch around the greens is incredible.

Vijay is still hitting it out there with some -- gosh, I hit a couple ones where I thought I hit really well, and he was just five, seven yards behind. He's almost 30 years my senior at this point and doing that. There's no wonder when you watch them play, you can understand how they're still competitive.

As he would say, I'm not sure it's competitive with the top of what we're doing right now, but certainly still competitive.

Q. They're both clearly going through physical problems of their own. Freddy said he might have quit but he thought on Thursday he was helping you guys by at least letting you see his shots. What have you learned from watching guys go through that?

ADAM HADWIN: Yeah, it's amazing. You have to wonder why sometimes. You guys have had such great careers, they've been doing it for so long. That's kind of why I -- that's always what I go back to: Why do you keep doing it? Obviously they love the game and they love being out there, and that's why they were so good. They just love to compete.

But yeah, it's very impressive.

Q. Anything you take from this week to next week at Hilton Head?

ADAM HADWIN: Oh, certainly the golf course are very different, but I hit my driver a lot better today. I liked that. That was a big positive. Struggled the first three days, and I hit -- most of the fairways I hit driver with today. Not that I need it next week.

That's a big positive. I made some putts there on the back. I did some good things this week. I think I let yesterday's conditions get to me a little bit. Kind of got worn out from grinding through those first two days. So we'll rest up, and I think that I'm probably a little better off than maybe I think I am in my head.

Q. You don't want the wind to blow next week?

ADAM HADWIN: Yeah.

Q. There's the eternal competition among the Canadian guys; is that something you focus on or do you just let it be? How do you look at it?

ADAM HADWIN: Trying to let it be as much as possible. I think that I'm a bit of an overanalyzer and I'll do that in between rounds or after rounds and in between tournaments and all that. I can certainly tell you that there is no part of me that's worried about what Corey is doing and all of that other than hoping he's playing a good round of golf. During my round, there's a lot bigger things to focus on at that point.

There's still another three months to go really until the Olympics and another four and a half months or so for Presidents Cup. There's a lot of big events. I think my focus now should be accumulating enough FedExCup points to get myself back into TOUR Championship. That's probably where my focus should lie.

Q. You and Nick are playing together at Zurich in a couple weeks?

ADAM HADWIN: Yes.

Q. What's the biggest thing that stands out about your performance together last year?

ADAM HADWIN: You know, Nick and I, obviously with the West Coast and spending so much time once we turned pro together, hanging out and traveling and all that, he's probably the guy that I'm the closest with. I think we get along very well. Our caddies do well together. I think our games can complement each other, as well. They're fairly similar. He's probably a little bit better iron player than I am, but I think I've got a little bit of distance, which can help on some of the longer holes out there.

I think the way that that course set up, we got into a rhythm where I hit fairways, he hit greens, and I made putts. Hopefully we can replicate some of that magic next week.

Q. When you do realize you guys grew up playing the same golf course and made it to the PGA TOUR, that's pretty cool I would assume, right, big picture?

ADAM HADWIN: Yeah, it's pretty wild. I don't think it happens very often. You think 170 guys or 180 guys have PGA TOUR cards every single year, and we have two from literally 10 minutes apart. Not only that, but two guys in the top 50, 60 in the world. He's top 30.

Yeah, I'm not sure -- we probably never thought we'd be at this point.