BARRACUDA CHAMPIONSHIP

July 19, 2024

Mac Meissner

Tahoe Mountain Club

Press Conference

Q. 16 points today and 26 heading into the weekend. How would you assess how you're playing so far?

MAC MEISSNER: Great. Yeah, I've driven it well. Taken advantage of a lot of good iron shots. It was nice to see a couple of putts fall today. It's been frustrating the last month or so. To see some of the midrange shots fall was nice.

Q. Anything you've been working on with the putter?

MAC MEISSNER: I'm always working on the putter, honestly. Yeah, the work I've been putting in with my putting coach, I think those feels are starting to click. Just making a little bit more comfortable over the ball, that's the key.

Q. Had a good stretch from John Deere. Does that help build confidence?

MAC MEISSNER: Absolutely. Starting out the year it's definitely tough for a rookie getting comfortable, but I feel like I'm now at a point where I know I belong out here, and I know that my good golf is good enough to win. So it definitely feels great.

Q. Going off that with being a rookie, it's the first time seeing these courses. How challenging is that, especially prepping for the week?

MAC MEISSNER: It is hard. It just means a lot more time on the course in practice rounds, and that can be pretty tiring, especially during the summer.

So, yeah, it's tough balancing it, but I think we've done a really good job of figuring out game plans for these courses and executing them pretty well.

Q. You're saying "we." Is that you and your caddie or coaches, or who is your team?

MAC MEISSNER: My whole team. Especially my caddie. We've worked really well together this year. I think we've -- all players and caddies have their moments, but we've done a lot of really successful work. We mesh really well together, so that's been a lot of fun.

Q. With this different format, have you ever used or played in this format before?

MAC MEISSNER: No, I haven't. I think it allows you to be a little bit more aggressive just because of birdies are worth more than a bogey hurts you. I definitely have been a little bit more aggressive to tucked pins than I probably would normally be on a Friday or coming into the weekend.

You still know that you're going to have to shoot low out here, especially with the winds down this week. It is nice to kind of have a format where you know you can kind of fire at a lot of pins and try and just make as many birdies as you can.

Q. What's the game plan you discussed with your caddie going into the weekend, having an afternoon tea time?

MAC MEISSNER: We played pretty well in the afternoon yesterday. Obviously the ball travels pretty far. I think that's kind of the biggest key out here is just being able to have good distance control and be able to manage your ball flights really well.

We've done a good job of that, and I think that will be kind of the key for tomorrow. And then, like I said, we're going to try and take advantage of those balls in the fairway where we have short irons.

Q. You mentioned earlier a tough start to the season, but trending in the right direction at the right time. Is that the added pressure or motivation with the last few weeks of the season?

MAC MEISSNER: I don't know. I'm kind of at a point where I don't have much to lose and I have way more to gain if I play well. If I don't make the playoffs, I've got the fall season, but if I do have a nice push here at the end and make the playoffs, then all the better.

So, yeah, like I said, there is always pressure, but to know that I've kind of put myself in a situation where I'm in a decent spot and if I play well, I can get in a better spot I think is a good feeling.