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MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 9, 2010

Ben Martin

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA

BEN MARTIN: I had like 230 to the hole. It was a little into the wind so I laid up and just fatted a third shot in the creek and stayed up so I had to go down there and hit it. I hit it over the green but hit a pretty good putt. If I would have had to chip if I would have dropped, and I kind of let one get away there.

Q. You had the 360 in there somewhere, the lip-out, power lip-out, whatever?
BEN MARTIN: It just ran by the lip. It didn't horseshoe.

Q. When you say, "it stayed up," stayed up completely, or was it a borderline, hey, maybe I need to take a drop on this?
BEN MARTIN: It was probably one third in the water. I had to take my shoes off and get in there.

Q. You threw a rain vest on, too, didn't you?
BEN MARTIN: Yeah, took my hat off and put a vest on for security.

Q. Somebody said you changed socks on 17 or 18?
BEN MARTIN: No, I still had some sand in my shoes. I put my socks back on.

Q. What was it like hitting out of the water? You must have known people were watching pretty closely.
BEN MARTIN: Yeah, some people started cheering when I took my shoes off. I really didn't know how it was going to come out. I asked my caddie, "Have you ever hit one of these before," and he was like, "Nope, just hit it and hope."

Q. You said it was about an inch under water?
BEN MARTIN: It was probably a third of the ball was underwater.

Q. So overall, the experience, what will you take away?
BEN MARTIN: Just having fun out there after that. I had no chance to play on the weekend, so I was just kind of taking it all in and enjoying the walks around 15 and 16 and up 18.

Q. What was it like playing with Crenshaw?
BEN MARTIN: I don't think you could play with a better guy out there. He's always pulling for you. If you watch him when other guys are putting, he's wanting the ball to go in. He was just talking to me all day, and I had a lot of fun.

Q. What was the shot you hit with your third shot?
BEN MARTIN: On 13?

Q. Yeah.
BEN MARTIN: I had a wedge I was trying to knock down from about 100 yards, and I just caught it fat.

Q. Can this experience help you? I know it's all at all the same course, but just --
BEN MARTIN: Yeah, I guess I've played two majors now, so being out here can only help you, and the next time you're there you have experience.

Q. One of the amateurs is quoted as saying that this course punishes amateurs more than it does maybe some other courses because the pros have the ability to go real low, and he said the amateurs, when you're playing bad, then it hurts them more, and when they're playing good, they don't necessarily get the benefit that the pros do. What do you think?
BEN MARTIN: I think it's the same golf course for everybody. If you're playing good, you're playing good. I don't think it matters if you're a pro or an amateur.

Q. How much out of the experience, getting to play practice rounds with the likes of Woosnam and Zoeller, but all of a sudden you get paired up with another green jacket winner in Crenshaw. I would assume that would add a great deal to the overall experience, playing with those former champs?
BEN MARTIN: Yeah, it was awesome. I actually played nine holes with Crenshaw on Wednesday, so I actually got to meet him and play with him there. I played with Zach Johnson, too, and Lucas Glover, so there's four or five major winners right there.

Q. I know you played the Open and had that experience and then had to go back to college golf. Do you turn this around pretty quickly? When is your next Clemson tournament, and what's that going to feel like?
BEN MARTIN: We have our conference tournament in two weeks, so probably go home and -- I'll actually hang out here for the rest of the weekend and watch some golf, but I'll go home and get a little rest and start practicing again for the ACCs.

Q. Will it be kind of an interesting mental thing to switch back to playing against other guys in college?
BEN MARTIN: Yeah, it'll be a little different with about four or five people out there watching instead of 30,000 or 40,000, but that's kind of what I'm used to, so maybe I can get back in my element and do a little something.

Q. Despite the bogeys on 11 and 12, did you go into 13 thinking, hey, I've got two par-5s ahead of me, I've still got a chance if I play those well to maybe sneak somewhere near that cut line?
BEN MARTIN: Yeah. I'd have had to birdie about five of them, or six, but I guess you can always do that.

Q. (Indiscernible.)
BEN MARTIN: I started off kind of shaky for whatever reason. The first two or three holes I didn't really have a swing. I kind of settled in there but never really got a whole lot going, so it was kind of disappointing starting off.

Q. First three holes you said?
BEN MARTIN: Yeah, or first two holes. 3 I hit it all right.

Q. Pin placements and the wind a little tougher than what you experienced yesterday?
BEN MARTIN: Yeah, I thought yesterday they were fairly easy from what I expected. In fact, they were a lot easier than what I expected. The wind wasn't quite as bad, and the pins were a little tougher, but they were still fair.

Q. Will you take any mementos or souvenirs home?
BEN MARTIN: I wouldn't mind taking that car home for the week.

Q. What will you remember most from this week?
BEN MARTIN: Playing practice rounds with the guys I mentioned earlier, and it would have been nice to make a few more birdies out there. But I'll probably remember that shot on 13, ended up with an 8. But I had some fun.

Q. Do you ever think about the fact that there's guys that have been playing the Tour for years, make great livings out here, that have never actually had a chance to play the Masters, and here you are a 22-year-old college player and you've gotten to experience something that a lot of people have not?
BEN MARTIN: Yeah, you never know when you're going to get out here, and I was fortunate that I played well in the U.S. Am last year and got a spot, so I hope this is the first of many.

End of FastScripts

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