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7 time PGA Tour winner and Master’s champion Patrick Reed speaks to the media following his final round at the 2020 Sentry Tournament of Champions in Maui, Hawaii.

Q. Patrick, you shoot 7-under par, that was the low round of the day. You gave yourself a chance. Is that satisfying even though you’ve lost in this playoff?
PATRICK REED: It’s all about winning. At the end of the day, I knew what I had to do today. I went out and had to go shoot a low number, especially with how windy it was today, to give myself an opportunity, and I did. Unfortunately I had two putts really to close it, and one of them I got gusted on, and then this last one with the wind and the break, just got me again.

Q. You knocked it on the front edge, we all expected you to (indiscernible).
PATRICK REED: Yeah, the thing is (indiscernible) right in the middle of it and I thought I landed it high enough, and (indiscernible) it almost was easier from farther right where you didn’t have that big ridge.

Q. You played so well all day long. You’re such a competitor. I know this is a disappointment. Tell me about the putts in the afternoon here.
PATRICK REED: Really the first one with the eagle I hit it exactly where I wanted to, it just happened to not break enough. And then the second one, the wind picked up right where we hit it and it made the ball stay straighter because it was more downwind and it actually didn’t break at all. And then the last one I needed to make that one to tie and obviously continue for an extra hole, and right after I hit it a gust came and the ball ended up missing by a cup and it was actually outside his mark. That was the thing about today; you knew especially really the last three days that the wind was going to be a factor on putts, and unfortunately it came down to having to make too long a putt in order to either extend or to win, and at the end of the day when you have that long putt and you have the wind, it just makes it a little harder.

Q. What do you take out of today?
PATRICK REED: It was a solid day. I was 8-under through 21 holes, so it was great golf as a whole. But I mean, of course it stings at the end whenever you don’t birdie for the win. But really I gave myself an opportunity. I put myself in position to have a chance, and I needed a little bit of help at the end there, and they gave it to me, allowing me to even get in the playoff.

Q. Did you think you had any chance when you finished?
PATRICK REED: I didn’t. I was staying just because I had to. If all of a sudden you leave, that’s the one time I would actually have an opportunity. But I didn’t think I was going to have an opportunity to even be in a playoff. That was a gift there towards the end to even give me an opportunity. I had a shot, though. I birdied the first one and got bested on the next two putts. Unfortunately from that point it just wasn’t meant to be.

Full Leaderboard Tournament of Champions 2020

Q. What do you take away from this week?
PATRICK REED: A grind in the bad weather. It’s easy to stay comfortable with your golf swing, stay comfortable with your putting stroke whenever it’s calm outside, but when the wind starts to blow are you able to stay in pattern and are you able to make putts and get up-and-down, and I felt like I was able to do that all week, and I was really able to bounce back after being 3-over through 7 the first day and to be able to have a chance to win a golf tournament means a lot.

Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii

January 5, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Post tournament interview with runner up finisher Xander Schauffele at the PGA Tour’s 2020 Tournament of Champions.

Q. What a day for you. How would you describe the emotions of this playoff?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, windy. Very up and down. I was happy with the way I played in regulation. I should have won the tournament. I know it. Everyone knows it. I mean, J.T. was right there, but under the circumstances I should have closed it off, and I didn’t. I kind of did everything I was supposed to do until the last moment, which sucks. But this is another learning experience, and I guess I’ll have to work on some wind putting.

Q. Can you walk me through that putt in regulation?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, I think I got gusted, honestly. On the initial putt, it went — I honestly thought it was going to go like four feet by, but it caught some speed, and once it started breaking right with the wind, it kept going. I was so convinced that it was going to go back right to left coming back up the hill, but it really wasn’t going to do that. It was just bad.

Q. You mentioned a learning experience. What will be your takeaway from this week?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I can win. I think that’s pretty plain and simple. I’m good enough to hang with the best, and I just need to be a little bit smarter when the time is right and able to close it out.

Q. Heck of a defense today. I know you’re disappointed, but it looked like you kind of fought back on the back nine. What turned it around for you there?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, it was windy. That stretch of holes J.T. went 4- or 5-under through, I’d like to see anyone else try it. He was hitting ridiculous shots, making good putts in the wind, and he deserved the lead he got, and I just kept telling Austin let’s play smart, stay patient. We finished last year with a bunch of birdies, and we were able to do the same this year.

Q. You had a couple of chances in regulation and then in the playoff. Just tough putts there at 18?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, it was kind of stupid on my part. I trusted the wind a lot. I got gusted a little bit on that first putt and was convinced that it was right to left kind of coming back even though it was a pretty straight putt. I was a little dumbfounded when I missed the hole by half a cup. If I had maybe took a little more time, maybe called Austin in, just stuff in the moment that I wasn’t really aware of. I was doing great all day until probably that moment. Same thing in the playoff. I was kind of spooked by my first putt going so far by, I left my playoff putt 25 feet short. It was just childish, and you try to learn from it.

Q. How would you assess how the day played out today?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, I’m happy for the most part. J.T. sort of had a little present there on 18. I think I’m more than capable of two-putting from about 35 feet. Obviously it was a little windy. My downhill, downwind putts today I’ve hit by all day, so why not do it again to try and win the tournament. It was just a little childish, I think. I think I held on pretty decent. J.T. had an incredible stretch of golf through some difficult holes to gain a lead, and I started birdieing the easier holes to try and claw back into it, and it was a whirlwind day.

Q. You’ve won a lot of golf tournaments, but you’ve also had your fair share of disappointments. How disappointing is this one?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, I think that’s the problem, I haven’t really won enough. I’ve only won four tournaments. It would have been nice to be a little more mature at the right time, sort of assessing the wind and the downhill speed. Just realizing that I’ve been hitting it long all day. I didn’t think about it at all and I managed to hit my winning putt eight feet by and then misreading the second one due to the wind. Just sort of a rookie move trying to close out a tournament, and I’ll definitely try to draw back on this in a positive way when the time is right.

Q. That also begs the question, what positives do you take out of this week?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, that I can win. I think I’m plenty good. I don’t see why I shouldn’t keep playing great golf. This sucks. Maybe I need just a kick in the ass to sort of wake up and do the right things most of the time. Yeah, this kind of burns a little bit, but overall happy with how I handled myself.

Full Leaderboard Tournament of Champions 2020

Q. I think it’s the first time since ’99 and Tiger that someone has gotten that close to their two title defenses. Can you just run through obviously being so close?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, just sort of a rookie move. I think my awareness — in all honesty I was pretty calm all day. I didn’t feel much nerves. The first time I sort of felt nerves was walking down 18, which is different than the past, so that’s a good sign if I’m trying to find the positives. If I was more aware I would have realized that I’ve blown all my downhill, downwind putts, and Austin told me it’s going to be a helping wind once the ball starts breaking with the wind, it’s going to start moving, and I kind of got gusted. I thought it was going to be like three, four feet by and it ended up going six or seven with that extra trickle. It was just sort of a rookie move, not really being aware of where I was and what I did in the past, I guess.

Q. How proud are you of the way you fought back today?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, it was just comfortable again. I just needed someone to get out ahead of me so I could chase them down. I mean, if you look at the stretch of holes J.T. went birdieing through, it was an unbelievable stretch of holes. 9 is a birdie hole, 10 was tricky, 11 was tricky. All those downwind holes are so tricky. I thought J.T. played an incredible stretch of golf through that stretch. I wasn’t too worried about it. I was waiting for my turn.

January 5, 2020

Kapalua, Maui, Hawai

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports