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Rory McIlroy: “He’s been knocking on the door for so long”

Question: If you could wave a magic wand, what area of your game would you improve overnight?
RORY McILROY: My iron play. Yeah, my iron play hasn’t been great since coming back from the lockdown. It sort of goes right through the bag. It goes from wedges all the way through to the long irons. I had two 5 irons from the fairway on 10 and 11 today, for example, and just didn’t hit great shots. It’s something to there’s always stuff to work on, but definitely something to work on going into the off season that we have here, and try to come out a little better in 2021.

Q: As you’ve had a little more time to reflect on what happened Thursday, what went wrong?
RORY McILROY: Again, I said yesterday, I just got a little careful, a little tentative, a little guidey, just didn’t trust my swing, didn’t commit to what I was doing, and again, this course more
than any other can make you do that at times. That was really what it was.
The first day I actually did okay. I was even par. It wasn’t even par through 9 here is not that bad, and then just that second morning I just didn’t quite have it. I guess I need to take the
positives, and played the last 54 really well and only made two bogeys in that 54 hole stretch, which is probably the best run of golf I’ve played here.

Rory McIlroy: “I miss the fans a lot”

Q: What did you miss the most this week, just the difference of playing in November?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, the atmosphere, the crowds, the patrons, the feelings that you normally have here that you didn’t quite have. More than any other week of the year I feel like you’re nervous a little more often, and it didn’t quite have that. Not saying it’s a bad thing; I loved the feeling of being relaxed out there and it’s something I probably need to try to adopt
going into five months’ time.

Q: Do you think there’s any advantage to coming right back here in April?
RORY McILROY: Yeah I mean, look, I hope the course is much different in April than it is now. It’s very soft. It’s very I feel like there’s a lot of shots I hit this week where I hit my number and
it would spin back off a green or it just wouldn’t do what you expect it to do, so I’d love to get another shot at it in April and have the course play maybe more what we’re accustomed to.

Q: You’re obviously a multiple major champion. What do you think this is going to mean to Dustin?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, he’s been knocking on the door so long, and I think, again, since coming back out of sort of back in June, the lockdown, he has been by far the best player in the world. He’s won a few times, won a FedExCup, had a chance at Harding Park. And I think, yeah, it validates what he did at Oakmont a few years ago and he’s had so many chances and hasn’t quite been able to close the deal, but his resume speaks for itself, how many times he’s won on the PGA TOUR, how consistent he’s been. I played with him the first two days here. He’s got the ball on a string. It was really impressive.

Q: What are you going to do this off season to kind of get away from golf and reboot? Any TV shows you’re going to catch up on?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, not particularly. I don’t know. I’m just going to be a man of leisure for a couple months. It’s going to be nice. Lie by the pool a little bit, get back on the bike, get back
on the Peloton. I’ve sort of given that a bit of a miss over the last few months. Yeah, just some stuff. Obviously watch my daughter grow up a little bit and have fun with that. But yeah, I’ll try
to get away from it, but yeah, as I said before, there’s certainly some stuff in my golf game that I want to work on before next year.

Q: Is there anything in DJ’s personality from your close interaction with him or traveling with him that you’ve seen of him that maybe we don’t that maybe you could share?
RORY McILROY: He’s smarter than you think.

Q: How so?
RORY McILROY: He’s switched on, more so than he lets on, more so than everyone in the media thinks. I’ll just put it that way.

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Dustin Johnson: “As a kid I always dreamed about being a Masters-Champion”

Question: Why is this so meaningful to you?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, just growing up so close to here, it’s always been a tournament that since I’ve been on Tour, since I played my first Masters, it’s been the tournament I wanted to win the most. You know, being close the last couple years, finishing second last year to Tiger, this one was just something that I really wanted to do.
Obviously starting today with a four shot lead, you know, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. I knew I was going to have to play well if I wanted to win, and you know, still, played probably better than especially from really 7 into the clubhouse, I played really, really solid. Hit a lot of great shots.
But it was still hard. I mean, I was nervous all day, but I felt like I controlled myself very well. Controlled the golf ball very well in difficult conditions. I felt like the wind was really tricky. The
course, the greens were a little bit faster. Felt like you really had to be careful around here today.

Q: On 7, did you do what you were trying to do? Were you trying to hit into that front bunker?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I was. I didn’t have a shot. I was just in the right first cut, the tree limbs there. I was trying to run it up in between the bunkers, but if I was going to favor one side, it
was the left bunker. Hit a really good shot right in the front bunker where I wanted to and made a really easy 4.

Brother support given

Q. Austin said that on 18, as you’re walking up, he asked you where you stood. Did you not know?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I did not. Not exactly. I mean, I assumed I had the lead, but I didn’t know by how many. I mean, that was kind of my goal. I kind of looked at the leaderboard a little bit early, and after that, I just, you know, told myself, don’t worry about what anybody’s doing. Just play as good as you can.
You know, so I didn’t look at the leaderboard at all from probably 7, 7 on. I tried not to. I just tried to play my game. When I felt comfortable with the wind and the number that I had, I would
play aggressive. If not, I would try to play just to the fatter side of the green, and pars are a good score on a lot of these holes, especially when you’re 9, 10, 11, 12, take par all day on those holes, especially with the wind, the way it was blowing today.

Q. Did you have that attitude because you knew if you played well, a 68 would get it done today no matter what anybody else did?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I did. I knew if I played well, especially from 8 to the house, that I was going to put myself in a good position and have a chance to win. I just didn’t want that to affect the way that I played. I just didn’t look at it. I played I took what the course gave me and hit the shots I felt I could hit.

Q. Could you speak to your growing relationship with your brother and what it means to win when he’s by your side?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: It’s unbelievable having my brother on my bag. You know, but he’s a big help, too. He does he reads the greens a lot for me. He does a great job reading them. I read them, too, myself, but I like to he definitely helps. He’s really good at it. I just love experiencing all these moments with him. I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Q. What’s the sleeve size?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Jacket size? 42 long.

Photo: Getty

Q. And was there any extra special meaning, the fact that Tiger put that jacket on you?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yes. But I mean yeah, obviously having Tiger put it on was awesome and unbelievable and, you know, you couldn’t you wouldn’t want it any other way.
But any guy could put it on me and I’d be just fine (laughter).

Q. You won THE TOUR Championship in September and now you’ve won the year’s last major in November. It’s been a strange season. Can you compare how that moment and this moment, maybe each felt like the end of a season?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I mean, for me, we don’t really have an end of the season because there’s just so many golf tournaments and we play pretty much all year long.
But you know, winning the FedExCup was huge. It was something that I really wanted to do in my career. And then obviously coming here and winning Augusta was probably is on the very top of the list for sure.
I know 2020 has been a really strange year, but it’s been good to me. I’ve played some good golf. You know, I can’t thank Augusta enough for just having the Masters. Obviously when it canceled in April, none of us knew if we were going to be able to play in it.
I was just happy to be here playing, and it worked out okay for me.

Q. The emotion you showed in those interviews right after winning, is that more of the man the public has not seen over the years? You’re so calm and even keel out on the course.
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Absolutely. On the golf course, I’m pretty good at controlling my emotions, you know, because I’m out playing golf.
But yeah, I had a tough time there speaking with Amanda on the putting green. Just because it like I said, it means so much to me. It means so much to my family, Paulina, the kids. They know it’s something that I’ve always been dreaming about and it’s why I work so hard. You know, I put in a lot of work off the golf course, on the golf course, and I think it’s just you know, it’s something that you push yourself for. That’s why I work so hard is to be in this position. And you know, to finally have the dream come true, I think that’s why you see all that emotion.

Q. First, sitting in that hotel room in Vegas a month ago or so, you had a lot of time to think. Did you ever think that maybe this chance was slipping away a little bit while you were in quarantine?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, I didn’t. That never I knew I was going to play the Masters for sure, so that was a bonus, because I had already, you know, had gotten COVID and had to quarantine. So I knew there was no chance of me missing the Masters, so that kind of gave me a little bit more of a drive to practice.
I knew I was playing well. Granted, you sit in the hotel room for two weeks, it doesn’t do a lot for the golf game. But I put a lot of work in last week at Houston, and this week. Fortunate that I
was able to keep the game in good form, and played well last week in Houston, even though I didn’t if you had asked me on Wednesday what was going to happen, I probably would have
told you I was going to miss the cut and I would be here at Augusta practicing because I really had not played much, and even through my first few days of practice, things weren’t going very well.
But ended up working out okay for me there. And then coming into this week, I had had some rounds, and that was the reason I was playing there was just to get some more reps in tournament conditions it. Really helped out this week.

Dustin Johnson: “I wanna win a lot of Majors”

Q. You talked about dreaming of winning the Masters. Do you also dream of winning seven, eight, nine majors?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I do. I do.

Q. Do you have a specific number?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I want to get to No. 3 first, but I do. I dream of winning a lot of majors.
Just hadn’t quite happened yet. Hopefully this one will help, though, give me a little spring.

Q. The weekend seemed pretty laid back on the course. Did you feel like not having Patrons helped you or did it hurt you as you were playing the last two rounds?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, I like the Patrons. I think they bring a lot of excitement and a lot of, you know it just they make the Masters, really.
But I would say if I had to say one way or the other, probably made it a little easier to get it done today without having all the fans or however many thousands that are here. But for me, all the tournaments we’ve played this year and the ones that I’ve won, looking back to before when we had fans, I mean, I feel the same way, whether the fans are here or not. I like having them here. They bring excitement, especially when they are cheering for you, they can pull you along. I miss them, and hopefully we get to see them in April.

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Justin Thomas: “I’m very confident I’m going to win around this place at some point”

Question: Not having a crowd out there, you mentioned it, there was no way you could tell what was happening.
JUSTIN THOMAS: No. I mean, I had no idea. Yeah, that’s the weird part is you know what the guys are doing in front of you from whenever you see your watch. If you happen to turn around and see what the guy’s shots are, but with no crowd, yeah, you have no idea what’s going on.


Q: How would you assess your week as a whole?
JUSTIN THOMAS: I mean, it was far from my best stuff. So to finish fourth, it looks like it’s going to be, with that is a positive. I mean, I keep getting better. I’m very confident I’m going to win around this place at some point. I just don’t know when or if it will happen. I’m very comfortable. I just need to execute a little bit better. This week with the conditions being softer, the course knowledge didn’t come in play as much. You still had to leave it in the right spots, but not near as much when it was this soft. So I wish the tournament in April started tomorrow. I’ll just say that.


Q: A little bit of a slow start today.
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, a little bit of a slow start is an understatement. Yeah, I hit four great golf shots on 1 and made par. Yeah, I mean, you just can’t bogey two in the scenario I was in. No, I didn’t hit the ball very well to start, and any time I had a birdie chance, I didn’t hit a very good iron shot. Then I found a little bit of rhythm on the back nine. It’s just one of those weeks. Stuff didn’t go my way. Kind of ended the week, my ball landed on the fairway, and it’s my first ever mud ball in a fairway bunker on 18. So it was just one of those weeks.

Justin Thomas :”I hit it really solid”


Q: Ball striking‐wise, it seems like you had a very, very good week. Are you going to take that from this week as far as going forward?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, sure. I did a little bit of everything. I didn’t hole anything the last three days, but I hit the ball beautifully yesterday. Like I hit it really solid. I didn’t hit it really close to the hole a lot, but the shots that didn’t go where I wanted, they still were hit really well, and I felt like they were good shots. But it was just the fact of the matter today, I had so many bull pins and so many pins that I needed and I should have hit close to, that I hit to 30 feet. I guess the long way to answer your question, yes, I did hit it well this week.


Q: After a week of seeing it this soft, would you like to see it firm and fast in April?
JUSTIN THOMAS: 100 percent. I’ll take firm and fast over soft any day.


Q: You see D.J. at 20. What do you think? Pretty incredible?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, it is. I don’t think it will ever happen in April, but if we have another pandemic and it plays in April, I think it’s in play.

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Tiger Woods after the US Masters 2020: “There’s no one more suited to that than DJ”

Tiger, a second nine like we’ve never seen from you, starting with that 10 on the 12th but
then you birdie five of your last six. Take me through what was going through your mind on the 12th hole
and how mentally tough you had to be to finish the way that you did.
TIGER WOODS: Well, I committed to the wrong wind. The wind was off the right for the first two guys, and then
when I stepped up there, it switched to howling off the left, which ‐‐ and the flag on 11 was howling off the left. I
didn’t commit to the wind, and I also got ahead of it and pushed it, too, because I thought the wind would come
more off the right and it was off the left, and that just started the problem from there.
From there I hit a lot more shots and had a lot more experiences there in Rae’s Creek, and then as you said, this is
unlike any other sport in which you’re so alone out there and you have to figure it out and you have to fight and no
one is going to pull you off the bump and you just have to figure it out, and I did coming in.


Question: You said the conditions are getting tougher out there, winds coming from all over the
place. As our leaders start coming down this stretch, what do you think we can expect to see in terms of
the most challenging spots?
TIGER WOODS: Depends on timing. You just have to time it up. You have to commit and time it up with the right
wind. Hopefully the guys, they’ll be talking to their caddies and try to get a beat on it because it just started coming
up now, and it is all over the place. It’s going to be a bit of a challenge for the guys there on the back.


Q: Interesting round out there today?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, to say the least. I’ve hit a few too many shots than I wanted to today, and I will not have
the chairman be putting the Green Jacket on me. I’ll be passing it on.

Tiger Woods: “That’s what makes this game so unique and so difficult mentally”


Q: How much pride do you take in the fight back after 12?
TIGER WOODS: That’s part of our sport. As I was saying in there earlier, this sport is awfully lonely sometimes.
You have to fight it. No one is going to bring you off the mound or call in a sub. You have to fight through it. That’s what makes this game so unique and so difficult mentally. We’ve all been there, unfortunately. Unfortunately I’ve been there and you just have to turn around and figure out the next shot, and I was able to do that coming home.


Q: How would you sum up the year?
TIGER WOODS: Well, starting out the year, it was like any other year, but we all quickly realized that this year is
unlike anything we’ve ever experienced. We’re lucky to have the opportunity to have our sport continue to go.
Unlike any other sport, our sport is actually growing right now. We never ‐‐ we’ve been struggling with participation
and the growth of the game for a number of years, and unfortunately this is an event and circumstances that’s
allowed our game to grow and flourish. Yeah, but at the beginning of the year normally we would have this tournament in April. We didn’t have that opportunity, but there have been so many people that have put the work into giving us this opportunity to have this event here in November, and all of us who have been a part of it who have been here and been on these grounds participating or just being involved were so very lucky.


Q: How would you sum up your year?
TIGER WOODS: My year? As I said earlier, the year didn’t start off ‐‐ it started off like any other year. I had a busy December and then the normal ramp‐up to the West Coast Swing and then all of a sudden it came to a halt.


Q: Is it any better knowing that this tournament is actually close the next time? It’s less than five months away. It’s normally such a long way for the Masters.
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, it is normally nine months, and trust me, I know because I’ve had to deal with it, trying to go for four in a row and all the media and dealing with all the different circumstances leading into it. Hopefully if everything continues the way it is going right now, then we’re able to have this event in April.


Q: Given what you go through to get ready to play, obviously it’s the back and just the prep, working out, do you fear the motivation not being there to do this, to keep going, to try to push? Do you expect it to still be there?
TIGER WOODS: Well, there are days when mentally I just ‐‐ it’s harder to push than others just because
physically it’s just ‐‐ my body just has moments where it just doesn’t work like it used to. No matter how hard I try,
things just don’t work the way they used to, and no matter how much I push and ask of this body, it just doesn’t
work at times. Yes, it is more difficult than others to be motivated at times. Yes, because things just ache and have to deal with things that I’ve never had to deal with before.

Photo: Getty


Q: DJ looks like he’s in good shape to win the Green Jacket. You’ve spent a lot of time with him. What impresses you most about him from the time you’ve spent with him?
TIGER WOODS: Well, as we’ve all seen, he’s an amazing athlete. He’s one of the first guys to ever bring
athleticism to our sport. DJ has just an amazing ability to stay calm in tough moments, and in order to win this
event, and we all know as past champions how hard it is, the emotions we have to deal with out there. There’s no one more suited to that, I think, than DJ.

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US Masters 2020 Tiger Woods: “I got off to a fast start today”

Tiger Wood remarks on his bogey free first round at the US Masters 2020.

US Masters 2020: Tiger Woods Interview

Q. That was a pretty good start today; can you just talk about the whole day and how you felt?  

TIGER WOODS:  Yeah, I did everything well.  I drove it well, hit my irons well, putted well.  The only real bad shot I hit today was I think 8.  I had a perfect number with a 60 degree sand wedge and I hit it on the wrong shelf.  Other than that, I just did everything well.  The only thing I could say is that I wish I could have made a couple more putts.  I missed everything on the high side.  Putts just aren’t moving, so it’s just different with as slow as they are and then with the weather delay, the amount of rain they’ve had.  The golf course is going to change a lot.  You hear all the SubAir is on, so it’ll change over the next few days. 

Q. What about the rough; it’s higher than ever, right? 

TIGER WOODS:  Yeah, they haven’t been able to put mowers on it, and yeah, it is high.  The guys that drive the ball in the rough, if you have a down grain lie, yeah, you can get to the green, maybe even control it, but you’ve got to    when the grain is sitting down, there’s really no chance, so you’re going to have to rely on short game and angles.  

Q. Was it weird starting on 10 or how did that factor into the round?  

TIGER WOODS:  Yeah, there were a lot of differences today, playing on 1 and 10 today.  This morning I was on the putting green putting and getting ready for my round, and when they were introducing Gary, we were on the putting green and we couldn’t hear them.  There was a drone flying over the putting green.  Down 1 today you could hear the drone over there.  You don’t hear drones here.  There’s no patrons, no roars.  Yes, as the camera guys would say, where did the ball end up, because we just don’t know.  That’s very different.  A lot of firsts today.  That’s kind of the way this entire year has been.  The fact that we’re able to compete for a Masters this year, considering all that’s been going on, it’s a great opportunity for all of us.  

Q. What is the satisfaction level of a fast start at a place where you always haven’t had fast starts?  

TIGER WOODS:  Well, yeah.  I got off to a fast start today, which is good, but I think everyone is.  Everyone is going low out there today.  With these conditions, you have to.  You have to be aggressive.  There’s no reason why you can’t fire at a lot of the flags.  Like today on 5, I hit a little squeezer off the tee and had 227 to the hole, hit a 4 iron to the back edge and it only rolled out a foot.  That doesn’t happen here.  

There are balls    wedges that are ripping back, that you have to watch spin.  That’s probably not the case, you’re trying to find spin around here.  But this is the way the golf course is going to play for the next couple days.  As I said, you can hear all the SubAir is on, so it’ll be a little bit different. 

Q. Did you surprise yourself out there today, even what you knew about your game coming in? 

TIGER WOODS:  Well, I think that understanding how to play this golf course is so important.  I was saying there that I’ve been lucky enough to have so many practice rounds throughout my career with so many past champions, and I was able to win this event early in my career and build myself up for the understanding that I’m going to come here each and every year, and the fact that this tournament is played on the same venue each and every year, you have to (indiscernible) every time.  So understanding how to play it is a big factor, and it’s one of the reasons why early in my career that I saw Jack contending a lot, I saw Raymond contending late in his career, now Bernhard and Freddy always contend here late in their careers.  Just understanding how to play this golf course was a big part of it.  

Q. You mentioned the lack of roars.  Was that something that had an impact on you?  Did you have to get used to not hearing    

TIGER WOODS:  Well, we’re trying to get used to that this entire year.  It’s so different.  Shane was telling me today that it was pretty exciting last week to have the energy level of 200 people out there following his group.  We haven’t had that this entire year.  It’s been very different.  This world that we live in is not what we’ve had the last    throughout my career, and that’s something we’re going to have to get used to for some time.  

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US Masters 2020: Paul Casey: “It was a glorious day for golf”

US Masters 2020: Paul Casey talks to the media

THE MODERATOR:  Ladies and gentlemen, it’s our pleasure to welcome Paul Casey to the interview room today.  Paul, welcome to the press building.  Paul, you equalled your low round of the fourth round of 2018 here with a 65, and you started 10, you started on No. 10, and with a birdie, and then you followed it with birdies on 13, 15, 16, 6, and you also had the eagle on 2.  Tell us a little bit about what it was like to start the 2020 Masters on No. 10 and build the momentum from there. 

PAUL CASEY:  Let me look at my scorecard.  I don’t see my birdie on 10, but I did birdie 10.  

First, starting on 10 was strange because it’s not the easiest tee shot.  I much prefer starting on 1.  I find 10 a tricky tee shot, but I actually feel fortunate because I feel like if I teed off on time at 7:44, those conditions were pretty tough.  

I was not relishing the challenge ahead waking up in the rain this morning, so I felt like, to be honest, that was a very good break that I capitalized on because it was a glorious day for golf, really, after that.  The guys that had to play a couple of holes this morning, I think they got a little bit of a rough draw but only for two holes. 

It was a great round.  I got through Amen Corner unscathed, and picked one up on 13.  And yeah, it was just very, very solid golf.  And for me the difficult kind of key holes out there, holes like 1 and 5, 7, you have to hit a good tee shot.  

I did the right things when I needed to, and to be honest, you rarely walk off this golf course going, it could have been two or three better, but it kind of felt that way.  I don’t want to be greedy.  I’m very, very happy with my 65. 

[gpalbum id=5487]

Q. Obvious stuff here, Paul, in your 14th appearance, what was the biggest difference?  What was noticeable to you as you were going about, not just the birdies, but everything? 

PAUL CASEY:  You’re talking about this 2020 version of the Masters?  

Q. Pretty much.  

PAUL CASEY:  You know, this is something I’ve looked forward to.  I with as vocal earlier in the year at Harding Park about not enjoying golf in a pandemic.  I’m acutely aware of    I’m in a very fortuitous position.  I still get to be a professional golfer and play championship golf, but I didn’t know how the fanless experience would be.  And so far, I’ve not enjoyed it, and I’ve lacked    I felt like the lack of energy for me.  I’ve had nothing or very little to draw from being out playing tournament golf.  

The Masters, though, this week    it still has a buzz to it.  There’s an energy and a little bit of a vibe.  Yes, it’s clearly a lot less than what we are used to, but there’s something about this place that is still    I felt excited to be here.  

As soon as I stepped foot on property on Monday, I’ve never been to happy to pass a COVID 19 test in my life.  Was genuinely nervous about that.  I don’t know why I was nervous because my protocols haven’t changed.  The kids were denied from going out on play dates last week.  Can’t go on play dates.  Dad’s got to go to the Masters next week.  

You know, the beauty of the place is probably even more so this week.  I’ve been fortunate to play this golf course outside of tournament week, and it’s quite a special experience this week.  

Q. Where do you think the buzz comes from? 

PAUL CASEY:  I guess the history.  I mean, the golf course itself is part of it.  The history of this championship, this tournament.  So many people like myself are just excited to play this.  You know, this is a treat.  It always has been and always will be a real treat.  There’s many great golfers who are not here this week because they are not high enough in the rankings or how they didn’t qualify, and they are envious of every single player in the field.  

So for me, it’s not lost on me.  

Q. When you see, you look at the leaderboard, you probably haven’t had a whole lot of time to look and see how everybody else is playing, you see familiar names up here at this tournament that are kind of up there toward the top year after year after year.  Is there absolutely no surprise to see Westy’s name up there or Woods’s name up there? 

PAUL CASEY:  Zero surprise to see Westy.  He’s so good.  He continues to be world class.  He knows this place better than I do.  Very few guys know it better than I do, but he’s one of them.  

No, it’s no surprise.  I love the fact Paul Tesori was talking    he was talking Webb    he wasn’t talking Webb down, but he’s just like, “There’s no way for my man Webb to compete.”  I think Webb might have played a practice round with Dustin and some other guys, and he’s just seen    obviously Webb’s approach or style of golf is very different to a lot of the guys talked about this week, and there he is, 5 under.  

So what does Paul Tesori know about Webb Simpson.  

No surprise.  Matsuyama, Oosty, this golf course, look, some would say it’s the same old kind of names up there, but this golf course, to me, exposes what a guy has got.  I’m not saying it’s the ultimate test.  There are different types of tests of golf around the world, but this particular test you have to do certain things very, very well, and predominately the best players in the world always rise to the top this week.  

Q. Is there anything special that you have worked with your coach on that has allowed you to play so well in the majors this year?  

PAUL CASEY:  No.  No.  I actually had not seen Peter Kostis for quite a while in the summer.  He was up in Maine, and I was in Arizona, and we didn’t cross paths.  We tried to do a lot of work remotely, which wasn’t massively productive.  And I actually wasn’t swinging it very well through the vast majority of this season.  Since getting back, and all the way through to the last few weeks, poor performances in Vegas and California, and it was like a crash course the last two weeks.  

The last two weeks, I spent a lot of time actually on tempo.  Tempo, big turn, tried to hit the ball maybe a little bit harder than normal, and that was really it.  So the tempo was the big thing, that worked all the way through the game, because the tempo wasn’t the same with the driving and with the putting, and normally for me it is.  

For me, the putting and the chipping, I was a little slow.  Maybe a little quick on some of the irons.  So it was all just trying to get things matched up, and it seems to have kind of paid dividends the last two weeks. 

Q. Following up on that, it was mentioned in the broadcast that you are working with Peter on trying to chase some distance.  How is that going, and what was the impetus to do so? 

PAUL CASEY:  It was more so, rather than anything we’ve been seeing recently with certain players, it was more I hadn’t seen Peter through the summer, and he came back and goes, “You’re not hitting it as hard as you normally do.”  He goes, “You’re hitting it poorly because you’re trying not to make mistakes, you’re trying not to make errors.  I need you to make a bigger turn and smash it like you normally do.”  

I was like, “Are we chasing distance here?”  

He goes, “No, I just want you to hit it like you normally do.  You have plenty of length, speed in there.”  He goes, “Well, why don’t you actually    you know, why don’t you push it a little bit, kind of hit some a little harder, and hopefully you’ll fall back into your regular kind of tempo and regular speed.”  

So it was less about chasing distance.  I’m not    look, I’m not    I’m 43.  I stuck a couple on Instagram last week, a couple of 184 ball speeds.  I think I got one up to 190, which is pretty good for me.  I tend not to talk about it.  I don’t think I can    no, I’m not going to talk about chasing distance.  I just need to hit    guys who play with me know that there’s plenty of length there.  

Q. What was the difference between this year and last year, other than 16 strokes? 

PAUL CASEY:  The first round?  

Q. Yeah.  

PAUL CASEY:  I have no idea.  I don’t know.  Just rubbish.  But I played some decent golf in 2019 overall.  Just not the first round of the Masters.  I don’t know why it was rubbish.  

Q. Speak to us, to the media (indiscernible) dinner, so maybe it was that. 

PAUL CASEY:  Maybe it was that.  Yeah, that’s right.  Nothing was different.  It wasn’t any extra glass of red wine or anything like that.  In fact, I’ve not had a glass of red wine this week.  Maybe that was it.  I don’t know.  

I’m not blaming anybody.  I take full responsibility.  It was rubbish.  As many rounds of golf as I’ve    14 appearances, Doug said.  It’s just one of those things. 

Q. Would you tell us about the conditions out there today, and how much do you feel the softness of the greens contributed to the low scoring? 

PAUL CASEY:  It did.  It’s not just the softness of the greens, it’s the little bit of    some guys have mentioned it, there’s a little bit of bermuda still in there.  So the bermuda has a twofold effect.  One, the greens are very receptive coming in, and there was a shot I hit on No. 2, a 6 iron to that left hand pin that you can’t hit that shot in April.  It was just left of the flag.  It pitched and stopped instantly, and that shot in April would have one hopped over into the Patrons, and probably would have walked off with a 5 instead of a 3. 

So it’s that receptiveness and you can be aggressive with the approach shots, and obviously the putts are not as quick as well.  So there are certain    I hit a couple of shots today, one on 14, I didn’t capitalize on the good shot in, but again that would have released down and finished in the middle of the green instead of staying next to the left hand pin.  

Yeah, receptiveness and speed, but it’s not just the rain.  It’s the bermuda, but that also changes    I haven’t quite figured it out yet; do we have to read a bit more grain than normal?  It’s just different.  Just a different challenge.  It’s still very much the Masters and Augusta National, but just a little different.  

So the guys that know, the guys that don’t know, this is going to be great.  The guys whose first Masters, Jason Kokrak and everyone else, and they will be back, hopefully back in April, they are going to have a rude awakening for how    this golf course is still very, very difficult, but April is just a different difficult and it could be quite funny. 

Q. Did it feel longer out there today? 

PAUL CASEY:  Certain holes, I think I got lucky with the wind.  Certain holes like 8, they kicked up straight into us and made 8 play very long.  Some other holes, like 2, it was downwind.  2 played short.  10 was short.  11 was short, which was nice, because if it turns around on 11 it’s a beast.  It wasn’t too bad.  I think that was just luck of the draw with the wind.  

Q. Have you ever played a round here where you had balls that plugged in greens, and then it seemed as the day wore on, they stopped plugging and started spinning back.  Is it going to be harder from now on in the afternoon than it was maybe when you all went through that stretch? 

PAUL CASEY:  I’m not sure.  To answer your first part, I’m not sure I’ve played a round where I’ve seen balls make such an impression.  Yeah, I don’t think I have.  And that’s amazing amount of    again, grass types and all the rest of it, it just feels very humid out here.  It’s the humidity, ignoring the rain we’ve had fall, there’s just a humidity to this time of year I’ve never experienced because I’ve never been here at this time of year, sticky like it is at East Lake in September or something like that.  

Yeah, it’s a good point you raised.  I saw Tony Finau in our group on the first land the ball 10, 12 feet short of the flag on the first, which is a pretty decent way, I don’t know what the pin is today on the first, it’s 15 or 18 on on the left, and he spun it back into the bunker on a good looking wedge shot.  It poses a very different challenge from what we are used to. 

Yes, maybe that change in condition is going to be difficult for the guys this afternoon.  For me the biggest thing is the greens are just going to have    they are just going to grow a little bit so the speed is not going to be there.  They are perfect, when they are mowed in the morning, they are absolutely perfect.  They are just going to get a little more chewed up in the afternoons. 

Q. Would you walk us through your thinking in how you played 13 and 15.  

PAUL CASEY:  13 for me, I played sort of straight down the hole, so to speak.  There’s a couple of tree trunks that I aim and I try to not run out on the fairway, which I did today.  So for me it’s a 3 wood.  I don’t know the yardage.  

I hit a very good tee shot today, and it unfortunately was just a yard through the fairway into the first cut and leave myself    if I hit a good tee shot, it will be 200 and change to the front, typically, which is exactly what I had today.  Left myself a 5 iron today out of that first cut and hit a glorious shot to 15 feet and 2 putted.  

But that’s the way I will play it all week, unless the wind changes, in which case the club will change, but the style, the way of playing the hole remains the same.  

Sorry, what was the second part of the question?  13?  

Q. 13 and 15.  

PAUL CASEY:  15 to me is bombs away.  I smash it.  I have a small little tree picked out in the distance which is probably all the way up on the 5th somewhere, but that’s where I’m looking because I can see the grouping of trees on the left, so I know where to position it and just don’t go too far left.  

I hit a perfect drive today.  Left myself 210 or something like that, 205, 210.  Maybe a bit more.  I hit a 6 iron to seven feet and missed it comfortably.  That’s the way, again, I’ll play it all week.  

For me, it’s funny, 13 is conservative off the tee and aggressive with a second shot, and 15 is aggressive off the tee and then kind of conservative with the second shot, so they are kind of flipped.  If I mess up the tee shot on 15, I still have an opportunity for birdie to knock it down and wedge it in and I’ll always knock it down there and wedge it in.  And I’ll always knock it down the left side if I have to lay it up so I have got more pitch of the green to hold the ball.  

But that’s the way, yeah, conservative off the tee on 13, and aggressive off the tee on 15.  

THE MODERATOR:  Thank you very much.  We appreciate your time and best of luck the rest of the tournament.