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MASTERS TOURNAMENT MEDIA CONFERENCE

March 18, 2019

Patrick Reed

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everybody. This is Steve Ethun at Augusta National. Appreciate you joining us today as we welcome to the line our Masters champion, Mr.Patrick Reed. So thanks, Patrick, for your time. We look forward to, of course, welcoming you back to Augusta very, very soon, and as is kind of the custom of this teleconference I wanted to start out and ask you to kind of reflect on what it's meant to you personally to be known as Masters champion and having that title.
PATRICK REED: Well, first off, thanks so much for having me. You know, it's been unbelievable, just to think about‑‑ and reflecting back on when we were able to win out at Augusta and to be able to slip the green jacket on and have it be my first major, it's always been a dream of mine and a dream of every golfer's to win a green jacket, and to fulfill that last year, it's unbelievable, and I can't wait to get back and get back on property and to sit down and be able to walk up in the champion's locker room and just see all the names and history around that area.
THE MODERATOR: Just a quick follow on that, you've got a couple weeks left before you've got to defend your title here, so how are preparations coming? What are you working on? What's your schedule like? Kind of bring us up to speed with where you're at with a few weeks left to go.
PATRICK REED: Yeah, you know, the preparation has been going really well. I feel like I'm in as good a form if not in a better place than I was last year at this time. You know, the big thing is just to continue to build and grow on the things that we've been working on, my coach and I and my team and I throughout the year, and just get ready and kind of get in playing shape for the tournaments upcoming. Playing this week at Valspar and then playing next week at Match Play and then have a week off to just keep on grinding, getting ready for the defense and to be able to come back at Augusta and hopefully be able to put myself in position come late Sunday.

Q. A couple questions for you. A year ago, you had a decent Bay Hill and a nice Match Play, you had some good results going into Augusta. Do you feel like in these next two weeks it's important to have a good showing just for your own state of mind?
PATRICK REED: You know, it definitely would help, but honestly, I feel like my mindset and state of mind that I'm in right now is better than it was last year at this point. You know, I've hit golf shots and have done things on the golf course that I feel a little bit more comfortable this year doing than I did last year at this point, but I just need to go out and continue playing to put four rounds together. I've put myself in position and have put some solid rounds together, I just haven't quite put four yet out there at the same time yet, it's either been two or three or three and a half. I just need to get all of them going. I feel like I'm really close. I feel like I've gotten the bag where I feel really comfortable and confident with it, and now it's just get some more reps underneath me and just kind of get ready for Augusta.

Q. And secondly, I wanted to ask you, when you reached such a high last year, such a pinnacle of winning, did you find over the course of the year that when you hit some of the‑‑ I don't know about low points, but just frustrating stretches, that they didn't feel as frustrating as before, or did they feel more frustrating just knowing the kind of higher standard you set for yourself?
PATRICK REED: Really they felt the same. I didn't feel any different before Augusta or after Augusta. When things don't go your way on the golf course, they sting no matter what. I think the biggest thing was being able to bounce back right after it, and whether it's a stretch of holes, whether it's a tournament, whether it's a round, being able to bounce back and being able to observe and pinpoint what it is that held you back that week in order to improve and move forward. And I feel like that's one thing that we worked really hard on as a team, being able to pinpoint those things that have either cost you a couple shots during a round, whether it's been a tournament, to be able to fix those quicker than we were last year and being able to get back on track faster, which is the main goal in golf is to keep those low points very small and not have them linger around too long.

Q. As a worldwide player, what was your favorite moment that you experienced in the past year with wearing the green jacket?
PATRICK REED: Man. What was my favorite experience?

Q. Right.
PATRICK REED: Well, I mean, it would have had to have been right after we won and right after I got done talking to the‑‑ during my press conference, right after we finished. I went back to Butler Cabin and my daughter was there, and she just came over and gave me a big hug and told me I did it and told me she loved me. That is by far the best experience I've ever had with the green jacket. That's a memory and a moment that I'll never forget, no matter how many‑‑ if I were to win multiple other green jackets, any other tournament I were to win or anything like that. It's going to be hard to be able to top a moment like that that I was able to cherish with the little one.

Q. As a quick follow‑up, how will you approach this Masters week with all of your duties as the defending champion and not let it get in the way of your preparation?
PATRICK REED: You know, I think the biggest thing is just I'm going to go in with hopefully the same kind of mindset that I had last year and really just take it all in stride. You know, even though there's going to be more going on this year than there was last year because last year I was able to kind of fly in under the radar at the beginning of the week, this year having all the extra activities, extra things going on, it's going to be a lot of fun. I honestly can't wait for the week to start and to be able to experience all of it because being the first major and being able to come back and experience what it's like to be on the first tee as defending champion is going to be an awesome experience, and just can't wait to cherish all the moments and just see what it's like.

Q. What was your least favorite moment with the green jacket?
PATRICK REED: It hasn't come yet. That would be‑‑ my least favorite moment is going to be when I have to return the jacket and I'm not allowed to have it in my closet and wear it around the house and out at places. It's definitely going to give me motivation to go out and try to repeat as well as try to win multiple, because even the times I'm not actually wearing the green jacket, to be able to see the green jacket sitting in your closet or sitting in an area where you're always kind of walking by and you'll see it, it just gives you motivation and kind of picks me up and tells me that you want to keep it around. You want to keep it around as long as you can. The only way you're going to do that is continue winning at Augusta and continue winning the event so you can have it year in and year out.

Q. Have you added anything into your practice sessions or putting‑wise with your mind on Augusta National?
PATRICK REED: No. I prepare the same way week in and week out. I'm a firm believer that you get out as much as you put in. The harder you work, the more you're going to get out of it. So for me being a grinder, I'm out there grinding the same amount and the same way I would for every other event as I would any other major, because I don't want to put any extra pressure on myself, and I feel like if I were to change my preparation or change things, the way I do things, then all of a sudden you're changing things for a special event, well when you do that you're going to put extra pressure on yourself, so I always just keep everything the same, keep grinding.

Q. The 13‑year‑old you who dreamed big enough to imagine winning the Masters and even thought of the menu at the time, did you at that age dream of what you would do next? I mean, I guess is that the challenge once you achieve something you've spent half your life dreaming of doing, how do you reset?
PATRICK REED: Ooh, great question. I think‑‑ man, as a child, you're always on the putting green and you're always‑‑ well, on the chipping green or if you're playing a hole, you're always like, I need to make this putt to win the green jacket. And then if you make that putt, you always gearit‑‑ you're on the next hole saying, I need to win another major, and all of a sudden you're trying to win major after major it seems like.
I think if you were to ask a 13 year old, okay, well, you just won the Masters, now what, I think everyone would probably react the same way I am now. You know, as a 13 year old, you probably don't know what that response would be, but once we won at Augusta and I was able to get home and talk with the team and just kind of reflect on the week and just the feeling that you have when you make the putt on the last hole and the feeling you have when you go and you‑‑ I was able to embrace Justine, get a hug just from Justine once I finished, and then to able to put on the green jacket and then to see Windsor Wells and then to see the whole family, it's moments like that that you want to happen all the time. So it just gives me more motivation to go out and continue putting myself in position to win not only golf tournaments but big events and majors, too.
I would say the easiest way to what's next is to continue putting myself in position and hopefully win some more, because you're not going to get memories and feelings like that forever. Those are feelings you want to get back to as many times as you can.

Q. I'm curious, what have you learned about how to play Augusta that, if you were to go back in time, you'd tell yourself before the first time you played it?
PATRICK REED: Hmm, a lot of things. First I'd start off by telling myself to hit more fairways and to leave the ball below the hole. You know, it's one of those places that every time you seem to go there, whether it was the first tee all the way even through last year, you just learn new things about the golf course year in and year out. It's one of those places that even if you have the perfect game plan, you have to execute your golf shots.
I mean, it's just like‑‑ it's almost like every tournament you play, but penalizing, more penalizing times a hundred, because you can get away with missing golf shots at other events, but when you go to Augusta, any little weakness in your game or any missed golf shot you're going to get penalized for it. I mean, one thing I'd tell myself is you just have to make sure you're really sharp on every aspect of your game.

Q. And just as a quick follow to something you had mentioned earlier, you said you're in a better place now than last year at this time. What specifically have you done on the golf course that you now feel more comfortable doing?
PATRICK REED: Just being able to work the ball both ways and being able to consistently hit golf shots and consistently put myself in a mind frame that I feel like is the mindset you need to play and compete at majors.
You know, that's the great thing about major tournaments, especially as a place like Augusta, is it doesn't only challenge you physically with your golf game, but also it challenges you physically in your body as well as it challenges you a ton mentally. I feel like those are parts of the game that I've really improved on, on the mental side as well as the physical side, and then also my golf swing I feel like‑‑ the golf swing is in a better position than it was last year at this point. It just gives me more confidence kind of moving forward once we get closer to Augusta.

Q. You've never seemed like the type of guy that gets very nervous on the golf course. I wanted to ask you, were you nervous on the first tee Sunday afternoon last year? And if not, how much do you think that helped you getting started in that round?
PATRICK REED: So I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. I was‑‑ the weird thing about it, so I thought I wasn't going to sleep that great Saturday night, and I thought that once I woke up Sunday that I'd just be itching to get to the golf course and get to work. It actually was really weird because it was the total opposite. I slept great Saturday night, woke up Sunday and just kind of had this just calmness about myself and about the day. I woke up, just kind of went out and hung out with the little ones, watched a little bit of TV, and then just kind of headed over to the golf course at the same time as I normally would, and through the warm‑ups and everything, I felt great. I felt like I was hitting the ball well. I felt like I was putting well, felt like I was chipping well. Just kind of felt like another day at the golf course.
Then all of a sudden once I left the putting green by the first tee and I walked to the first tee, when I stepped foot on that first tee, I was like, oh, man. Butterflies were going, I looked at Kessler, Kessler looked at me, and Kess goes, don't worry, I feel it, too. He's like, let's just get off this first tee. And when I stood up there, he goes, all right‑‑ he's like, here's a 3‑wood, and I looked at him, I go, we just can't go right. He goes, that's fine, then hit it left and let's go. I hooked the tee shot a little left, and once I got up to that iron shot, the nerves went away.
I expected the nerves. I expected the nerves to be there a little longer than what I expected, but I was able to get myself in the right mind frame and the mindset going in that the nerves left me after I got done with the first tee shot and then it was just go out and play golf and get back to what I was doing earlier in that week.

Q. A couple of weeks ago, I guess you went back to the golf ball that you were playing and that you won the Masters with, and I'm wondering whether that was because you hit the ball higher with that particular ball? And also, how important in your mind is it‑‑ it's often been said that high ball hitters have an advantage at Augusta. Do you agree with that, and maybe you could address that, too.
PATRICK REED: Yeah, well, I've played the Titleist golf ball since Mexico of last year. Bay Hill was the only time I put a new golf ball into play, and I put it in for a day, just for Thursday's round. So I mean, I've stuck with the same golf ball. I mean, I love the golf ball I've been playing, and honestly, I feel like you could‑‑ you could say a higher ball striker has more advantage at Augusta or a left‑hander or right‑hander or drawer or fader, but really at the end of the day, it's whoever is on point. It's whoever is hitting the ball the best and whoever is managing their game the best and whoever is mentally‑‑ the strongest mentally.
But I think that's the great thing about Augusta is, I mean, you have such a wide variety of players who have won there. You have guys who don't hit it that far but are very accurate, you have guys that curve the ball a long way, you have left‑handers, you have right‑handers, but one thing that they all have in common is they're in complete control of their golf game that week. It tests not only physically but mentally, also. That's why I feel like it's one of the greatest tests of the game is playing in the Masters because you have to do everything almost perfectly, whether it's driving the ball, hitting your irons, wedge game, chipping, putting, because you're going to have‑‑ and then also mentally because you're going to have bad breaks, and how you're going to handle that.
And so I really don't think there's one particular way and one way that is better than another way or has more advantage than another way. It's just really whoever is playing the best and has it mentally that week.

Q. Two quick things. On the jacket, just curious what was maybe the most memorable or interesting reaction you got from people when you wore it out or when you wore it around town.
PATRICK REED: I think the most interesting reaction was on Monday night, Justine and I were at the Knicks game and were sitting courtside for the first time. I had Chris Rock right next to us. A couple seats down is 2 Chainz. He just kind of keeps looking down, and you can kind of tell he's like, kind of looking down like, all right, this isn't the normal guy that sits in these seats; who is that. And then when they announced me during the‑‑ during one of the time‑outs, then a couple minutes later there was a time‑out and he just kind of reaches over, and he kind of touches the jacket, and he goes, so that's the real thing, huh? I'm like, yes, sir, yes, it is. It's pretty cool to see just kind of the wide variety of people no matter what their background is, no matter what their age is or anything, how many people recognize the green jacket.
You know, you have little kids coming up to me whenever I wear it out, and they're just like, oh, it's the green jacket. You know, and some of them play golf, some of them don't, and I just think it's such a cool thing how many people recognize what the green jacket is and what it actually stands for.

Q. Secondly, what hole there are you least comfortable on and why? Or maybe a shot that you're least comfortable there at Augusta?
PATRICK REED: Ooh. You know, I would have to say the least comfortable shot‑‑ I mean, the 12th hole is never‑‑ no one I don't think is ever comfortable on that tee because even though it's such a short shot, you throw up grass behind the tee box, the wind is giving you one thing. You go halfway in between the tee box and basically where 11 green is, kind of in that opening area, you throw up grass, it's going a different direction. Then you look at the flag, it's going a different direction. I feel like that's the most uncomfortable shot on the golf course, and I would be hard to believe that every player that plays there doesn't think the same thing considering you have such a small area to land the ball and such‑‑ you have so much trouble behind it and you have water short, and it's one of those that you have to hope you pick the correct wind because you have no clue what it's doing half the time when you're on that hole because it's usually swirling everywhere.
THE MODERATOR: Patrick, we want to thank you for your time. Thank everybody that joined in on the call today to ask him some questions. We're excited to have you back, know that we'll have you in our interview room on Tuesday of tournament week for some more questions and answers, as well.

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