MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 10, 2025

Collin Morikawa

Quick Quotes

Q. Obviously not the finish that you wanted, but even par in the opening round of the Masters. Can you take some positives from that?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: A little bit. I tried to stay patient out there. I was kind of scrambling around a lot of the day. Didn't really give myself a lot of looks. Just a couple bad putts and putting yourself in the wrong spots.

It just kind of added up. Honestly, the one on 18 -- yeah, just tough to finish like that. But even par, still feels really good.

Three days to go.

Q. Was there one part of your game that was a little off today?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: I think it was kind of everything. I didn't drive it well. I didn't give myself enough iron looks that were just aggressive enough where I felt comfortable with some numbers. Just kind of through the bag. But it happens. That's golf.

Q. What was the biggest patience testing moment?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Honestly, like early on, 1 through 7. 1, hit a great drive, hit it to 30 feet.

2, par-5, into the greenside bunker, make par.

3, 30 yards short of the green, make par, chip it over. It's a lot of just close calls but just not going my way.

If I want to be in contention come Sunday, just got to clean those up a little bit.

Q. Given how well you've played this year, is it tough to manage expectations?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Not really. Look, this course is tough. You feel drained every time you walk off of it. On a day like this, I didn't feel like I was playing great.

I wish I posted a little bit lower of a number, but to me I feel like I shot -- at one point I was shooting the best I could have shot, and now I feel like I kind of shot the worst I could have shot, so it's a little bit of both.

You rarely have rounds like that, but a lot of good things to go into the next few days because it just feels like you just need one shot to kind of click and then you kind of take it from there.

Q. What was the energy like between you, Min Woo and Joaquín today?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: It was great. It's weird being the oldest guy in that group, but these are guys I've played with for quite some time now, and Min Woo especially at home. It's a lot of fun. Great crowd, as usual, out here.

Q. Brian Harman said this is the hardest course you play all year long. There's a fine line between playing well and scoring well. Is that something that also comes up on this golf course?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, I think a lot of people play just to hit good shots, and out here you have to play almost to miss it sometimes and know where your misses are.

It really challenges who has control of their game, not just when it's good but when it's bad. That's when this course asks for, especially when every approach shot is so demanding. You miss it in the wrong spot, it rolls in the water, rolls in a slope and you're trying to save bogey.

Yeah, in a way it's very difficult in that way.