MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 7, 2026

Johnny Keefer

Quick Quotes

Q. Johnny, welcome to the Masters. Let's talk a little bit about what got you here, not so much the professional accomplishments, but can you tell the story of the last round of collegiate golf that you played that started this whole journey for you?

JOHNNY KEEFER: I mean, it is huge. It's what got everything started. I finished really, really well. I played well in our conference championship; regionals I got second; and then kind of on the edge with National Championship. I thought I needed solo 11th. I remember very specifically. And I saw I was like tied for 11th.

Then I was like, ah, no. I'm going to miss out. This sucks. But then I get a text when I was having dinner with my other seniors and coach, and coach shows me the final PGA TOUR youth standings. I was number 25. We were all just super shocked, super happy, one, that I didn't have to go to Soboda, California and go qualify for PGA Tour Americas, but then also just that I had some sort of status somewhere. And I was actually going to start my professional career. Yeah, I started it quick and just kind of took off.

Q. What do you attribute your success on Americas, on Korn Ferry that puts you in a good spot? It's one thing to turn the page after you get that PGA TOUR spot, but you have to capitalize on it. What did you lean on to do that?

JOHNNY KEEFER: I mean, I think a lot of it was the guidance that I got and the support that I had from everyone around me. Some of the best advice that I got was you don't want to be a veteran on any of those tours. You want to get in, get out. Guys are going to be complaining, things aren't going to be perfect. Things aren't going to be Augusta National. They're not going to be like this every day.

So, I mean, you want to kind of take it all in, understand that you're either on the PGA TOUR Americas or you're on Korn Ferry.

Things are not going to go your way all the time and you just gotta kind of dig deep and play really well and take advantage of the opportunities and make a lot of birdies.

Coach McGraw always said good golf travels, and good golf is good enough. And I really took that to heart.

Q. I have seen your parents at so many amateur tournaments and so many college tournaments. Again, nothing like Augusta National. What is it like to see them go through this with you as making your Masters debut where you look off into the galleries and there are your parents that were in the galleries at Big 12 conference championships?

JOHNNY KEEFER: You know, they were there a lot. And the support that they've shown, that's the dedication that they have towards not just my life, but the golf that I play, just being there to support me, whether I'm missing cuts or playing really well. They're there thick and thin.

And kind of part of their reward was going through the pro shop here and getting some stuff and probably dropping a little bit too much money than even what any of us had expected. But that's kind of part of the experience here, and that's part of the fun.

Yeah, it's really rewarding to see that they can travel with me and come to these really cool spots.

Q. Have you had a Masters rookie moment yet of, oh, I didn't know I could go there or I'm not sure where this is?

JOHNNY KEEFER: Yeah. I think I'm starting to realize that I'm just really bad with like directions and everything. Like when I get to the clubhouses and stuff, I just start walking in directions and people are like, yeah, you're not supposed to be here, or, yeah, it's actually the opposite way. I've kind of figured that out throughout the entire year this year.

Everything is a little bigger. Everything is just a little bit more tightly woven and there's a lot of vets that know exactly where they're going and I'm just walking around trying to find registration half the time, just totally clueless.

But I'm starting to realize that and acknowledge that and take that in and start asking more people.

Q. Are your parents still booking your travel or do you have someone else handling that now?

JOHNNY KEEFER: We've got other people handling it. I mean they're still a little bit involved. I'm involved. We're all involved.

Q. All hands on deck.

JOHNNY KEEFER: Yes. All hands on deck.

Q. Johnny, describe your first Amen Corner experience out there in the practice rounds.

JOHNNY KEEFER: Yeah. Man, it's breathtaking. And I think that's kind of the big thing for me is when I've come out here early in this week and I played yesterday, I played with Jason Day and Min Woo. I was focused, but I was also more just trying to figure out how to take it all in and really absorb it, because, I mean, one, you want to do that during the tournament, but you want to compete at a high level and you want to take it in in a little different way.

But I was able to kind of just kind of sit there, walk around, really just enjoy it, and I think I want to continue to do that. I think every time I come back here hopefully in the future many times, I'll be able to continue to do that. But I just think every single shot demands so much attention, commitment, and honestly, it's just some of the prettiest holes in golf, if not the prettiest.

Q. What's the one shot that you anticipate having to make or you made out there in the practice rounds that you said, oh, that's a lot harder than it looks on TV?

JOHNNY KEEFER: Yeah, it is. That 12th hole is something else. It's not a very long hole, but you just have to be so specific and so committed, know exactly where the wind is even though half the time we don't know where the wind is. It swirls so much.

But I think that's the fun of it. That's the challenge that you have in Amen Corner, and you gotta embrace it and just commit to it, and if it goes well, great. If not, at least you did all that you could.

Q. Did Jason or Min Woo give you any specific tips about the wind or trying to judge how far to hit certain shots or lay up areas or anything they told you that you're going to use on Thursday?

JOHNNY KEEFER: Yeah. A lot of the details that you need to really pay attention to are around the greens. And then obviously knowing the wind direction. Jason gave me some pretty good tid bits on 10 and 11 going into that Amen Corner and trying to figure out a little bit of the wind.

And even they said sometimes it's just going to throw you off, but you're going to have to live with it. I got some good advice from Mike Weir the other day just saying you have to be ultra specific with your spots and ultra committed to everything, more than any other course really and more than any other tournament.

And I think just a combination of that and getting to play with some really good guys and kind of hearing some of their experiences from past tournaments has been really awesome.

Q. This question is going to be sort of a variation to what he said earlier on. What was your welcome-to-the-Masters moment, whether that was something on the course, maybe you hit the ball into the water one time, or off the course? What was that one moment for you?

JOHNNY KEEFER: Yeah, yesterday when I was trying to take it in on Amen Corner, I hit it into 13 in the pond. And a few holes later I hit it into the pond on 15. So that was a little bit of a welcome to the Masters moment that I'm hoping to get out of the way early and then once the tournament starts, I keep it all on dry land.

But that's just kind of how it goes, and it's going to happen eventually. So why not get it out of the way during the practice rounds?

Q. And I want to ask you about the mental of it all. First time at the Masters. This is your first time here at all?

JOHNNY KEEFER: Second time really. Yeah.

Q. In that case and the reason why I'm asking, I talked to a couple people that have psychologists and how crucial that part of it is for the tournament. For you, do you have a psychologist? Do you have someone like that that you sort of refer to in certain times, when you may not know your way on certain holes?

JOHNNY KEEFER: Yeah. I think I have a great team around me. I don't have a psychologist per se. But I have my parents. My dad is kind of served as my psychologist in high school and college and just all the other sports, too. He's always been there for me, and I've got a great fiancée, who's also there for me. She's been through a lot with me, just golf and everything as well.

I can always call up my college coach. I can always ask my swing coach. They've all got a lot of experience and a lot of different ways to deal with things, and I think just leaning back on their experience and how they've helped me in the past makes it all that much more comfortable out here for me.

Pretty much all of them just told me just enjoy to be out here. I mean, it's a blessing. It's and that you can't take for granted. A lot of people want to be in my shoes. And regardless of whether I play well or poorly out there, I'm living, I'm breathing. I'm happy.

It's Augusta National and there's no better place to be in the world of golf. Just kind of being grateful of everything, and that kind of takes care of most of the psychology, I guess, of it.

Q. I'm curious, are there any shots that you had during your time practicing that you have to lock in a little more mentally for them because of the difficulty of those shots?

JOHNNY KEEFER: Yeah. I think, I would say 12 is definitely one that you have to be locked in on. But I think for the most part every single shot out here, whether you're on the first nine or the second nine, it's really key to stay locked in for every shot, because there's good shots that can be had and bad shots that can be had on every single shot and you can't really relax on too much.

Yeah, I think me and my caddie have done a really good job of being really specific even in the practice rounds.

Q. The PGA TOUR race for this year is ramping up. Obviously there's a lot of people that were in your shoes last year that are getting ready to go through it. Knowing what you know now, what would be a message that you have for those seniors that are trying to carve their way through the final parts of their college season?

JOHNNY KEEFER: Yeah. I think the biggest part is understand that, again, you're just going to have to play good golf regardless. Whether you get status or not. I told myself when I was right on the bubble that regardless of whether I get status or not, I want to be playing well, and I want to be ready for whatever is next, because regardless of whether I went to Q-School or whether I had status, you want to hit the ground running and going.

And you have to trust that your good golf is good enough. Yeah, anything can change. I was 25 on PGA TOUR U, that last spot. No one really pays too much attention to that last spot, to be honest with you, other than the guys right there. And then I think I hit the ground running, and it's a completely different game. It's a completely different feeling and having the confidence and having the level of play continue to increase has kind of just helped me.

Q. I saw your parent out of the corner of my eye. So final question. This is the mecca for all golfers and absolutely for golf parents as well. Can you think of a tournament that your parents went to to follow you where the weather was so bad or it was in the middle of nowhere where even you were looking at them and saying, why are you here for this?

JOHNNY KEEFER: I mean, the amount of times that I've done that is like, whether I'm playing bad or whatever and it's just miserable all the time. One that I remember that actually both my parents and my fiancée went to was Maridoe one year in a -- I don't even think it was -- yeah, I was about to say, I think it was just an am event, and it was blistering cold with 40 miles an hour winds out at Maridoe. No one is having fun. I mean, balls are going everywhere, fore, fore. And it's one of those things where you see them and you're like, it's incredible that they're here. I wouldn't be there. But, you know, that just shows their love for me.

Q. I didn't want to be there either. Have a great week.

JOHNNY KEEFER: Appreciate it. Thank you guys.