MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 9, 2026

Matt McCarty

Quick Quotes

Q. Second Masters. How are you feeling?

MATT McCARTY: Good. It's kind of a battle out there, but hit a lot of greens and yeah, it was good. They had some tough pins today, so it was a solid round.

Q. Can you compare -- I know you played all four rounds last year. How much firmer is it to start this year than maybe in comparison to the rounds in year one?

MATT McCARTY: It's not insanely firm yet, but it's going to be, so I think, yeah, there are a few shots that kind of got away from -- can get away from you a little bit, and you just kind of got to be cautious of it, for sure.

Q. I'm curious, are there any shots, any holes on this course that you got to dial it in a little more mentally because of the difficulty of the shot, or the reputation or anything like that?

MATT McCARTY: I think 12 is one of them for sure, but there's a lot -- basically all day it feels like you've got to dial it in. I'm just trying to be aggressive to my spots this week, and I think I did a pretty good job of that today.

On the greens it's tough to kind of have the same thing, but you got to putt aggressive, and you get a little tentative out here, it's tough to make putts.

Q. I want you to think back to your first Masters. Everybody when it's their first time -- for example, the NBA has a welcome-to-the-NBA moment. Do you have a time that you say, hey, this is my welcome-to-the-Masters moment?

MATT McCARTY: Yeah, I mean, last year second round started off 6-6 without really hitting that many bad shots, so that was my welcome-to-the-Masters moment. No, it was good. Kind of same feeling this year, honestly, teeing off on one. You want to play well at this event more than anything, and then, yeah, just proud of how I kind of fought out there today.

Q. Are there any tips or tricks that you have when there are nerves going through and you look up at the scoreboard and are, like, hey, I got to pick it up to the next level?

MATT McCARTY: I think just kind of keep it simple and do the stuff I've been doing for a long time and just another round of golf and don't treat it any different.

Q. Game-wise, what's feeling good right now going into the second round?

MATT McCARTY: Yeah, I mean, I started hitting it better last week. I hit it pretty good all day. Solid. A couple of loose drives at the end, but yeah, I feel good. I missed a couple of short putts, but I felt like I kind of hit my spots today and hit a lot of greens. I think that's the goal out here today, for sure.