MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 10, 2026

Andrew Novak

Quick Quotes

Q. Wanting to do this your whole life, what do you take away from this two days that can make you better for the next time you get to come here?

ANDREW NOVAK: Yeah, I mean, I was kind of coming up 18 think this could be the last time I ever get to play here. I wanted to at least give it my best shot. I didn't hit a very good shot on 18. I kind of unfortunately was in a divot in the fairway and made the shot a little difficult and missed in a spot you can't miss.

I don't know if 6-over would've made it. We were trying to get to 5. Wanted to try and execute a shot to give myself a look at birdie and just really wasn't given the opportunity.

Q. What are you going to remember from this week when you look back on this?

ANDREW NOVAK: Yeah, that's lots of fun. I'm still going to -- I still want to play in this tournament going forward. Obviously this year is not going even close to the level of golf necessary to get into this tournament.

You know, I got a lot of work to do to get into this going forward. It's definitely the best event I've ever played in. Playing here definitely motivates me to want to get back here.

My golf game is just pretty bad right now.

Q. Is there anything that you learned about yourself while you were out there yesterday and today as a golfer?

ANDREW NOVAK: No, not really. Just golf. I do it every single week. Course is playing really tough and right now -- I don't feel like -- it's the same thing it's been every single tournament all year. I don't feel like I'm playing that bad and the scores are not very good.

I don't think I've gotten worse at golf. I don't know why the scores are worse, but right now nothing is really working.

Q. Looked frustrated after the second shot on 7.

ANDREW NOVAK: Yeah, I hit a great shot into 7. Same thing kind of all week. Just if I needed a firm bounce I got a soft bounce. If I needed a soft bounce I got a firm one.

I just couldn't figure it out. Thought I hit a perfect shot in there on 7 and walked off with a bogey. I guess I could have landed in a different spot. Not really sure.

But I didn't put the ball where it needed to be and left myself in a tough spot.

Q. (Regarding back-to-back birdies.) Do you start to think, okay, got some momentum?

ANDREW NOVAK: Yeah, I was just trying to give myself a chance to make the cut. Got to back to 5-over which we kind of figured was going to be on the cut line.

I wanted to get some insurance on 15 and 16, the last two good birdie opportunities before two tough holes after that. Hit a great shot into 15 and the wind didn't touch it.

Tough shot in the bunker and walked away with par and hit a terrible shot on 16, and what should have been a birdie hole turned into a bogey.

Q. Did you think they put any water on the greens?

ANDREW NOVAK: Yeah, I three-putted four times early today because I was not prepared at all the for how slow the greens were. Just on the putting green and stuff they were still rolling fast. I didn't realize how much slower they are going to be this morning, and, yeah, it took me a little too long to adjust to that.

Q. Did you have a feeling what you need to work on going forward to be back here next year?

ANDREW NOVAK: I don't know. It's really weird. I'm in a spot where -- like people always talk about golf, if it you can improve your bad, raise the level of your bad because your good is always going to be good. Right now my good just -- I'm sitting here hitting good shots, doing good things, and it's not resulting in anything good.

That's what's killing me right now. It's not necessarily the bad that's killing me. It's I'm not getting anything out of my good.

It's such a rare issue in golf. I don't know how to fix it, but I'm just showing up every week and trying to hit good shots and hoping at some point in time it's going to turn around.

Q. Did this tournament live up to everything you thought it was going to be as a teenager?

ANDREW NOVAK: Yeah, yeah, this is my favorite week of the year. This is the best tournament I've ever played in. Just makes it a little bit more disappointing that I'm not going to have two more rounds to play in it.

Definitely was very motivated to try and play well today so I could have two more rounds out here. Really sucks that -- I mean, it's not even noon on Friday and I'm out of the tournament. That's tough.

That's not really how I wanted my week to go. Feel like Sundays at the Masters is probably the single most special thing you can probably be a part of as far as a golf tournament goes.

I'm not going to be a part of it unfortunately this year.

Q. On 14, how long was that and looked like it was a little...

ANDREW NOVAK: Probably 50-footer. It's probably the slowest putt on property. I hit it maybe three or four times in the practice round and never got it to the hole and I had left everything short all day. I told myself to make sure to get it there and I probably overcorrected a bit and just got lucky the hole ran in the way.

Q. So when it popped in and went out and come back in...

ANDREW NOVAK: Yeah.

Q. Did that give you a boost?

ANDREW NOVAK: Yeah, I've never seen that before. Seen to hit the back of the hole and pop up and go in. Never seen it hit the hole, pop up, sit on the lip, and then go in. Never seen that before.

I kind of thought that was a nice momentum boost. I thought that was going to be the moment that kind of turned things around and it didn't.