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MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 8, 2010

Nathan Smith

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA

Q. How did the caddie do today?
NATHAN SMITH: Well, you know, he's really cheap. I mean, he cost me always a couple on a side. But it was great. Having your dad caddy for you at The Masters doesn't get any better, and we're lucky to be able to do it twice. It was a great day no matter what.

Q. What's it like for you walking around not just any golf course but at The Masters with your son?
LARRY H. SMITH: Wow. You know, that's kind of a -- it's such a reward for all his hard work. I mean, people just don't realize how great this place is and what a great tournament, to be here and be here twice.

Q. Where does the line between father and son and caddie and golfer separate?
NATHAN SMITH: Well, around here, I don't know. I think we didn't even know what we were doing the first couple holes, we were just trying to breathe and get it airborne. But he's always been great. I think when you're a kid and you miss a shot, you always look to your dad and it's always their fault. As you get older is it goes in one ear and out the other and it's nice to share this moment and this tournament with him.

Q. As far as playing golf, this is your second time here. How is the experience different from the previous time so far?
NATHAN SMITH: Well, it's just as good. I mean, it's just as special. I think when you get once here, you just realize how special it is and how much you actually want to get back, and it's one of those places you're not sure if you'll get back. So I'm going to soak it up and just enjoy every moment of it.

Q. What do you have in your hip pocket for the second round? Do you think you can make the cut?
NATHAN SMITH: I'm going to try. I at least have a chance. I played good as good as I could out there today and I'm going to need another one, these guys are so good. It's probably lucky with the draw, got out early maybe before the wind or the storms, but we'll see what happens.

Q. What message do you guys have for each other now that you've completed the first round?
NATHAN SMITH: I think we're just going to rest. I'm not sure. We had a blast. We had so much fun out there, it was special.
LARRY H. SMITH: It's just enjoyable to be with the people, and another nice thing that made it so nice today is the two golf professionals we played with today. They were very nice to Nathan. They went out of their way to be nice to him, to be supportive. You couldn't have asked for two nicer men to play with.

Q. One final question because we all understand father-son relationships. Who do you think is more nervous with your dad watching and rooting for you or you as the dad wanting your son to do so well?
NATHAN SMITH: I think it would be him. When you're out there playing you can control it and you're out there playing after a hole or two. But I think you do a good job of hiding it, but I'm sure you're pretty --
LARRY H. SMITH: It's nerve-wracking. It's a little bit different. When you're pulling for him, that's really hard out there because to watch him out there giving it his best effort, and it's going pretty rough at times out there. It's tough, it really is. And you have to make sure that you don't have any visual signs out there. You just try to keep even keel as much as you can, and hopefully don't build up too much so there's one big burst and you make a goof of yourself.

Q. (Question regarding seeing his name on leaderboard.)
NATHAN SMITH: Well, I looked up. I remember last Masters, you know, I remember I think I started out 2-over after 3, and I remember looking up and said, boy, that would be cool to get off to a quick start and see your name up there. But I saw it up there and I was fortunate to kind of keep it up there as long as possible. I was peeking, that's for sure. It was great.

Q. Talk about the birdie at 10, obviously a good hole.
NATHAN SMITH: Yeah, that was probably -- I hit a great drive there, and the wind -- you know, that back side was playing so tough with the wind. It's so tough out there right now, and obviously into the wind I couldn't get it down over the hill. So now I've got 230 with a hybrid kind of in my ear and postage stamp green up there, and I figured I'll make a good swing and whatever happens, happens. It was probably one of the best shots I've ever hit.

Q. What did you hit into 12?
NATHAN SMITH: 7-iron.

Q. About 30 feet?
NATHAN SMITH: Yeah, 20, 30 feet, uh-huh, yeah.

Q. Struggles with the driver, is that something that's happened recently?
NATHAN SMITH: Yeah, I think it's one of those where it's -- I'm just going to have to stay within myself a little more. I think it's a big golf course for me. It's 7,500 yards long and sometimes you try to do too much. A lot of times I hit a couple good drives where I thought the wind got it just a little, and you miss a fairway here or there by 10 feet and you're in the pine straw. It's pretty tight out there. But yeah, we'll try to go work that out, but I probably played about as good as I could have today.

Q. Did you see the scoreboard after 12, and what happened on the tee shot on 13? I trust you couldn't play it?
NATHAN SMITH: Yeah, I didn't see what happened. I was lucky to make 6 there, but they said it hit a rock and bounced back out. If it's not a hazard, you can take relief and try to save par. But it was downwind and I got aggressive and it was either driver or 3-iron the way that wind was, and I said, what the heck, I kind of went for it and got pollen all over my pants. I was just lucky to find the ball. But what the heck, but I was lucky with bogey there.

Q. Could you have gotten there in two with a good drive?
NATHAN SMITH: I think so, yeah, just the way the wind was. I was really excited but kind of turned it over a little too much there.

Q. What's the difference in feeling your emotions this time around and the when you first played here?
NATHAN SMITH: Well, I mean, it was obviously a different day than I've ever had. I mean, to have your name up there on the leaderboard, that's special. You never dream something like that is going to happen, even if it's as brief as 10 holes or 12 or whatever it was. But it was a real thrill, and obviously that was real uncharted territory for me, and it was fun for a while.
It was a great score today, obviously a little disappointing. You can't take a 6 on 13 and 15; you just can't do that. There are too many hard holes out there you've got to score on.

Q. Under tougher conditions now --
NATHAN SMITH: It changed. I just knew if I could hang on on the back, maybe get something around par I'd be in great shape. I obviously couldn't do that, but still, the score with the swirling wind and everything, I'll definitely kind of take it and run.

Q. They're talking about rain coming in. How are you going to make adjustments for that tomorrow?
NATHAN SMITH: Well, we'll see. We'll see how much rain they get and if they get delayed and are able to finish. I'll just kind of take what the course gives me.

Q. (Question regarding having local knowledge.)
NATHAN SMITH: Maybe all of them. A lot of putts, a lot of being familiar with the greens, maybe knowing where the grain is, some speed slots out there, and it helped a lot. And plus you can kind of see it watching O'Meara and some of the other guys. They know where to put it to save par. I had a little bit of that, knowing maybe where to leave it to try to get a good look at par. So yeah, there's a lot of local knowledge out here.

Q. Is there any chance that anybody but your father would be on the bag today?
NATHAN SMITH: Well, no, but I didn't have a bidding process. Maybe I should have. No, he was definitely going to be on it. It's special to do it twice.

Q. (No microphone.)
NATHAN SMITH: No, I'm full time in Pittsburgh. The last few weeks I was in Myrtle Beach. My parents are retired, so they're down there three, four, five months of the year so I pretend I miss them and go down for a long weekend here or there.

Q. That was before this?
NATHAN SMITH: It was, just kind of weekends here and there. We kind of had a rough winter in Pittsburgh so it was kind of tricky to keep the club in my hand.

Q. And you didn't get down there to practice this winter?
NATHAN SMITH: I did. I spaced it out, but I was able to get south here and there, just kind of stay with it.

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