Scottie Scheffler Reflects on a Great First Round at Augusta National | The Masters

Scottie Scheffler meets with the media following a bogey free, 6-under 66 in the First Round of the Masters.

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Since 1934, the Masters Tournament has been home to some of golf’s greatest moments. Amidst blooming azaleas, towering pines and flowering dogwoods, the first full week of April ushers in a stage unique to golf and to sport. Over four days and 72 holes, the smallest field in major championship golf competes for a chance to capture the Green Jacket and a place in Masters history.

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ladies and gentlemen we’re pleased to
have Scotty Sheffer back in the
interview room today Scotty thank you
for your time you’re six under 66 today
so far is the only completed round under
bogey or with no bogey bogey free today
would you please describe your level of
confidence at Augusta
National um well it’s always nice
getting around here in bogey free I uh
you know I did a good job of staying
patient today we we we kept the golf
course in front of us and I mean I
executed some really nice
um up and downs to keep the round going
and yeah I enjoy coming here and
competing this golf tournament and you
know the first day is is over and I’m
off to a good start and um you know
going tonight I’ll just focus on going
home getting some rest I may go hit a
few balls but outside of that I’m going
to go get some recovery in and some
dinner and then try to get some
sleep thank you with that we’ll open it
up to
questions about that um Scotty with uh
with with not as much rain I think as as
expected um and the amount of wind you
had today were you all surprised to see
Bryson start out with a seven and and
and you come through with a six under
you see that kind of score out there I
mean when I was walking out to the first
te I was I was fairly surprised with how
many people were were under par already
um going in today with the forecast the
way it was supposed to be and um I’ve
played this tournament once before and
some pretty high wins and it’s it’s an
extremely challenging Golf Course um and
yeah I felt like you know today I just
did a did a really good job of uh you
know Teddy I would say did a really good
job of kind of you know guessing the win
correctly if if that makes sense and um
you know we we stole a few shots on the
par 3es I felt like and then um you know
I played the par fives
well
Ryan I Roy was just praising your
efficiency on the golf course and he
said the the secret to winning major
championships is limiting the mistakes
more than making a ton of birdies would
you agree with
that yeah I mean I think in in terms of
of these tournaments yeah I think
limiting your mistakes I mean obviously
a lot easier said than done but um yeah
limiting your mistakes is important it’s
important to kind of keep that momentum
of the round going and um I felt like
today when I was in some challenging
spots on some tough holes that did a
good job of you know pitching up there
nice and close and um yeah it was
overall was it was a pretty solid
day Tom yeah Scotty uh Bryson posted his
number two hours before you finished
what was it like trying to chase down a
score like that with conditions were if
anything getting worse yeah I wasn’t
really thinking too much about about my
score out there I mean it’s the first
day of the tournament you know like I
said um I was just trying to hit good
shots and stay patient out there and I
mean you cannot force yourself into
making birdies around this golf course
it just doesn’t really lend itself to
that um especially with the high winds
and so I mean I saw that he shot Seven
under and I thought to myself well
that’s a really good round of golf and
then I kind of put my head back down and
focus on what I was
doing Kyle yeah you you seem like you
are very patient and disciplined in
weeks like this like this is that
something that has always been true of
you or have you gotten better at that
over time you mentioned uh when you were
15 your coach said I want you to be the
best in the world when you’re 25 I don’t
I don’t care if you’re the best in the
world when you’re 15 were you patient
and disciplined then or is it something
that’s gotten better I I think it’s
definitely gotten better over time
certainly as I’ve matured as a as a
person as well
um like I said on on Tuesday this week I
I typically expect a lot out of myself
and so when things aren’t going the way
that they’re supposed to be especially
when I was younger I would get pretty
frustrated and I try to manage manage
myself a lot better than I did back then
and um you know I’ve seen some good
results of that but days like today I
mean it’s very easy to say hey stay
patient you know don’t don’t make too
many mistakes out there and all that
stuff y y but really all it comes down
to is hitting really good shots and um
just really managing your win around the
golf course and and it’s I think a lot
easier said than done for
sure Christian Swami Scotty this we
always say that there’s certain kind of
here we always say that certain players
you know race the game a bit a notch or
two when it comes to the majors but
you’ve been consistent it’s just
everywhere you know every tournament
across two players and a whole bunch of
top 20s 25s in the majors would you
still feel that in terms of winning
Majors you’ve been a little you know you
haven’t have as many majors in the last
three years as you could or you should
with so many good
results um so is the question should I
have more Majors yeah you should have
had I mean you came pretty close yeah um
yeah I’ve been asked a question question
like that before and in my head yeah I
should have won way more golf
tournaments anytime I I show up to the
Golf Tour I’m hoping to try and win that
golf tournament and if you ask Tiger
Woods the same thing he would say he
hasn’t won nearly as many golf
tournaments as he should um I think
that’s part of what drives us as players
is we want to compete we want to win out
here and um that’s just part of it golf
is not a very satisfying game I would
say um you know you win one week and
then you show up the next week and you
don’t win it’s like well you know that’s
it win’s over now now I finished second
it’s too bad um so it’s just it’s just
one of those those Sports where it’s
just you’re never really satisfied with
with uh with the
results you often look at your stats in
terms of the way you’ve done in the
majors over the last 13 14 Majors that
you’ve played sorry say that again stats
your your figures you’ve never finished
out of top 25 and 13 of the 14 majes
that you’ve
played um I I’ve always liked playing
you know challenging golf courses and
the majors I think you know are the most
difficult golf courses that we play
outside of maybe a couple tour events
but um for the most part the majors are
always very difficult challeng es and it
always excites me I like playing against
against the best players and um these
tournaments I think excite me a little
bit and I try to use that that energy
for you know some enhanced focus and
um yeah I think these are fun weeks to
be be out here
playing Dan let’s go to yeah just
wondering uh what’s the update uh with
your wife and are you at all concerned
that there’s this a scenario in which
you know you have to leave this
tournament um I mean maybe I should be
more concerned I I don’t really know
um people have asked us how our
preparation is going for the baby and
it’s like well you know I feel like
we’re a little bit underprepared you
know the nursery isn’t quite ready and
um you know we had some issues at our
house the last few weeks but um yeah I
think that’s the exciting part I think
we’re definitely very underprepared to
be parents um and as far as her going
into labor I wouldn’t say I’m very
concerned we haven’t seen any of the you
know early signs but um pregnancy is
weird it can happen any time but uh yeah
open lines of communication and she can
get a hold of me if she needs to and um
yeah I’m I’m ready to go at a moment’s
notice Don Scotty you’ve come into this
tournament on a red hot streak I wonder
just how much confidence that gives you
and how that confidence manifests itself
when you’re out on the course in the
first round and the conditions are
difficult yeah I try to use it as good
momentum I mean I’ve had some some good
results in the last month or so and uh
you know I’m trying to use that in a
positive way but it really when when you
step up there in the first te I’m not
thinking about last week I’m not
thinking about about the week before
that I’m thinking about the shot I’m
trying to hit and um that’s pretty much
it but it’s it’s definitely nice in the
preparation you know knowing that my
game’s in a good spot and um yeah I was
just kind of excited to get the week
started and um so far I’m off to a good
start Paul Scotty can you describe what
went wrong on the second shot at 13 and
how fortunate did you feel that the ball
stayed dry I felt extremely fortunate
that the ball stayed dry um at right at
the top of my swing I heard somebody
else make contact with the ball um and
it kind of you know jerked me a little
bit and that’s why I lost out to the
right um that stuff happens in the game
of golf I mean that’s a things happen
you know you got to be more focused in
that and so um when I hear something
like that it’s not
uh that’s not very typical of me usually
I can kind of uh I don’t hear a lot of
the other stuff that goes on I’m usually
very focused on what I’m doing and so
sometimes when you hear that your brain
you know reacts to it um and so that’s
what happened there and then yeah it was
extremely fortunate that ball stayed up
I uh I was already trying to figure out
where the ball crossed to figure out
where I was going to drop um um so yeah
very very grateful that that it did and
was fortunate to take advantage of it
with a birdie one quick followup was it
beyond the creek or short of it it was
on the other side of the creek so on the
on the pin side of the
creek Brian Scotty talk about guessing
the winds can you give us just an
example of one of the shots or some of
the shots you had to deal with and how
it maybe changed or affected the shot in
order to control it with these
wins you want me to go through all all
the shots or No I um I think when you
kind of make the turn like you get down
there on number 10 and then um number
10’s a whole with the way the wind
direction is today it can be very
challenging when you have all those
trees blocking you and then um we hadit
a nice shot in there but we get up to
number 11 and it was Gusty all day today
and number 11’s a 520 yard par 4 and it
starts blowing like 35 miles an hour
directly in our face just these big
gusts you could see the trees are
blowing like crazy and I tried to wait
um until it stopped but it just never
stopped so I hit it and then you’re
standing over there over an approach
shot I I don’t even remember what I had
in but I had a four iron in my hand and
I hit an incredibly good golf shot that
still was Shor of the green and then um
you know you get to number 12 and that
was another example of a shot that I hit
exactly how I wanted to you know we were
trying to hit a 60 shot and it was about
150 pin and you know on number 11 I
probably got 35 yards of hurt on my four
iron and so playing for 10 on the next
eight iron is you know not a crazy
amount of win to be playing for and so
um it’s just kind of one of those deals
where you really are guessing sometimes
and um I hit the shot exactly how I
wanted to and the wind stopped and it
air mailed the green but I can kind of H
my club to Teddy and just be like well
we we do what we tried to do I mean you
can’t get every wind right it’s not
possible and so um did a good job of
kind of standing the moment there and
then hit a hit a great bunker shot after
that
Jo Scotty uh everyone says the key to
doing well at nationalist to play the
par FES well you did that but you also
played the par 3es really well today I
mean I think you have three birdies in
out of in the four uh par 3es can you
just tell me about that uh what was your
mentality going into the par 3s and and
how you tackled the wins over there yeah
yeah I felt like I definitely stole some
shots there on the par 3s today um like
you said you do have to take advantage
of the par fives out here most of them
are are reachable um so you definitely
got to do your best to take advantage of
those and today yeah definitely stole a
couple shots there um all it’s going
through my head is just trying to
execute and like it all really depends
on the pin location and and setup like
number four is a good example you know
the T boxes was up today and it’s a
challenging pin but I put myself in a
good spot there under the hole and then
number six you know we got the wind
right and I was able to uh our goal
there was just challenging the top of
the slope and it’s exactly what we did
and it stayed up there on top and made a
nice pot um you know number 12 hit a
good shot and doesn’t hit the green that
that’s you know that happens out here
and then uh 16 we had a good win
Direction and the pin was you know down
low which made that hole significantly
easier um and was just able to hit a
nice shot in
there Dan Scotty through this long
stretch of golf one thing that sort of
jumps out to me is the distance control
over your irons seems really impressive
compared to a lot of players can you
talk about from a practice routine what
do you do within that environment to
really is is that a big big part of your
routine it is a big part of my routine
um I usually will get my fundamentals
out of the way at the beginning of the
practice session and then as the session
continues it all goes into hitting shots
and controlling distances and uh that’s
when I’m hitting the ball well that’s
typically exactly how we practice check
the fundamentals and then you know get
into hitting shots and and uh you know
kind of having fun with the practice and
you know hitting different distances
with different clubs and and stuff like
that Doug what were the what were the
clubs on the three part threes you br
um I hit an eight iron on every part
three today I think easy yeah I hit an
eight iron on four 6 12 and 16 yeah
they’re all here and then secondly when
you were Butler cabin getting ready to
do your interview um you said you were
checking scores why
um I was bored I was waiting and so I I
had my phone there and I was like uh I
didn’t really have any text messages I
think I had one for Meredith and um you
know I figured I would just call her
when I leave instead and so checked
scores checked how Sam was playing and
then um yeah that was it I was just just
buying some time just sitting there
instead of listening to Scott and and
Curtis I just just check some scores I
don’t blame
you
Adam I just wanted to get some of your
thoughts of being at your first
Champions dinner where you weren’t the
host and and what would you say was the
best story you heard last that
night uh there were some really good
stories told um I love Jackie Berg
stories you know we lost lost Jackie in
the last year and so Ben said some nice
things about Jackie and told a couple
stories and um we always got the chance
to go visit with Jackie when I was in
college and he was a treat to listen to
he’s just a just a stubborn
tough tough tough person he was just you
could tell why he was such a good golfer
because he was just such a he was so to
the point didn’t mess around and he was
just a I think that’s what I really
admired about him is you could still see
it when he was I me we were going to
visit him he probably was you
know 95 years old almost and he’s still
with it still going to the golf course
every day he still cares about his game
he still cares about our games and he
gave us great advice and um it was
really cool getting to hear some hear
some stories and yeah it was different
um you know I had to find my seat um
that’s always interesting finding your
seat there um well I uh I asked Zach if
I could sit by him because him and
Jordan usually sit together and I
figured if I asked Jordan to sit by him
he’d mess with me somehow but Zach I I
felt like I could rely on a bit more so
walking in I was like hey Zach can I can
I sit next to you felt like I was back
in you know middle school or something
like that may me sweat a little
bit you have a is there a piece of
advice from Jackie that’s stuck with you
um I I the things that struck me the
most about Jackie was just how to the
point he was and he didn’t mess around
and so when he told you something he
really really meant it and um one of the
things that stuck out to me which kind
of holds true is he told us how to or he
taught us had a club into greens and he
said um whatever you would bet all the
money in your wallet that club that
you’re for sure going to carry the green
with whatever you’re you know no matter
what happens no matter the wind gust
whatever it is you’re going to airmill
that green you take two off that and
that’s what you should
hit and it was it was that simple to him
and we just sit there and I was like we
went out to the golf course the next day
and I’m kind of looking at it and I was
like oh that actually kind of makes
makes sense and um yeah that one always
stuck with me just because I thought it
was so funny I mean because you know
they grew up and when he was playing
they didn’t have yardage books you know
they they didn’t have range finder stuff
like that and so he had to learn how to
do it with his eyes and that was the
best way for him to judge
it Allan hey Scotty it seemed on 15
green right before Rory was about to
address I think it was his par putt you
guys had a bit of a conversation did his
ball did his ball move there uh yeah
just barely um it was pretty obvious he
didn’t cause it to move and he hadn’t
marked the ball yet so just tapped it in
um okay unrelated
followup no that’s that’s fine I was
just curious um in optimal score I know
today was tough optimal scoring
conditions what do you think is is sort
of low number that you or a player of
your caliber could could post out
here you’re saying what is the lowest I
mean I’m not really sure I mean around
this place it really depends on how they
set the course up it really depends on
the pin locations like you look at a
whole like 16 where the pin was today
it’s I wouldn’t say it’s it’s an overly
challenging hole but if they put the pin
in the front right it’s an extremely
challenging hole um and that’s just
based purely on pin position and so
really it’s up to them and how they want
to set up the golf course and you know
there’s a lot of low spots on the green
and there’s a lot of high spots as well
so if they want to put them in all the
high spots that day then it’s going to
be pretty dang challenging but if they
decide to put them in the low spots and
there’s not too much wind then you can
see some some fairly low scores how
low I don’t like to try and limit
ourselves out here you know
swing for the fences we’ll
see thank you Scotty and best of luck
the rest of the tournament thanks y