Q. Matt, how would you assess the round today?
MATT FITZPATRICK: Good, yeah. Really good. I felt like I played really solid out there. Just a couple of tee shots got me out of position a little bit where I had to try and maneuver a shot.
Yeah, just felt really, really good in the way I played and much more confident than I have been the last few weeks.
Q. You've always had an affinity for this place. What is it that -- why this course fits your game so well, you believe?
MATT FITZPATRICK: That's the funny thing. I wouldn't say it fits my game. I haven't really had that much success here. I've had 14th and a 4th. I had a 14th in the COVID year, but it played very different that year. So kind of get rid of that. And I've had a bunch of missed cuts.
I just like the design of the golf course. I like the area. I think it's a really tough test. I think it's a really fair test. If you hit the ball well tee to green, you get rewarded.
That's why I like the golf course. Even though I've not had my best results around here, it's high on my list to come and play every year.
Q. Leaving Augusta, how did you feel like your game was coming into this week?
MATT FITZPATRICK: There were definitely a lot of positives for me. Yeah, there was a lot of positives. I spoke a lot about expectations the start of the week and how it felt coming into the Masters. I felt like because of that, I kind of just understood where my game was, and then I felt like that gave me almost a little bit more freedom to kind of just play.
I feel like the same here with this week is just having those expectations of the right spot, and it can go in and kind of freewheel a little bit.
Q. How was the golf course playing today in the wind?
MATT FITZPATRICK: Yeah, it's always tough. It's a firm golf course at the minute. This rain might change that. But with so many trees, the wind swirls a lot. Definitely makes it more difficult.
Q. Does it almost seem like every hole is like 12 at Augusta or not quite that?
MATT FITZPATRICK: Yeah, similar in a way. Definitely similar in a way. It's tough. It's tough. I think one minute you feel like it's into the wind, one minute you feel like it's down. It's difficult to pull a club.
So there's a lot of holes like that out here, and you've got to stay switched on.
Q. Joel was just talking about how the golf course benefits him because he is able to hit driver more often. Were you hitting driver a lot today?
MATT FITZPATRICK: Yeah, I hit driver a lot. I think I probably play this golf course a little bit more aggressive than others. I don't know if that's just me personally or maybe going off my statistics. There is a lot of holes where you can get blocked out by going too far, so you have to think about that.
I think that's probably where Joel's coming from. He feels comfortable. He's obviously a great driver of the golf ball. So it works well.
Q. You would obviously be one of the few guys who would know this, but have you been hitting shorter clubs -- your distance games have been talked about a lot over the past couple years. Have you noticed you're hitting shorter clubs?
MATT FITZPATRICK: I couldn't tell exactly. If I look back, I'm sure that's the case, but I wouldn't say I could see anything outstanding really.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports