Q. How good was that round today especially in those conditions?
LUDVIG ABERG: It was not easy, but I felt like I played pretty good. I especially read the greens very well and hit the putts the way I wanted to. I think to get a score in today, I felt like that's probably what you almost have to do, I think.
Q. What was the most difficult part of the conditions out there for you?
LUDVIG ABERG: It's just the gustiness of the winds. Obviously there's so much of it, so it's going to affect whatever shot you're going to hit, whether it's a putt or a chip or a full shot.
I think it's just obviously kind of try to understand what that's going to do to the ball, which is obviously tricky. Then obviously Augusta National is not the easiest of golf course even when you're playing in dead calm wind. So it just makes it a little bit trickier.
Q. How much are you trying to move the ball off the tee in this wind and it's just swirling?
LUDVIG ABERG: I always like to keep it very simple. I try not to do too much. But when it's blowing as much as this, you almost have to fight it a little bit just to keep it somewhat straight. This is probably like borderline of when I'm trying to do it. Otherwise, I just try to keep it pretty simple and let the wind do the rest.
Q. How often are you flying away from pins or playing conservatively out here?
LUDVIG ABERG: A lot. Me and Joe talked about it quite a lot today and just tried to give ourselves chances. You would prefer to putt from 40 feet than chip from 12.
I think a lot of those times we're not necessarily trying to go for the pin, we're just giving ourselves chances, especially when the conditions are tough.
Q. How much does Joe's knowledge around here help?
LUDVIG ABERG: It's helping me tremendously. I think I wouldn't be here without him right now. All of his experience and his knowledge around this place has help me a ton.
Q. These days you've come so far so quickly. Do you accept this as what you deserve or just is there a little part of you that sometimes says, well, I have come very far very quickly?
LUDVIG ABERG: I don't think anyone deserves anything in golf. Nothing is -- no one deserves anything. All I try to do is hit the golf shots as good as I can and take it from there. Obviously I consider myself very fortunate to be able to play here. I'm just trying to really soak it in.
Q. Can I ask about the holes this morning that cost you, do you just take that on the chin? Because the wind on 15 was getting lots of people, but if you had extracted that from your day, it would have been an outstanding day.
LUDVIG ABERG: Yeah, definitely. I almost felt like this morning that I wasn't even hitting the shots that bad. I think that's why I could just take it for what it is. The wedge shots that I hit, they were very close, and I felt like I hit the number that I wanted to but just came up on the wrong side.
That's the tricky part about Augusta is, when you're missing the wrong sides, it's really difficult to make up-and-downs. The times that I missed today, that's the ones I didn't do, and the times that I saved myself, I was in the right spot.
It's all about trying to keep the ball in front of you and make it as easy as possible, you think.
Q. What's the most important thing you have to do this weekend?
LUDVIG ABERG: Just keep the ball in front of me, I think. Try to be in the now as much as I can, try not to get too ahead of myself.
All I'm trying to do is really enjoy it. It's my first time here at Augusta National. It's a privilege to be here and play this event, and that's what I'm trying to do for the rest of the week.
Q. The balance of appreciating the environment, how unique it is, while also competing and trying to win?
LUDVIG ABERG: I think, once you're walking between the shots, you can soak it in as much as you can, go for it. But once you're over the ball, once you're making the decisions of what you want to do, that's when you're in tournament mode. But once you're done with that, back to soaking it in and try to enjoy the walk as much as I can.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports