Q. Good golfing out there.
PATRICK REED: Yeah, it was close. Didn't hit it quite as solid today as the first two days, but I put it in the right spots on some holes. But the putter was a little better. I actually made a couple putts today compared to the first two days, I didn't make anything.
The greens are firming up a little bit, getting a little faster, and because of that, I'm able to kind of go back on old feels, old reads and kind of go that way.
I just need to clean up a little bit of kind of mental mistakes. I had two of them out there today that cost me. Besides that, though, it was just kind of a steady day.
Q. As well as you know this golf course, with that ball in the air on 16, did you think it had a chance?
PATRICK REED: No, I thought it was going to be -- I honestly didn't think it was going to be that close. I thought it was going to be a little bit more to the right because it wasn't that high up the hill. It was kind of on the bottom half of the hill.
I know in order to get that one to have a really good chance of making that thing, it has to be farther up the hill. Pleasantly surprised it got down as close as it did. I thought it was going to be like six or seven feet. I didn't think it was going to be a foot and a half, two feet.
Hey, it was a solid golf shot, hit it where I was looking, and I think that's the biggest thing around here. When this place starts firming up and getting a little faster like it's doing, you really have to hit the ball solid and hit it right in the right kind of spot because it can get away from you so quickly around here.
Q. I thought you would have loved that second shot on 15. I was surprised to see you lay up there. What was that like?
PATRICK REED: Yeah, that one on 15, it was such an awkward number. I had 208 cover. That's adjusted with the slope. Like 225 flag. But all week my drive hasn't gotten down that far.
So this time it was too close to that tree. I had to start that 25 yards right of the bunker. There's like a row of trees there. The one right next to the bunker, then there's another one, and then in the third one -- I would have had to start that at the third one, and I was worried if I tried to hook the 4-iron, one, does it cover far enough, and with it working so much to the left, where does it go.
Also at the same time because I have to start it so far right, am I going to clip those trees on the end as it's turning by the green. With how well my wedge game is right now, I'm like, just lay up to a wedge number.
Honestly, I laid up to the right spot, hit a quality wedge shot in there and hit the putt exactly where I was looking. It just happened to be really straight rather than break at all and it just caught the lip. It was just kind of one of those that -- the old me probably pre-2018 would have been sending that thing, and who knows what you're going to make.
I just knew that when I won here in '18 you had to be patient and you have to pick your battles, play smart. I knew where the pin was on 16, knew I'd have a good opportunity if I hit a good iron shot there for birdie, and I knew with how my wedge game is, I'd still leave myself a good opportunity to make a birdie there on 15.
Ended up hitting a lot of quality golf shots there and walk off with 5. I'm actually not too disappointed with that one compared to a couple of the other holes that I felt like cost me on just making dumb decisions.
Q. Your lowest final round score, 68. Not knowing what the lead is going to be --
PATRICK REED: It's going to need to be lower than that. Yeah, depending where that lead gets to, you just never know. But you'd have to expect to go out and play the best round you've got.
If my lowest on Sunday is 68, I'm thinking for me to be able to win this golf tournament, I've got to shoot my lowest round I've ever shot on Sunday out here. Which honestly I feel like my golf game is better than it's ever been at Augusta, so that being said, just needed that putter to really wake up.
I still missed a couple today, but at least I saw some go in because it's been a rough ride this week so far with that flat stick. Hey, put myself in a spot that you just never know.
We'll just go out there tomorrow and try and jump on it early, and hopefully at the end of the day have a chance come late.
Q. (Indiscernible).
PATRICK REED: Ball-striking wise I feel like, yeah. Even when I won here, I felt like I was still -- still was kind of hesitant to hit the fade, hesitant to hit a couple golf shots, but now I feel like I have control to kind of go both ways if I need to.
And really because of winning in '18 I have really good pictures and kind of feels off certain holes on where I need to go. I executed not only really well on 18 but I putted really solidly.
I feel like that's the biggest difference between now and '18 is if I putted like I did in '18, this would be a whole different story. I wouldn't have shot very many shots yesterday or the day before with how I felt like I was hitting it.
Yeah, the game is close. Just need to keep on giving myself opportunities and quality opportunities, and like I said, just clean up a couple mistakes I had today that were more mental mistakes really than anything else.
You can't hit it in the bunker left on 5, and I go and I pulled it 20 yards right in the edge of the bunker, bogey. And then there on 12, Kess talked me out of hitting the shot I wanted to, and we ended up going over the green and ended up making bogey there.
It's stuff like that that to win out here, especially at this golf course, you have to play flawless. You have to play -- because you're going to make bad swings at some point, but you can't have decisions be what turns into a bad score. Two of those today, and we'll just clean those up, and you just never know.
Q. I know you're super focused on Sunday, but are you thinking about playing your way into the PGA Championship next month?
PATRICK REED: No, not at all. The easiest way to do that is by taking care of itself and going out and playing good golf tomorrow. If I start thinking about other events and what tomorrow would lead to and things like that, that would go away from every single game plan and every single thought process I've had ever playing in golf and any tournament.
You've got to focus on each day and everything at hand, and everything else takes care of itself. You go out and play solid golf, everything takes care of itself.
Q. You've talked about this a lot over the years, but you're just the right age to catch Tiger when he was coming into his own here. How much does that affect your love of playing this Masters Tournament?
PATRICK REED: I mean, this golf tournament means a lot.
Q. The Tiger part especially?
PATRICK REED: Yeah, everyone wants to play like him, right? Growing up watching the way he played around this place, but just the way he's played in general, the one thing that's so impressive is how well his game travels, how well he plays and how well he just manages himself around every golf course.
He never beats himself. I think that's something that's so important. You see all these guys chasing distance, but Tiger Woods would never beat himself. He'd put himself in the right spots. He'd give himself an opportunity to shoot the lowest scores possible, and because of that, you're not going to sit there -- he's not going to make a mental error, so you're never going to get a freebie playing against him.
You play against some of these other guys, when they're on, they're on, but everyone -- I done it twice today. Mental errors, you're giving a freebie back to the field. Tiger never did that. That just shows you how much confidence he has in his game. He can take certain lines and do certain things and take the high percentage shot every time.
You just never know. With him, back in his prime, there was no one better. Hopefully we can channel some of it tomorrow and get really going.
Q. What was it like Tuesday night not having Tiger there?
PATRICK REED: I mean, it was different. You always want all the champions there. He's a huge part of not just that Champions Dinner but he's a huge part of golf. So to not have Tiger there, he was definitely missed.
But at the same time, we all completely understand why he wasn't there. We all hope for a speedy recovery and get back and hope he can get healthy soon.
Q. Do you still wear red and black when you're not doing your LIV Golf on Sundays?
PATRICK REED: Honestly, I've just been wearing all my LIV gear, all my red, white and blue. The last couple events I've won I've been wearing black on black on Sunday, so I've been wearing that.
It's kind of one of those things that -- he's always worn it; I've obviously worn it a couple times, as well. But it's one of those things that going into tomorrow I'll probably be in my normal black on black.
Q. When you know you need a low round, how do you strike a balance out here between being patient and aggressive?
PATRICK REED: Well, I think that's the hardest thing, is at Augusta you start being aggressive, that's then when it bites you. It bites you hard, bites you quick. This golf course is all about patience, giving yourself opportunities.
The great thing about this golf course is you don't always have to attack the flag to get it close. You have enough slopes. You have enough ridges that you can use it to your advantage to get the ball closer to the hole. As long as you've done your homework, you know those areas. If you're hitting the ball well, you're hitting your spots, then you can kind of play a little higher percentage golf shot that still has an opportunity to get close.
I mean, it's also one of those golf courses you'd prefer 15 feet uphill than you would seven feet downhill.
The greens today, starting to get a little bit of speed to them. They still -- you know they're just going to keep on getting faster and faster as the day goes on. Tomorrow I would expect them to be a little bit quicker, a little bit more bouncy, and because of that you're going to have to put the ball in the right spots.
There's a couple spots I put myself today that I just sat there and thought, man, if this is tomorrow, you don't put yourself here because it's too quick.
That's the biggest thing. You have to know where to leave it on every hole, have a good game plan, but you have to execute. You can have a perfect game plan but if you're not executing every golf shot, it doesn't really matter.
Q. You said early in the week that your putter was on vacation. How long has it been on vacation?
PATRICK REED: Too long. It needs to come back. Today it seemed to be kind of -- it's here in Georgia.
Q. It's in the zip code?
PATRICK REED: Yeah, it might be in the zip code. The putter the first few days was as cold as it's been in a long time, and today I made some quality putts, made some putts that I felt like I needed to make.
It was just kind of one of those things that golf becomes very frustrating when you're hitting the ball well and not making putts because then it becomes a lot of pars and when you hit a poor golf shot you make a bogey there, and it seems to be a struggle.
Today it felt like the putter was there and tomorrow hopefully it's just a little bit sharper and we're able to go.
Q. As a former champion, what's your favorite moment on the course?
PATRICK REED: I would say hearing the claps from the patrons when you hit an iron shot on 11 and then hit the tee shot on 12. All you hope to hear are claps on those two holes.
Second shot on 11, tee shot on 12, because if you hear something other than claps on that hole, that means you're not in a very good spot.
Especially now with 11 playing 520 way back there, it's just -- today I hammered a drive and I'm sitting there, was in between 7 and 6-iron so it was doable, but the first two days I'm sitting there stepping on 4-iron into 11, and stepping on 4-iron with the ball above your feet, water left -- the bail-out right, there's no bail-out anymore.
Over there right is so hard. You're just sitting there like please clap, please clap, don't go, ohhh. That one and the one on 12, if they're clapping, that means -- not on land, but either on the green or you're in a good spot where you have an opportunity.
Q. Do you feel like you're under the radar here even though you are a past champion?
PATRICK REED: I would say a little bit. It's kind of one of those things that with Rory playing the way he's playing and at the same time with Scottie coming in and being defending champion, everyone is focusing so much on those two. I don't mind it. I don't mind flying under the radar and having a chance.
My biggest thing is just keep plugging along, and each day I've gotten a little better score-wise, and tomorrow hopefully it's a lot better.
Q. Have you enjoyed the LIV Golf experience?
PATRICK REED: I have. I have. I've enjoyed every bit of it, going out there and having team golf, something different. We're not trying to be the same as all the other tours. We're trying to show a different side of golf, and I feel like we're doing absolutely a great job on it.
Being able to go out there and play, a part of a team, and for somebody else other than yourself every week is a lot of fun. For me, when I was playing on both tours, PGA TOUR and European Tour, I'll never forget when I was spending two weeks in China, WGC and the European Tour over there the following week.
I mean, over in the States a lot of the guys, we would go play and we'd just go back and you kind of go your separate ways. But over there they all travel together, there's a brotherhood and there's a lot of camaraderie. The South Africans are eating together. You have the Europeans together. You have all these guys kind of running in groups, and now you kind of get that camaraderie and that side of it on that team golf part of LIV. It's a lot of fun.
It's different. It's faster paced, obviously, and then with it being 54 holes, it's definitely a sprint. I didn't really think it was going to be that much different, but you come off, you have a nine-hole stretch where you're playing blah kind of golf, you'd better step on it the rest of the way because you don't -- that whole extra day you can make up a lot of mistakes.
But if you take a whole entire day off of it, you have to play flawless out there in order to win.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports