Q. Obviously golf is a game of confidence. How much have you felt -- in the fact that you have a belief that you've earned your way here and that you belong here?
MAVERICK McNEALY: That's my favorite thing about this sport. There's no one telling you that you can or can't do anything. Everything here is earned. That's just a number you have to shoot.
It's really cool to open up that first Masters invitation. It's up for anybody to get. You have to play good enough. I feel really, really lucky and grateful to be here.
Q. As you do self-analysis what you have been able to do the last few months, the last year, what do you feel like you have elevated?
MAVERICK McNEALY: Definitely my ball strikes has improved. We've moved mountains in terms of my golf swing in terms of underneath draws to on-top-of-it fades. That's really done great things for my body physically coming back from my injury in 2023 and hitting close to the hole.
Putting has been a strong suit. Driving has been a strong suit. My brother Scout's helping me a bunch on the bag, and we've been having more fun than we've ever had out on the golf course.
It's a combination of great contributions from my team, top to bottom, and the work we've put in since I turned pro really.
Q. You've checked off a lot of boxes, goals that you wanted to get to, including getting here to Augusta National. How impactful was it for you to be inside the top 10 in the world golf ranking?
MAVERICK McNEALY: It's a really cool thing. My entire career, I've held the top 10 in the world as the barometer for what you want to get to and what you want to chase as a professional golfer. Always asking myself what are the top 10 players doing that I'm not, and how do I get to that level? And what are they so good at?
It's really come down to ball striking for me and iron play, and that's what I focused on. It was really rewarding to see that pay off and know that I'm hitting the ball like a top 10 player right now.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports