You find yourself in a familiar position atop the leaderboard heading into the final round. How will you draw from your experience two years ago as you prepare for tomorrow?.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I think I’ll have a better understanding of what the morning is like tomorrow. But, yeah, proud of how I played today. It was a good fight out there. The golf course was extremely challenging. The greens were very firm, very fast, and it was extremely difficult again today. So probably looking for more of the same tomorrow.
Q. You had dropped a couple shots and then you make the big eagle at 13. We saw some emotion there on that green. Take us through what you were releasing there.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I made the turn. Felt like I missed some opportunities around 8 and 9. Then hit what was a decent shot into 10, and it lands — obviously I wasn’t trying to land it back there by the pin, but I get a bad gust and it lands eight feet from the pin, and it ends up in the bushes back there and I make double. Make another bogey at 11 and all of a sudden I’m probably going from in the lead to a few out of the lead and then, you know, things happen pretty fast out there.
You know, going into No. 12, hit another good shot, and it just went over the green, and hit a nice pitch, and all of a sudden I’m looking at another 7-footer for par. And I knocked that one in. And then that putt on 13 was nice because it was trickling up towards the cup. I didn’t know whether or not it was going to get there, and it kind of just nudged right over the edge and went in. So it was exciting, and it was nice to be able to steal a couple shots there on 13 and get back in the tournament.
Q. The back nine played a couple shots over par today, even though the wind was quiet for you guys on the back, it looked like a few times you looked at some cups, like 14, that you thought were just in weird spots. Was it just really tough hole locations?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I mean, the greens just got ridiculously fast and firm. The reason I was looking at 14 is because I’m putting down that hill, it wasn’t that it was in a weird location, it was basically like putting up to a small volcano there.
That can’t happen at the end of the day when you have a lot of guys stepping there to pick their ball up out of the hole. The area around the cup will become lower and the cup will raise a bit. That one was a bit more aggressive than I’ve seen. If you watch my putt from behind, you can see it going towards the cup, and it just rides the side of it and goes off. Because I thought it had a chance to go in, and it didn’t even come close.
But, yeah, it was very challenging out there. But it’s a major championship. I don’t think Augusta wants their golf course to be very easy so… (turning to Member) (laughter).
Q. Two years ago, you had a pretty emotional Masters Sunday morning, and you credited Meredith for helping you get in the right state of mind. What do you anticipate tomorrow morning being like with her not here and Sam no longer here with you?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: It will be a little different. I didn’t want to be alone at the house, so I recruited a few of my friends to come stay with me that were in town. So we’ve got a couple of my close buddies at the house. Kind of the same group that’s been in the Bahamas with us the last few years.
And they came over this morning, made some breakfast and we hung out, and then I came to the course. It will just be more of that tomorrow. Probably call Mer and chill and relax.
Yeah, I didn’t want to be in the house all by myself this weekend. Didn’t really seem like — like that exciting to me. So I’d rather have some friends stay with me.
Q. What are you guys going to do tonight maybe to get your mind off it after dinner?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: With these guys it will be pretty easy for us not to talk about golf. We got some fun guys. They are some of my closest friends. And, yeah, it’s just — it’s just going to be nice to get some time together. Probably order some food. Hang out. Maybe play some cards, who knows. I really don’t know. Yeah, we’ll see.
Q. You spend a lot of time walking on the back nine staring at your shoes. Is that a conscious decision, and if so, why you’re looking down instead of looking around?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I really couldn’t tell you. Maybe my Nikes just looked really white or something.
No, I do my best to try and stay in my little world out there. And sometimes when you get little surprises like I did there on 10 and 11, yeah, just trying to do my best to stay in the moment. So maybe that’s why my head was down a bit more, but I wasn’t consciously thinking about that.
Q. Sorry to pile on the emotional thing, brother, but for you, personally, what is the emotional value of having been in this position before, having done it before?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I mean, I’m not really sure how to describe it. It’s nice to have that experience, but going into tomorrow, that’s really all that it is. And I can reflect on some of that stuff from that round, and this is a position I’m very familiar with. I’m excited for the challenge of going and trying to win the golf tournament tomorrow.
But at the end of the day, it’s all about my process and trying to stay patient out there and hit all my shots and hit quality putts as well.
Q. The par 5s on the back nine are always important. How big for you was that eagle at 13, and then the birdie at 15 to change back the momentum back to you today?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I would say extremely important. That’s why I think you saw a bit of emotion there from me on 13 because it was an important time in the tournament. And it was nice kind of turning my Saturday around. And, yeah, I felt like I didn’t take advantage of the two par 5s on the front. So it’s nice to get a few shots back there on the back nine.
Q. You’ve been a great putter when you were a kid. Probably made a thousand putts that you looked at. What is the feeling to trust your eyes again, to be like I’m going to start on this line and it’s going to go in?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: It’s a good place to be. I feel like I’m starting to make some putts on line and I’m in a comfortable spot with my game. Yeah, I’m definitely excited about tomorrow.
And, yeah, I think at times last year, I’ve talked about it a decent amount, but I think I was just overthinking things. So it’s nice to just put the ball down and use my eyes and see that ball go into the hole. Yeah, it’s a good place to be.
Q. First off, you said yesterday you made yourself breakfast for the first time. What did you make?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Eggs and some toast.
Q. Because you’re in the final group so often, something you’ve gotten so used to, what have you learned about the preparation, the process you talk about, about how to handle these kind of weekend final rounds?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I think managing my energy. Managing my expectations. I talked about it a little bit, but I do have high expectations for myself. I try to do my best to get that stuff out of the way in the morning, and by the time I get to the course, it’s kind of getting into my own little world and just trying to hit shots.
You know, being patient out there I think is really important. Especially on a day like today. It was a frustrating day to be playing this golf course. It was so challenging. Like y’all said, the wind was down, but I can’t imagine it playing much easier this afternoon than it did yesterday morning when some of the guys were out there. I’ll be interested to see what the scores are like.
Q. On the broadcast, they mentioned again that if Meredith were to go into labor that you would leave, and I’m just curious, hypothetically, what’s the scenario? Who does she call? Do you have a private jet waiting? How would that work?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I definitely have a way to get home pretty quickly. We have somebody here that has access to their cell phone, if that’s all right (turning again to Member).
And, yes, I’ll be available to go home then whenever I need to.
Q. Do you think she’ll call?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: She better call (laughter).
Q. Final round, obviously final group and big crowds will be following you around. Are you somebody that feeds off the energy from the crowd, or do you try to block it out? How do you think it will affect you?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I try to feed off the energy from the crowd a little bit. It’s nice walking onto these tee boxes and getting a nice ovation. I think No. 12 is one of those for me today. I double 10 and bogey 11, and then we were walking up that tee on 12 and everybody kind of stands up behind the tee and starts cheering me on. It’s a really nice feeling to have the crowd behind you. I try to embrace that as much as possible out there.
Q. You’ve talked before about the game and the ongoing count that you and Ted have with the number of hole-outs from around the green. Why do you think you have such a knack for doing that?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: For holing out around the greens? Gosh, I’m not really sure. I think I spent a lot of time around the short game area at Royal Oaks when I was a kid, and there was a lot of pros out there I used to watch and tried to chip-and-putt with them. I couldn’t compete with them on the golf course yet, but I felt like could I compete with them on and around the greens. That was always fun for me to get around some of the pros out there when I was a young kid and challenge them to a short game contest. I think I learned from a young age how to chip and chip under pressure.
Q. You were so open a couple years ago after you won, talking about the prior night and trying to sleep everything and that was happening. Do you think — or how do you think you’ll sleep on the lead tonight? Do you think you’ll get hours of sleep or what?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, a couple years ago, I actually got a great night’s sleep. It was just an unusual position for me because at the time I — starting 2022, I hadn’t won yet on TOUR. I had a good Ryder Cup and played a lot of consistent golf but I still hadn’t won on TOUR.
All of a sudden I win Phoenix, the Match Play and Bay Hill. I win the Match Play against No. 1 in the world. Show up here as No. 1 in the world.
And then going into Sunday, Meredith and I were just a little bit emotional about what was going on at the time because our lives were changing at a very rapid pace. Now I think we have settled more into where our lives are at, and right now the most exciting thing is not winning the Masters, it’s baby coming pretty soon. Things are a lot different now, and I feel like we’ve both matured.
But I think a lot of that emotion from Sunday morning a few years ago was more about just how quickly our life was changing and it was more of, are we ready for this type of thing. Yeah, that’s when Mer gave me that nice speech and here we are.
Q. Seems like you played a turbulent round. Can you talk about the influence of your caddie and is there anything interesting to talk about? How did he help you out in this round?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, he did a good job of keeping me in a good head space out there. Like I said, definitely had some surprises in the middle of the round. I was in position on 8 and didn’t get up-and-down, and then I missed a pretty makeable birdie putt there on 9. And then 10, we get the weird wind gusts and make double, and 11 make bogey.
So all of a sudden, I go from being probably in the lead to out of the lead. And Ted does a good job of keeping us focused on the task at hand, and we did a good job of keeping ourselves in the tournament today.
Q. We know how close you are and friends with Bubba Watson. He won in 2014 and here you are with the possibility of 2024. Have you had a chance to speak with him or discuss anything with him?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Nothing like that. I had breakfast with Bubba this week maybe on Tuesday but outside of that, I have not seen him too much this week. But yeah, we are good friends. I don’t get to see him as often as I used to but yeah, he’s still a good friend of mine, and you know, it’s nice to see him when I can.
Q. Who are the friends that you called to be with you this week and how do you know them and what do they mean in your life?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: You know, it’s just a group of my closest friends. Some are from college. Some are from post-grad. We have a small group together at home with our wives. You know, they got permission to come here this week. Some of them also had babies recently, so it’s nice to be able to get permission to come hang.
It’s similar to, I’ve had a group of friends come with me to the Bahamas for the last couple years and we’ve had just a great time. I think these guys came maybe for the practice rounds last year and now they are coming for the tournament this year and it worked out nicely — or I guess not nicely. But it worked out decently that, you know, I wasn’t at home alone all weekend. Obviously Sam didn’t plan on missing the cut and me being all alone so it was nice that they were there to step in and keep me company this weekend.
Q. There were a bunch of players this week who when they have had a stretch of holes like what you did on 10 and 11, they have not been able to — they have tumbled down the leaderboard, what was it that helped you to be able to stanch the bleeding there?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I think being patient and understanding that kind stuff was going to happen. It wasn’t like I hit that many bad shots, but it’s a hard golf course.
I would say the putt on 12 is extremely important. Made about a 7-footer up the hill, which when the greens are fast and bumpy, they are not the easiest putts to hole. It was nice to see that ball go in. And then, you know use that momentum to keep things rolling there at 13 and into the finish.
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