Masters Monday: A Few Quotes that Caught Our Eye on Day 1 from Augusta

Winning a PGA TOUR event is one thing. But a major championship—let alone the Masters—is another. When one of golf’s big four rolls around, I always think back to this Brooks Koepka quote from just before the 2019 PGA Championship.

"I think sometimes the majors are the easiest ones to win…There's 156 (players) in the field, so you figure at least 80 of them I'm just going to beat," Koepka said. "From there, you figure about half of them won't play well, so you're down to maybe 35. And then from 35, some of them just—pressure is going to get to them. It only leaves you with a few more, and you've just got to beat those guys."

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A confident—borderline arrogant—declaration? Possibly. But a few days after Koepka said those very words, he won his second Wanamaker at Bethpage Black.

In his prime, that man didn’t just talk the talk.

And that brings us to Monday, the official start of Masters week.

Patrick Reed, the 2018 Green Jacket champion, said something eerily similar—granted, with a little less bravado—during his pre-tournament press conference at Augusta National.

“I feel like it used to be five or six, maybe seven guys (who could win the Masters),” Reed said. “I definitely feel like this year you have 10 to 12 guys who have a really legitimate opportunity to win the Green Jacket.”

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Reed, no doubt, believes he’s part of that dozen.

Not only is he a past champion, but he’s finished T-12 or better five times in the seven playings since his victory. Oh, and he’s already won twice this year.

But Reed’s claim may be more than just an opinion.

Eleven of the last 13 Masters champions boasted +1.7 Strokes Gained: Tee to Green in the three months leading up to the tournament. This year, just 11 players fit that criteria—Reed, however, isn’t one of them.

Who knows, maybe Reed can break the trend.

Also on Monday, Collin Morikawa spoke with the media for the first time since withdrawing from THE PLAYERS after one hole due to a back injury. He was slated to play in last week’s Valero Texas Open, but WD’d as his back continued to bother him.

“The honest truth is I'm taking it day by day,” he said. “It's not exactly where I want to be, and it's unfortunate, but that's just the body, and I can't push it. It's been a little bit of a mental battle, I think, just trying to trust with where it's at. The back actually feels fine. It's just other parts of the body not cooperating a little bit how I want.”

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Morikawa mentioned that he’s been hitting balls for a week, but it’s been hard to commit to certain shots that he’s used to hitting.

It’s hard to imagine how frustrating this must be for the World No. 7. Before being sidelined, Morikawa won at Pebble Beach, tied for seventh at the Genesis Invitational, and grabbed solo fifth at Bay Hill. Not to mention his five straight T-18-or-better finishes at the last five Masters.

At full health, Morikawa would have likely been one of the most popular picks this week—but you know what they say about the injured golfer.