AUGUSTA, Ga. — For those of us in the media, Tuesday is both the best and worst day every year at the Masters. It’s the best because it’s press conference day, which gives us access to a host of the biggest names in the tournament in the comfy comfines of the media center where we can pepper them with questions. But that is also why it’s the worst—we never get out to the course. This year, I walked with fellow media members Alex Myers and Dan Rapaport for all of 40 minutes. We saw less than 10 shots.
I know, I know, no one is crying for us. Plus, the press conference schedule was a good one on this Tuesday. Rory McIlroy at 9 a.m., Jon Rahm at 10, Collin Morikawa at 2, the Hojgaard twins and Viktor Hovland in between, Bryson DeChambeau at 2:30 and Scottie Scheffler capping it off at 3. A true who’s who.
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And because it’s Masters week, even the sometimes prickly players are in phenomenal moods. How could you not be at a place like this? With that comes some surprisingly good answers to a variety of questions lobbed their way. Below are the best quotes from Day 2 of the 2025 Masters.
Viktor Hovland references …. ‘8 mile’?
Much like the man who kicked off the presser schedule, Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland has become almost too open and honest with the media, particularly when it comes to swing changes, coach changes and just his general thoughts on the state of his game. As journalists, we love that stuff, but it can sometimes work against the player in question. Hovland was asked about this phenomenon of sorts and managed to weave in a reference to the classic Eminem film in his answer.
“That’s a great question. It probably would benefit me to shut my mouth a little bit more,” Hovland said. “But I don’t know, I don’t mind being honest. I think if you hold it in, it almost becomes—the fear almost becomes bigger instead of when you speak the truth out there, you kind of desensitize it in a way.
“Maybe it’s not the best analogy, but if you’ve seen ‘8 Mile’ with Eminem, it’s like before his final rap battle, he kind of disses himself. It’s like: Here I am, what else you got on me?
“I don’t know, I think it kind of just puts it out there so you can just focus on the things that I need to focus on and it’s just get back to work and get a little bit better. Yeah. I don’t know what else to say.”
If you were hoping for an "8 Mile" reference during the Tuesday press conferences at #TheMasters, Viktor Hovland has you covered… pic.twitter.com/92ZY8g96CD
— John Hart (@JohnHartWJBF) April 8, 2025
The final rap battle scene from “8 Mile” being referenced in the Masters interview room, just as Clifford Roberts imagined.
‘Devil Wears Prada’ OUT, ‘Bridgerton’ IN
Speaking of pop culture references, this whole storyline revolving around Rory McIlroy watching “The Devil Wears Prada” before winning the Players Championship simply won’t die. One reporter brought it up again on Tuesday and asked if there was anything else he was watching to get him in the mood for victory.
“I’ve gotten into ‘Bridgerton’ the last—I didn’t think I would,” McIlroy said. “I was very against watching it, but Erica convinced me. So we’re on a bit of a ‘Bridgerton’ kick this week, yeah.”
Interesting. I know nothing about this show other than it’s a period piece (I absolutely LOATHE period pieces) and that, based off the times I’ve walked in on my wife watching it, it seems extremely NSFW. Whatever floats your boat I guess.
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The OWGR is a laugh riot
Thanks to the birth of LIV, a tour where its events do not come with Official World Golf Ranking points, the OWGR has become somewhat of a punchline. In fairness, any ranking that has Rahm at 80th in the world is a bit of a joke. It was a laugh riot on Tuesday when Rahm himself was asked where he feels he is in the ranking, despite what the actual number says. The Spaniard having absolutely no clue where he even was should tell you exactly what the LIV guys think about it.
“Where am I in the world rankings at this point? Am I out of the top 100 yet?” Rahm said. “A couple weeks to go and I’ll be gone. I mean, I’m not going to say exactly a number, but I would still undoubtedly consider myself a top-10 player in the world. But it’s hard to tell nowadays.”
When the OWGR is openly mocked by players and media at a major, how can people still defend its relevance? Worse, how are majors still defending its use as entrance criteria? pic.twitter.com/WJlsp66z31
— LIV'r & Onions! (@LIVRandONIONS) April 8, 2025
A green jacket + Adidas collab could feed nations
Ludvig Aberg recently debuted some stylish new Adidas gear that sure would look good paired with a green jacket this Suunday. The young Swede was asked if, when he gets a look at his scripting for the week, if he envisions the Sunday outfit going with green. Most guys would give an NFL-coachspeak like answer to a question like this. One play at a time. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Do your job. Etc. Aberg … actually said he does do this.
“That’s a good question. Yeah, I think so. I think so, naturally,” he said. “I’ve pictured myself wearing a green jacket many times, not only wearing this. I think, yeah, hopefully it goes well together, and we can sit here on Sunday.”
Collin Morikawa gets a layup, bricks it
The topic of Morikawa not being a huge “golf history buff” came up early in his presser, then later another reporter asked him why he isn’t. Morikawa said it just wasn’t really his thing, as he opts to focus on the present. The reporter then quizzed him with the easiest question of all time—who won the 1986 Masters? The layup of all layups.
Morikawa airballed it.
“I was looking at the board in the gym today. I was looking at the years when Jack won it, when he was spreading that out,” he said. “I was really hoping—I think he won in ’72, ’76, around there. I would have said that.”
The greencoat next to Morikawa then informed him that Jack won in ’86. Instant double-handed facepalm.
Shane Lowry, one of us
Shane Lowry described the feeling of what it was like to get the Masters invitation each year. It’s something none of us peons will ever get to experience, BUT, if we did, this is probably how we’d all describe it, too. Plus, some of us who just come as fans or members of the media woudl describe it this way, and we don’t even get to play the place.
“I think every time you get the invite you feel kind of blessed to have the invite back here,” Lowry said. “I love coming back here. When my year starts in January you sort of, this is always in the back of your mind. You always have the second week in April in the back of your mind. I think even sitting at home last week, the build-up to it, I love it. I love thinking about it, I love the flight up here on Sunday and just coming here and getting out here Sunday afternoon. It’s just such a special place. It’s hard to describe what it’s like and what it means to golfers, but yeah, to come here and compete is one thing, to come here and try and to win one would be just something that it would be a dream come true.”
Couldn’t have said it any better ourselves.
Hardest hole at Augusta National?
Bryson DeChambeau was asked if there was a specific hole at Augusta National that bothers him more than others. “Bothers” being the key word. His answer shows just how far he’s come since the infamous “par 67” comment.
“All of them.”
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
