The ANWA champion’s presser was just as good as her golf

Hello friends and welcome to this very special edition of the Rogers Report!

I’m writing to you live from the Augusta National media center after spending the day following the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. I arrived on site at 8:00 a.m. and had bacon, eggs and hash browns in the media center restaurant before heading out to the practice area to watch the leaders warm up. From there, I walked to the first tee and watched the final groups tee off with my coworkers.

One of my very favorite things about Augusta National is their no-phone policy. It makes everyone much more aware of their surroundings, and I ended up spotting old friends whom I definitely wouldn’t have seen had I been looking down at my phone.

It was a very hot afternoon on the course, so I’m definitely excited for things to cool down next week, but enough about me. Let’s talk about who really matters today: Carla Bernat Escuder.

I’ll admit I didn’t know much about Bernat Escuder heading into this week, but her post-win interview made me a fan for life. She was equally poised and witty, all while answering questions in her second language. Let’s take a look at what she had to say.

Caddie conversations

I snuck into the interview room as Bernat Escuder was beginning her press conference and sat in the second-to-last row, right in front of her caddie and team. Kansas State assistant coach, Rinko Mitsunaga was on her bag this week, and she was still in her white jumpsuit and Augusta National Women’s Amateur hat in the interview room. Bernat Escuder’s whole team beamed with excitement as she answered the media’s questions. Mitsunaga even got a few shout-outs during the interview. Let’s roll the metaphorical tapes:

Q: After your approach shot on 13, it seemed like you and your caddie — you put your arm around her and you had a pretty long talk. Could you let us in on that? What that conversation was?

Bernat Escuder: I think we were going over the banana that we just ate …. She was like, yeah, the power of the banana, for the par-5. (Laughter). I think it was something like that. Oh, yeah, we were talking about — so my caddie yesterday was a pretty intense caddie. He wanted me to know everything about the golf course and he helped me a lot. But he made me putt that putt like three times in a row, and I’d be like, okay, and he’s like, again, just one more time. That was it.

This is a total “the world’s best are just like us” moment. Bernat Escuder let us know that what she was discussing with her caddie really wasn’t that deep. Unless, of course, we’re talking about the local caddie who looped for her on Friday during her practice round at Augusta National. Hey, at least all of his instructions paid off!

Q. In the trophy ceremony, you mentioned that your caddie is the real reason you won. Can you expand on that?

Bernat Escuder: Well, so I am really hard to deal with sometimes on the golf course with. I get nervous, and I’m like, ‘Where is my ball?’ But as soon as I get to the golf ball, it’s fine, but she’s the one who walks with me to the golf ball. So she’s the one that listens to me complaining, ‘Oh, that was a bad shot, what was that?’ You know? Yeah, she does a really good job listening to me and kind of reassuring me all the time. Without that, I don’t think I could have won.

As someone who is also hard to deal with at times, especially when I’m nervous, I really appreciate Bernat Escuder’s self-awareness here. I know it isn’t always easy to be on the receiving end of my worries and complaints, so shout out to all of the caddies and friends out there who keep their loved ones calm.

Mindset honesty

Q. Was there a particular mindset that you had coming into the round today? It was a pretty packed leader board and it looked like people had been scoring very well all week; that maybe you needed to be aggressive. I’m curious what the mindset was about how you wanted to play today?

Bernat Escuder: So one of my friends that is here, he told me the tournament is going to win with my under 12. Today I just tried to play a pretty good nine holes, and I knew the tournament started on No. 10, so when I hit the second shot on No. 10, I was like, damn.

I’ll admit I froze for a second when I heard Bernat Escude swear. Is that allowed at Augusta National? I immediately looked over to the Augusta National member moderating the press conference, and he didn’t seem to mind it, so I think it’s fair game when used in the correct context. Oh, and only if you just won at Augusta National.

Fellow Spaniards

Q. You had a warm embrace there with José María before you went into scoring. What did that mean to you, and what did he say?

Bernat Escuder: He was just saying congratulations and that he watched some of the golf that I played today. It means everything because he’s such a symbol for Spain. I was really nervous because last year I saw him after playing and I called him the wrong last name. I said Larrazabal instead of Olazábal. He’s like, ‘that’s not me.’ And I’m like, ‘I’m sorry.’

This is where I really became a fan of Bernat Escuder. Most people shy away from their embarrassing moments, while great people lean into them because they know it’ll make a great story. It would’ve been so easy for Bernat Escuder to omit that anecdote from her answer, but instead she was willing to share the type of moment we’re all guilty of having, and she got a lot of laughs for doing so. And making a room of media members laugh is almost as difficult as winning at Augusta National (don’t worry, I’m mostly kidding).

Q. To be the only ANWA champion from Spain, what does that mean to you to represent your country?

Bernat Escuder: I mean, it’s pretty cool. Hopefully it doesn’t stay like that because I want more Spaniards to get here and keep pushing our country up and up. Yeah, hopefully I’m not the last one.

Miscellaneous

Q. Your coach said that you’re the hardest worker he’s ever seen in his coaching career. How good does it feel to have all that hard work pay off in such a big way, on such a big stage?

Bernat Escuder: I mean, I cannot process that I won yet. I mean, it’s really nice to see that after a cold winter that we had and hard days going to the golf course and showing up, it means everything to win this tournament. It’s also such an honor.

It was less about what Bernat Escuder said here and more about her body language. She responded to the question with a smirk and a side-eye toward her coach, which made me wonder if she’d ever heard this compliment before. Either way, her reaction was hilarious.

Celebration plans

Q. How do you plan to celebrate?

Bernat Escuder: That’s a good question. Just probably go to dinner with all the people that came to watch me. I kind of want to stay here to watch the Masters, but I don’t know if I will be able. And maybe a tattoo. We’ll see. (Laughter.) I was thinking maybe the flower of Augusta, but I need to decide on that. It’s a big decision.

I’m always intrigued to learn how players celebrate after a big win. On one hand, it’s one of the biggest days of their life. On the other, they must be totally exhausted. So a dinner with friends and family sounds ideal.

Here’s to hoping that Bernat Escuder shares Augusta tattoo content on social media if she goes through with her plans.

As Bernat Escuder’s interview wrapped up and everyone got ready to leave the interview room, I looked back at her team and said, “she’s hilarious.”

Her coach replied, “that was the most ‘her’ interview of all time.” I

I’m glad we all got to know her, even if just for a few minutes. Her personality and her golf will take her far.

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