PIF SAUDI INTERNATIONAL POWERED BY SOFTBANK INVESTMENT ADVISERS MEDIA CONFERENCE

January 11, 2022

Tyrrell Hatton

Shane Lowry

Royal Greens Golf and Country Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, everyone, for joining this pre-tournament press conference, virtual press conference for the PIF Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisors. I'll just open up the floor with a couple of questions for you. You played obviously in the tournament last year and I think it was four fairly solid rounds for yourself. How did you enjoy the experience of playing in the tournament last year?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I played the last two years. You go to new places and you don't really know what to expect. Going to somewhere like Saudi Arabia, I didn't know what to expect, and when I got there, you're kind of -- the setup there was really nice. I remember the hotel is really nice there and the golf course is great. The weather is beautiful.

It's one of the nicer events that you played. It's quite pleasant, and I really enjoyed my time there the last couple years. I played some decent golf. I can't remember where I finished -- pretty average last year. I did okay the year before. I don't even know; I can't remember. Obviously it wasn't too much to write home about. It gets windy in the afternoon and stuff like that, so it is a place that kind of does suit my game if I can get myself going around there.

Yeah, really enjoyed my experience over there, and I'm looking forward to going back in a few weeks.

THE MODERATOR: You mentioned the wind there. Is it a challenging course there? What's your advice to anyone going to play Royal Greens?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, it can be. Your morning tee time -- so you obviously get a morning and afternoon the first two days, you really need to take advantage of your morning tee time and shoot a good score that day because it can get quite tricky in the afternoon, especially when you get the wind blowing off the water there and you get out to kind of 15, 16, and it's quite tricky and quite tough, especially that 16th hole. It's so hard to start the ball out in the ocean there and let it come back.

Yeah, like I said, you need to kind of make hay on your early tee time and then kind of try and shoot a good a score as you can when the wind picks up in the afternoon.

All in all, I've got fond memories of it. Like I said, I've enjoyed my time there. I think it's a place that I play well around.

I do like desert golf. I've enjoyed going to the Middle East over the last number of years. It's another one of those golf courses that I like playing.

THE MODERATOR: Obviously it's the first Asian Tour hosting of the Saudi International. It will be the strongest ever field for any Asian Tour event ever. How exciting is that for you to be a part of something like that?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, it's great. I played a bit on the Asian Tour in the past. I played in Hong Kong a couple of years ago, and obviously I've played the co-sanctioned events over the years with the European Tour.

There's no doubt about it, it's one of the strongest fields in golf, in world golf this year, or will be. A lot of World Ranking points available, so that's what I'm going there to play for.

I feel like I need to jump up a few places in the World Ranking. I've got some good goals set for that this year, so this is a good opportunity for me to go play well, albeit against a very strong field, which obviously will be very difficult to do well because you're playing against a top-class field.

Q. How did you spend your new year, and with two young daughters now, I guess it was a little bit different, and how much are you looking forward to the start of the new season, as well?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, there's no doubt about it, the back end of last season, I was happy to put away the clubs for a few weeks and get away from golf. It had been a long year or two. I was pretty happy with what I got last year out of the game, albeit I didn't win, but I'm very -- I've taken quite a few weeks off. I haven't done much over Christmas, just tried to enjoy my time as much with my family as I could.

It was a very special Christmas this year because it was like Iris's first year where Santa Claus really -- she's four now and she really understood it this year. That was amazing. Yeah, I had a great time, but really, really excited to get back playing, and I've kind of got my hunger back.

When I take a big break like that, I do get like a hunger back to go practice and go play and fall back in love with the game because it's an easy game to fall out of love with, but then a few weeks off and you fall back in love with it and you can't wait to get back.

I've set a few goals out. I'm looking forward to the next year or two. I think hopefully I'm coming into a decent part of my career where I feel like I can make some hay and win some tournaments.

Q. Did you have to get dressed up as Santa this year?

SHANE LOWRY: I didn't get dressed up this year, no. I brought her to see Santa a couple times actually just to confuse her altogether. But no, I didn't get dressed up this year. I did last year and the year before but not this year.

Q. Did you have to seek a sort of release to play in the Saudi event from the PGA Tour, or what's the relationship, or you got to do it through the European Tour?

SHANE LOWRY: I left all that to my agent, but I'm pretty sure I had to get a release from both tours to go play. I didn't think it was a big issue for me, to be honest, because I've played here the last two years and I've played on the Asian Tour in the past. I didn't think it was a big issue, and I didn't -- I would have been very disappointed if I didn't get the release. I wasn't surprised that we all did.

I think it was something that they had to do. For years, as long as I've been not even playing golf but watching golf, players, top world-class players have been going around playing on the Asian Tour and doing stuff like that, so I don't think this is any different.

Q. You mentioned a couple times that you had goals this season for climbing up the World Rankings. I think you're 45th at the moment. Can you give us an idea of what you're hoping to achieve this season?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I feel like I can be a solid top 20 in the world golfer, to be honest. I'm not going to put it out there and say I want to be world No. 1 or anything. I think if I play to my potential and my consistency level, I feel I can be top 20 in the world. I feel like I can go and try and contend at a few majors, and that's kind of where I'm at now.

The first thing, obviously I want to get off to a good start this year in the Middle East, but I really have sort of -- the Masters is obviously not that far away. It feels quite a bit away, April, but it's actually not that far away. Everything I'm trying to work towards that and hopefully gear up for that and hopefully perform at that, so that's kind of first and foremost.

My main goal for the next year and a half will be trying to make that team in Rome and coming back to Ryder Cup, so that's where I'm at. I feel like if I can make that team and help the team to victory there, I'd have done some good stuff individually over the next year and a half. That's where I'm at in my own head.

Q. Just on the subject of the tournament we're here to obviously promote, are you one of the players who's signed a three-year deal back when it was on the European Tour and you feel you should obviously just fulfil your commitments, or are you more on a year-by-year basis?

SHANE LOWRY: No, I signed a deal after The Open in 2019, so I signed a three-year deal with the guys to go play.

Obviously there's a few different reasons why, but when it was part of the European Tour, it just made sense to play those three events over there and then come back to America. Yeah, obviously it's not a European Tour event now, it's an Asian Tour event, but I've got a contract to play, and I don't see any reason why or I doubt I wouldn't have been given my release or wouldn't be allowed to go and play. I'm happy that I'm able to go and play.

Like I said, I've had very pleasant experiences over there, and I'm looking forward to going back.

THE MODERATOR: Tyrrell, I'd be right in saying last year was your debut at the Saudi International. Have you got fond memories from the event? What did you enjoy about your first time out in Saudi Arabia?

TYRRELL HATTON: Yeah, obviously last year was my first year there. We had a good week, but we finished tied sixth in the tournament, which is always a solid showing. It was a pleasant week on and off the golf course. Definitely looking forward to going back.

THE MODERATOR: You came into the tournament last year I think fresh from a win in Abu Dhabi. I think you were No. 5 in the World Rankings at that point. How do you feel your 2021 season went from that point and what are your goals and targets for 2022?

TYRRELL HATTON: I mean, I'd say after probably from maybe May onwards, it was a pretty disappointing season. Obviously got off to a really nice start with the win in Abu Dhabi and then had a decent desert swing after that.

Yeah, it was a disappointing second half of the year, but that's golf. You try your best every week, and obviously it works sometimes, works out better than others. It'll be interesting to see how we start this year. It would be nice to kind of get back to playing the golf that I was playing the last half of 2020 and early last year.

Q. Just a question on sport in Saudi. Do you think we've moved on now to where that has become normal as opposed to controversial, or is there still talk, when you talk to your fellow players, are there still debates to be had about whether that's the way forward?

TYRRELL HATTON: No, I mean, I think Saudi have hosted a tournament for the last few years, and the tournament has grown and grown, and it's a tournament that players look forward to going to. Obviously their time to make their way in golf, and yeah, they definitely deserve their place.

Q. Where are you on the PGA Tour/European Tour/Asian Tour breakaways, et cetera? Where do you think that will end up in five years' time if you had a crystal ball? Do you think we'll get a World Tour one day?

TYRRELL HATTON: Who knows. Certainly for me at the moment, I'm just focusing on starting my season in the Middle East and playing some PGA Tour events in March and building up to the Masters. That's all I think us players can really focus on to start the season. It's time to get in the best possible place you can to go and have a good start.

Q. What does it do for your confidence when you get a good result and a winning result so early in the season?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I think if you win early in the season, obviously it gives you a great kind of -- takes a lot of pressure off, I think. It did for me anyway. For me when I won in Abu Dhabi I hadn't won in a couple years, so that just took the pressure off, and I felt like I just kind of free-wheeled it for the rest of the season and go play my golf. I went on and had a good year after that.

I think for me, every time I go and tee it up in the Middle East, it's after a good long break and I don't really know how it's going to go because you've practiced and you've prepared, but you kind of -- you're still not really -- you're just not really sure about how it's going to go, so you kind of go in with an open mind and just go out and try and play as best a golf you can. In 2019 I won in Abu Dhabi and it gave me a great kind of kick start to that season.

The last two seasons I've missed the cut in Abu Dhabi with obviously not the best start to the season. So it's kind of always where -- it does give you a great stepping-stone if you can knock off one of those first few events at least, whether it be Abu Dhabi, Dubai or Saudi, any of us that wins there will give us a great kind of -- a big confidence builder coming across to kind of start your season over here.

TYRRELL HATTON: I would sort of follow Shane's thoughts. It's a massive -- it's a little bit of an unknown when you start the season even though you're sort of trying to get back into preparing at least a couple of weeks before you go play. You're almost kind of feeling your own game out when you get to the Middle East.

Obviously when you get into contention, you kind of just go into a different sort of head space; it makes it a bit more competitive. But definitely gives a lot of confidence going into the rest of the year, although it didn't work out that well for me in the end last year.

It'll be interesting to see how we go this time around.

Q. Tyrrell, just wondering what sort of Christmas you had, whereabouts you are in the world at the moment, whether your preparation has been affected at all by COVID or whether you feel like you're ready to hit the ground running when you get to the Middle East.

TYRRELL HATTON: Well, I had a nice December. I was actually in the UK, and I actually flew to Orlando on New Year's Eve. I just felt like I needed to kind of get back into training, which is something I haven't really done in the last five, six months, so I thought that I'd try and use the first two weeks of January to try and get into a better routine.

We're on dry January at the moment, which is miserable, but even at the end of January, if you combine the two months of drinking from December, you'd probably say I've drunk my fair share anyway. I'd say that I enjoyed my time off.

Q. Shane, you mentioned early on the Ryder Cup; is it already on your mind, and is there already some kind of a revenge mode activated for both of you?

SHANE LOWRY: Is it on my mind? Yeah, every Christmas I sit down with my team and we talk about what I want to achieve and trying to hit some goals. I think for me a good long-term goal for me every two years is Ryder Cup, and I think it kind of focuses me in the weeks that I'm not going great, kind of gives me a bit of extra motivation just to keep going and keep digging it out and grinding it out.

Revenge? Yeah. Look, last year it kind of hurt a little bit, the beating we got over at Whistling Straits. We were just beaten by a better side on the week, and they played the better golf. It was disappointing, but it was also an amazing experience, and it was something that I look back on with very fond memories.

Yeah, there's no doubt that I want to be a part of the team to go to Rome in a year and a half's time or 20 months' time and take that Ryder Cup, and that's for me -- I don't know about other players, I can only speak for myself, but for me that's my main focus over the next few years.

I do believe that if that happens, I'll have done some good things along the way and I'll have won tournaments. It all kind of takes care of itself.

TYRRELL HATTON: Well, for me, I would say at the moment the Ryder Cup isn't necessarily in my thoughts, purely because for the next nine months the qualification process doesn't really start. Obviously I want to be on that team again in Rome, and hopefully I will be -- I'll play some good golf, but in the meantime if the qualification process hasn't even started, then it's not something for me to waste any energy on.

Q. Human rights and sports watching are a topic heavily discussed in the context of this tournament, the Saudi International, and the Washington Post wrote last week that players choosing to play the tournament are taking blood money. What is your stance on that; are the politics around this tournament a topic for you?

SHANE LOWRY: I'll go first there. Look, obviously there's no hiding from the people writing about this tournament or what they're saying about us going to play, but at the end of the day for me, I'm not a politician, I'm a professional golfer. I earn a living for myself and my family and try and take care of those, and this is just a part of that, and I need to go there -- like I've seen a few quotes from Tommy Fleetwood recently where he said about the World Ranking points available there, there's no doubt we're all getting looked after going there. The top players are looked after going there, and that's great, but top players have got looked after all over the world over the last number of years, whether it be whatever country they go to.

But I'm happy to go there. I'm happy to earn my living going there and going and playing good golf and hopefully win a tournament. I think for me as a golfer, I'm not a politician, I'll let everyone else take care of that, and I'll go and do my job.

TYRRELL HATTON: I'd say Shane answered that pretty well, and I've got nothing to add.

Q. Can I just ask on the topic of the Ryder Cup captaincy, that might well be discussed very shortly. Do you have any thoughts on if not an individual but perhaps the way that Europe should go? Do they need to rip up the past way of doing things with the results last time, or do they need to carry on the sort of succession plan which has worked previously?

TYRRELL HATTON: I don't think they need to rip it up. Obviously the Ryder Cup the last years has sort of been going with the home team.

I think for the captaincy it's important to -- if you're going to be captain, then it's more focused on that, whereas certain guys in their career imagine they're more focused on playing their golf, and rightly so. It's still a number of years down the line where many of them can be captain, but whilst there's quite a few guys that are still playing really good golf that are in the running to be captain, then obviously it's a decision for them to make personally. I don't think they need to necessarily make any drastic changes when Europe have done well in the Ryder Cup.

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I'd fully agree. I don't understand anyone talking about ripping up and starting over. I think the European Tour have done well over the years, and like Tyrrell says, it's pretty much gone with home advantage over the last number of years, so let's see how the next one goes.

The Americans are very strong. There's no doubt about that. We need a good strong team and a good captain and to do everything right the next time if we're going to win it back. That will happen and that can happen.

I don't know who's going to be captain. I don't know what the story is, but I'm sure whoever the European Tour pick and whoever it is, it'll be the right man for the job.

Q. Tyrrell, you said you flew to Orlando to use the gym for the first couple weeks of the year and I think Shane is in Orlando as well. Are you sharing the same gym doing some tough workouts?

TYRRELL HATTON: Shane is down --

SHANE LOWRY: I'm down in Jupiter.

TYRRELL HATTON: No, I'm --

SHANE LOWRY: Believe it or not I've got a gym in my house that does get a bit of use.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks to everyone for joining us on the call. Shane, thank you very much. Tyrrell, thank you for joining us, as well. We look forward to seeing you out at the Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisors next month. Safe travels between now and then, and thank you, everyone, for joining us.