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THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 17, 2014

David Howell

HOYLAKE, ENGLAND

DAVID HOWELL: I got the juices flowing a bit and played conservatively, and hit a poor shot and brilliantly holed a great putt for bogey. A bit of a messy start, but three lovely birdies after. And it was a bit of an up and down front nine. I very nearly lost the ball on 7. I think that must be the thickest bit of rough on the course. It was a challenge. Obviously there's no wind, but what air it is. It was in different directions, and we got caught up not hitting enough club off tees. It took us a while to be aggressive enough. You want to stay short of these bunkers. But it was probably the only thing that was a tricky outcome today. It's still a course if you do stray off the straight and narrow, it's still got plenty of teeth to it. In the end, I guess, I'm a little frustrated with level par. It's never terrible in a major championship, but there was an opportunity to morning to put a number on the board. Level was probably okay. I putted beautifully lately, but couldn't quite get the ball to the hole, and probably left a couple on the greens on the back nine.

Q. (Inaudible.)
DAVID HOWELL: Yeah, nothing happened. And, yeah, even at the last, I only had one choice at the last to chip it over the bunker and hit the pin. It didn't pan out for me on the back nine, but level is fine. It's not going to get any easier. It's going to get firmer and faster throughout the week. Once the wind does kick up, which I'm sure it will the next three days, it will be a test.

Q. (Inaudible.)
DAVID HOWELL: Yeah, mainly irons, but -- well, obviously we hit 3-woods. On the 8th we all had 2-irons, and not often three of you will probably hit the wrong club, and we were much farther back than we thought they'd be. It was tricky. Tricky to get it right, because it's links golf. How far is the ball going to go? You see a bunker at 300 and you've got no idea. You shy away from it, and before you know it, you've made the hole more difficult. There's a lot of different strategies. If I had that tee shot again on the first, I would have hit driver. Played that conservatively, and hit a poor shot. You do that and you've got not much chance with the driver. You have some chance if you stay out of the bunkers, but that's a big if.

Q. (Inaudible.)
DAVID HOWELL: Yeah, I set my alarm for 4:15 and I woke up naturally at 4:11, which was the right result. And I thought, shall I go four more minutes? No, I got up. And I think with it being The Open Championship, I think as soon as you wake up, you remember what you're doing, and the adrenaline kicks in and you're off and running. And of course it was a gorgeous morning. I would have thought different about it if it was cold.

Q. (Inaudible.)
DAVID HOWELL: Probably not in the history of my career. I think I had a start in Australia at 6:00 or something ridiculous, it doesn't get a lot earlier than that, I would say.

Q. (Inaudible.)
DAVID HOWELL: No, I'm a traditionalist, I like the feel of one-tee start just in general. It is fairer a two-tee start, no doubt about it. But there's something about the tradition I like.

Q. (Inaudible.)
DAVID HOWELL: Yes, certainly. Actually I managed to get on the third green just on the left edge, it was quite daunting the second shot and then holed it 60 feet. That was a bonus. Got it greenside in 2 on the par 5, chipped it up.

Q. (Inaudible.)
DAVID HOWELL: Yeah, that was good. I played that hole nicely. It was going well. And then the 7th definitely put off what momentum I had. But it was a poor shot. So I deserved what I got, really.

Q. (Inaudible.)
DAVID HOWELL: I hit some nice shots coming in, I just couldn't hole them. You can't hole all of them. Tomorrow is another day, isn't it?

Q. (Inaudible.)
DAVID HOWELL: No, 10 -- where did we hit drivers? We hit drivers off of -- our group actually the first driver we hit was 10, certainly for me. And then 16, 17, 18. Four drivers today.

Q. (Inaudible.)
DAVID HOWELL: Do you know, it was firmer than -- it seemed a lot firmer than yesterday, even though it rained yesterday afternoon. That was the impression we got. That might have just have been our mindset. Certainly on the first, had to lay up with a wedge and then hit a pitch. It's bouncy. It's going to get harder and faster as the week goes on.
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