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THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 17, 2014

Matteo Manassero

HOYLAKE, ENGLAND

MIKE WOODCOCK: We're delighted to welcome Matteo Manassero into the interview room. It's a great round today, seven birdies in your round, you must be very pleased to get off to such a good start.

MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, very, very pleased, actually. It's just the perfect start. As you all could see out there it was calm. It was just a really nice day to get off this Open Championship. So birdies were out there, but this golf course it's not easy. So you have to play really solid. You have to play smart a few times just to take your par and go. And then maybe possibly attack if you're playing well. If you're playing solid, you can attack in a few other holes. And then obviously to make seven birdies you need quite long putts to drop sometimes and a bit of luck. But it's been a really good round and I'm really pleased with it.

Q. Was the first a bit of luck or a bit of genius?
MATTEO MANASSERO: It was not a bit of genius off the tee, to hit it in the bunker. But then it was a good shot, but obviously -- I think personally when you make an iron there is a bit of luck involved. But I did have a very good distance for a 9-iron.

Q. What was it?
MATTEO MANASSERO: It was 160 to the pin, 48 front, 60 pin. I hit a nice shot. Honestly I knew with that distance I could have hit it close to the pin or like around 12 feet, something like that, to then try have a good opportunity to save par. But when I saw it, when it started, it was a really good shot, straight to the pin, just right of it. And then it took that little break. Obviously I didn't even know it was there. It just broke right to left and went in. There is a bit of luck involved, I think, but I did hit a really good shot.

Q. How do you see the risk and the reward on the tee shots? How many drivers did you hit today?
MATTEO MANASSERO: I think I hit two drivers. I hit a driver on 16 and I hit driver on 10. Yeah, definitely two drivers only. But, yeah, you don't need to hit many drivers. I mean, probably the longer you hit it, the more drives you can hit because sometimes you can like -- people were hitting far on 1, they can carry all the bunkers, or at least the left one. But I would say if you hit it long, you can take a few more risks, but it's not really necessary. What I feel is necessary, it's most of the times, at least put the first bunker into play. Because then otherwise, like on 1 I tried to hit it left of that bunker and I hit it in the bunker. If I was going to leave it short, like with a 3-iron, I would have had at least a good 4-iron into that pin, into that green, that is really tight. I mean, you take all your birdie chances completely away. I feel this is a really good golf course because to have the possibility of making birdie, birdies in general, you have to take some risk. It doesn't necessarily have to be with driver, it could be even with 4-iron sometimes, but at least one bunker, most of the times you have to put it in play. Then there is a few more that you need to stay short, otherwise it gets too tight. But sometimes you need to take some risks on this golf course. And if you play well, the fairways are big enough even putting one bunker into play. But it's not always the case. Sometimes it is.

Q. This has been a good day for the Italians. How pleased are you to see Molinari is up there with you?
MATTEO MANASSERO: It's fantastic. It's great. I knew they were playing solid golf. Just I saw in the practice round Edoardo was playing really, really solid. And Francesco, I'm always sure that Francesco is going to do something well on this kind of golf courses especially, even more. So very good for Italian golf. We got off to a fast start, all of us. And when you've got three, you don't have only one, there is more chances they're going to stay up until Sunday. And it's going to be wonderful to have a few Italians up there on Sunday afternoon. It's going to be fun, if there is.

Q. Can you talk us through your Open preparations, how they went, how happy were you with them. And could you feel this score coming?
MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, I was -- it goes back to before the Scottish Open and even to France. I always decided that I was going to play three in a row. And I knew I was playing quite solid even before France. France is really a demanding golf course, and I put some really nicely played rounds in that golf course. For me it was a nice sign. It was a nice sign of a good game and that I could be confident on my game. I could trust it. And that was really important. Obviously the main preparation for The Open, I've done it in Aberdeen. And it was just the best preparation I could have had. We had strong wind, little wind, calm wind the last day. We had different directions of wind. And the course was firm. It was really linksy. So I just put myself in a very links frame of mind. So I was really thinking links when I got here. And that was so important for me. I knew that the only thing I could have done wrong is overpractice when I got here Monday. I knew a putt and a roll from a slope. I knew how fast the ball would release, all those things that you just don't have when you don't play links in a while. And that was the best preparation. Then the golf course is in fronts of you. You don't have so many surprises in this golf course. It's really fair. You just have to play well. So that was my preparation in general. But I knew that my game was there, but obviously I always think that a good game with zero confidence, it's not going to go very far, anyway. So I did need something to happen before this Open to at least cheer me up a little bit. And last week was really nice for me.

Q. You've been in Bradley Neil's position before, as the young British champion coming in here. What lessons should he learn from these experiences today?
MATTEO MANASSERO: He should definitely -- I think the main thing for him is enjoy this Open. He's a really good player, so he will be here again. This is his Open to enjoy and to try and learn as much as he can. It's not necessarily his Open to compete well. He's got to learn a lot. And that's what he's doing. Today wasn't a nice day for him. He was struggling a little bit. And you could see him and he told me, "It was a tough day for me today." But in the end, tomorrow he can still fight to make the cut. He's a really powerful player. So he's a player that I think when he gets on the first tee and he feels everything the right way, he can shoot 6, 7-under, he's that kind of player. But, yeah, he needs to learn, like I needed to learn, and I need to learn. The only important thing is that he enjoys all the days that he's got left. That's the only thing I can say, honestly. He will learn for sure. He's played practice rounds with the best players in the world. So that's just a unique experience. And when he is back here again, he will play practice rounds with his friends and he's going to be committed to having the best possible Open. But he won't have the possibilities and the things he can do this year, they will not be perfectly fitted to a nice preparation for The Open the next time. He just needs to enjoy, I think.

Q. You birdied all three of the par 5s on the back nine today, is that somewhere you're going to look to attack the course tomorrow?
MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, I feel like, especially if it's windy, this golf course exposes itself in the par 5s. You can birdie the par 5s. Today on the back nine they were all reachable. So when you've got -- actually on the front even the 4th was reachable. So every par five was reachable today, and that's a big bonus if you can birdie a lot of them. Because they're not such tough holes. Once you position yourself with the first shot, then you can have -- easily have birdies or birdie opportunities. I agree with you, the par 5s are definitely the biggest birdie chances. And if you can take many of them, throughout the week, at the end of the week it's going to be important. I mean you'll have a gap there.

Q. Like the first time you tried The Open Championship, you had adopted Alberto as a caddie and tried before the Scottish Open. How much this is helping you and the feeling day after day?
MATTEO MANASSERO: The feeling with Alberto is really good. And obviously in '09 he was caddying for me. He really caddies -- he caddies really well. Obviously he's my coach, but he knows me so much that he just understands what I want to do in certain moments. And like a perfect example is on 15 today. I -- the green is really narrow. At the back there is a bit of trouble. And the wind was straight off the left. I could have hit a strong 8-iron to probably 20 feet, at the best. And that was okay. That was actually quite a good play. But I personally felt a little 7, if I wouldn't have felt I wasn't going to hit well, it was a tough shot. So I hit a nice little 7. He didn't force me to an 8. He knew I could have hit that shot really well. And I hit it close and I made birdie. So he knows me really well. He doesn't say an extra word and that's really, really important, just to let the player go. And when you need to be in a certain discussion, saying a certain thing he does. He's just a very, very good, very helpful.

Q. If you look at the list of people who have won the tournament in recent years, there's a lot of veteran players, Phil last year, as well. Do you think it's the hardest big tournament for a young player to win? And if so, why?
MATTEO MANASSERO: I mean, the majors are all really hard to win for a young player. But I think they're hard to win for everybody, honestly. But, yeah, the more you play on these golf courses, the more you prepare for these golf courses, the easier it's going to be to last the whole week. So I would say probably they have a small gap. And experience is very, very important. But the preparation is the most important thing. And obviously if you've won majors before, I guess, it really helps throughout the weekend or something like that. We'll see. We'll see. I mean, I just started and I started with a good round. So I'm not thinking that far ahead. I really don't want to think that far ahead. I'm thinking of playing solid tomorrow. But maybe experience does help in those things.

Q. You obviously had a wonderful debut in The Open as an amateur. Since then until today, not so great. Have you figured out why it's been like that? And maybe what the difference is today, at least?
MATTEO MANASSERO: I don't think I ever got in really good shape to this time of the year. In fact, it's not a time of the year which I've done really well in general, in every season. While in Turnberry I was in really good form. I just won the British Amateur, and I was playing really, really well. But I never got in so much form. But when you don't arrive to golf courses like this in form, it's just so difficult to even stay for the weekend. And they're all really tough courses. So I think that's the main reason. Probably I never prepared, one, enough for it, thinking links, just what we were saying. And in '09 I was playing so much links. As an amateur you play a lot of links, especially in Europe. Being a European you play a lot of links. I was very prepared to what I was going to find. And after a while you can lose it and probably not being in great form and not thinking links so well and so sharply, I didn't perform well.

Q. So it was purely in the head, you think?
MATTEO MANASSERO: What's purely in the head?

Q. In your head, the way you were thinking about it?
MATTEO MANASSERO: No, I wasn't in form, most probably, more than anything. I was not in good form. I didn't play good golf. It wasn't my head. My head was, strategy, but I would say the main thing is you don't play really well and you just miss the cut.

Q. Given the nature of this golf course do you think were you ever to win an Open this would be quite -- more likely to be the sort of Open course that you could and would win on?
MATTEO MANASSERO: Could be. I like it. It's fair, flat, where you hit your shot it's going to roll on that line. So you don't have many surprises. So it's a golf course that I like. If I ever win an Open, I don't think I'll win it on a golf course that I don't like. So the fact that I like it, it's already a good thing.

Q. Do you remember the first tournament you ever won as a kid? Can you tell that story.
MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, I remember it: I was ten, I think. I was ten and it was Under-12 National Championship, I think, something like that. It was two rounds. There is nothing very special. I was a little kid very committed, very focused and I was not talking to many people. Like a little nervous kind of guy, you know -- I was nervous. But I was really, really -- I remember, I think, my mom was there. And my mom used to bring me to the golf tournaments around north of Italy somewhere. And so, yeah, she tells me of a little kid that acted a bit too professionally for his age. But I was like that. I was watching too much golf, probably.

Q. Do remember what course it was at?
MATTEO MANASSERO: Actually the course that I practice at now, which is just north of Milan.

Q. Can you say the name?
MATTEO MANASSERO: Monticello it's called.

MIKE WOODCOCK: Thank you. Very well played. Good luck the rest of the week.

MATTEO MANASSERO: Thank you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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