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WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPEN

January 31, 2015

Francesco Molinari

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA

THE MODERATOR: We welcome Francesco Molinari, a 7-under 64 today. Obviously the highlight of the round was at the 16th hole. We'll turn it over to you for comments on that and the rest of your round.

FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, obviously first of all I'm really happy with the round. Played well all day, no bogeys on the card, which is always good. And, yeah, 16th was just something really incredible, you know. I think it's just my third hole-in-one in my life, so to get one there, it is special, and the reaction was just something else, something you don't see in golf every day.

Q. You said outside you had to finish up your second round this morning and there were people rushing to get to 16. What time? What was the scene like?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Must have been around 7:00, probably even before 7:00. It was still dark, and we were just going down to the range and there were a few guys running towards the 16th green. They had been waiting a while, I guess, today. You know, it was amazing just to see the reaction. As I said, it's not something that we get anywhere else in the world or anywhere else in any other tournament. So it was great.

Q. What club? What did you hit?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Pitching wedge.

Q. Have you ever seen highlights of Tiger's hole-in-one there?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah. Yeah, obviously a few times. I don't think I was watching on TV, you know, when he made it live, but I have seen it a few times. Obviously the hole looked slightly different without the stands around it, but the reaction today was pretty similar.

Q. You've never had beer cups thrown at you, I take it?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: No. First and last hopefully.

Q. When you saw the beer bottles coming down to the green, what was your immediate reaction?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I didn't have any. I was just smiling. Brian Davis had to play after me, unfortunately. So he had to wait for a while to, you know, let the guys clear the green and the bunkers and, you know, just -- I don't know how to describe it. You know, you have to see it and it was obviously amazing for me to be there and have a hole-in-one in that scenario.

Q. Was it an automatic pitching wedge or did you and your caddie discuss club selection?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: No, it was a perfect distance for a wedge so it was pretty straightforward.

Q. What did you do Thursday/Friday? Did you get booed on that hole this week too?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: No, not yet. I guess tomorrow I will hit it to two feet and I will be booed. No, I hit the green the other two times, other two days, but obviously not as close as today.

Q. You threw the ball in the stand. Was there any thought about keeping it?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I got it back, actually.

Q. How did that happen?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: They threw it back onto the green. They nearly hit Brian Davis again. A volunteer just raked it out of the bunker and gave it to me at the end of the round. It was nice to get it back. I don't know if I will keep it or give it to someone. I don't know yet. I wasn't expecting to see it coming back from the stands, yeah.

Q. Why did you throw it in there in the first place?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: You know, it had done its job, so I needed a new ball for the next hole, anyway.

Q. Anything memorable about the other occasions when you had a hole-in-one?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Not really. The first one I had was after a rain delay in Malaysia, so it was like 7:15 in the morning and no one there. It was probably the opposite to today.

Q. Have you ever had that kind of reaction from the gallery from any shot you have made in your career?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: No, not really. You know, obviously Ryder Cup you get some huge cheers, but never seen bottles being thrown at the green and stuff like that.

Q. When a player gets to 16 here, is the thought process just put it on the green somewhere, I don't want to get booed?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: No. It depends. I think today's flag, you know, the tee was forward, the flag was pretty accessible. You could go for it a little bit more. Yesterday's flag is probably a flag where you just think, put it on the green and make a 3 and walk away.

Q. 133 we saw on TV. Is that what you had measured?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah. Meters, but yeah, 122 meters.

Q. Overall performance, first year as a member?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah.

Q. Just the importance of kind of getting used to the different courses, traveling, getting off to a good start.
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, it's been good. It was a long travel to get to Hawaii but it was a solid week. Last week I finished just in top 10, so it was nice. I knew I was playing well this week, but it was a long way back. So to get a round like today it's obviously nice. You know, I played here, a few tournaments here and there in the last few years, so even if it's my first year as a member, I knew more or less what to expect, and, yeah, I'm just very happy that I joined.

Q. Have you had a chance to look on your phone yet? Do you know if your brother has reached out to you, sent you a text?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: No. I haven't taken it out yet, but I guess it will be beeping for a while when I do.

Q. Besides that pitching wedge, what else was clicking for you today that helped you have such a good round?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I think I played similar to the other days. It was playing obviously a lot easier than yesterday and just hole a few more putts. Hopefully I can do that tomorrow, as well. Try to gain a few more spots.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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