|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
DUBAI DUTY FREE IRISH OPEN HOSTED BY THE RORY FOUNDATIONMay 30, 2015Soren KjeldsenNEWCASTLE, NORTHERN IRELAND Q. Sum up your emotions for us? SØREN KJELDSEN: Great day. Played terrific all day, and you know, the two bogeys, I hit a bad tee shot on 17. After that I played the hole really well and 18, I thought I played that beautifully, made six. It was so windy. I'll focus on the first 16 holes because I played beautifully and didn't do much wrong on the last two, so I feel good. Q. Tell us about the 3‑wood off the 17th tee. SØREN KJELDSEN: I struggled with my driver. The breeze was so strong off the left and you know, to hit a half‑draw is not an easy shot for me. It's much easier to draw a 3‑wood. Funnily enough, it was probably in a weird way, the best shot I hit all day because I hit it not nice at all, but I felt exactly what happened. Because of that, I could hit a great 3‑wood second shot and I hit a great 3‑wood on 18. So I just felt like when the wind was really hard off the left, I just started leaning on it a little bit, and I managed to correct that. So it was bad news but good news at the same time. Q. You holed a great putt at 13 for your third birdie in a row. Describe that putt for us. SØREN KJELDSEN: I played the hole quite a aggressively, so only had a sand wedge in, hit a good shot‑‑ it was difficult to get it close, so I hit it to probably 35, 40 feet and had a left‑to‑righter down there and just got the line and pace perfect. Q. I know the I are issue open is a favorite tournament of yours [] what would it mean to come out on top tomorrow? SØREN KJELDSEN: That's why I practise so hard. It would mean everything. This is a fantastic tournament and I think, you know this, year, probably even better than it's ever been. It's on a wonderful golf course. It's too early to think about that, but I'm very pleased to be in the position I am and I'll go and practise and be ready for tomorrow. Q. Overall a very good day? SØREN KJELDSEN: If you had given me a 67 on the first tee, I'd be pretty happy. It's one of those, I didn't hit a great tee shot on 17. The rest of the hole I played beautifully. Hit a beautiful putt that seemed to hit something halfway and dive a little bit left. On 18, I hit it beautifully, all three shots, and ended up with a 6‑footer where I thought I hit a beautiful putt again. So I felt like I did my part. Bogeys, they come, and fortunately for me, a lot of birdies came, as well. Q. Coming into the tournament, what shape did you feel your game was in? SØREN KJELDSEN: Excellent. I finished ninth in Spain and finished 18th in Wentworth last week, so I felt the graph was definitely going up. This is my third week with my caddie, Alastair, as well and things have changed quite dramatically since he started on the bag. I feel good and after three days I feel even better now. Q. You've won three times before on The European Tour. How much does that boost you going into the last day, because clearly you've done it before and you know how to close out a tournament? SØREN KJELDSEN: Yeah, that's right. It's a better position to be in if you've never been in, then you've never won, so that's a positive. Apart from that, there are a lot of great guys right behind me and you know, I need to play well tomorrow to have a chance to win. It's still that open, so I don't think too much about that. It's about going out and playing like I've been the last three days, I might have a chance. Q. You had 67 today, great round. Could have been better, though, but considering the conditions, you'll probably take it? SØREN KJELDSEN: Yeah, I don't think I've played many golf courses where it couldn't have been a little bit better. That's all part of the deal of playing golf. I made two bogeys all day which I think is a pretty good effort. There are a lot of difficult holes out there, and unfortunately they came on 17 and 18. But I'd prefer to think about the six birdies I made, as well. Q. You have a reputation for playing well in tough conditions, and tomorrow is supposed to blow 40 with rain. Is that an advantage for you or disadvantage? SØREN KJELDSEN: I don't know. I wouldn't say it's an advantage for me. It's obviously going to be brutal. But I don't know, I like to shape the shots. I like to keep it pretty low and generally my short game is pretty sharp. So we'll see. Same for everybody, but I don't think I have a particularly advantage compared to the others. Q. Six years since your last win. What's this grind been like and did you feel like you would get back to this point at some point? SØREN KJELDSEN: I would say so. I mean, I think we all have our dark moments where it seems an awful long way away, but I've kept working hard at it and try and keep a good attitude. I suppose when I get up every morning and work hard, I eventually see something out there and hopefully it's atrophy. Q. Is it a thrill when you are having birdie upon birdie like that? SØREN KJELDSEN: It is, on a tough day like today, it really was surprisingly easygoing. Therefore, you know, the course sort of got back on 17 and 18 today, but eventually the course is going to get you a little bit. But it was an excellent day. Q. Does that mean that you can still smile when the course does bite back? SØREN KJELDSEN: Yeah, like I said, I didn't hit a great tee shot on 17. The rest of the hole I played beautifully. 18 I felt I played beautifully. Hit two good putts on 17 and 18 that didn't drop. So that's part of the deal. You do your bit and some of them go in and some is of them don't. Q. Is it fair to say that this has been coming, because recent weeks have been good. SØREN KJELDSEN: Last two weeks have been good. The graph is definitely going up and I felt good coming in here. So I suppose every time you play excellent, you're a little bit surprised. I had a pretty good feeling coming in. Q. And yet, it's been a long time since you've won, isn't it, it's hard to believe it's six years. SØREN KJELDSEN: That's right, yeah. I tell you what, competition is pretty hard. It's not easy to win. It's not like I've played poorly for six years. But we'll see. It's nice to have a chance. Q. What are your thoughts into the final round with the lead in a championship of this quality? SØREN KJELDSEN: My thoughts are that I need to be properly dressed and I need my rain gear in the bag by the sound of it. Apart from that, I mean, I can only control what I do and I'm going to head to the range and hit a few shots and do my thing and I'll come out hopefully doing the same thing tomorrow. Q. You've had great years on The European Tour and we interviewed you when you won the Volvo Masters. There have been barren years compared to those great years. SØREN KJELDSEN: I would say if you ask most golfers, the advantage and the disadvantage of being a golfer is our careers are very long. So I don't know many guys over a 20‑year period that haven't had downs. And I've had a few years where‑‑ I've never lost my card, so my downs haven't been that down really. But I've had times where I didn't play as well, but I think that's the nature of the game. Q. What's gone well this week? You've shot under par in all three rounds, in these conditions, that's exceptional. SØREN KJELDSEN: I've controlled the ball really well. I think my short game is getting a little bit stronger again. My wedge game, I've been making a few more putts than I have recently, so a combination of those things. Having a good attitude and feeling in a nice place, this is my third week with Alastair on the bag and we've had an excellent time the last three weeks. Q. You won at Valderrama in 2008, and that's a tough course and a great course. This is a tough course and great course. Conditions almost it be rough. Will that play in your strategic approach to the game? SØREN KJELDSEN: I don't know, it's easy to look into that and say yes but I mean, I find it difficult in difficult conditions like everybody else. But we'll see. I mean, I think I base my game on cleaning up nicely around the greens and if the conditions are very difficult, you need to do that. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|