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THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPJuly 16, 2015Luke DonaldST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND LUKE DONALD: Well, you obviously practise those during the practice rounds. It was touch and go whether I thought I could get it out. I felt like it was just a good enough lie to be able to get over that lip. Even just going out sideways isn't that much easier. You have a little bit more room. But I felt like I had just good enough lie to take it on, and it came off perfectly. It was nice to save one there. That was almost worth two shots. Q. Good, solid start? LUKE DONALD: Good, solid start, yeah. Took advantage of nice conditions early on. Front nine was playing as easy as you'll see it, a lot of wedges, greens are holding and soft. Yeah, 4-under through 8 and just playing nicely, and had a few chances coming in but also had a couple good saves. Made a good save on 13, 14 and 17. Bogey-free is always a nice way to start. Q. Is it nice after all the hard work you've done? LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I had a chat with John about that, my caddie, and I felt like the lie was just good enough to have a go. Obviously as I said, I practised similar shots in practice, and I've been able to get it out. But you've still got to have a good commitment to get that and throw the club enough to produce enough loft on it. Luckily it just about came out. But as you said, that one could have easily hit the bank and come back and could have ended up looking at 6 or 7. Q. Was this as easy as you've ever seen the front nine play here? LUKE DONALD: Yeah, just looking at the scores, yeah, it was very gettable. Just a lot of short irons into these holes, 1, 2, 3. 5 was reachable, 6, 7. You know, you're just not hitting a lot of long clubs, and when guys have short irons in their hands with soft greens, you're going to make some birdies. It doesn't matter how tucked the pins are. You can still get to them because you're able to create the spin and control with such short shots. Q. And then you turn and the test becomes -- LUKE DONALD: Yeah, it becomes difficult, and that's a little bit what St. Andrews is. You usually get one nine that's very scorable and one nine that's a little bit harder. I think the back nine in general is a little bit tougher, plays a lit bit longer, but with that left-to-right wind slightly hurting it made it a little bit tricky. You've got to stand up there and hit some very good shots on the back nine. It's a lot tougher test today, certainly. Q. (Inaudible.) LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I hit a poor tee shot. I hit it way left. That just makes the angle into the second shot very difficult. 17 is just one of those that's a very, very difficult hole, and especially with the new tee they put in a few years ago, slightly in off the left it's a daunting tee shot. You just don't want to come out of that one and hit it right. Q. (Inaudible.) LUKE DONALD: Short right, yeah. If you drive it left -- I was actually trying to go left of the bunker and just pushed it a hair. If you're on that left side, certainly hitting left and having that chip up the green is an option because that bunker, that pin is very tucked around that bunker today. It's as tough a pin as you'll see this week. Q. (Inaudible.) LUKE DONALD: Well, I felt good about my preparation. I felt good about the way I've been playing. There was no reason not to go out there and shoot a good round. I wasn't really trying to think about my expectations, but I was in a good position with my form and my practice, and it's nice to continue that. Q. How different a challenge do you anticipate tomorrow being? LUKE DONALD: Yeah, from the forecast, it looks like some rain coming soon or this evening, and then into tomorrow morning. And obviously some wind picking up. Wind is a pretty good equaliser. It makes golf difficult. If it's blowing 20, 25 or I've heard stories of gusts of 40, that's going to be very, very difficult and a very different golf course. We'll just see what it's like tomorrow. I'm not going to really think about it until then. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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