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COMMERCIAL BANK QATAR MASTERSJanuary 25, 2016Hassan Al-NaimiBranden GraceColin MacDonaldDavid ProbynDoha, Qatar MIKE SHOUEIRY: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 2016 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters pre-tournament press conference. A quick overview of the running order this morning. Shortly we will have opening statements from two of our panelists, Mr. Hassan Al-Naimi and Mr. Colin McDonald. This will be followed by questions from the floor. Following the question-and-answer session, there will be a short photo call here at the top table. Lunch will then be served in the Commercial Bank Chalet at midday, and you are then invited to cover the Junior Challenge Match tee-off from the first tee at 2.00pm with Branden Grace, Sergio Garcia and Ernie Els as team captains. Now I'm pleased to introduce our VIP panelists, from your left, Mr. Fahad Al-Naimi, General Secretary of the Qatar Golf Association and also General Coordinator of the Qatar Masters; Mr. Hassan Al-Naimi, President of the Qatar Golf Association; Mr. Colin McDonald, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Commercial Bank; Mr. Branden Grace, Commercial Bank Qatar Masters reigning champion; and Mr. David Probyn, Senior Tournament Director European Tour; and Mr. Mohammed Faisal Al-Naimi, Head of Media, Commercial Bank Qatar Masters. And now I would like to hand it over to Mr. Hassan, President of the Qatar Golf Association, to say a few words; Mr. Hassan. HASSAN AL-NAIMI: I would like to welcome you, and thank you for being here with us, and I would like to thank all of the sponsors who support this event, especially Commercial Bank Qatar. I would like to thank their chairman, Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali bin Jabor Al Thani, and his vice chairman, and Mr. Hussain Ibrahim Al Fardan, and the CEO, Mr. Abdulla Saleh Al Raisi. And I would like to thank the media, spectators, and everyone who supported this event and welcome Branden, defending the title for Qatar Masters, and of course like to thank The European Tour who have been with us for the last 18 years. Thank you all. MIKE SHOUEIRY: Thank you, Hassan. And now, Mr. Colin McDonald, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Commercial Bank if you would like to say a few words. COLIN MACDONALD: Welcome to another year of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters as Commercial Bank. We are very proud supporters of this golf tournament. It's actually our 11th year as title sponsor. Commercial Bank Qatar Masters we see as more a golf tournament, particularly for all of us involved and particularly the thousands of sponsors we welcome to the golf club every year. The spectators will of course enjoy the thrilling golf action on the golf course, but they will also be able to enjoy the wide-ranking activities of the golf course with one of the largest entertainment villages in the country. I'm proud to say that Commercial Bank Qatar Masters is now the largest social and sporting event in the country. And with that in mind, I would like to extend a warm welcome to Branden Grace, our defending champion; and also welcoming back of former champion Sergio Garcia who is now in his 10th year here and Branden informed us today it's his fifth year, so welcome back. It's been a spectacular journey for us, being title sponsors for 11 years and working closely with our partners. I would like to particularly Qatar Golf Association, Qatar Olympic Committee, Doha Golf Club, and of course The European Tour, as title sponsor. We are proud to see the growth that we have experienced over the years and want to thank our fellow partners for supporting us in that growth in particular. Together with our partners, we shared a vision of delivering to the people of Qatar a spectacular tournament, and 2016 I'm sure will be no exception. So welcome to you all and we look forward to welcoming everybody when the tournament starts later in the week. Many thanks. MIKE SHOUEIRY: Before we open up for questions, I'll get things started with a few questions to the panel. Question for Mr. Branden Grace: Branden, how does it feel to return to Qatar as reigning champ, and how did your win last year kick start your 2015 season? BRANDEN GRACE: Yeah, obviously it's great to be back. This is a pretty unique place and a unique golf course. I think it's one of those type golf courses that doesn't suit everybody, but if you can get your way around it, you can really start to love it and really start to play some great golf here. You know, this last year was probably a big step for me in the right direction. Getting the victory here didn't just lift me up in the World Rankings; it got me into a lot of positions, a lot of different tournaments and things like that, and excelled my golfing career ever since that. This really put me back on the map again, and it's one of those weeks that I'll never forget; knowing coming down the stretch that you really have to pull things off to win a tournament, that's what I did last year. Hopefully I can re-live a couple of those moments this time around and you never know what, come Saturday we might be at the top again. Q. We have some terrific amateurs playing in the tournament this week. Can you tell us how important the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters is for the development of the game here in Qatar, and how you expect our local players to get on this week. HASSAN AL-NAIMI: As you know, everybody who has been with us the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters the last ten years, the Qatar Masters the last 18 years, and especially the Commercial Bank the last 11 years, you see development of amateur players participating in this event, which is promoting golf in Qatar, and also having the Amateur Champion from the different countries, especially from the States, it tells how important the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters has been promoted worldwide. MIKE SHOUEIRY: The Commercial Bank Qatar Masters continues to attract a fantastic field, and this year we are delighted to welcome back some many old friends and former champions. What is it about this tournament that makes it a firm favourite with The European Tour players? DAVID PROBYN: I think I put it down to probably four things. I think first and foremost is the welcome and hospitality that the players receive here in Qatar. I've been coming here, this is my 19th year, and it's something very special, and especially something we see from our partners from the Qatar Golf Association and Hassan and all his colleagues over that 19 years, have made us incredibly welcome and worked with us as superb partners. That's very special. I think that the course, as Branden says, the course is in fantastic condition, probably the best I've seen it this year. It is a unique test. It's a tough test, especially when the wind blows. And you know, they have built a lot of friendships here, the players coming to Doha Golf Club for such a long period of time. It's a great team here and they look after them and really make it a special week for them. Commercial Bank obviously the last ten years have really stepped up the presentation of the golf tournament, the facilities that are offered to the players. Really making it a world-class stage for the guys to come and show us their talent and for them to live a life here that is very special for that week. And finally, I think our players, a lot of the young guys out there, social media is something very much part of their lives, and they very much get involved in that, get engaged in it, and they are going to enjoy and already contribute to the new hashtag #MyCBQatarMasters campaign this week, which will help them work with the fans, engage the fans and make that a more enjoyable experience for them and for the guys that come to the golf tournament. Q. David, how important is it for the Tour to have reliable long-term sponsors, such as Commercial Bank, now entering their second decade as a title sponsor? DAVID PROBYN: Quite frankly it's everything. This is a very special swing for us in the Middle East. We have three very strong events and the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters is a very strong part of that piece. For us to deliver consistency to our players, for us to deliver a quality to our players that they expect for us to be able to plan for the future for our schedules together to make it something that works for all of us, corporate partners and event partners week-to-week; the loyalty that Commercial Bank have shown to the event is everything. Without our partners, we can't be here. We can't provide what we need to for the players, and so as I say, it's quite frankly, everything. Q. You had a couple of good results last year in the majors. Do you think you could be in a position to replicate those results? And secondly, what are your targets from this week? What kind of form are you bringing to this event? BRANDEN GRACE: Obviously like I said, 2015 was probably my best year of the type of standard of golf that I played throughout my whole career. You know, I think it's going to be hard to follow up those finishes in the majors, but now that I've got the taste of it, I know what it feels like. I know what to expect when you get into that position, and then I can prepare all the better for it than what I did last year. But you know, the form, the form feels good. I've had I think five Top-10s coming into this week. I feel that I'm in a good frame of mind. I feel that I'm pushing -- maybe sometimes pushing a little too hard to get that win under the belt. But coming back to a place like this where I've lifted the trophy before, and you know, when you stand on a lot of these tees and a lot of these greens, just get those positive vibes and those good, fond memories to come back into you, and hopefully that can be the difference from finishing top five and maybe getting the win. That's definitely what I'm going to do; I'm going to try to defend the title as good as I can, and you know, I know with the type of golf that I can play, I'm able to do that. So if I just stick to the guns and try to not make little stupid mistakes around the corners, that's the thing that's been costing me the last couple. But every week seems to get better, so I'm definitely up for the challenge this week. Q. Do you feel any pressure going in as the defending champion? BRANDEN GRACE: A little bit. I think there's always a little bit of pressure coming back to a tournament you've done well on. But I think I've learned a lot over the last year. I think I'm definitely a better player now than I was maybe coming into this event last year. But you learn as weeks go by and tournaments go by, and I think I might just have learned enough to come back and do a proper defence here. Q. Having said that, you are in a positive and big high since last year. In your thinking, what would it take to win it back-to-back, considering that only two players have won it twice here and that it took them a few years to come back and win? I hope you do. BRANDEN GRACE: I also hope so. It depends, really. A lot of times weather plays a big part, things like that, luck of the draw, things like that. I know the weather is not looking too good for the remainder of the week. You just have to stick to your guns and try to stay patient, as soon as you start pushing, especially on a golf course like this where there's a lot of dangerous spots out there that can really cost you. You need to stick to your guns and stick to your game plan and obviously to be able to defend a title, there's a lot of times, there's a lot of luck involved. So just need to get one of those to bounce a little bit, get luck going your way and at the end of the week it could be worth it and you made the most out of it. Q. Could you just talk a little bit about the importance of starting the season well? You performed admirably in Abu Dhabi and defending champion here, but in light of the Olympics, there's such a depth of strong South African players, all wanting to be a part of Rio; you how confident are you of competing in the Olympics and how hard is it going to be to get one of those South African spots? BRANDEN GRACE: We've got a lot of great golfers, Louis and Charl, there's a lot of guys behind us, George, and even Ernie and them. Nobody's out of it. I'm one of the type of guys in golf that I don't like to really get excited way in advance. I know the cutoff is still six months away. A lot can happen in six months. Charl might win the first week back and then he's right in the mix of things. If I get the call, if I get over that hurdle to be able to be picked for South Africa, I think that's probably going to be one of the best moments of my golfing career and just of my life, as well. But until I get over that hurdle, I'm going to just not think about it, just think of the stuff that I need to do now. There's a lot of tournaments from now before the Olympic, some big tournaments, as well, that I need to concentrate on. If I can let the sticks do the talking, it shouldn't be a problem. MIKE SHOUEIRY: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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