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January 28, 2016

Paul Lawrie

Doha, Qatar

Q. 66, scintillating stuff. What were you most pleased about with your game?
PAUL LAWRIE: It was pretty much the same as yesterday to be honest. Played nicely tee-to-green. Hit a lot of good shots. Only made one mistake, which was 3-putt from 20 feet at 15. Same as yesterday, 3-putted the first, the only mistake I made.

When you play nicely as that and control the flight of the ball like I did yesterday, you know you're going to hole a few putts, you're going to shoot low. So it was a good day.

Q. Slightly unexpected conditions, as well. The forecast was for it to blow from the get-go and it didn't. What's the mind-set then that you carry into; do you change your strategy a bit when you feel like the course is out there to be able to attack?
PAUL LAWRIE: Well, they put the tees forward today, obviously thinking that the wind is going to blow pretty hard, and this morning it was dead calm. So I got a little frustrated after 15, because I thought, you're not taking advantage of the conditions today. Then played some nice golf and made a few birdies.

But you've just got to do your game plan and kick on, and it's going to change every now and again with the weather.

Q. Inevitably with the late tee time you'll have tomorrow, the wind will be stronger tomorrow; it is going to blow hard. What's the strategy when you get conditions like that? What's the mind-set that you have to take towards it?
PAUL LAWRIE: My attitude is normally pretty good when it gets blowy, because if you get a bit grumpy and a bit grizzly as I tend to do, when it's windy, you're going to struggle. So I tend to sort of accept things a bit better when it's windy, and that's what you've got to do. I think a lot of guys kind of struggle to accept the conditions. They are not going to change. You've just got to get on with it. So I've always kind of coped reasonably well with that.

Q. Thrilled with the way that you're playing over these two days so far?
PAUL LAWRIE: Yeah, I played nicely again. Controlled the flight of the ball pretty well, which is what you've got to do when it's windy. Hit a lot of really nice knock-down shots today. Got the ball pin-high a lot and rolled it, again, really well a lot on the greens. Apart from 15, only mistake I made. Same as yesterday with a 3-putt.

Q. These conditions are challenging, as we said yesterday, but they have made sure that those greens aren't as fast as they can be in this part of the world I guess.
PAUL LAWRIE: They have certainly slowed them down, which is a good idea, because if you get greens rolling at 10 or 11 on the Stimp and it's blowing a gale, you can't keep the ball on the green. They are pretty slow to be fair. Last week was very quick greens and this week they are pretty slow. That's all part of what we have to do adapt to kind of what's in front of you.

Q. We've certainly spoken about your putting over recent years so much. I take it that this is a further indication that things are going very much in the right direction.
PAUL LAWRIE: Yeah, Marc Warren had a wee look at me when I missed the cut in Abu Dhabi, and he said the same as everyone else: My putting stroke is too long, needs to be a little shorter and a little quicker. So I've kind of been working on it the last couple days and certainly feels as though I've got it.

Q. Take a while for it to become ingrained?
PAUL LAWRIE: No, I hit a lot of putts when I missed the cut last week. All day Sunday I did a lot of work, and then came here, and I've hit, I don't know, thousands of putts since I got here. So it's only taken a couple days and it feels comfortable.

Q. We touched on memories yesterday because of your exemplary record here, but do you actually draw on those memory when is you're in competition?
PAUL LAWRIE: Not really. I think your kind of subconscious probably does. It's just nice to go back to places that you know you can play well on and you have done in the past. You don't get to places and think, oh, fantastic, I've played well here before.

It all helps. It obviously does; you see your name on the board a couple of times. You know, you walk past it every day at the range. It's got to help that you know you've won this tournament twice before. But a long way to go; you know the old adage. A lot of golf to be played, a lot of top players still up there. But so far, so good.

Q. When you see your name on top the current leaderboard, presumably that brings an extra spring to the step, as well, doesn't it?
PAUL LAWRIE: It's nice, obviously, you know you've played well. The conditions have been challenging. 11-under around here for two rounds in quite a bit of a breeze yesterday, not so bad this morning, you know you've got a bit out of your game this week, so it's nice.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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