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January 29, 2016

Branden Grace

Doha, Qatar

Q. What was the key to that rounds?
BRANDEN GRACE: Patience. It was a brutal day out there. The wind was blowing and the greens were tricky. In conditions like that, it's tough to give yourself those chances. I think patience was the name of the game. I pretty much got the most out of my round today. I didn't really think I left any out there, so 4-under was a great score.

Q. You said when you won here last year, that it was a very special win. What would it mean to successfully defend the title?
BRANDEN GRACE: Oh, yeah, that would be great. Obviously I've not done it, not a lot of people that have done it, as well. It would be great. I'm just glad with the type of golf that I'm playing and I'm giving myself a shot at retaining the trophy. It's good, I'm playing some good golf and I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

Q. A bit of a Top-10 machine you are, and of course you have the opportunity to achieve that career ambition of making it into the Top-10 in the world. The weather might change a little bit, might get fairer for us tomorrow. What's the strategy? Will that change?
BRANDEN GRACE: Not really. I think if there's a little bit of breeze, depending on how they put the pin positions -- from the dust we saw today, it's going to look pretty similar to last year. A couple of tricky ones. Patience is the name of the game tomorrow, trying to hit your spots and take the opportunities when they come your way and make the most out of it. I think the putting is going to be the key tomorrow. The guy who is going to make the most putts is going to come out on top.

Q. Do you think the idea of being able to have a chance to win a European Tour event, they wouldn't sleep a wink at night. Do you still get nervous? Do you sleep well when you have a chance to win a tournament?
BRANDEN GRACE: You know, obviously. I try not to think about it too much the night before. I'll probably be on the couch and watch a couple of highlights from last year to get into the mode and things like that.

Sure, when you get on the first tee, you always get a bit of nerves going. For me, it's normally my first putt. If the putt goes, then I'm fine. But if you're nervous, then you're doing something right.

Q. Thoughts on a lovely finish that puts you in a good position.
BRANDEN GRACE: Yeah, it was good. Just a patient day of golf out there. Obviously it's brutal conditions with the wind getting up and howling a bit. But just stayed patient and managed to make three good birdies coming in to give myself a chance. Wind like this, you can't really attack and you can't really be too aggressive. Just take the chances when they come your way and I think I did that well today.

Q. You played well but you've been slightly under the radar and now you've moved through.
BRANDEN GRACE: Definitely. Obviously we all know the type of conditions the golf course is in. I think it's in great nick. The greens have been a lot slower than what we are used to out on tour. You can't push things out here. You start pushing, the quicker you're going to make mistakes out there. But that's been the thing, I know a lot of things haven't gone my way on the greens and things like that, but patience today paid off. Hopefully I can come out with the same frame of mind tomorrow and hopefully do the same.

Q. Are you proud of your resilience; playing alongside Tommy Fleetwood, he said it was a case of making sure of pars and you weren't sure of what others were doing and how to advance?
BRANDEN GRACE: Yes, exactly. Like I said, patience is the name of the game. You can't force things out there, especially in this wind. If you start forcing, try to go after some shots, that's when you make the mistakes. Definitely it's just trying to make pars, and like I said, taking the opportunities when they come your way. I stayed very patient and three good birdies to give myself a chance. So that was well deserved.

Q. Same again, same approach tomorrow?
BRANDEN GRACE: Yeah, definitely. Obviously I think the forecast is looking a little bit better but the greens are still tough. There's a lot of hazards out there. So just have to stick to your game plan, try to hit your targets and hope for the best.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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