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THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT PRESENTED BY NATIONWIDE

June 4, 2016

Soren Kjeldsen

Dublin, Ohio

Q. (No microphone)?
SOREN KJELDSEN: Well, it did a lot. I don't know how much you know, but I sort of played well for a long time, gradual improvement, and then sort of from end of '09, I really started struggling. So I had a few years where I especially struggled with my driving, like big time.

Therefore, for me, Augusta was -- well, to be fair, when I won in Ireland last year, that was sort of, you know, I solved that problem. From then on, it's just gotten better and better. So therefore, to play well at Augusta and sort of feel deep into the last round that I was still in with a chance was -- I was really pleased about that. I was pleased because I felt comfortable and I felt like this isn't crazy. This is just the way that I'm improving and I'm getting close to taking on the best.

Q. (Inaudible) to play in this tournament. Was it a big decision to come here and play?
SOREN KJELDSEN: Yeah, a couple of things. First of all, I always wanted to play in this tournament. Jack Nicklaus has been a hero of mine since I was a little kid. So to have the opportunity to come and play, it was something I always wanted to do.

Then secondly, the Swedish tournament moved from the course where I finished second last year, and the course they're playing on this year is like bombers paradise. So they've got -- it's a good golf course, but it's like fairways are 50 yards wide. It doesn't really play into the hands of me.

Q. (No microphone)?
SOREN KJELDSEN: No.

Q. Your driving that you've talked about, what does it do on a day like this hitting (inaudible)?
SOREN KJELDSEN: It's good. I drove it pretty nicely. I put it in the fairway. I can still let it go a little bit more. I certainly hit it quite a bit farther when I'm on the range, but it's a gradual process. I've come a long way, and I put it in play a lot.

And from there, when I hit my irons like I do today, I can shoot any score -- but it's nice. These three days, I've been driving it really, really solid.

Q. When you were warming up on the range, could you feel a day like this coming on?
SOREN KJELDSEN: Well, I've been struggling a little bit with my iron play, and then I hit a terrible shot on 9 yesterday. Obviously, a little upset about that. But then thinking about it last night, it was actually the best thing that could have happened because I felt exactly what happened, and that led me to what I needed to change.

So there was a little thing in my setup that I needed to change. So I worked on that this morning a little bit when I warmed up, and I was hitting it miles better than I have for a while. So I certainly felt really comfortable standing on the 1st tee.

Q. (Inaudible) how long does it take to get comfortable? Is it a blessing that you can just go out and --
SOREN KJELDSEN: I think generally, if I go to a new course, I'll play it once, and I'll walk it once. And I think one thing is playing it, but when you don't have your clubs in the hand, you look at it differently.

I feel like, to do it that way, I feel like I can go to any course and feel pretty ready when I start out.

Q. You did that this week too?
SOREN KJELDSEN: Yeah, I do that every week. Even if I know the course, I'll still walk it.

Q. Is there anything about this course that maybe led you to think you could shoot some pretty low scores?
SOREN KJELDSEN: I just felt very, very comfortable on it. I think it's very much a second shot golf course. I think you've got to control those irons, and if you hit it in the right spots in a couple of places, the ball will feed down to the hole. The way that the course is playing pretty soft, fairways are pretty wide at the moment, but you really need to control those iron shots.

I think that's something I take pride in when I play well. I can control that pretty well.

Q. You didn't necessarily have the best control on 17. Did you challenge yourself to end your day on 18 (inaudible)?
SOREN KJELDSEN: Well, sort of 17, I had to hold up a 6 iron quite a lot and pushed pretty strong off the right. I didn't feel I hit that bad of a shot. It was probably maybe three yards out from pitching on that slope and then running all the way down to the hole. So I felt pretty comfortable with the strike and felt I hit a decent shot.

It was obviously really nice to hit a 4 iron into 18 and flush that one pretty close.

Q. Would you like to play more events on the U.S. tour?
SOREN KJELDSEN: Jonas asked me about it today, and I think my dream scenario is probably -- it's probably playing one year full-time over here. I'm no spring chicken anymore. I've got children at home in school. If it was ten years ago, no question, I would have moved here and played here, but I probably wasn't quite ready to play here.

So this stage in life, as long as I can keep in the top 50, I'll certainly come over and play quite a bit. And hopefully maybe play one full year.

Q. Did you expect to be playing so long at this stage in your career?
SOREN KJELDSEN: Well, I always said, if I don't play my best between 40 and 50, I don't use my experience for anything. I've said that all along, and I still believe in that.

Q. What does the one year -- I know you don't want to do multiple years, but why one?
SOREN KJELDSEN: Because I think, if I got to play this Tour, I need to live here. And I'm not really ready to do that.

On the other hand, I think it's something that I need to have on my CV when I'm finished, having played full-time here. So I'd like to give it one year. And for the experience. Because I mean, tournaments like this, tournaments like THE PLAYERS, and I played Bay Hill this year, tournaments like, this it's a great thrill for me.

This is my 19th year on the European Tour, so to spice it up a bit late on in your career, it's great.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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