	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

WGC DELL TECHNOLOGIES MATCH PLAY

March 22, 2017

Soren Kjeldsen

Austin, Texas

Q. You must be very pleased with your first match play win.
SOREN KJELDSEN: Somebody just reminded me that I haven't got the greatest record in this tournament. It was nice. My caddie Alistair said before we started today, Shoot 5-under and see if it's enough. I bettered that by one and it worked out.

Q. You know Rory pretty well. He's a guy that you treat with a lot of respect. You must be delighted to beat the world No. 2.
SOREN KJELDSEN: The challenge for me today was really not to look at too much what he was doing. There was a lot of his shots that I didn't even watch. I knew I had to shoot a good score to have any kind of a chance and I managed to do that.

Q. Difference of 32 yards on the 12th.
SOREN KJELDSEN: Really? Did it hit a sprinkler?

Q. How did you manage to not take that in?
SOREN KJELDSEN: The thing is, I'm used to that. I'm used to the guys that hit it a very, very long way. Hit it 80 yards past me, something like that. But, you know, I wish I could wake up tomorrow and hit it 410 downhill, but it's not going to happen. I have to make the most of what I've got and I did that today.

Q. What did you think when you saw where his drive was? Did you do a double take?
SOREN KJELDSEN: No. We had the strategy down. For that pin I have to be sort of front edge and then you've got a good shot from there. I hit a disappointing putt from there and made 5 in the end. I played it like I would have done in a stroke play event. Obviously he made an easy 4 and I didn't manage to. It doesn't change my strategy.

Q. You guys were talking all the time.
SOREN KJELDSEN: Yeah, yeah. I don't know why it should be any different really. I really like him. I like JP. We chat away and try to beat each other in stroke play event. I don't think this should be any different. It's always a pleasure to play with Rory and JP.

Q. You can learn a lot about your opponent during 18 holes of match play. What did you learn about your opponent today?
SOREN KJELDSEN: I don't think I learned anything new. He's an incredible player. There's nothing he can't do. Like I said, the challenge for me was not really to watch. Probably half the shots that he hit I probably didn't see. So I try to learn as little as possible today.

Q. Is it any more difficult when he does make a charge like that?
SOREN KJELDSEN: I think the good thing about that was that I wasn't surprised it happened. I expected it to happen. Obviously getting 2 up after 10, I knew at some stage he's probably going to come back at me and he did pretty fast. I had to shoot some good numbers and in the end I played really well all day, and obviously exceptionally well towards the end.

Q. Everyone talks about how unpredictable match play is. You said you wanted to shoot 5, you ended up 6. Is that kind of hard to wrap your mind around with this format?
SOREN KJELDSEN: Yeah, it is. I think that's the beauty of match play. At the end of the day, I was thinking about it last night, would you rather lose at 5-under or win at level par. Obviously, you would like to win. At the end of the day when you go away from this tournament you want to feel like you've played well and you've got some momentum in the game. It is unpredictable. But I think the better scores you shoot, the better your chances are. So you got to keep your mind often that.

Q. Was there one shot that was a turning point?
SOREN KJELDSEN: The 6-iron I hit on 14. Rory had just made three birdies in a row. I was sort of between 5 and 6-iron. Alistair was leaning towards holding up at 5 and I felt to aim right and smash a 6-iron was a better option. Made a great birdie there and the momentum sort of changed after that.

Q. 17 kind of a --
SOREN KJELDSEN: It's a funny one, 17. I remember it from last year. I had 127 meters which is normally a 9-iron for me. It was sort of playing off the left. Under normal circumstances it should be between 8 and 9 for me. I remember it playing extremely short last year for some reason. Alistair was thinking 9-iron and I thought this plays so short. So I managed to hit a pitching wedge that pitched 127, which doesn't make a lot of sense. But I remembered it from last year.

Q. From what you saw today, how would you assess Rory's game?
SOREN KJELDSEN: It's great. I never played with Rory where I came off the course saying it looks awful. It always looks very impressive. I didn't see any weaknesses at all.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297