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WGC HSBC CHAMPIONS

October 24, 2018

Francesco Molinari

Shanghai, China

BRIONY CARLYON: Thank you for joining us here this afternoon in the media centre.

It's great to have The Open Champion with us this year. You're no stranger to this event, having won in 2010. Can you just give us your thoughts on being back in Shanghai and back at this course?

FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, always very nice to be back. Obviously I've got some great memories here. It's one event I always look forward to. The course is in great shape, so it's nice to be back, yeah.

It's been quite a journey since 2010, but especially this year, it's been incredible. It's nice to be here. I've got a couple more events to go, this one an Dubai, and it would be nice to finish off the season in style.

BRIONY CARLYON: Speaking about the end of the year, you're currently leading The Race to Dubai. How important is a strong performance this week to really help solidify that position and maintain that position at the top.

FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, it potentially will be massive. I know that there's a lot of guys still in with a chance and there's a lot of money to play for the next few weeks. I know it definitely won't be easy for the Europeans. It's the main goal remaining in the season, and so everyone will do their best to try and catch me.

Yeah, I need to try and do my things well, and this week, like I said, potentially it's very, very important. Day by day, try to play well and see what I can come out with Sunday.

Q. How nice is it to return to a course that you've won on before and actually won very well?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, obviously it's a confidence boost, but then I've had some good showings and some not-so-good showings around here. I know it's a course that I can play well, but you still need to hit the shots.

I like the greens here, which is good for me. I know some courses, I seem to struggle every year on the greens. Here, I've putted well in the past and I seem to read the lines well in the past, so that gives me confidence. It's always a fun event. I'm coming here so many years, I have a few Italian friends that live in Shanghai that I see every year. It's a fun event.

Q. You say you have friends in Shanghai. Do you spend much time in Shanghai, and if so, what do you like most about the city?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, every year we try to go into town for dinner a few times. It's a bit of a journey, but usually fall asleep in the car, anyway. It's easy enough.

It's a great city, very exciting. Lots of restaurants and shops and stuff to do in the city centre, so it's a fun city. It's nice to have someone that can show you around and know where to go. We try to make the most of it every year.

Q. Obviously it's quite late in the season, and you must be quite tired, but the fact that this is such a big event. Does that keep the adrenaline going and keep the fatigue away?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: From tomorrow, yeah, I'm sure there will be adrenaline flowing to be honest. Today and yesterday, not much, but you know, you have to factor in the journey and the jet-lag and all of that.

So it's been a very long season. Obviously very positive for me, but you feel that the energies are not the same as a few months ago.

Yeah, like I said, I've only got this one and Dubai left, so I can focus on these and I'll have time to recover for Dubai after this week. So hopefully I can show up the next four days and have enough energies to play well, and even if not, I need to try and fight and do my best because any point could be important at this point of the season.

Q. Could you please give three words to describe Tommy Fleetwood?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Love.

Q. Love?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah.

Q. Okay.
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Hair. And humour. But love first (laughter).

Q. Li Haotong has become the most accomplished current Chinese player. How well do you know him, and what makes him not only a good golfer now, but what do you see for his future?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, I think he's a very exciting player. He's got quite a lot of flair to his game. He hits the ball a long way.

Just even as a personality, he's funny, laughing all the time. He's a nice guy. I think definitely of the players I've seen so far, he's the best one from China, and I think potentially, he's got a lot of good golf in front of him.

So hopefully, you know, I think it would be good for all of us if he could achieve a lot of good things in the game and bring a bigger audience in China into golf.

Q. Two-part question. First, can you still recall the key moments when you claimed the WGC-HSBC Champions title here back in 2010, and second part is since your game is not actually a favourite in the long game,.
So how would you handle this course when the par 4s and the par 5s are key here on this golf course here, Sheshan?

FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, I can recall some things about the week in 2010. I remember coming off a tournament in Spain where I didn't play great, but when I got here, everything seemed to click. It started the first day. I think I shot 6- or 7-under, and yeah, I just remember the kind of head-to-head with Lee Westwood the last two rounds. We separated ourselves from the rest of the field.

I remember holing a 7-iron on 13 for eagle on the Saturday. I remember the last day, Sunday, making birdie on 16 and going from a one-shot to two-shot advantage, and that was obviously a big turning point.

And the course, yeah, if you hit it long, obviously every course you're going to have an advantage, but I think this is a course where you need to, you know, hit it straight, as well. You can't just hit it all over the course.

It's important to hit fairways, especially this year. I think some of the run-off areas around the greens are faster, are cut shorter. So you need to be more careful with some of the shots to the green.

So yeah, it's going to be a good challenge, but I think my game suits the course quite well.

BRIONY CARLYON: Thank you, Francesco for your time. All the best this week.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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