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THE 148TH OPEN

July 15, 2019

Francesco Molinari

Portrush, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

MIKE WOODCOCK: Thank you for joining us for the opening press conference of the week for the 148th Open here at Royal Portrush. We're joined first by our champion golfer of the year Francesco Molinari.

Francesco, obviously a fantastic week last year at Carnoustie, a great achievement. I heard you telling our chief executive how much you liked holding the Claret Jug. How much would it mean if you could be holding it again on Sunday?

FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Well, it would be incredible, obviously. I'm well aware of the challenges ahead. There's a lot of guys capable this week of winning the trophy. And, yeah, all I can do is do my best, try to put up a good defense and be in contention on Sunday.

But, yeah, it's a long week ahead so I'll try to take it step-by-step. Obviously going out first and getting to know the course better and see what we're going to face.

MIKE WOODCOCK: You played here at the Irish Open in 2012. So you know the golf course.

FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yes, I remember most of the holes. I know 17 and 18 are not there anymore. But yeah, I just remember a strong golf course, mostly positional, I would say. Like many links, it's not really a course that you can overpower.

But, yeah, I need to go out and see exactly the conditions to give a better statement. But my caddie has been here since Friday so he gave me little tips already. I'm looking forward to going out there and seeing for myself.

Q. About the Claret Jug, have you dropped it at all or lost it anywhere or lent it to anyone, anything out of the ordinary?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: No, I wouldn't say so. I was very, very careful with it, especially the first few weeks. So much so that I forgot my TrackMan on the plane not to forget the Claret Jug. That obviously had the priority.

We've had a couple of drinks out of it. Nothing out of the ordinary. I've got small kids at home so I had to keep it out of reach most of the time to avoid disaster.

Q. You talked about your hopes to take it back to your first coach, Sergio Bertaina. Did you manage to do that?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: No, unfortunately I didn't get a chance to do that. I didn't, like always, I didn't spend much time in Italy since winning last year.

So, yeah, like my brother and my family came up to London to obviously spend some time together, and they saw it there. But I wasn't able to take it to Turin. Obviously I think they probably look forward to seeing me more than the cup. So hopefully I'll go soon and just share memories with them about last year.

Q. I just wondered how the level of expectations sort of affected you once you'd won, and were you prepared for that?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: No, no, I wasn't prepared for that. It was quite a big challenge, especially at the beginning, to get used to it.

But, yeah, I guess it's something you learn to deal with, especially obviously the win last year came after a certain period of time where I played some really good golf. So expectations kept rising almost every week I was playing.

But I think now I've learned to do a decent job of managing that. Obviously this week is going to be extra special, and any week that you defend is special. And especially at the Major Championship. So it's going to be another new experience for me.

My approach is going to be to try and enjoy as much as possible. And I think like I did at the Ryder Cup last year, try to almost soak in the energy from the crowd, and help me perform as much as I can, as good as I can.

Q. Do you use a psychologist at all or have you used a psychologist to deal with the pressure?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: No, no, not really, no. I've got obviously people in my team that I chat to and we speak about many of these things. But no, I never worked with a psychologist, no.

Q. I remember a year ago when you got to Carnoustie you said you didn't have a huge amount of optimism. What do you think about the course here and how do you think it will suit your game?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, like I said, from what I remember, I need to have a better look these days. But from what I remember from 2012, it's a course that can suit my game. Like I said, it's more positional, you need to put the ball in a certain spot. I think a lot of the guys are going to hit shots into the greens from a similar position.

It's going to depend on the wind and the weather conditions. But I think it can suit my game. And then it's obviously up to me to play good golf. I think at our level you can play good golf on any golf course. It's much more dependent on how you play than what kind of course you're playing.

Q. There's an Italian ice cream parlor with a beautiful rendering of you on the wall. You've been in, have you?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: No. I've seen it on Twitter, online, yeah.

Q. I know Adam Scott has been in there. Do you have any plans to visit?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: No, I don't have any plans now. Obviously it's a busy week. But my family is coming out later on in the week, so it might be a good treat with the kids. They'll be happy getting ice cream. They probably won't even notice what's on the wall.

Q. All the player's dream to win the majors to boost their career in so many ways. Can you talk about the impact of the winning The Open on you?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, it changes your life, really, especially for a guy like me that, you know, likes to go a little bit under the radar and doesn't really need the attention.

Yeah, it changes a lot in terms of everyday life, getting recognized by more people, commitments. Every tournament you play there's more things to do. And obviously time with the media, but also with sponsors and various different things to do. That's been the other, I guess, adaptation that I needed to get used to.

One is just the time you need to spend on things that maybe before you weren't thinking about too much. So it's even more impressive to think of the guys who have won a lot more major championships and they face a different challenge to some other guys.

The time you have to prepare for tournaments is not the same and you just need to learn to make the most of it and do things many times in a shorter time than before.

Q. You said you've never had a psychologist. What do you have on the team, a nutritionist? Just tell me what you have.
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: So, yeah, I have a -- we don't have really labels, but I have a swing coach, Dennis; performance coach that is Dave Allred; putting coach, Phil Kenyon; chipping coach is James Ridyard.

On the physical side there's Rob Goldoctor (ph.) oversees all my training and I guess nutrition, as well, and all of the physical side. And there's Gorka with IMG helping with other stuff. There's Pello Iguaran, my caddie. I'm hoping not to forget anyone. But that should be it, yeah.

Q. So a lot of the players, top players, like yourself, they do have a psychologist, don't they?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I don't know, to be honest. I don't know the other teams so well. I can speak for myself.

Like I said, I don't have a proper psychologist. A lot of the work I do with Dave Allred is not strictly like a psychologist work, but it's mental in a way. And it's helped me a lot from the mental side just developing mental skills that I didn't have before.

Q. Can you give an example of those mental skills?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, resilience, mental resilience, definitely has improved a lot. I probably had some before, but it's a lot stronger now.

Then just mentally the way I approach things is very different. I think before I was like stuck in a box that partly was built around me by other people and in part by myself. And just helped me to understand I created that box and there was no reason that I wouldn't be able to get out of that box. That's made a big difference.

Q. (Inaudible.)
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I didn't hear very well. But the crowds? I said it before, I think in 2012, I played with Darren Clarke the first two rounds, that was the champion golfer of the year at the time. And I remember the first hole, if you had seen the first hole, there were lines of people, both sides of the fairway all the way up to the green, and just the roar he got when he showed up on the first tee is definitely one of the loudest I've ever heard on the golf course. And then obviously it wasn't only the first hole, it went on pretty much for both days, in the rain, as well.

But it was just an incredible atmosphere. They were welcoming Darren back with the Claret Jug. So I think that's a taste of what we're going to get this week. And obviously me, but I think everyone else in the field is looking forward to that.

Q. The experience of Sunday at the Masters, do you think some of that will help you this week?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I don't know, it depends in what position I get into Sunday.

Yeah, all kind of experiences help you going forward. I'm sure if I'm going to be lucky enough to be in contention on Sunday, obviously the experience from Carnoustie last year will help me, the experience from the Masters will help me. But many, many others that I've had through my career.

When you lose, in a way you want to forget about it as quickly as possible. But obviously then you analyze it and see what's going wrong, if something has gone wrong. And you try to do better next time.

So I can't wait to get another chance and see if I can do better.

Q. (Inaudible question about the Ryder Cup.)
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: We definitely haven't watched it together. I mean, I think we have such a good friendship that we don't really need to talk about it. Obviously it's a great experience that we share together. And when we see each other now we smile even more than before. But, yeah, that's about it.

Q. Are you surprised Tommy hasn't really pushed on to win majors this year?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: No, I think it's not as straightforward as some people think it can be. There's a lot of great players out here and he's definitely one of them, but he's still very young.

I think he's doing all the right things. He's trusting the people around him and pushing hard to get better, and then you need just a bit of luck at the right time. But I'm sure his time will come very soon.

Q. How is your form coming into this week and how much do you enjoy the test that links golf provides?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, I haven't played tournament golf for three weeks now, but I've been obviously prepping at home, and I'm happy with how the preparation has gone. But then obviously the ultimate test is going out there and see how you perform.

I think myself and the people around me are happy with where we are right now. Obviously there's three more days. So the goal is kind of peaking for those four tournament days.

And links golf, I like it now. It's not something that I liked from the start just because it was very different the first few times I came out here to play links golf compared to what I was used to playing in Italy. It took a pretty long time to get used to it.

But now I enjoy it very much. And it's obviously a style of play that we don't get to play very often. So that makes it even more special.

Q. You said you aren't going to get to the ice cream shop to see the mural. Are you going to do any sightseeing while you're here?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I don't know. It will depend on how the week goes. And unfortunately, they're all very busy weeks. And not often you have the time to do a lot, extra golf activities. So we see.

Like I said, my family and the kids are coming later in the week and that's usually -- they like to do things outside of golf. And hopefully we get a chance to have a look around, yeah.

Q. Wondered about your tattoo.
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: It's not a Claret Jug.

Q. Now that you're sort of taking on Tiger on a regular basis, have you thought about getting it removed?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: No, he's obviously a rival, I guess. But I grew up admiring him and the way he played, like anyone in my generation. And it's not really because of him that I got it.

And I think taking it away would be more painful than having it done, so I'm not going to do that.

MIKE WOODCOCK: Thank you for joining us. And the best of luck in your defense of the Jug this week.

FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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