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SENTRY TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS

January 2, 2020

Joaquin Niemann

Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii

RACHEL NOBLE: We'd like to welcome Joaquin Niemann into the interview room at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. You're 7-under on the day. Just opening statements on what it was like out there for you.

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: It was a very good day. I played great from the tee to the green. Yeah, I was back home a couple weeks. I was with my coach. So I have a good chance to practice alone with him, and yeah, I feel ready for the start of the year.

Q. If you could just let us know how being at that Presidents Cup and being amongst that level of player has taken your confidence even higher after you won earlier in the year.
JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, the Presidents Cup was one of my best experiences since I turned pro. It was an unbelievable week. I shared a lot of moments with the best players in the world. I got Ernie as a captain. That is just awesome. And yeah, I think that week was really special for me. He told me that it's going to be really helpful for my career, for my future. I'm going to feel some type of different pressure in that week, and I felt that one. So it was a good learning experience, so yeah, I just can't wait to go back in two more years and try to beat them.

Q. Did it take winning for you to really believe that you could compete and beat everybody out here, or did you believe that before you won?
JOAQUIN NIEMANN: When I turned pro, I remember I was a little scared. I didn't know if I was going to be good enough to compete on TOUR. And after the first week I played, that I played really good, I figured out that -- I knew if I played good, I can be on top of the leaderboard. And yeah, I knew it a couple weeks after that I was in the top 10, top 5, but I just need to be patient, and if I had a good week, I can be able to win. And yeah, I mean, after winning, it gives you a lot of confidence in yourself and you know that you're good enough to win tournaments.

Q. By having success early, some of the really good finishes you had and then winning, did it teach you that you don't have to do anything extra special, that what you had was good enough?
JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, I knew that I just had to be patient. I knew that I was doing things right, I just needed to wait for that week that I make every putt and every shot good so I can win, and yeah, it was a great week and unbelievable feeling.

Q. There's some first-timers in this tournament like yourself who are doing really well. Can you explain that a little bit in your own mind?
JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, you can see that lately there's a lot of first-time winners on the PGA TOUR, and I think, yeah, there's so many good players around the world, and there's so many players that deserve to be here. It's so much competitive, but yeah, being here is really special. It's just 34 players. So yeah, you've got to be happy and proud of yourself to be here. There's a bunch of good players, and yeah, I think everybody in the field this week can win here. So yeah, a lot of good players.

Q. What is it about this course in particular that seems to fit your game so well?
JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, the greens are firm, and I think -- and the fairways are pretty soft. So it's a tricky combination. It's hard because you've got to land it right on the front, and if you land it out of the green it's going to be soft. But yeah, I like playing with the wind. I like moving the ball a lot. So yeah, it feels great here. The fairways are big so you can just hit driver everywhere. You've got to be really precise on shots to the green, and yeah, also the greens are pretty tricky, and I think that was the best part of my game today. I putted really well.

Q. You just mentioned the wind. Actually we're going to get stronger winds likely the next three days. Will you have to adjust much or are you actually looking forward to that given that you've given yourself a nice start here?
JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, this first day was really important to get a good score because I know it's going to be windy and it's going to get really hard for the next three days. I played a couple holes on Tuesday, and it was really windy, and I was like, oh, my God, this is going to be really tough. Yeah, just had to stick on your plan, stay patient, you're going to hit a lot of bad shots with that wind because it's going to be tough. But yeah, just keep there, enjoy the run and enjoy the view. It's pretty cool.

Q. And just back to Melbourne, you mentioned that you had a lot of learning experiences, but was there anything specific today that you'll take away from a guy or maybe Ernie that has really helped you going forward?
JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, we got a lot of moments with Ernie. He was just talking and talking, and I was learning so much about him. I think also just being around good players, it gives you a lot of learning, playing against the United States that they've got almost every player inside the top 10. I think playing against them, it just gave me a lot of confidence knowing that I'm able to beat them if I play good. But yeah, you can see how they make putts in the best moments, and that's the difference between the best players in the world. They know how to react in those difficult moments under pressure, and you can see they all make big putts on 18 when they needed to, so yeah.

Q. What was the best shot you hit today do you think and why?
JOAQUIN NIEMANN: I'm thinking. I hit a good putt on No. 3. I think that was one of my best shots.

Q. Where were you on No. 3?
JOAQUIN NIEMANN: No. 3 I make a big putt from the back of the green. I hit it pretty good, and boom, knocked it in the hole.

Q. The other question is were you more nervous on the first tee at the Presidents Cup or the first tee at Augusta?
JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, I was really nervous on the first tee in Melbourne. I was the last guy hitting, and everybody hit bombs in the middle of the fairway, and I was like, oh, and I missed the fairway. You could see I was a little nervous, but yeah, after that it was all right.

Q. You were more nervous there than --
JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah. And I missed it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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