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SAUDI INTERNATIONAL POWERED BY SBIA

January 30, 2020

Gavin Green

King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia

Q. 6-under par. What was the secret to that performance?
GAVIN GREEN: Lots of fairways, lots of greens, and as little putt as possible. I got off to a good start, 5-under through nine. I made some good putts. Good shots, and I played the hard holes well.

Obviously took a couple of advantages and it was good, couple of par 5s. I guess the par 5 in front, it was early in the morning. It was pretty long, the dew, and so we just hit a little driver and little 3-wood up-and-down for birdie and kind of kept the round going. It was good. Solid.

Q. Last year you played well, Top-10. How has the course changed this year?
GAVIN GREEN: There's more run-offs last year. I think they have cut the rough. Some roughs are up, but a lot of the run-offs by the greens are pretty significant because if you miss it a little bit and you get a little bit of side spin or something, it's in the water or the bunker. I think that you have to be very specific.

Like on 18, I was talking to my caddie, it's not a two-shot hole anymore, where last year it was pumping downwind and there's a little bit of rough on the corner in the back where you can kind of stop your ball. I said, you know what, let's go for a three-shot hole. I was thinking about it, and I went through the whole round, this course you have to give a bit more respect. You can't really go for it very much. That's what we did. A couple of putts slipped out, but that's fine. 6-under's good.

Q. Eight birdies in a round of 64. How well did you play for that?
GAVIN GREEN: Played solid. Played solid. Really a few mistakes here and there, which is pretty normal. A couple of pretty big par saves, and a couple of mistakes, a couple of three-putts, which was tough to take in because I was playing well and I was playing solid. Just a couple slipped off. You know, it's the nature of the game. You just have to live with it and move on, and that's what we did. We closed off strong, birdied 16, 17. Had a look at 18. Had a nasty little lipout but it is what it is. I'll take it.

Q. How conducive were scoring conditions?
GAVIN GREEN: Well, off the tee it's a bit longer because it's so heavy, the air. But on the greens, it's pretty easy to stop the ball with wedges and mid-irons, stopping the ball pretty quick.

As we move to the back nine, I would say it warmed up quite a bit and it got a little bit firmer and you have to be a little bit more careful. The back nine just like I said a couple of putts slipped out, a little bit frustrated.

Q. You had a nice run around the turn.
GAVIN GREEN: Yeah, actually I didn't even think about it then. I just looked at my scorecard now, a couple in a row, actually. I was in the 11 rough, just said get it back on the green, and ran it to 40 feet and drained the putt. I wasn't expecting that at all.

You know, 10, hit it right in the bunker, hit a good wedge shot out and holed the putt.

You know you're hitting solid and playing solid, you just have to wait for a run.

Q. How nice to bounce back and make those birdies on 16 and 17 after 14?
GAVIN GREEN: I was not happy, I can tell you that. See the thing is, with those holes, I had -- they were three-putts, which was annoying, but okay, I knew that 17 was gettable and 15 was gettable because if you hit it in the fairway -- 16, is gettable. I was in-between clubs, actually. Hit a soft cut in there and it worked out very well and we birdied 17.

Had another look on 18. It was good to finish strong. A bit more confidence going into tomorrow.

Q. How has the course improved from last year?
GAVIN GREEN: I think there's a lot more run-offs, but the greens are pretty smooth. There's a little bit of grain on them. So far it's been really good.

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