AT&T PEBBLE BEACH PRO-AM

February 11, 2021

Henrik Norlander

Pebble Beach Golf Links

Quick Quotes

Q. Did you catch Pebble Beach a little bit vulnerable today? We all know that when the wind blows and the greens get firm, it can be a very difficult golf course. Seemingly you made it look easy.

HENRIK NORLANDER: Yeah, I got off to a good start, I think. I've always hit 2-iron on 1. But, yes, I feel confidence. I had a little cut 3 wood down there and only had sand wedge in and made birdie on the 1st. And just felt like I've been playing good the last few weeks and just kept on playing confident and going at a lot of flags and making a lot of good putts. But definitely light winds, the greens weren't, they're perfectly firm, I mean, they're not soft, but they're not firm, so like the ball's not spinning or ripping back. So it's playing, it played about as easy as it could, I think, today.

Q. I thought it was a brilliant ball striking day out of you. You hit 12 of 14 fairways, 16 of 18 greens, and almost 90 feet in putts. That will get it done.

HENRIK NORLANDER: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I usually, my strength tee to green, for sure. I'm a good ball-striker and I've been working hard on my putting and just believing a little bit more and that's all it takes for me. I usually hit it pretty well and if I make some putts I usually shoot a low round.

Q. Tell me about the 2 at 17. You don't often get that.

HENRIK NORLANDER: No, it was a perfect number, 174, little bit in. We were thinking it was playing about 81, 82 and that's a stock 7-iron. I hit a perfect 7-iron right behind it and we read it right and made a good putt.

Q. What would you say was the highlight of your round today, any shot that particularly sticks out to you?

HENRIK NORLANDER: I think the 3-wood on 1, actually, because I've always hit, considered 2- or 4-iron to hit it to the fat part of the fairway, and you have 8- or 9-iron in. But we just decided early to get 3-wood down there, and I hit a perfect 3-wood, hit a sand wedge to about 8 feet and made birdie. So sort of got me really loose and, yeah, hit a lot of good shots after that.

Q. A lot of guys have been answering No. 1 on their first shot. Obviously a different year without the amateurs here. From a course setup perspective the Rules Committee has had opportunities to play with tees, pin locations. What have you noticed after one round out there at Pebble Beach?

HENRIK NORLANDER: Yeah, I think last year it was a little firmer, but the flags were probably a bit easier the first round. But I think it's a little bit more gettable because the greens are a bit softer, but we played a few different tees further back today than we have in the past, so I'm sure it's going to be more challenging over the weekend.

Q. What do you need to do to keep that momentum going after a great start to your tournament?

HENRIK NORLANDER: Oh, that's the million dollar question, I guess, but I'm just going to try to do my thing, prepare the same way and just really focus on trying to have fun. That's what I've been doing the last few months, so...