THE 149TH OPEN

July 15, 2021

Francesco Molinari

Mixed Zone

Q. Great round today, nice 2-under 68. You had 83 per cent of greens in regulation, so that translates to 15 out of 18. What do you put down to that accuracy, and are you hopeful that that would help you get through the weekend and challenge for another Open?

FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, obviously that's the hope. It was quite windy today, so it was definitely a challenging day, despite the course being still quite soft, I would say, for links standards.

Yeah, I played well. My attitude was spot on. I obviously need more of that in the next few days. It's going to be challenging for everyone if the wind stays up as it was today.

But yeah, happy in general with the start.

Q. There appears to be a definite division between the morning starters and the evening starters or the afternoon starters in terms of the condition of the course, the wind and the softness of the greens. It was definitely a little bit more receptive in the morning time. Are you hoping that Mother Nature will do you a bit of a favour in the morning for tomorrow and balance that out?

FRANCESCO MOLINARI: No, I obviously can't control that, so it's -- a golf tournament, it's four days long. It's a lot of time. There's no need to worry or think about conditions, whether it was easier, harder today. It won't be easy for anyone for four days, so it's just keeping my head down and keeping the same good attitude that I had today, hitting good shots and moving on as quickly as possible if I hit some bad shots.

Q. You were happy overall with the level of your play today and you're happy to take that into the weekend to come?

FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, very happy. Obviously I'll try to do the same the next few days. But yeah, I hit the ball well. I was happy on the greens. Like you said, I didn't miss too many greens, but when I did, my chipping was sharp enough. So yeah, I can't complain about today.

Like I was saying, it's a long way to go, so I need to keep it up for another three days.