THE 149TH OPEN

July 15, 2021

Jonathan Thomson

Mixed Zone

OLIVIA McMILLAN: Thank you for joining us. Can you please give your reflections on your first round here at The Open?

JONATHAN THOMSON: Yeah, I mean, got off to one hell of a start there, but I managed to stick in there, stayed very patient, and got something out of it for the day, so really pleased with myself, to be honest.

Q. Talk to us about the start there. Was it just nerves?

JONATHAN THOMSON: Well, there was -- obviously on the first there was hell of a lot of nerves, yeah. I would be lying if I said I wasn't. I pulled three lies which I basically haven't pulled a bad lie all week in practice, and come Thursday I had three lies that were just unbelievable.

So a bit of both. But what doesn't kill us makes us stronger I suppose.

Q. Yeah, definitely. And after a start like that, how do you regroup? You went on to play some really nice golf after that.

JONATHAN THOMSON: Yeah, I sort of. Me and my caddie had a chat I think it was walking down 4. We said, Come on, we've been swinging it great all week, playing some solid stuff, so let's get back to the process, start again; let's start putting some good swings on it.

Yeah, we did a great job doing that. All in all, really good.

Q. Is there any holes that stand out as highlights for you? You did have quite a few birdies on the card.

JONATHAN THOMSON: Yeah, I sort of -- I got into a little bit of a groove on the back nine. Made a great up and down on 11 and then sort of took a bit of momentum from that and sort of had three in a row. Chipped in on I think it was 13 there.

So yeah, I played -- like you say, I just played -- started to make good golf swings and sort of played well from there.

Q. Heading into tomorrow what's the thought process? You must be buoyed by what you did on the back nine?

JONATHAN THOMSON: Yeah, the thought process is exactly the same. Just need to keep swinging it good. Everything feels in a good place. Just control myself and make sure me and my caddie do the same job, keep talking to each other.

Yeah, going to be pretty much the same mentality out there tomorrow and let's see what happens.

Q. Quite a few Sheffield players in the tournament this year. Have you been speaking to any lads, like Danny Willett? Any advice from him coming into this?

JONATHAN THOMSON: No. To be honest, I've literally just a passing hi, guys. We haven't talked. We've sort of missed each other all week really just by preparation times being what they were.

So no, but obviously it's great for the South Yorkshire, so many lads playing. It's really good for South Yorkshire, especially golf, that we're all here sort of playing.

Q. What's success for you at The Open this year? Obviously you believe you can make the cut.

JONATHAN THOMSON: Yeah, I mean, look, it's one hell of a week, one hell of a learning curve for me. Success for me this week would be to simply enjoy every minute of it and play the best golf I can play.

The end of the day I know I'm good enough to be able to compete, so back to myself and see what happens at the end of the week.

Q. I know we're living in very difficult times with the COVID bubble, but have got any friends and family been able to come and cheer you on?

JONATHAN THOMSON: Yeah, it's been great out there today. I've got family and my missus and the coach with me in the bubble. So far so good really. It's been awesome. The cheers out there have been great.

I sort of actually bounce off that quite a lot I think on the back nine.

Q. Obviously dreamed of playing at The Open, and walking up to those big yellow scoreboards on 18, what was it like when you walked off today?

JONATHAN THOMSON: Yeah, to be honest, it was obviously -- the first tee shot was by far the worst, and 18 I was very in the zone, trying to get the job finished off what was a great back nine.

So it was like enjoy the walk down 18 and get off here and we go again tomorrow.

Q. What's the plan now? Go and get some food, have a break, or the driving range?

JONATHAN THOMSON: No, no. Food, break, and then a little warm-down and head back to the accommodation and chill out for the afternoon and be really rested for tomorrow.