ABU DHABI HSBC GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

January 20, 2022

Scott Jamieson

Yas Links

Quick Quotes

Q. Course record has been set with an awfully high bar, 63, what was the secret to it?

SCOTT JAMIESON: Just really solid all day to be honest. It's eight weeks off from tournament golf out here so you're always a little bit on edge probably to the start of the day but birdie at the first kind of settled any edge there was and it was just really solid all day and one tee shot wasn't very good but I got lucky and recovered well.

Q. A lot of players do a lot of evaluating in the off-season about what they are going to do differently and brand new start to every campaign, you finished quite strongly last year to go into that time off. What did you think you want to do differently this time around as we move into a new year?

SCOTT JAMIESON: This is the first off-season I haven't actually peeled the skin back and try to figure out how to get better. Felt like the game was in a good place finishing in Dubai and just missed out on a Top-10 there. I've been driving it a lot better the last few events of the year last year, so no, I was pretty comfortable where my game was. I just had to hope that it turned up again eight weeks later.

Q. It's a new era, DP World tour and starts with back-to-back events. How important is it to get off to a fast start as it stands?

SCOTT JAMIESON: When I started practising a couple weeks ago, I kept telling myself that, that you have to hit the ground running here because it could ultimately dictate how your season goes. If you miss the first two cuts of the year, then all of a sudden you feel like you're miles behind because there's such a great prize the first couple of events.

So I was aware of that, so mentally I was trying to be as prepared as I could be.

Q. That is some way to start a year and after a lengthy break as well.

SCOTT JAMIESON: Yeah, it was. You're never too sure what game is going to turn up. Doing a bit of practising and playing at home the last couple of weeks, but it never the same when there's a gun to your head and the pressure is on. Thankfully I've tended to always kind of be able to handle it for the most part, so yeah, delighted with that.

Q. When you stood on the first tee, could you have had any kind of notion that such a terrific round would unfold?

SCOTT JAMIESON: No, not at all. Was suffering from a bit of jet-lag and woke up at about half-three this morning and for a morning round, that's a long time to think about how you're going to play. And like I said, there's always a bit of edge first round of the season. 9-under par is a phenomenal start.

Q. Did you do anything in the off-season? Because you're in America, aren't you?

SCOTT JAMIESON: Yes.

Q. Did you do anything in the off-season differently to try to get yourself off to such a flying start?

SCOTT JAMIESON: I finished, felt like the game was in a good place at the end of last year, pressure was on a little bit. I was kind of always around a number for keeping my playing rights, and managed to get my driving improved quite a lot at tail end of the season and had some good finishes when I needed them. That's way more pressure than the first round of the year, that's for sure.

I felt like my game was in a good spot, so I was just trying to keep ticking over and last couple of weeks, trying to prepare.

Q. Having said that, different kind of pressures, there is a pressure here, isn't there, because these are such big events right at the start of the year?

SCOTT JAMIESON: Yeah, it's unusual. Normally I would, or I was planning on going to South Africa, but obviously those events couldn't happen, unfortunately.

So last couple weeks when I started back up, I kept telling myself it's really important but you're ready to go on that first tee. But like I say, you're never sure what you're going to get.

Q. This is the same designer as Kingsbarns, so there is talk of it being sort of a little bit linksy and that sort of thing. Does the course lend itself to a Scottish native?

SCOTT JAMIESON: Hopefully, yeah. I mean, for me, it's like playing in Scotland but it's warm. That's maybe the best of both worlds for me. It's a stunning-looking golf course. It's a great design. Tomorrow is going to be interesting. There's so many slopes around the greens. There's a lot of wind forecast tomorrow. Be interesting to see how they are going to set the course up.