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February 3, 2022

Matteo Manassero

Royal Greens Golf and Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. What a way to start 2022. You must be feeling very comfortable out there.

MATTEO MANASSERO: Absolutely. It was one of those days in which everything was going my way. I was playing really solid, giving myself a lot of birdie chances, a lot of really short ones, as well. So just got the round going and just felt comfortable. That's the right word, I guess.

Q. You've just mentioned that you forgot that it was actually a par-70, so a couple more birdies you could have been on a 59 watch.

MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, maybe. Luckily I forgot. I don't know, but I wasn't thinking that it was par-70 and I would have had a chance for a 59, but there was enough to think about out there, so I'm glad it went that way. 9-under would have been my lowest score in competition, so I did try to make that putt on 18, but I misread it.

Q. You holed many other brilliant putts. Can you tell us why you've adopted the arm-lock putting style?

MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, it's been working last season. I'm happy with that style. This is the first tournament I'm out with that putter. That specific putter is a different one. But I changed during lockdown. I started -- I wasn't putting well before, obviously, but I started to think what could have been the setup and what could have helped my mind to feel kind of more relaxed, and I thought a more reliable putting stroke. Let's put it that way. So I started working on that style and felt comfortable.

I brought it to the course, to competition, and I just kept it. It feels good. I have enough feel for the long putts and I feel better on the short ones, so it's been working for me.

Q. How do you feel about 2022?

MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, I'm excited. I'm curious to see what 2022 has for me. I worked really well, and I'm happy with the work I've done. Obviously it started really good. There's going to be some lows, there's going to be some ups, but I'm ready for it and see what happens.

I think I missed one green. I didn't have an easy up-and-down on that green and I managed it, so to show that I was ready in any moment of the round to just do my best, and that's a great feeling. Obviously you come into the first round of the season after quite a break, which I worked technically and I've done stuff that are obviously not competing, and you are kind of curious, anxious. There is a lot going on. Like in three months it's going to be different feels on the first tee. But I was curious, and it went really well, and I'm obviously very, very happy. I couldn't expect anything else, anything more.