ABU DHABI HSBC GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

January 18, 2023

Thomas Pieters

Yas Links

Press Conference

MATTHEW JOULE: Delighted to be joined by defending champion Thomas Pieters. Give us what a sense of what it's like to come back to a place where you've won and it feels so special?

THOMAS PIETERS: They definitely remind me that I've won here. My face is on every building. I've never had that before. It's such a strange feeling. But playing the back nine yesterday was kind of special. It was my first Rolex Series, and to kind of relive those shots with my caddie yesterday was, I'm not going to say emotional but was very special, yeah.

MATTHEW JOULE: A lot of the guys have mentioned the condition of the course. How good is it out there?

THOMAS PIETERS: It's one of the best I've ever seen. The grass is so consistent, so tight. You'll see some amazing short game this week I think.

MATTHEW JOULE: You played in the Pro-Am this morning with a special girl called Maya (Gaudin), part of HSBC Future Falcons Programme. Tell us a bit more about that.

THOMAS PIETERS: Yeah, I told her on the 18th green, I've been impressed since the first tee shot. I've never seen a 12-year-old hit it that far, that straight, possess all the shots around the green. She putts fantastic. It was a joy to watch.

MATTHEW JOULE: And you also witnessed a special moment on the 18th green when she received a special invitation as well.

THOMAS PIETERS: Yeah, I can only imagine when I got my first one how special it felt. I told her, I'll see her at Augusta on Sunday. I can come out and watch. So it will be pretty cool, huh?

MAYA GAUDIN: Yeah.

MATTHEW JOULE: We'll go to questions starting with Maya herself.

Q. How did you keep yourself in check the first Masters you played?

THOMAS PIETERS: I did make a comment after my first Masters that it's just another golf course, which didn't go down well. In the end, it is. I just tried to treat it as just another golf tournament and I know it isn't, but if you tried to really stay in your bubble and focused, I think you can do that.

Q. The conditions last year, Monday in particular, were brutal. What would you like the weather to be like this week in terms of what might suit you over the four days? Is it a course that needs a bit of breeze?

THOMAS PIETERS: Definitely, it needs a lot of breeze. I think tomorrow we'll have some breeze and then it calms down during the weekend. Again, the more wind, the better players are going to come out on top, especially on this course. We've got small portions to hit on the greens, so ball-striking is key.

Q. The Hero Cup, you were part of the winning team. What did you take out of that in the team perspective, and also individually as you start turning your attention to these big events?

THOMAS PIETERS: I took away that I wasn't quite ready. So I should have done maybe a couple more days of practice but it was tough with a newborn. I feel like I'm very ready right now.

My I can't, do you think I was ready?

MAYA GAUDIN: I do think so.

THOMAS PIETERS: Yeah, I'm excited to get going tomorrow.

Q. If you just go back to last year's win, that round, the second round I think it was Friday, was really blowing, and you played so well during that round. How important was that round to set up that entire year for you?

THOMAS PIETERS: I'm not sure, I think I shot maybe 2-over, 1-over? That was the key to setting myself up to win, and then there's a guy shooting ten over par that day, it was brutal. It was one of the tough of the days I've had on the golf course, just because greens are that slow and balls are just flying off everywhere. To keep your composure is really important, and it's going to be the same this week. Got to hit good golf shots here.

Q. I was going to ask you about the fact with the PGA TOUR alliance, starting from this year, the top 10 players who are non-exempt will get a membership on the PGA TOUR. How are you looking at that? You would have obviously gotten in this year.

THOMAS PIETERS: That would be a nice little bonus at the end of the year. I will not be playing full time on the PGA TOUR in the future just because I like where I live, and it's impossible to travel back and forth.

So I will continue to support this tour. I love playing my home open and I love playing tournaments like the Dutch Open. We are going to playing for a lot more money, even in Europe as well, so nothing but good news for us.

Q. For players in your generation, let's say, Thomas Detry, a few years younger than you, what does this mean for them? Are they very excited about it?

THOMAS PIETERS: Yeah, Detry is gone. He's full time. But guys, like the twins, Højgaard twins, it could be career-changing, really, because it is tough to get on that tour without those ten cards. It is a very closed shop. Those ten cards, you could see guys like Rasmus or Nicolai really take off because I feel like they are obviously really good players and they keep winning, but you need to test yourself out there because that's the highest level is still on the PGA TOUR.

We have really good tournaments like this week, but when you look at the field, the opposite field this week at the American Express, it's off the charts. It's nothing but good stuff.

Q. Last year, the final it was pretty close, I wonder if you had a chance to see -- Shubhankar came pretty close, he dropped a shot, missed getting into a playoff. I saw you practice with him yesterday.

THOMAS PIETERS: Yeah, Shubhankar, he's one of the nicest kids I've ever met. His dad, as well. Always saying thank you, please. Like Maya; she's being very well brought up. He's just a really nice kid. He's well-mannered. There's nothing to dislike about him.

Q. Anything about his game?

THOMAS PIETERS: He's got a very good golf game obviously. I think he hits really good stretches where he putts it well and drives it well, and then he goes off and has a couple months or half-year that he doesn't really perform. But that's golf and that's just a part of growing up and dealing with those kind of stretches. Everybody has them.

Q. When we spoke yesterday, Shane made some interesting comments that he felt people had been sidetracked by thinking 100 million prize funds were open. How important are they to the rank and file DP World Tour members? Do you feel lucky with the riches you've already got from the game?

THOMAS PIETERS: As a 16-, 17-year-old, you've got a dream of winning trophies but you never think about the money, and I've had a very good life out of golf. I can walk away and have a very nice life right now. That's not what it's about.

I love playing -- I love having a home open, seeing the kids there, seeing all my friends there. If you tell -- because I practice at home at different golf courses. I can see how the kids enjoy that. I never had that growing up. So it's nice to practice with the kids, to give them something to look at.

Q. Last year, I think money did become the main focus with a lot of people. Do you think that in years' time, two years' time, people will get back to thinking like you that the trophies are the most important thing?

THOMAS PIETERS: Well, it still is. The guys that have gone, it's like end of career kind of, some haven't. But if somebody offered you 150 million, would you go work for somebody else? It's a lot of money. There's generations of not having to worry about it. It's different for everybody. I can't really speak for myself.

Q. A Ryder Cup for the European side, who impressed you the most in the last ten years as a player?

THOMAS PIETERS: Just in general or are you talking about the young guys?

Garcia is still one of the best shapers of the golf ball, ball-striking-wise, yeah. Yeah, he's just one of the best to play with, yeah.

Q. One more question into what I asked you about the top 10 getting membership. What would you prefer, being in the Top-50 in the world and getting those invites and into the majors and some of the big events, or having a card which I don't know which category it would fall in, but getting some kind of assurance of starts?

THOMAS PIETERS: I definitely want to be in the Top-50. I want to get as high as possible because liked, that's where you're going to win trophies. You're not going to get to No. 8 or 7 in the world without winning trophies or you're going to be very unlucky to finish second all the time.

Definitely, I've got a good schedule right now. Being top 50, I can still pick-and-choose where to go. I would love to see a couple more tournaments in America be Invitationals and guys like me being able to enter. Sometimes I just can't, which is frustrating but that's just the way it is.

MATTHEW JOULE: Thomas, thank you very much for your time and best of luck in your title defence this week.