ABU DHABI HSBC GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

January 21, 2023

Victor Perez

Yas Links

Quick Quotes

Q. 68, 8-under, how do you feel about your day?

VICTOR PEREZ: I think conditions were easier early in the day but the northwest wind picks up around one o'clock or something. The course plays difficult. The last four holes are quite challenging, and I'm really happy with 4-under.

Q. You played particularly well last week at The Hero Cup and three and a half point out of four, so unbeaten. How valuable was that experience of contention almost and pressure and the experience of being out there trying to win a match in a competitive situation coming into a week like this?

VICTOR PEREZ: Yeah, I thought it was great. It's always the trick when you start the season with two Rolex Series Events, I haven't historically played some events in December. So you come into January after your off-season, and you've changed whatever you've changed, improved whatever you've improved, and you kind of are put under the gun right away which is always difficult. Because if you get off to a bad start with the quality of players in Rolex Series events, you're probably out for a short week.

I was really happy to play last week and played great. Gave me a lot of confidence in what I was doing during the off-season, and you're able to believe a little bit more in it as you start and not have that first few nine holes where it's a little bit maybe in between.

Q. Tomorrow it will be a tightly packed leaderboard out there. How will you approach it tactically mentally?

VICTOR PEREZ: As expected, I think with the weather being calm this morning, you expect guys to shoot 8- , 9-under and then as always, it's always jam-packed with 15 guys within two shots of the lead right now. So it's going to come down to little details. It's going to come down to probably a bit of luck and hopefully make a great winner.