HERO DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC

January 26, 2023

Thomas Pieters

Majlis Course at Emirates Golf Club

Press Conference

Q. Not quite through the end of your first round here at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic but you're at the top of the leaderboard as it stands. Tell us how challenging today was.

THOMAS PIETERS: I think it played fair. Obviously they guarded against some of the conditions, and they moved a few tees forward on holes like 12, where you normally are hitting long irons, and you're hitting short wedges. If you found fairways and had ball-in-hand, it was definitely playable.

Q. How different was it? We saw guys on some of the par 3s landing about 15, 20 yards short at times. Was that due to the wind or just the way the course was playing today?

THOMAS PIETERS: Yeah, it was tough to judge because the wind was switching the whole day, I thought. You know, sometimes it was down and you could see it come up again and that was a different direction, so yeah, that was definitely tricky.

Q. Good start to your campaign. What do you have on tap FOR tomorrow?

THOMAS PIETERS: Try to do the same thing. I'm finishing 7, 8, 9, tough holes. If I can finish with three pars, I'll have a very nice opening round.