ARAMCO TEAM SERIES - SINGAPORE ROUND ONE

March 16, 2023

Nicole Garcia

Laguna National Golf Resort Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Nicole, what a fantastic round of 67. Started on the tenth. Tell me about at that back nine. Home in 31 shots. Well played.

NICOLE GARCIA: Yeah, it was really nice to start like that. Bit disappointing that I couldn't finish it off nicely, but at the end of the day I'm still happy with my score. It's nice to come in with a low round, especially starting that way you're not chasing anything.

And I was having a lot of fun with my amateur and my two other pros, so I think that was part of it.

Q. So the team is on 13-under; you have the lead after day one. Very different golf course and got very swirly breeze and tiny greens.

NICOLE GARCIA: Yeah, I think these are the smallest greens I've ever played on, so really interesting approach shots. You've got to be really precise off the tee because if you don't get a good angle into these greens it's quite difficult to hold.

Yeah, it was a very interesting round.

Q. What's going right? You're playing very nicely, solid golf. Had a good couple weeks in South Africa. What do you find is the weapon of your game right now, where you inflict the most damage on a golf course? Which club is doing the damage?

NICOLE GARCIA: I think if I can take it over the last year, what's improved the most is definitely my putting. So I focused on wedge play, putting, chipping, and it's just helped me save three, four shots a round, which at the end of the day at the end of a tournament is massive.

So that's my biggest area I wish I realized that earlier, but I'm glad it is coming right and I'll keep pushing on.

Q. This golf course is very different in that every couple minutes there is a plane flying above. Is that a factor out there?

NICOLE GARCIA: For sure. I mean, they're coming quite low. The airport is maybe five minutes away, so every now and again you can feel the downdraft, so it does affect the wind and it's incredibly loud.

There is a lot of backing off the shot. You try and ignore it as much as you can, but sometimes they're just a little bit too close.

Other than that they're really quick to fly over so it doesn't take too much time.

Q. You are unofficial head of the LET book club. What's a hot read at the moment?

NICOLE GARCIA: So I would probably say Verity by Colleen Hoover. That was my last read. I have a couple others I could remind but, yeah, that is my last one and it was really good. If anybody is looking for a good read, Verity is very, very good.

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