THE G4D OPEN

May 8, 2023

Juan Postigo

Mixed Zone

Q. Great to have you here at Woburn. Just before we get into questions, can you say your name, where you're from, country, etc.?

JUAN POSTIGO: Juan Postigo, 27 years old, and I'm from Santander, northern Spain.

Q. How much are you enjoying here at Woburn already in maybe not the weather?

JUAN POSTIGO: The weather is not the best. It's quite warm in Spain and coming here to the winter, we have to get used to it.

Q. I think among golfers for disabilities, a lot of people know your name but tell me about your journey in golf and obviously your leg injury. Tell us about that.

JUAN POSTIGO: Well, it's a very easy story compared to the ones here today. Basically I was born like this with just one leg. The other one was quite short than the big one, and since my beginnings, I really enjoyed sports. I was a very good sailor because we have very good bays and sailing is quite big over there. Also skiing is one of my sports.

Then I discovered golf at the age of 12, 13 by my grandfather. He was a golf lover, and I was the only one that wanted to play golf with him. That's why I play the game of golf.

Q. Can you believe how far you've come the last two years?

JUAN POSTIGO: Yeah, it's been a very fast journey, I'd say. I grow so fast through the game. The game, I've grown so fast this year, and it has been -- everything together has been very, very big.

Q. Do you still play your golf at Pedreña?

JUAN POSTIGO: Obviously coming from Pedreña where Seve was such a big name, my manager is Javier Ballesteros, his son, so I have very good relationships around that place, and just coming into the locker room, and the first picture you see is one of Seve's picture, it's something special. Pedreña is always --

Q. Just talk about where you came from. You mentioned the locker room there. How much has Seve inspired you?

JUAN POSTIGO: Well, I think Seve inspired not just his generation of European players, worldwide players. When you say you are from the same area, even more, even bigger. I mean, the passion he put into the game, the creativity he put, how he changed the game is something we have to achieve right now as a group of players.

Q. Do you think championships like this this week, the first-ever inaugural G4D Open helps achieve the mission you're trying to do?

JUAN POSTIGO: Obviously, I think we felt the support of the R&A, the DP World Tour, anything is possible. In Europe, having that support, the biggest corporate grants here, it's key, and obviously having the first major on European soil is going to be I think great.

Q. Tell us about how you swing the golf club so impressively. Your standard of golf is incredible. Tell us about the balance and how you get through the ball so well.

JUAN POSTIGO: Yeah, basically I try to swing the golf club without falling to the floor. That's basically what I'm doing. A part of that, I have quite a good movement with just my left leg. I work hard on my stability and core strength, leg strength, so to be able to get speed enough to compete against the players I'm competing this week, so we've done a very good job, a job that has been very basic, very from the roots, the hands, everything.

So I think the swing is ready to compete and hopefully we have some of the luck that you need to play against these lads this week.

Q. You talked about the Edgar circuit. What is the particular highlight for you?

JUAN POSTIGO: I think winning three European Championships consecutive is one of them, but also, my win a few months ago in Abu Dhabi, I think I played really well there. I've been playing quite good throughout the first season for the Tour. The win just didn't come, and I think winning the first event in Abu Dhabi was something great.

Q. You also inspired a lot of people at St Andrews last July. How special was that celebration?

JUAN POSTIGO: I forgot that moment, but obviously that, if I have to say one highlight, that's the highlight of my career. It's not a competition, but obviously being invited as a guest to play that Tournament of Champions in St Andrews for the 150th Open, you can't expect more from this game I think. It was an unbelievable experience to play against 25,000 people, to play with Jordan Spieth, Mark Calcavecchia and Ian Baker-Finch, nothing compares to that.

Q. Do you have any photographs you've framed from last July?

JUAN POSTIGO: I'm very good friend with Dave Cannon. He came to Mark Calcavecchia to play last summer, we made good friend and he made a lot of pictures there. I brought them home, and I really appreciate the work that he did with it.

Q. Touching on this week, how is your form going into facing a very stiff challenge this week with a lot of talented players? How is your form?

JUAN POSTIGO: I'm playing well. I'm swinging the club confidently. It's been quite a few weeks with no competitive golf. Sometimes feeling rusty is not the best thing but I'm playing good enough. I'm confident about myself and my mind is on the place it has to be to compete. I'm really fine and looking forward to this week.