LIV GOLF PROMOTIONS

December 8, 2023

Seungsu Han

Jaco Ahlers

Abu Dhabi Golf Club

Quick Quotes

THE MODERATOR: Let's welcome Seungsu Han and Jaco Ahlers. Seungsu, I'll start with you. Well played today. First group in and leading at 6-under par after 66 in the first round of LIV Golf Promotions here at Abu Dhabi Golf Club. Tell us a bit about your round.

SEUNGSU HAN: Yeah, it was nice to start off first group. Got out of the heat a little bit. Just didn't feel very sharp with ball-striking today, but the putter got the job done.

Yeah, it was to make it through day one, obviously, and it looks like it's going to be good enough, and just looking forward to tomorrow.

THE MODERATOR: Jaco, well played today, playing with Seungsu, 4-under par 68. Tell us about your round, how you played today.

JACO AHLERS: Yeah, I think I was pretty much the same, as well. Ball-striking not that good but kept it in play, made a few crucial putts. Unfortunate finish on the last, but hopefully it should be good enough, and yeah, we'll move on to the next day.

Q. As things stand, you're well within that top-20 threshold and looking to advance towards tomorrow. What's the game plan going into Saturday?

JACO AHLERS: Pretty much similar. You can't really change your game plan on this golf course. It's a pretty well designed golf course and you can't really overpower it. You've just got to chug along and make a few putts and try to keep the mistakes to as little as possible and make a few birdies and see what happens.

SEUNGSU HAN: Yeah, I think it's going to be the same. The golf course is right in front of you. It's great, very fair. I'm going to go work on what I've got to work on, and same game plan tomorrow.

Q. Seungsu, can you talk about your form coming into this week? You had the win earlier this year in Korea. Were you feeling pretty good about the game coming in?

SEUNGSU HAN: Yeah, our season ended about three weeks ago in Korea, and it's been really cold. Haven't been able to get a lot done game-wise. So yeah, it was really nice to just come here and play golf in the warm weather more than anything. Yeah, just excited to be here.

Q. Did you feel rusty at all?

SEUNGSU HAN: I did, yeah. I didn't feel like three weeks off was going to be that big of a gap, but I felt kind of tired after the first practice round here this week.

Q. Jaco, obviously you've had a good season. How much have you followed LIV? Obviously we have the Stinger team that's all South African. I don't know how well you know all those guys...

JACO AHLERS: Yeah, I know them pretty well. Like you say, I've followed it pretty good, especially the last bit of the season. Was rooting for the Stingers, and unfortunately they couldn't get it done in the end.

Yeah, following it, loving the concept, enjoying -- especially at my age, enjoying the three rounders. That's brilliant. And playing in shorts.

Yeah, would love to be there.

Q. You talked a little bit about this before, but obviously most of your success has been in South Africa. You had the one win earlier this year in Asia. Having the opportunity to step up to a league like this where you could potentially be playing against Bryson and DJ and Phil and Brooks and those guys and now Rahm, you talked about it being career changing. Have you had a chance to really envision what it might mean?

JACO AHLERS: Yeah, you do, but you don't really want to think about it. I've played a few majors. I've played a few WGCs and all that, so I've had the chance to play with these guys, not on a regular basis like this.

But yeah, you can't really think about it. You've got to stay within yourself, and you've got to stay with day-to-day, shot-to-shot. At the end of the day, the result would be that, but you can't really think about it, but we do. We do.