THE 152ND OPEN

July 19, 2024

Matteo Manassero

Mixed Zone

Q. Matteo, these first two days here, what worked for you?

MATTEO MANASSERO: They were difficult obviously. They were hard. It's a very hard task out there. I thought I played well today, better than yesterday, to be honest. I just missed a few putts today and didn't get much going on.

It's just difficult. That's all it is. Difficult to get the ball close to the hole. Difficult to hole short putts with the wind blowing around. It's hard, but I'm happy that I got through it.

Q. I was trying to remember your last stop, and I think it was here 2016?

MATTEO MANASSERO: It was.

Q. What a journey, no?

MATTEO MANASSERO: Big journey, but it's good to be back at Troon with a lot more learned from these years, a lot of work has been done from me, my team, and everything.

I have more knowledge about myself, better perspective towards the game. I'm in a better state to enjoy golf courses like this and days like this.

Q. I know you talked a little bit about this, but were there moments in those eight years where you thought you would never be back in an Open like this?

MATTEO MANASSERO: Sure, yeah, definitely. Not being back in an Open like this, definitely. Different feelings maybe not, but I understand how difficult it is to be here.

I was going through a tough time, and I was realizing how difficult it was to come back to this level. But, again, things also can turn around quickly if you're doing the right things, if you're in the right path and believe in yourself and stuff. That really helps, and you can turn the corner very quickly.

Yes, I never -- sometimes didn't think about it, but always wanted to.

Q. Back to this week, kind of your vision or your attitude for the weekend?

MATTEO MANASSERO: Attitude for the weekend is I'm in a position to really enjoy the weekend and not think about much more than that. So I think my attitude is just going to be go out there with my strategy, without doing anything very crazy on this golf course. You need to respect it.

But, yeah, just pick the targets, try to go there, and one hole after the other see what I can do. I'm definitely in a position to have fun on the weekend.