THE 152ND OPEN

July 20, 2024

Joe Dean

Mixed Zone

Q. Joe, good round for you today.

JOE DEAN: Yeah, satisfactory, I would say. The conditions were a lot, lot better than yesterday. Even though the last three or four coming in were a bit tricky obviously with the rain. Yeah, the wind was almost nonexistent through 7, 8, 9, 10.

So it was nice today, it was nice to be able to play some regular shots. I had level-par. I would have liked to have done one or two better, but after yesterday's round, I'll take it.

Q. Tell about the rain coming in. It's absolutely besotted as we speak.

JOE DEAN: My caddie said it was due in on the back end of the round, so we obviously knew about it. We just tried -- I mean, the pace of play today obviously is a lot better with two-balls.

We managed to get round pretty quick and didn't get held up much, so, yeah, it was really good.

Q. Are you a player that, I wouldn't say enjoys playing in the rain, but are you okay to do so?

JOE DEAN: At the moment, I'd rather play in the rain than the wind, but I think most is a fair weather golfer. It is what it is. It comes with the territory. You've just got to deal with it and move on.

Q. Regardless of the conditions, fantastic crowd out there with the brollies and cheering everybody on?

JOE DEAN: Today I wouldn't say it was a little quiet, but obviously everyone is out there and supporting. Yeah, it's fantastic. Really appreciative. I'm sure all the players are as well.

Yeah, hopefully tomorrow is much of the same.

Q. And hopefully a really good score tomorrow.

JOE DEAN: Yeah, that would be very nice. That would be very nice to finish with an under-par score. Yeah, we'll just reassess and go from there.

Q. What do you do now, a bit of food, put your feet up, watch the rest of the golf?

JOE DEAN: We've got a table tennis competition going off between me and my caddie, probably a bit of pizza, a couple of cans of coke, and see what happens.

If the rain lets up, then I might go back on the range and hit a couple of balls, but, yeah, more rest and relaxation.

Q. The ping pong, that's in the players lounge, isn't it? Lovely place, that?

JOE DEAN: It was great. I said it was great. We played it Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Wednesday afternoon, I could feel myself getting a bit of tendinitis in my elbow. Yeah, very addictive game. I think we believe we're better than what we are.

No, it's great fun. It passes the time, so yeah.