BETFRED BRITISH MASTERS HOSTED BY SIR NICK FALDO

August 30, 2024

Paul Waring

The Belfry Hotel & Resort

Quick Quotes

Q. Even par for the front nine, but as soon as you hit the iconic 10th, it all seemed to change.

PAUL WARING: It did. Front nine was a bit hit and miss. Obviously didn't get off to a great start birdieing the third hole, the par 5. A little disappointed with my start, really.

A bit of a turning point for me was the 8th hole. I actually have a new driver in this week, and I was just trying to find my way with it for the first few holes. Hit a great drive down 8, and hit a great wedge shot in to six, eight foot and holed that. That gave me momentum into the back nine.

Q. It's not just the driver that's going to save you around here. Some massive numbers when we look at what the field did today, a lot of disparity.

PAUL WARING: Yeah, the fairways are unbelievably tight. We were walking down 15 and me, and my playing partners were laughing, the fairways are only 15 yards wide and the rough is quite juicy. If you're in play, you have a chance. There's a couple wedges out there.

My wedge game is really tidy. But the rest of it, if you get it in play, you can score to a point. If you start missing fairways, the rough is super thick, around the greens it's supper thick. The greens are firm. It's hard to chip it close. If you get on the back foot, it's easy to stay on the back foot. It's hard to sort of break that cycle.

Q. We are on the Back Nine cycle of the DP World Tour schedule. Good to be back on home soil?

PAUL WARING: It is. It's always a great turnout at this event as well. I do enjoy playing in front of home fans, very knowledgeable. I love playing all over the world, but it's great to come home and see -- my mum and dad are here, my wife is here. It's nice to get a bit of home support as well. I've had Alex, one of my best friends for years, on the bag.

Q. A celebration and festival, to share it with friends and family, but I know come the weekend if you're in contention, you'll want be up there. Have you set yourself any targets for the season?

PAUL WARING: To be honest I try to take it a little bit more as it comes. My targets are sort of day-to-day, what do I need to achieve today, and that's so cliche for professional golf and professional sports. But I feel like if I start setting targets, when I start getting close, I'm going to put a bit of extra pressure to complete them. Obviously at the end, it would be great to play in Dubai at the end of the season and to win. That's up there.

To win, that's my big goal. There's been some good golf this year. I moved to Dubai end of last year and being over there and practicing over there has given me that little kick in the bum if you like of get your finger up, do a bit of work, work a bit harder it's kind of pushed me forward to where I am this season. Hopefully another good couple finishes, and I can get to where I want to be.