ASCENSION CHARITY CLASSIC

September 4, 2024

Thomas Bjørn

Norwood Hills Country Club

Press Conference

Q. Thanks for joining us for your first Ascension Charity Classic. Just overall thoughts being here in St. Louis this week.

THOMAS BJØRN: Yeah, great. Seen the golf course a couple times now, which looks amazing. So, yeah, excited about the week. Excited about what's ahead.

Coming into the final steps of the season, which is interesting. A lot of guys have a lot of things to play for in every aspect of what we do as professionals.

Yeah, so it's an exciting time, as you can feel. The tension is getting screwed up a little bit here now that there is a little bit more to think about for a lot of guys, so going to make the most of it.

Q. What's your first impressions of the golf course? What sort of the strategy will you take towards it?

THOMAS BJØRN: Certainly with these greens, they're extremely slopey greens, so the main objective I would think when you've got greens like that is people always kind of tell you, keep it below the hole, but you can on do that if you hit fairways.

That's got to be the objective this week, to get it in the fairway off the tee. They are extremely slopey. You can get yourself in some real trouble around here if you're playing from out of the (indiscernible).

Q. You mentioned a lot to play for. Is that something on your mind? You're in good standing right now, but knowing you would have full status next year?

THOMAS BJØRN: Yeah, that's always in the back of your mind, you know, as a tour professional. Yeah, I think obviously most of the guys that play on this tour have had pretty successful careers, but they've gone through all of those things in their career so many times. You know, you just kind of stick your head down and come straight on to your stuff and the (indiscernible) take care of things for you.

You still got to kind of put it to the back of your mind and try and play the golf course in front of you. But, you know, I think you can feel it. You can feel that, that guys have a little bit more on their mind at the moment than they probably do at the beginning or in the middle of the season now. There is a lot to play for. People want to get in the playoffs and people want to keep their cards.

So then you got the guys to top that want to win the Schwab Cup as well. So it's just a little bit more tension. We've been around it for a long time and many years, so we know what that's all like.

Also know that 10, 12 weeks' time it's all over and then we start looking forward to the next season. Right now, yeah, it's there in your mind. Not feeling too much space in my mind, but it's still there. You know you have to play and you have to sort of pounce and you can't let anything slip away. You just got to go out there and give it your all and every dollar could be an important dollar come the end of the year.

Q. You mentioned a lot of guys want this, want this. What does Thomas Bjørn want?

THOMAS BJØRN: I said from the beginning when I got over here, I'm grateful to Miller (ph) and his team for what they have done, and they're giving me an opportunity. Once I got the opportunity I took care of a lot of things by playing pretty good myself, and that's worked out well for me this year.

And now I'm in a position where I can play my way to having a card next year, and that was my main objective. And then really get a schedule next year that fits me. I've been a bit back and forth and got into a couple tournaments very late. It's not a situation I'm used to. I played golf for 30 years and I'm not used to getting into a golf tournament Saturday before. I kind of know from January when I play golf.

So it would be nice if I could get myself in that position next year where I can just kind of, well, this is what my schedule looks like and it suits me and the way I want my life to look, and then you can maybe try and give it a go.

So the objective this year has been to really try and get myself in that situation. I'm not great at getting told on a Saturday I'm in a tournament and have to get on a plane and fly across the Atlantic and then tee it up. I much rather know what I'm doing.

That's just the way it is. I'm grateful for the opportunities I've had this year. Obviously happy that I've taken any chances when I got them.

Q. You said that you're not great at that, how do you manage that, those adjustments? How do you deal with that when you find out late and have to get ready to play on short notice?

THOMAS BJØRN: It always has an up-side of it. You don't know if you're in so you can get quite down and not knowing. Then when you do get in it also has a positive.

But it's just kind of the organizing everything becomes a little bit difficult. Seems to be all hotels you want to stay in, they're fully booked. You end up staying a long, long way away from things.

Just a lot of the logistics things I'm not used to dealing with that just becomes a little bit more difficult. They're first-world problems, but they're still problems you got to deal with. Just upsets your way of form a little bit.

But I make it work and I'm, as I said, I take any opportunity. I've said that all the way. Any opportunity I get, I take. I'm grateful for the opportunities and I'll keep doing that.

Miller and his team, as I said, have been brilliant with me without going overboard, because they're got a whole tour to look after. But they have been brilliant with me, and I feel like I owe it to them to give it everything I have as well to do my best with it when they give you an opportunity.

So that's what I'm grateful for. You know, yeah, it's not the easiest preparations, but it's -- you just got to be ready to go when you get the chance.

Q. Just looking back to last month, took a few weeks out of your schedule to be involved with the Danish Olympic team. What was that experience like and your impression and takeaway from the Olympics in Paris?

THOMAS BJØRN: It was an amazing two weeks. I think golf now is -- I said in Paris I think it's great that golf that it's part of the Olympics, but I also think it's great for the Olympics that golf is part of it.

Watching the week, watching the greatest players male and female taking part and seeing how important it is to them and seeing Scottie with tears down his face winning a gold medal. He's won so many things this year.

I think when he looks back at his career he'll look at that as one of the greatest moments in his career. To watch that, I look back and I go, in my career and being from the country I'm from, I'd probably have played four or five Olympics if it's always been on there.

That's one thing that I feel somewhat sad about, that it was never part of the Olympics when I played my best. Also look at and try and install in our young players, that the Olympics should be very much at the forefront of our minds.

That was a conversation I've had with a couple young Danish players after I came back from Paris. 2028 for them, Olympics should be the one thing they really should focus on. They have all the other years to focus on the majors.

That doesn't mean they can't focus on the majors, but I think that should be the top priority come 2028. I think when you look back at those moments in your life and when you're older, and obviously when you get on this tour you have all your best moments are probably behind you, and you look back at those and you look at the best ones, you treasure them a lot and know that they meant a lot to you.

That's why I want those guys to think about. You have moments in your career where they are the moments that you're going to look back and they'll be the important moments in your life. I think Olympics should be that for those young players, and they need to get that in their mind so it doesn't just become another golf tournament.

There is plenty the tournaments to play as a good golfer. Shouldn't just be another tournament. It should be the peak of what you take part of. That doesn't take away from -- you play golf to win major championships, but we do that every year. We only play the Olympics every four years.