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ABU DHABI GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

January 22, 2010

Rhys Davies

ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

SCOTT CROCKETT: Thanks very much for coming in and joining us today and congratulations not only on today but yesterday. You must be very, very pleased with your start in the championship. Just give us your thoughts.
RHYS DAVIES: Yeah, of course. I played very solidly the last couple of days as my scores would suggest, and I think all parts of my game are coming together and that's encouraging so early in the season. Yeah, looking forward to the weekend.
SCOTT CROCKETT: I was with you when you won the Wales Challenge event, and you went on to win in Spain, as well, so you have that winning mentality; is that helping you moving into the bigger stage?
RHYS DAVIES: Yeah, perhaps. I felt comfortable out here. I've been lucky to play a few times on the Tour, and yeah, it does help when you come to a tough challenge, something where you get used to trying to compete at the top level and it just stands you in it good stead for when you come out on to the big stage.
SCOTT CROCKETT: Before we take questions, can you remember the details of your four birdies, you started at 10.
RHYS DAVIES: Yeah, just come up in the front bunker and hit a good bunker shot to tap=in.
12 was unusual because we played it really early in the morning and the sun was so bright and so low, we couldn't even see the flag. I hit a 6-iron and it almost went in. So maybe I should play in the dark more often.
3, I hit a good drive and a good 7-iron to about five or six feet and rolled that one in.
And 5, pretty tough hole, tough pin, actually. I hit it towards the middle of green and actually rolled in about a 25-footer there.
SCOTT CROCKETT: Any real chances on the last four?
RHYS DAVIES: I had a few chances on the last few holes, 8 and 9, hit pretty good putts but just didn't quite get the right line.

Q. Scoring seems pretty good here generally, where do you think you'll be come this evening on the leaderboard?
RHYS DAVIES: Well, I haven't really looked at it too much, and yeah, I will be there or thereabouts. I may be a couple behind or just about in the lead, probably a couple behind. But it's nothing that I'm too concerned with. I'm primarily focused on my game and I'm worried about what I can do.

Q. I just wanted to ask you, is it great to be back in the sunshine after a cold few months in Europe and the U.S.?
RHYS DAVIES: Yes, simply. We have had a really cold period at home, and I went out and played Johannesburg last week and got some warm weather last week. It rained but not quite the same rain there. It is great when you can come here to a golf course that's in such pristine condition and weather that is so good. It makes you want to go out and play, and that's really a big drive early in the season.

Q. What are you expecting of yourself over the weekend?
RHYS DAVIES: To stick to my own game plan and play how I play golf. That's what I want to do. That sort of is the goal and very few of them will be result-orientated. I want to go out and play my game and play well to my game.

Q. Have you started the new season -- was there something about Celtic Manor 2010 which is in your mind?
RHYS DAVIES: Funny enough, first time I thought of it actually was when you asked that question. No, it's fantastic that Wales had The Ryder Cup, and I'm sure we will as a country put on a really good show and everybody is looking forward to it.
But I'm not thinking ahead too much like that. I mean, it's very -- if I was to set my target getting into a team, I think it would be a little bit pushed this early on in my career. So I'm just plodding along, enjoying my golf and trying to shoot the best scores that I can at the moment.

Q. Your first year as a pro now --
RHYS DAVIES: No, I've just had two.

Q. What sort of goals at this stage are you able to set for yourself at the start of the year? And have you had any contact with any parts of the Welsh rugby team with all of their performance specialists and so on and gleaned anything from them?
RHYS DAVIES: No for the Welsh rugby team. I follow them, but if I have any bumps or hits along the way -- no, Gavin Henson, but don't really know anyone. I went to the same school as Gavin Henson, but he was a few years older, so no real connection at all. Again, he was quite a bit older. I remember he was maybe right at end of his school year and I was just starting up at school, I was sort of 14 and 15 and he was leaving.
I don't tend to set too many goals. I think I just approach every tournament to try and win it. I keep it as simple as that because I think that's the prime objective every time you turn up, regardless of where you are or what the field or course is like. You turn up to try and win, and that's my goal every week.

Q. Can you clarify how you got into this tournament; did you get an invite?
RHYS DAVIES: It was a little bit confusing. I think at the start of the week, I was second reserved, so I was coming here hoping to maybe get a start but not really expecting it. And then I believe Edoardo Molinari, who did have an invite based on his ranking, so that freed up an invite, so I was fortunate this one asked me to play, so I received the final invite spot. And it was Monday afternoon and I was just getting on to the plane in Johannesburg about to fly to Dubai, which I was going to go to Dubai this week anyway. So I arrived in Dubai late Monday night and came here Tuesday morning. So it wasn't too bad really.
Also, when I got the second reserve, I had the possibility of playing the tournament, so I was planning on coming to Abu Dhabi and practising and preparing to play in case there was some withdrawal. So my plans were to head off Sunday night to come to Abu Dhabi, but I came here in the field. And I don't know if he got in or what happened.

Q. You played in the U.S. Open as an amateur; what sort of memories do you have of that, and how much of that has given you determination to get back out to the States?
RHYS DAVIES: Well, in terms of memories, obviously very fond memories. I remember having a very good start to the U.S. Open, the first nine holes, my name at the top of the board. I had not really played anything like that before, that was really cool. Went a bit downhill from there.
But I still had some -- I was fortunate enough to play some practise rounds with some really world-class players and learned quite a lot from them. I managed to have the result I felt like I could certainly push for their level and it gave me a good amount of belief that I could play towards the top end of this game, and I'm working towards that now.

Q. Is that belief still with you? Has it stayed there and has it grown?
RHYS DAVIES: Yeah, I believe so. I believe I can do well at this sport and I'm going to give my absolute best to do so.

Q. You were quoted as saying to the coach of the team at university that they need to get used to you because you are seriously competitive.
RHYS DAVIES: Yeah, I played sport from a very young age and always had the will to win, whether it's anything, basketball, golf, cricket, football. It's always been something that I have it in me that I want to compete and I want to win.
Yes, I would say it's a good asset to have.

Q. Useful in cricket?
RHYS DAVIES: I haven't played in a couple of years. Hitting a drive and tee shot -- so I was more of a bowler anyway. More medium-quick. I used to hit the new ball when I swung it a little bit -- confident I could do it now but not nearly when I used to do.

Q. (Inaudible.).
RHYS DAVIES: I had a very early tee time in Joburg last week, and I watched the last few sessions, which it got a fair amount of cricket, but too many wickets, so it wasn't the best.

Q. What is the winning aggregate likely to be?
RHYS DAVIES: Difficult to say. It was benign this morning. The conditions were just about next to perfect, so scoring you would expect to be good out there. The rough, it is there. It's not incredibly penal but it's definitely tough. I try not to think too much of scores because it's my own game I'm concentrating on. You're going to have to expect 15- or 16-under come the end of the week, unless will the wind blows around here which it can.

Q. Inaudible?
RHYS DAVIES: Yeah, doesn't mean you are going to; doesn't mean you are not. The goal is to go out there and be in a really good frame of mind the whole weekend and see where you stand coming up to the last hole on Sunday.
That's one of the reasons I was going to Dubai. I had an invite to Qatar, so yeah, I was very fortunate to get that, and was working towards that week, and this week was a bonus.
SCOTT CROCKETT: You certainly took advantage of that bonus. Congratulations today and good luck for the weekend.

End of FastScripts

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