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COMMERCIALBANK QATAR MASTERS PRESENTED BY DOLPHIN ENERGYJanuary 27, 2010Alvaro QuirosDOHA, QATAR SCOTT CROCKETT: Thanks, as always, for coming in and joining us and welcome back in your role as defending champion of the Commercialbank Qatar Masters. Just give us your thoughts on being back here and to 12 months ago. It was a great win for you, wasn't it? ALVARO QUIROS: Yeah, it was a very important win because it put me into the Top-50 the world. The feeling when I come back, well, nice. Everybody knows that it's going to be demanding. The golf course has changed, too, and of course a new tournament. SCOTT CROCKETT: How did you feel about your own game today? ALVARO QUIROS: Okay. I missed a few drivers and that put me back of the leaderboard, but I recall a little bit the feeling, and I hope the good feelings start coming tomorrow. SCOTT CROCKETT: A good week in Abu Dhabi for you, a lot of good signs in contention along the way there. So you must be pleased with that performance. ALVARO QUIROS: Yeah, I'm very happy. I was a little bit disappointed, I can say, finishing 11th, but at the same time it was the first tournament I played in 2 1/2 months, something like that, without competition, so it's a good feeling. Q. Your driving was particularly impressive last year? ALVARO QUIROS: Probably yes, one of the most important parts of my game is always the driver, the strength that I have with it. And at the same time, I think this year, it's going to be very different. I mean, the golf course is more narrow now, and the rough is thicker. That is the main thing about it. The greens are practically the same. Now, the wind shouldn't be the normal thing for the rest of the day, so we will see. Q. Is the course harder than last year? ALVARO QUIROS: For sure, me and the field, everything. Every single time I miss the fairway, I have to lay up every single time that I miss the fairway. And I have a strong ball, so it is going to be different. Q. So are you saying that long driving then perhaps will not be so much an advantage this week? ALVARO QUIROS: That's it, I'm more convinced that this week is going to be for -- it will be more for average players than for strong players. Q. Why have they done that do you think - to make the course Quiros proof? ALVARO QUIROS: I don't think it's nothing related with me. They are going to make the golf course a challenge -- Q. But you took it apart last year? ALVARO QUIROS: I mean, last year, I was in very strange places, too. The rough was deep. They already make the golf course more of a challenge. Everybody is going to tell you the same. The question is: Is it enough or too much, in any opinion, with the conditions of today, too much. It was impossible to put the ball in the fairway. The fairway is more narrow than last year, and you miss by two meters -- I think we have to be lucky with the wind, otherwise we are going to be in trouble. Q. Do you think the scores will be high if the wind keeps at this level? ALVARO QUIROS: I think so. And the cut, we will see on the cut, definitely. I can't remember how much the cut was last, something around 1-under or 2-under but if it stays like this, I think it will definitely be over par this year. Q. Are you a good or bad wind player? ALVARO QUIROS: Well, if I have to be honest, I'm a little bit out of a good feeling under the wind, just because with the new swing, many things have changed, the body movement, how to come in with the shots. Now every single shot I have to be careful to be aiming correctly and to be in a good time with the body. Last year was more skillful and it's going to cost me time, and under the wind it will be more difficult, of course. Q. Are you trying to say that conditions are too tough for this time of year? ALVARO QUIROS: No, I'm trying to explain that the golf course is in great shape, okay. But it could be very hard under this wind conditions, the winds of today. I never felt this wind here before. It always blows, but not that speed. I mean, today was amazing. You can see the sandstorms around the golf course. You have to wear sunglasses otherwise you start to cry. It's going to be more difficult for sure. Q. Tell us about your swing change? ALVARO QUIROS: This is the feeling, it's going to help me to be more consistent in the future. But right now, the ball flies different. I cannot draw with the facility that I had last year, most of the time here, we are playing with left-to-right wind against, so it's not a great help to have the other shape, the left-to-right. I have to be confident in myself that the ball is going to start and not right. This morning, at 7.30 in the morning, it's not that great, it's too early, a left-to-right wind, I can remember the first hole I hit with driver, wherever the ball lands, it was going to be good. This year, it's impossible. You have to put the ball in the fairway, or even better, in a bunker. But never in the rough. It's impossible. I have to chip out with a wedge. Q. When did you decide to make the change? ALVARO QUIROS: Well, I decided in the winter break that we have a month ago, I decided because I think all of the players have to improve his game or his swing step-by-step. I think I'm going to get more consistent and this is a very important thing, because I feel in myself that I can win a tournament, not every year, but with easier facility, but not like Top-10 player -- I prefer to be more consistent and every five or six tournament, maybe Top-12, Top-8, and I prefer winning and miss a cut -- that's what makes you feel more confidence at the end and see if every single week you can be over there, and not after a week, or four or five weeks, disappear. Q. How is the change affecting how far you hit the ball? ALVARO QUIROS: Well, if I have to be honest, I think I hit it longer now. It's difficult to believe, but now I can coordinate more the moment and the turn of the body is always the same, so I don't need to accelerate with the hands, just going through. It is a little bit more shallow, so it helps to control the distance. Q. How much longer? ALVARO QUIROS: The driver, for sure, ten 12 metres, I hit another trajectory, I used to hit it and now it stops. Sometimes now I will hit it 100 per cent but then with the 85 per cent, it is a very good shot, it is a solid golf shot, too. Q. You played with Matteo Mannasero last week - can you give us your thoughts on him? ALVARO QUIROS: I think he is impressive. I was speaking with his coach who used to be a player on the European Tour called Alberto Binaghi and I told him it is amazing, to be 16 years old, it is impressive. He's a really good player. He is not long enough but he is only 16. I mean, he has to grow up. I think he's going to be one of the future ones on The European Tour. Q. Would you like to win or have lots of top tens this year? ALVARO QUIROS: Well, this year is a Ryder Cup year so I would like to win three tournaments of course. But normally you would prefer to be most of the time between Top-10s that win once per year. Mentally speaking, it's better to be a player that can be every single week around the top positions than be fighting for 40, thinking that the week before, you were winning. It is tougher, I would say. Q. Presumably it would be good if the one win was a Major? ALVARO QUIROS: It would be great. This is another keys of why I changed the swing. I think in the major events, I don't know if it's the reason, but I felt a little bit more different. My way to afford the tournament was different, so probably under pressure, my swing didn't work as good as I thought, so this is why I want to change a little bit. Q. Goals for the year? ALVARO QUIROS: Well, the only thing at the beginning of the year is the schedule, and it depends how I am playing it will change or not. In general I have an idea about what tournaments I'm going to play, but it's not exactly because it depends how physically I am feeling during the year or how good I am hitting the ball. Especially I mean, this year, there is a Ryder Cup year, and I mean, the schedule can change a lot, because if I have chances to qualify, I will play as much as I can. If I don't have, well, I probably will play less. Q. That is the second time you have mentioned the Ryder Cup - I'm presuming this is a major goal for you this year? ALVARO QUIROS: It's a difficult question, because for me, it could be the target. I'm far away, so it's not fair, either, but will focusing on it when I'm close. Right now I'm focused on the first shot of the tournament tomorrow, and that is the only thing that matters at the end. Q. Have you given any thoughts to taking up membership of the PGA Tour? ALVARO QUIROS: Well, I mean, everybody knows that I would like to play the PGA TOUR, just to see what I can do over there. I consider the option, of course. At the end of the season, it depends how I play, how tired I feel, I will go to the school or go to the major events if I have the chance to get the minimum money, probably I will try next year, I don't know. Q. The atmosphere is quite different between the two Tours, isn't it? ALVARO QUIROS: In the PGA TOUR, every single player has his own world. They don't try to meet with different players. In my case, yesterday I was having dinner with six Spanish, which is common for us. In the PGA it's impossible to have this idea. So I have go over there, I have to have a clear idea about what I am going to do over there and that is to compete. I will probably suffer over there more than here but it is routine I would say. It sounds a little bit wrong, but I don't mean -- or I need less people around me than one year ago. I can survive by myself. Q. Does being the defending champion give you an edge or it is more pressure? ALVARO QUIROS: Like I told you at the beginning of the interview, I mean, golf can change in one day, so you can imagine how much can change in a year. It's a nice thing, I'm proud to be one of the past champions here, but tomorrow -- if I make bogeys it's going to be my fault. If I shoot 65, 67 every single day, I'm going to be on the top of the leaderboard and I am going to be sitting here again, so it's a clear idea that I have. Everybody should have it. Some players in the world, the rest, we are not new, you don't win tournaments. SCOTT CROCKETT: Thank you very much. End of FastScripts |
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