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PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

August 12, 2010

Francesco Molinari

KOHLER, WISCONSIN

KELLY ELBIN: Francesco Molinari of Italy in with a 4-under par round of 68 in the opening round of the 92nd PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. He's tied with Bubba Watson for the lead midway through the first round. Nice playing and you tied for 10th last year in your first PGA Championship. Good round today. General comments about the 68, please.
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: It was a pretty solid round. I hit the ball quite well all day and basically just tried to stay out of trouble and get some birdies here and there when I had the chances. So I think today everything was going pretty much according to the plan, but obviously the week is very long and it's not going to be so easy for me all week.
KELLY ELBIN: You hit 16 of 18 fairways today. Could you go through the birdies, the five birdies, please.
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I started off the 10th. 11th, I didn't go for the green, I hit the wedge, shot a bit long in the fringe and I holed the putt from probably 30, 35 feet.
Then the 12th was playing short today, downwind, I hit a pitching wedge to four feet and holed the putt.
The 5th was downwind again, the par-5, I reached the green in two with a driver and a rescue and 2-putted from 30, 35 feet.
7th, I hit a 4-iron to eight, 10 feet and holed the putt.
9, I hit an 8-iron to again probably 10 feet, 12 feet and holed the putt.

Q. Have you seen this golf course before this week and what do you think of it?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: No, I just got here after the Bridgestone last week and I had two practice rounds, 18 holes and Tuesday and nine holes yesterday and I really like the golf course. I think that it seems the same like courses in Europe but obviously it's playing a lot softer than what European courses are usually and I like the golf course, I like the greens, so I'm just looking forward to the rest of the week.

Q. As always several players are showing signs of feeling the pressure as we get close to Ryder Cup qualifying. You don't seem to be showing those. Are you feeling it?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I don't think about it. Or at least I try. I obviously now we are really close to the Ryder Cup, so at the end of every week you go and you watch the rankings and you see if something is changed, but then I was trying really the practice round I was playing really well, so I just said to myself, try and focus on doing as good as you can in this tournament and then see what happens.
KELLY ELBIN: Francesco is 10th on the European World Points List for the European team.

Q. Graeme McDowell a couple days ago in his interview said that he felt that because he had won and Louis Oosthuizen had won that it gives people who know those players and who play with them the confidence that they can go on and do the same thing and win major championships. Do you feel that's true?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, I think it is. We play a lot of golf together back in Europe, so if you see those guys wining majors you know that can you do it. But still it's really really hard to win a tournament like this and it happens a few times that maybe somebody who is not really in the top-10 players wins, but I think it's not going to last forever.
I mean I don't know how to say it, but it's, I think obviously Tiger is going to get back to his standards and Phil is going to win more majors, and so you just need to play really well and try to grab the occasion when you have it.

Q. How long were you with the long putter and what made you change recently?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I used the belly putter for I think it was a bit more than two years. Two years, yeah, a little bit more. And I just switched back because I had lost the feeling with the belly putter and I wasn't really putting that well, so I tried to -- usually in a week off I try to go back to the short putter and it was feeling quite good and I was feeling more comfortable with that, so I decided to switch back.

Q. When you look at the leaderboard yourself Bubba Watson, Ryan Moore, other guys who are up there, they're not the biggest names in golf, but when you look back at the past two majors with Graeme McDowell and Louis doing what they did, does that help everybody in the field in a way that you look and say these are more accessible to win a major now. It's not Tiger and Phil and the top names maybe because they're struggling, it's more open to everybody?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, I think as I said, watching Graeme and Louis win, everybody who plays with them maybe thought a little bit that we can do it as well, but I think that as I said, it's really, really hard and not every major is won by sometimes who is winning the first time, but at the same time you have to start somewhere. So hopefully for Louis and for Graeme, it would be the first of a few.
KELLY ELBIN: When you never played a golf course before, particularly a major, do you compare notes with your brother as far as things that he may have seen in practice rounds that you may have seen.
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, usually we play the practice rounds together, so if one of the two sees something that the other doesn't see, obviously we talk about it and we talk a little bit about the strategy, but then we are different players as well. Our game is not really so similar, so on some things, yes, but then I think we play the golf course in a different way.
KELLY ELBIN: Francesco Molinari with 68 at the PGA Championship. Thank you.
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Thanks.

End of FastScripts

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