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VOLVO GOLF CHAMPIONS

January 27, 2011

Johan Edfors

KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN

SCOTT CROCKETT: Thanks, as always, for coming in and joining us. Well played today, a fantastic start. Just give us your thoughts on the round as a whole.
JOHAN EDFORS: Well, I played really solid all day. Hit a lot of fairways. A bit wider than last week, so it suits my game a bit better, and my distance control with irons was really good today, so I gave myself a lot of good chances within 15 feet and holed a few of those and made a couple of birdies on the par 5s.
SCOTT CROCKETT: Nine birdies I think in total. Any that particularly pleased you?
JOHAN EDFORS: Started on 10 there and tried to go for the green and tried to go a little bit right to the waste since we didn't have any bunkers. I made a pretty good up-and-down. It was like a 40-yard bunker shot and I hit it up to four feet and that really got me going straightaway. So that was probably the key shot of the day I would say.
SCOTT CROCKETT: And started well and finished well, two birdies on 8 and 9, as well.
JOHAN EDFORS: I had a good chance for eagle there on 9. I had like a 12-, 15-footer for an eagle that I hit just a little too soft. It was a good finish. I holed a really long one on No. 8 so, that was very nice.
SCOTT CROCKETT: If memory serves me right you had a good first round last week in Abu Dhabi and not so good in the final three; hoping to put that right this week.
JOHAN EDFORS: Definitely. Started out really nicely in Abu Dhabi last week. But to be honest I played about similar golf the following three rounds, as well, but it's pretty tough on that course when you only hit three or four fairways.
This is a bit more pleasant off the tee for me I think.

Q. So will you be buying Monty a bottle of champagne tonight for designing a course you like?
JOHAN EDFORS: Definitely. I'll keep it until Sunday, though.

Q. In terms of -- a lot of players yesterday were saying that this is a course that you have to hit a or b, and there's not that much leeway, but you feel for your game there is more leeway?
JOHAN EDFORS: Well, at least you can connect to the ball if you hit it a little off-line. I was hitting my driver perfect today, so I think I only missed -- I missed one fairway, and okay, I missed No. 9 as well and not trying to hit the fairway, just hit it up into the waste and an 8-iron up in the green on the par 5 but the rest of the drives were just perfect in the middle of the fairway.
So the course couldn't have played easier than it did for me because I was in position a off the tee on almost every single hole, so that really helps. But otherwise, it's tough. If you're coming in sideways to those small plateaus on the greens, it's really, really tricky.

Q. A lot of the players in the days leading up to the start were saying that the greens were almost ridiculously tricky, and criticising them. What were you saying about them in the days beforehand?
JOHAN EDFORS: Well, I started on the front nine on Tuesday, my practise round, and I was a bit amazed actually. They were really, really slopey. But they have done a great job in keeping the flags in the right position, and quite a lot of the greens, you can actually -- I don't consider to the green because it slopes off, it's like false fronts and stuff.
So the greens are really, really big in the yardage book. But when you get out there and had a look at it, you can almost scrap half of the green because it can't stop, it's going to roll off the green anyway.
I thought today, obviously I played really, really nicely, and it's a really small margin of error. You only have five, six, seven yards on a few of the approach shots distance-wise to hit it good, I mean, to stay on the right plateau.
If you're playing really nicely you can shoot a low number out here but if you're a little bit off, it's going to be really tricky.

Q. How many putts did you have today?
JOHAN EDFORS: I was 8-under, I missed one green, so I would say 28 putts. Maybe I hit two par 5s -- yeah, 29 putts I would say. I hit two par 5s in two.

Q. The last time I checked there were Swedes 1, 2 and 3 at the top of the leaderboard. Just how healthy do you think Swedish golf is at the moment?
JOHAN EDFORS: It's really healthy I would say. We have a lot of little older guys. I guess I'm one of the older ones now but we have got some new talent coming up, as well and it's going to be fun to see. Oscar Floren is from my hometown, as well. He just made his debut in South Africa and I think he's a really good and upcoming player as well. You see Robert, and I think Niclas Fasth is going to prove that his game is a lot better than he's shown the last couple of years. Swedish golf is really healthy.

Q. From what you're saying, yes, you've managed to shoot 8-under today, but to shoot 8-under here, you've got to get it right because there is no margin for error.
JOHAN EDFORS: You have to get it right, but I think I had five putts within 12, 13 feet that I missed today, so you can shoot -- I was on today, I was striking it really nicely. There wasn't very much win so it's playing -- you're coming in with pretty short irons, it's 8- and 9-irons at the most really and so a lot of wedges. If it not too windy, if you're on, you should be able to hit those spots where the flag is.

Q. Is it the case, therefore, that you hit the good shot, you get the reward and if you don't, you're in trouble?
JOHAN EDFORS: Definitely, there's a lot of shots, there is no margin of error but if you put it off you're going to leave yourself a good birdie chance and if you're slightly off, you're struggling to make par. It's tricky putts, usually up a slope and then down one, so it's hard to judge the speed on the putts.
SCOTT CROCKETT: Thanks very much.

End of FastScripts

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