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VOLVO GOLF CHAMPIONS

January 28, 2011

Edoardo Molinari

KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN

SCOTT CROCKETT: Thanks, as always for coming in and joining us, and many congratulations, a fantastic round today and a good position in the tournament. Just give us your thoughts.
EDOARDO MOLINARI: Yeah, absolutely. I think I played very well today, and I got off to a great start with six straight birdies. And then I continued to play well, but I wasn't putting very nicely. I missed quite a few chances on the front nine. But it was good to finish the day with a birdie at the last and 65 is always a good score.
SCOTT CROCKETT: Any real chances in that spell where all of the pars came, anything you let slip by?
EDOARDO MOLINARI: I think I had good chances on 3, 5, 6 and 7. The longest one was probably ten feet. It could have been a really low round but 65 is always a good score.
SCOTT CROCKETT: Carries on from a great year you had last year; is it always difficult come into a good year after having such a good year last year?
EDOARDO MOLINARI: No, I think there's always something to play for, you can always set new goals, higher goals. So it wasn't too difficult really and hopefully I can play better than last year.

Q. Did the rain and a little bit of wind make you think you were playing in Scotland again?
EDOARDO MOLINARI: A little bit. It was quite cold at one point, and very windy, especially when we were playing 14, 15, 16. It was quite difficult, so I was happy to make a par on 16, because it was playing very long this morning. It was almost a 3-wood, given the conditions. Weather wasn't too kind on us.

Q. What is it that makes you play better in those conditions? Is it concentrating harder?
EDOARDO MOLINARI: I don't know. I think I just like to play when it's a little bit windy, and I don't know really.

Q. Was it at the 8th that you appeared from well below the green with a fine chip and got down, up and down?
EDOARDO MOLINARI: The 17th, which was the 8th hole of the day.

Q. Were you in a bunker?
EDOARDO MOLINARI: No, I was standing in the waste area but the ball was just on the edge in the rough. So it was not a great second shot. And then, I mean, it was a difficult second shot. And I just hit it short of the green where you saw it and then I hit a good chip to maybe three feet and made the putt.

Q. Have you ever started a round like that before with six straight birdies; do you recall?
EDOARDO MOLINARI: No, I don't think so. I don't think I've ever had six straight birdies, even in the middle of the round. So it was a nice way of starting the second round, yeah.

Q. And when you start with six in a row, are you sort of thinking maybe you can go seven, eight, nine, ten birdies?
EDOARDO MOLINARI: It was difficult, because as I said, by the time we got to the 16th, it was 210 yards today and it was probably playing more like 240. So it's difficult to have a birdie there.
And then 17 was, again, pretty tough when we got there. So you know, I was just trying to play shot by shot and see what happened.

Q. One last question, I don't want to take anything away from your great round, did you get disappointed that you had to wait 11 holes for another birdie?
EDOARDO MOLINARI: Yeah, absolutely. I still hit the ball nicely, maybe not as well as the first six holes. But you can't have 18 birdies, it's almost impossible. I missed a few chances which was a little bit disappointing but the birdie on the last, you always finish on a high.

Q. Can you just describe the first six holes for us and what you hit?
EDOARDO MOLINARI: Yeah, I think on the 10th, I hit a good drive and then I had a second shot from like 60 yards and hit it to a foot and a half away.
11, a good drive and a good second shot to maybe five, six feet.
12, it was the only good putt I made. It was probably 20 feet. So it was a good putt.
And 13, I hit a great drive and rescue just on the front edge of the green and 2-putted for birdie.
Then 14, I hit it stiff with a pitching wedge.
15, I hit a 7-iron to five, six feet and made the putt. So it was very good playing.

Q. How aware were you that Francesco was up there with you?
EDOARDO MOLINARI: Well, I knew he played well yesterday, and I knew he got off to a good start, because we had leader boards all over the course.
It's always nice when both of us play well in the same week, because it gives us the chance to play together on the weekend and hopefully same as Gleneagles and Loch Lomond, together in the final round and hopefully will be the same as that.

Q. Same weather, same brother, same partner -- will you be happy playing with him on the weekend?
EDOARDO MOLINARI: I'll be happy beating him by one (smiling).

Q. It has suggested that you always share with your brother; do you reckon it will be his turn here, and it was your turn at Loch Lomond?
EDOARDO MOLINARI: If he can play better it will be his turn but I'm not letting the tournament away to him. (Laughter).

Q. Forgive me if I'm wrong, you're taking up your U.S. Tour card this year, are you?
EDOARDO MOLINARI: No, I'm not taking it because I think it's too difficult to play both tours. So I'm going to go and play a little bit more in the States, but I won't play more than ten or 11 events I think. And then I'll play -- I guess I'll play there in the beginning until Wentworth, until the U.S. Open, and then I'll come back here in the summer and just play the second half of the season over here.

Q. Had you considered it?
EDOARDO MOLINARI: I considered it, but I think my home tour is the European Tour, and I always want to play here. So the only option would have been to play both, and I think given the fact that you have to play 15 events in the States, it's almost impossible to play 15 over there and then another 20 over here.
So that was my choice, and I'm happy of playing over here.

Q. Does the fact that with Lee, Martin, Rory all playing over here, there's going to be more ranking points available here; does that influence you, as well?
EDOARDO MOLINARI: A little bit. I think, as I said, the most decisive factor is that you cannot play both tours at the same time unless you only play 13 events over here.
So I think the best way, probably, is what I'm going to do, which is go over there for the WGCs, the Majors, and play some events in between and then come back in Europe when the bigger events are coming in Europe.

Q. When is the last time you played together with Francesco in the last couple of rounds of a tournament, and when you are both practising to go, does it make it competitive?
EDOARDO MOLINARI: The last time we played together in a tournament was at Gleneagles -- well, Ryder Cup, but normal tournament was Gleneagles. We always practise together and most of the time we play practise rounds together, so it's always good fun to play with him.
We are very close to each other, and we always try to help each other. So we are really close and as I said, it's good fun. We are not very competitive in a -- we are competitive but in a good way.
SCOTT CROCKETT: Edoardo, well done today. Good luck tomorrow.

End of FastScripts

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