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OMEGA DUBAI DESERT CLASSICJanuary 31, 2013Richard SterneDUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES RICHARD STERNE: Had good chances for eagles there, and birdied 16, 17, 18, which was nice. Then the front nine, birdied 2, 4, 6 and 7. The rest were all pars, so it was pretty consistent. Q. What were the greens like out there? There's a bit of talk a couple weeks ago that the greens were not the best? RICHARD STERNE: Yeah, they were better than I expected. Obviously when they send out something like that, you do tend to worry but generally, I think they are better than what we expected. Q. Surprise you? RICHARD STERNE: Yeah, the course is pretty good. I mean, obviously the greens have been a little bit better, but there's just a few in the beginning here and there, but generally they are 90 per cent fine. Q. And you've obviously had a lot of injury problems in the past, are you clear of all of those? RICHARD STERNE: Yeah, pretty much. I played last year every tournament I wanted to and didn't have to pull out of any. So hopefully this year, same thing will happen, no trouble, really. I've just got to maintain things and got quite a lot of work from my physios to keep me going, but it's been good. Q. Are you constantly working on keeping your back strong? RICHARD STERNE: Yeah, it's just I've got to just check things and keep things moving and all of that. But I've got a good physio with me, and they seem to keep all of the problems away. Q. Must be quite rare to have such a low score with no eagles; is there a sense it could have been even better? RICHARD STERNE: Yeah, I had a lot of opportunities even on the front nine, it could have been quite special I suppose, but I had two very good opportunities, I would say. And I suppose, yeah, ten birdies, normally there's always an eagle or two in there with something like that, but quite happy with what happened. Q. How does that set you up for the weekend? How do you feel? RICHARD STERNE: Obviously it looks like the scoring is pretty low. I think the course is playing a little bit easier and the rough is not up as it normally is. So looking at the leaderboard, looks like there's a lot of guys from 4‑ or 5‑under par onwards, so it's going to be quite a low‑scoring event, I would imagine. Normally 17, 18 wins it around here, and I would imagine this year, maybe somewhere around 21. It might be just a little bit more bunched than the previous years, so you've just got to keep going. These guys keep going every day lower and lower, so just if it happens, it happens. Q. You can't get too carried away, but that's a perfect start, isn't it? RICHARD STERNE: Yeah, it's as good a start as I could have hoped for. As I said, these guys these days, the depth is so much more than it used to be. The field is not as strong as it always is here, which I suppose is a good thing, but the guys can still play. So as I say, just put three more solid rounds together and hopefully come Sunday, that's enough. Q. Was the course record on your mind at all? RICHARD STERNE: I knew 61 was a record. They used to have the car for breaking the record but they didn't have the car anymore. I always thought that was an impossible task, but I suppose I came close today. I knew it was 61. My luck, would have shot 60 and there would be no car. Q. South African golf is very, very strong, can you just say how much of a motivation that gives to you and how that helps you? RICHARD STERNE: Yeah, South African golf, we've got a number of guys that have come through and been there for a while. That definitely motivates each one of us, and you know, to keep going, you know their games quite well. So I know their games quite well and you think to yourself, surely if they can do it, there's no reason why I can't. Maybe it helps and maybe it puts a bit of pressure, as well. But you've just got a bunch of good guys coming through. Q. Do you speak to a lot of the boys as well? RICHARD STERNE: Yeah, I'm friendly with most of the guys. Charl and Louis moved to the U.S., but still talk to them quite a bit. Q. Did you know there was a good score on the cards? RICHARD STERNE: I've been off since Leopard Creek, so only started playing last week again, took off about four weeks. Yeah, I felt good when I started playing again. This game is strange. Some days you feel great and you shoot level par and the next day you feel off and you shoot 65. You've just got to find a way to put it together. I've often felt tournaments where I haven't felt great, I've done well. Tournaments where I feel good, finish 20th. So you never really know with this game I suppose. Q. Does 10‑under give you some leeway with three rounds to play? Does it take the pressure off? RICHARD STERNE: No, the guys are already 9‑under, 8‑under. I would imagine tomorrow you'll see someone on 12 or 14‑under par. As I said I think it's going to be a low‑scoring event, so you're just going to have to keep going. Q. What's the plan now, going to work on your game now? RICHARD STERNE: No, lunch, physio and maybe ten minutes of putting and then I'm done. Shopping. Q. Are you confident in these situations where you're leading first day? Have you carried it out before? RICHARD STERNE: I've never led from the front. I think my wins have always come from behind. I think I've come as far as six behind the last day. Q. So is this a different situation for you? RICHARD STERNE: Yeah, but it's day one. After day three if I'm leading, then I suppose it's a different story and you've got a realistic opportunity of winning the tournament. If it was after day one that they gave the trophy, then I would be happy, but unfortunately that doesn't happen. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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