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ZURICH CLASSIC OF NEW ORLEANSApril 24, 2013Thorbjørn OlesenNEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA JOHN BUSH: Here at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Now a special temporary member of the PGA TOUR. Thorbjorn, some great starts already for you this year. Tied for 7th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and coming off a tie for 6th place at The Masters tournament. Talk about your season up to this point? THORBJORN OLESEN: Yeah, I've been playing great. It started in the Middle East and on the European Tour, and I've just been playing some great golf. I felt like last year I played really well the last four or five months. So I just took that with me, and I had a nice break. I've been working hard with my coach and all the people behind me. So it's been a really good season so far. JOHN BUSH: Making your first start here at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Talk a little bit about being here for the first time? THORBJORN OLESEN: Yeah, I played 18 yesterday, and the course looks great. I really like the layout. There are a lot of tough holes, and you need to be very accurate on the tee box. So, yeah, I think it looks nice. Q. How's the injury from the Shell Open? Have you pretty much gotten over that now? THORBJORN OLESEN: Yeah, I had a week off last week where I didn't do that much practice to take it easy for my back and my neck. I got a lot of treatment, so I've stopped taking any pills now. It's definitely going in the right direction. I feel very comfortable with my swing now. Q. Describe the car accident. THORBJORN OLESEN: Well, a couple cars in front of me drove into each other and started spinning around. I tried to drive around them, but there was nothing really I could do, and I hit the side of the car and ended up sideways. Q. Did the car tip or did your car tip? THORBJORN OLESEN: No, my car spun around a little bit and ended up in the emergency road. I don't know what you call it. Q. You played really well in the Masters the last three holes. Was it just a matter of getting adjusted? I know you shot 78 on Thursday and didn't play great after that. Was it just kind of getting your eye on it and figuring out the layout? THORBJORN OLESEN: Yeah, I think so. But I actually felt like I played pretty good in the first round also, but Augusta is a pretty tough golf course. If you start hitting a few bad shots, you get really punished. So I had a few bad shots on the back nine on the first day, but I felt like I played pretty well. Especially the last three days, I hit the ball great and started holing a few putts on the tricky greens also. So that was the key. Q. As a special temporary member now, what's your schedule look like for the next few weeks or months? THORBJORN OLESEN: Well, I'm going to stay over here next week and take a week off then play the TPC Sawgrass. Then after that I'm going to go back to Europe, but I'll definitely play the two majors over here and hopefully play a few more events if I get a few invites. Q. Do you think that there will come a point this year where you think about having a U.S. base or do you have one already? THORBJORN OLESEN: No, I don't have one, and I'm not thinking about it at all. I just moved to London, so just taking one step at a time. Q. Was your accident a reflection of just bad drivers this America? Had you been warned about the drivers over here? THORBJORN OLESEN: No, I was warned after I was in the accident. I could have used that before (laughing) But, no, I think I was just really unlucky. Q. Speaking of the Masters, did you think the slow pay penalty assessed in The Masters was fair? Do you think that golf should be sped up? THORBJORN OLESEN: I don't know. I haven't really seen‑‑ I mean, I played with him in the third round and he was definitely not slow. So I don't know how he played the first two rounds. But if he had been really slow, I think it's fair he got the penalty. But I played with him in the third round, and I thought he was really quick. Q. In the last year, what would you say about your game has improved? THORBJORN OLESEN: I think I've improved every part of the game, actually. I think this year especially my driving has been a lot better. I've hit a lot more fairways. That's what I did at The Masters also. I hit a lot of fairways. My iron play has been really good the last year and a half, so that made it quite easy for me to make birdies. So I think the driving has been the key this year that I've been so consistent. Q. Just to go back to slow play just for a second. It seems like a very American problem, slow play, whether it's in Junior college or even the professional game. But you don't hear it a lot on the European Tour or overseas. Why do you think that is? Is slow play an issue over there, and if not, why do you think that is? THORBJORN OLESEN: I don't know. I think it's probably something to do with the referees. They're quite strict and quite after us on the European Tour, I think. So we have to play pretty quick, otherwise we get a bad time and get penalties. So I think that's probably key. I think the Challenge tour has a lot to do with it also. I think everybody on the Challenge Tour starts to learn to play pretty quick, so maybe that's why. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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