|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIPMay 23, 2013Mikko IlonenVIRGINIA WATER, ENGLAND Q. What was the secret to that one today? MIKKO ILONEN: Just patience really. It was pretty nippy in the morning when we started and still is. All day I was thinking, can I get these waterproof trousers off my legs, because it was just on the edge if I could just take some clothes off but I really couldn't. Just stayed patient and made some putts. Q. I was chatting to your caddie as you walked off and asked what's behind the recent good form, and he said patience, good attitude; when you make a mistake, you don't worry and you can recover. MIKKO ILONEN: To give a couple examples today, I could have been more aggressive on holes like 13 and 16 to advance a little bit more when I was out of position, but I took my medicine, chipped it out and tried to make a par that way. I know I did on 17, which was a good 4. Didn't quite hole a putt from 16. Staying patient out there is key. Q. Your 10th visit to the PGA Championship and your best finish is 15, did you come into this year expecting more because of recent finishes? You've had a couple of second places. MIKKO ILONEN: A little bit. I've had good form this year, so it has not been the best of places for me, but I've always enjoyed to come over here because the tournament is first class, the best we have. So hopefully I can pull some scores together this week, as well. Q. Talk me through; very nice start to the championship. MIKKO ILONEN: Well, I'm not going to go through all the 18, but I had a nice start to the round. I made a good up‑and‑down on the first, which sort of calmed me down a little bit and I made a few birdies there on the front nine. It was pretty easy all the way. It was a stress‑free round even though I've been hitting the ball great. But I stayed patient all the way. Q. And this is in tricky conditions, because the breeze is awkward out there to say the least. MIKKO ILONEN: There's quite a few holes where you feel like the wind is coming from the opposite direction, or it should be. And obviously very nippy at the moment and it was this morning at 7.30 when we started. So we did have some hail, as well. I don't know if you had anything over here at the clubhouse but we were on the 9th tee. Q. You're probably aware we are expecting some bad stuff later on, we can never second guess but you want to get a good score under your belt, don't you? MIKKO ILONEN: Yeah, I said to Alex early on once we started, this is a good draw, what we have, because you can get a 3.30 tee time and it's not the best of times to play. Q. It's too early to talk about moving that one step up from 2, 2, to 1 but you're in wonderful form, aren't you? MIKKO ILONEN: I've never really played that well over here. I think the best I've played around Wentworth, when I was 14 or 15. I played a tournament here when I was a kid. Since that it's been a bit of a struggle but hopefully we can turn it around this week. Q. You got a couple of performances between 10 and 20 before the changes. MIKKO ILONEN: Yeah, that was playing okay, not playing good, and I played good. Today I played good, so keep it going. Q. What do you recall about playing here as a teenager? MIKKO ILONEN: I recall making a mess of 18 one of the days. But I remember Sergio shooting silly scores in that tournament. Q. What was the tournament when you were 14 or 15? MIKKO ILONEN: European Young Masters. You'll find Sergio won it by like 15 shots. That tells you something, when I say I felt like I played pretty good. Q. And what was the hail on the 9th? How bad? MIKKO ILONEN: It wasn't bad, but I said to a friend of mine yesterday, before I went to bed, I said I think it's going to snow tomorrow, and she started laughing. It's British summer and we have proof of that. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|