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July 6, 2013
PARIS, FRANCE
Q. I take it you're a pretty satisfied man with the way things have gone?
GRAEME McDOWELL: Yeah, reasonably satisfied. I couldn't have asked for a better position to be going into the last round‑‑ well, I'd like to be five ahead, of course, but no, I'll take it.
Played very solid the last three days. Today I got off to a slow start first five, six holes, and really played some nice stuff coming in. The putter just has not quite got revved up to top gear yet, but hopefully that's waiting for tomorrow.
I feel under control. I'm enjoying it. Keeping the ball under control, which you must do on this golf course, and you know, I really have enjoyed the way I've played so far, so one more round to come, looking forward to it. It's a packed leaderboard. There's 20 guys within five shots. Anything can happen tomorrow and really just got to go out there and keep my head down and see what we can do.
Q. Likely to come down to those last four holes, everything can change.
GRAEME McDOWELL: Yeah, it's probably one of the hardest finishes in European golf. I think it's comparable to like the finish at PLAYERS championship at TPC Sawgrass. This golf course has an element of that in it, the stadium effect that this course has. To me, it's a Scottish and Irish links meets TPC at Sawgrass. It's got a bit of everything.
It's a fantastic golf course, great venue and it's going to be amazing for The Ryder Cup in 2018. I think all of the players that have been here grasp that concept, that it's going to be a phenomenal venue, and hopefully I'll be there.
Q. With a blemish in the round, is it easier to shrug off with the difficulty?
GRAEME McDOWELL: Yeah, I think the difficulty of the last four holes, you have to give them respect.
Today on 15, I knew the pin was back right, and I toyed with the idea of hitting more club off that tee to give myself an opportunity to get to the pin, but I realised just how difficult it was, and ended up just hitting a 2‑iron off the tee and a 6‑iron to the middle of the green and taking my 4 and running.
You've got to respect them. They are very difficult and par is always a great score. Standing on that 15th tee tomorrow, two ahead or two behind, you'll take four pars and run.
Just really solid tee‑to‑green golf. This golf course requires fairways and greens, which is a bit of a cliché, of course that works anywhere, but a lot of golf course, like, say, last week at The Irish Open, you could get away with some wild tee shots. Not this week. You hit it wild this week, you may not find your golf ball. You may lose your golf bag; that's how thick the rough is.
Q. Are you gaining confidence as the tournament is going on?
GRAEME McDOWELL: The last ten or 11 holes there today, I really started to feel it a little bit. If a few putts could have dropped; I bogeyed 17 probably off the best tee shot I hit all day, maybe just wrong club selection off the back there, I tried to nudge the putter out of the fringe and it was a bit sticky and came out hot on me.
Overall I was happy the way I executed a lot of quality shots coming in. Great cut 6‑iron coming into a tough pin, smart shot on 16 and two great swings down the last. I'm really, really happy the way I'm playing. Worked hard on my game and looking forward to the opportunity tomorrow.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
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