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OMEGA DUBAI LADIES MASTERS

December 7, 2015

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

BETHAN CUTLER: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the 10th edition of the OMEGA Dubai Ladies Masters at Emirates Golf Club. It's my great pleasure to be joined by the frontrunners of for the Ladies European Tour Rookie of the Year award: Emily Kristine Pedersen and Nanna Koerstz Madsen from Denmark. And we are also joined by Charley Hull, many of you will recognize, as she won the Rookie of the Year award and Ladies European Tour Order of Merit last year.

Like to start with Charley. This tournament has great memories for you, you've had a lot of success here. How does it feel to be back in Dubai?

CHARLEY HULL: It's good. I love Dubai. It's one of my favourite places to come in the world. It's good to be back and I can't wait to get out there on the golf course this week because I really love this golf course and it's just good fun.

BETHAN CUTLER: As a former winner of the rookie title how important was that for you in your career and then going on and winning the Order of Merit, as well?

CHARLEY HULL: It was a big thing for me because obviously you can only do it once and it's quite a good thing to look back on, but I was quite nervous coming into the week, actually, because it was quite tight when I was going against Holly Clyburn. It was great when I won it but it's a good thing to have on your C.V.

BETHAN CUTLER: I know that both of you Danes are very keen to win not only the Rookie of the Year award but also the tournament this week.

Emily, how important is this week coming up for you in terms of the year so far?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: It's obviously very important because it's the biggest tournament of the year, and yeah, I want to win the Rookie of the Year and I'm in front now but Nanna is a great player and if she wins and I don't, she'll win the Rookie of the Year probably and that will be it. But it's an important week and I'm going to do my best and hopefully I'll win the Rookie of the Year in the end of the week.

BETHAN CUTLER: Nanna, how important is this tournament to you, and how have you been preparing?

NANNA KOERSTZ MADSEN: It's a really important tournament for me, as well. I've been down here one week ago, the week before we went to Japan. So I came to practise for a whole week just to be prepared for this event. Of course, I want to do what I can to win the Rookie of the Year, but I'm a bit behind, but I'm going to do my effort.

Q. Have you worked out the permutations of what you would have to do?
EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: I think I have to win second at least.

Q. Are you confident of doing that?
EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: I am. I mean, it's not really my focus at the moment. I just want to go into this tournament as if it was another one, hoping for a win. So it's not really my main focus but it would just be a bonus if that came with it.

Q. My question is for both Emily and Nanna. How much is Charley Hull motivation for you, given that she has done what you guys are trying to achieve this year, and then going onto win the Order of Merit, as well, how much of a motivation is she in what you are trying to do?
EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: Not really. Nanna has been in front the whole year and she's played really good. After my win in India, I caught her. But she's still a very good player. I just have to focus on my golf and doing my thing this week. I'll do my best and if the best is not enough, that's not enough. And if it's enough, it's enough.

Q. How good is this for Danish golf, both of you fighting?
EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: It's been great for Danish golf. We've been a lot in the media at home. It's been on the card that the Danish ladies are doing well and we have always had each other to push each other and pull each other, so I think it's very good for women's golf.

Q. Is it proof that perhaps your development system is working in Denmark?
EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: I think so, I really think so because Nicole is playing good and Malene is playing good. We all grew up together and had the same coaches and system around us. I think that's kind of one of the reasons we're doing very well at the moment.

Q. I kind of wanted to ask something of a similar line about Danish golf. There seems to be a lot of buoyancy about Danish golf right now. The Made in Denmark tournament has been very popular and the crowd support you get for that tournament. You girls are doing so well. The men on the Tour are doing well. What's it about the Danish golf right now? What's really created this upward movement in the last few years? And do you have a system like the Swedes used to have, the Project 54 and things like that, do you have a system in Danish golf which is working well?
EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: I think, yeah, as I said before, we've had a lot of new coaches. I think one of the reasons the professionals are doing good, that we've had like this pro team now.

So when you go from an amateur to a professional, the Federation keeps supporting you, which they haven't done back in the days when Thomas BjÃ¶rn was young. They are doing that now and I think that's one of the reasons that the professionals are doing good, because we are not all on our own when we turn professionals.

Q. Do you want to say something on that?
NANNA KOERSTZ MADSEN: No, Emily is right. They are still supporting us pros that we don't have to go out and find sponsors right away. Of course it's very important with the sponsors, but we can play some tournaments and try and do our best. We can start playing even though we don't have sponsors around.

Q. Is there a time frame for the support?
EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: No, there's no frame. I think as long as you use the coaches there and as long as you cooperate with them, it's good. There's no limit. Of course, if some of the guys are playing on the PGA Tour and lives there, it's harder to be on the team because they don't see the coaches as much. But no, there's no limit.

Q. Is it just the facilities coaches or is it also things like traveling and maybe paying you a stipend or something like that?
EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: It's both, using all the coaches and the experts, but also some of the expenses are covered.

Q. Can I ask the British side of that kind of coin; do you feel there's a support in Britain in the same way that Denmark is supporting their new players coming through?
CHARLEY HULL: Well, I didn't really come through it well, I did come through the England set but it's completely different I feel. We're more kind of like just supporting you as amateurs and stuff.

I don't know, I think there's is a bit more advanced. If England could do something like that, it would help a lot of the up and coming players. But I did come through the England squad when I was young and I quit because it wasn't quite that good. And then I think they started realising and then they did something about it, and now it's really good. So hopefully the next team will do something like that.

Q. Just wanted to ask you, obviously competing this week but compatriots, how long have you known each other and does that ask a little extra ingredient this week that the two of you are going head to head?
NANNA KOERSTZ MADSEN: We've known each other since we were ten or 11 years old. Obviously we've known each other for quite a few years, and yeah, we've always been competing with each other. So we are used to that. I don't think this is any different from the amateur years. We just like to beat each other and be the best.

BETHAN CUTLER: You're from the same club, aren't you?

EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN: We are.

Q. Somebody like Lydia Ko, becoming the world No. 1 at the age she is, and you are very young, also, what kind of a motivation does a player like Lydia give to somebody like you?
CHARLEY HULL: Yeah, Lydia is wicked. I like Lydia. She's a great kid, as well. No, definitely, doing that young is great. It inspires you and wants you to do not beat her but like be as good as her. But she's a great role model for the game. Even people that know her she's a role model to people that don't even play golf because the way she handles herself on and off the golf course is great.

Obviously I've played with Lydia many times and we've had some great rounds. Even this year we've had some great rounds. No, she's a good kid. She definitely inspires me to, I don't know, just go out there and play golf. She just enjoys it. It's a lot of fun to be out there with her.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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