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EURASIA CUP PRESENTED BY DRB-HICOMJanuary 15, 2016Soren KjeldsenAndy SullivanBernd WiesbergerKuala Lumpur, Malaysia PAUL SYMES: Pretty dominant performance from yourself and Ian. How did you enjoy playing with him today? BERND WIESBERGER: It was a fun day out there. I'm proud to lead the European out there together with Ian. We played well. We didn't lose a hole out there, thanks to a couple good putts from Ian and myself out there today. Played solidly, and when we needed to press on just after the turn, we did, and put on some pressure. It was a good team effort today. Q. How important was it going on top of the first match of the day and putting the point up? And secondly, I was following for the most part of the match that you were playing, you guys really dovetailed really well, didn't you, you and Ian together? BERND WIESBERGER: You obviously want to be the team who strikes first, and luckily we got off to do that as well. It seemed like it was a bit of an even match for the front nine. Nobody really had a streak going. But we found some momentum around the turn, and you know, it was good to get the first point down for the team spirit, it was important and crucial to have as many blue numbers up on the leaderboard, maybe you don't pay as much attention -- when you get ahead and get ahead comfortably, the whole team can feel it, and that's what counts most. Q. Søren, can you tell us about what happened with Victor, and the fact that he did continue playing with you and give you support from the 16th hole onward; what did that meant to you individually and to the team? SØREN KJELDSEN: It was pretty worrying there, because Victor made a good birdie there on 14, and they came back with a nice birdie on 15. Then suddenly I just saw Victor walking in a weird way, so I thought, oh, what's this. But you know, Victor, he was really brave about it, from the beginning, really. He said: "It will be fine, it will be fine. I just can't bend my leg." And I'm like, hmmmmm??? And he got up there and hit a really good drive there on 16, standing on one leg. There was a bit of old Tiger in that. He plays golf like a man, and you could feel it the last three holes. Q. Any news from the team room about him, how is he feeling, and about tomorrow? SØREN KJELDSEN: Well, I think he got gradually better on 17 and 18, and he wasn't walking quite as badly on 18. So he was very hopeful. He was sure that he was going to be fine tomorrow. So I'd be surprised if he's not. Q. So it's just the heat? SØREN KJELDSEN: Something happened in his leg. I was speaking to my caddie and he said it happened to him and it took about a day and a half before he felt good again. I'm not sure what it is. But we've got the physios here and they will look after him. Q. What was the message from Darren going out on the first tee? ANDY SULLIVAN: Just enjoy it. I think me and Shane was always going to be quite relaxed out there. So main thing was just go out and enjoy and go for our shots. We just went out there and enjoyed it and I think it showed, really, in our golf. We played pretty well, dovetailed pretty well again, as well. Q. Just wonder what you were talking about when the Asians came back? ANDY SULLIVAN: We just said it's still in our hands. We knew we were dormie-up, so we knew we was in the driving seat. We knew just one good shot was going to finish the match off. We gave them two holes away. Shane hit a fantastic chip on 16, and Wu hit a great wedge shot in there on 16. But again, we felt like we was in the driver's seat and felt like they couldn't keep doing that and we had to just bide our time almost. Q. We all know how passionate Ian is about match play. Did you get a sense of that today, being paired with him for the first time in competition? Can you give us an example of times when he got really passionate during the match? BERND WIESBERGER: Yeah, maybe the eyes weren't just as popping as they are at The Ryder Cup, but you can sense that he cares a lot about this week and just cares in a way, beating up the opponent, doesn't matter who it is. Sometimes it feels like you can sense what's going to happen with him in a good way, and kind of we had that feeling on the first green, which was I think crucial, as well, to get Ian fired up early on. He holed a nice maybe 20-footer on the first to halve the hole and I think the team could see it on the putting green, as well. Everyone knew Ian was up for it. And again, I just stepped off the 11th fairway and spoke to Darren briefly. I told him, you know, I've got a feeling he's going to get on a run now. He felt really comfortable. Match play, makes him perform well. He hit an eagle on 11 and stiffed it on 12 which kind of turned the match our way. He really cares about this week. We had a good team effort out there today and it was good to see him perform the way he did. Q. What were the course conditions like, given the heavy downpour last night? SØREN KJELDSEN: The course is really good. It must have incredible drainage, because today wasn't any different than the other days. Most days we've had some overnight rain but the course was great. Fairways are soft but they are nice to hit off. The greens are still firm, running really nicely. So you couldn't see any difference from yesterday. Q. Nicholas and Danny were probably the least-known of the Asian groups but at the same time they were also -- the home advantage that they had. Did you expect this kind of fight from them? SØREN KJELDSEN: Yeah, we did. We talked about it even last night. They play at home. They are used to playing off this grass. They probably know the course really well. So we are playing on their turf. So we knew it was going to be really difficult and they showed that the whole day. They played really nicely, and every time we got 1-up, they made birdie right after. And on 17, after I chipped in, they chipped in. So it was no surprise to us. We knew it was going to be difficult. Q. I'm sure you all went out with the intention to win today, but to have a three-point lead going into Saturday's alternate-shot, what's the team spirit like? ANDY SULLIVAN: The team spirit from the start of the week has been great. You can see the camaraderie between all the guys out here. I think going into tomorrow, we'll be very confident obviously but we know we have not got to get complacent. Just look at two years ago what happened, not quite as big a lead as that, but still got to go out there and do the job tomorrow. Got to go out and play as well as we did today and just keep getting the points up for Europe. Q. We always keep hearing, we must have fun, we want to enjoy ourselves. You mentioned it again just now. How do you define enjoying yourself when you're playing in such competition? ANDY SULLIVAN: I think when you're relaxed, you just enjoy playing golf. I think obviously if you're playing with somebody -- if you're playing alongside and getting along with, it's easy to enjoy. Sometimes when you're playing by yourself, you can get a bit bogged down, and things don't go your way, it can be tough. When you're in a team environment like that, one keeps the other one going well and just bounce off each other. I think Darren has been very clever the way he paired guys together. Everyone sort of gets on with everyone and you can see everyone bouncing around the golf course and I think there's more to come tomorrow to be fair. Q. Would you like to be paired with Ian again tomorrow and is that the case already? Have you already decided on the pairing? BERND WIESBERGER: Well, as far as I know, pairings are decided. It will always be a pleasure for me to go out and Ian and play foursomes, as well. He's just a special character and can really motivate you during maybe some holes when it doesn't exactly go your way, and just the experience he brings in any kind of team formats, he's absolutely great. Any time he can be paired with Ian in those team events, it's an absolute pleasure I think for anyone in the team. As Andy just mentioned, the team spirit out here this week is so good and everybody is getting along really well. It doesn't really matter who you're paired with, you're having a good time out there and you're trying your best and you try to motivate each other. That's the key thing for tomorrow again. Q. A competition like this can catalyze the game in this region. Is that something that golfers think about? Is that one of the reasons that brings you out here? SØREN KJELDSEN: Well, I think for all of us, I'm sure I can say this, that we all want to grow the game. We think it's the best game in the world. I think it's a fantastic game and you know, we all love the values that golf is played with. And therefore, we want to grow the game. I think it's great for youngsters to get involved with golf. It's better than video games and sitting at home. So therefore, yeah, if we can help just a little bit out in Asia, it would be great. We hope to do so. Q. Three different countries here. Do you anticipate playing in the Olympic Games? Is that something that you have as an objective this year? BERND WIESBERGER: First and foremost, you have to qualify for the Olympic Games -- and for Austria, it will be easier than for example, for Andy, or for a lot of English guys. Unfortunately not so many Austrians are giving a good charge. This is definitely one of the highlights for me. It's a tournament that involves a lot of pride in your country and representing your country, and even more so that it has not happened for a hundred years and it will happen only every four years to come from now on. I take big pride in representing Austria on that stage, as well as I do representing Austria this week. I'm looking forward to Rio and to the Olympic Games for sure. PAUL SYMES: Thanks, guys, and best of luck tomorrow. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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