ITALIAN OPEN

September 17, 2022

Aaron Rai

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Great round, 9-under for the tournament, blustery conditions. Can you describe what it was like out there?

AARON RAI: Yeah, it was tough out there. It's been tough the last two, three days, really. It was blowing all day. Had to control ball flight and think very well around. It's so difficult if you get in the rough as I'm sure you've heard this week and it got quite tough towards the end around 1 and 15 for us the wind switched completely. We went from playing 15 tee shot into on the left to being down on right for the second shot. That was quite tricky to deal with but very pleased with how I played today overall.

Q. How much of that is a numbers game versus feel today?

AARON RAI: Yeah, it's a great question. It's a little of boast to be honest. I think you do have to trust your numbers at times because there's so much elevation here that sometimes you can't feel the wind on the ball when you're hitting up but you have to trust that it's there.

At other times with the elevation going the other way when you're playing downhill, you can look at a number and think it's playing so much shorter than that just because it's warm, there's a lot of wind up there once the ball gets in the air, it stays there. I think you have to pick-and-choose your moments when to trust your feelings, trust your numbers.

Q. Flawless scorecard; did the game feel that way, too?

AARON RAI: Yeah, it felt very good today. Hit a lot of fairways, which is key this week. Hit a lot of good iron shots and made some ski putts as well today. Putts around the turn, 7 and 8 for par, and made eagle on 9 and 12 and that helps keep the round going. Played very nicely overall.