HERO CUP

January 13, 2023

Thomas Pieters

Alex Noren

Abu Dhabi Golf Club

Continental Europe

Quick Quotes

Q. Pleasing given the way they fought back?

ALEX NOREN: I said to the other guy, you know, Thomas played great in the beginning and then we kind of lost momentum towards the early end of the round or when Thomas played great, 17, 18 -- 16, 17, 18, we kind of held on and it feels good to do it.

THOMAS PIETERS: It was kind of two nines. I played great on the front and Alex helped a lot on the back nine and some up-and-down on the last to close it out. Very happy with the point, yeah.

Q. Did you like this as a partnership?

ALEX NOREN: It was great. It's nice. We've known each other a long time. But we haven't played competitive golf in a few weeks or a few months. It feels good to be back to know where to get back into it.

Q. How important was it to get it this first point on the board for Europe?

THOMAS PIETERS: Very. I think for the guys out there, momentum is big and if they see a 1-up victory, they are definitely going to get some positive vibes from that.

Q. The match seemed to be played in a good spirit, too.

THOMAS PIETERS: We are all good friends. We're still trying to beat them, of course, but it's all friendly.

Q. You've both experienced Ryder Cups and you know what it's about but the setup here this week, how impressive has that been for the new guys coming in?

ALEX NOREN: It's great. It's amazing how what they do for us. We feel like kings in the locker room and everybody helps out, like all the physios are here, all the nutritionists and all the ex-captains and new captains. It just feels like we want to win The Ryder Cup back and they want to try to do everything they can. They really are pushing.

Q. Ryder Cup is between European and American. How can you adjust your mind when you play with European when they are from your team normally?

THOMAS PIETERS: It's just golf. You tee off and you're just trying to win no matter what circumstances or who you're playing against. But like Alex said, we do feel special this week. They are treating us really, really well and yeah, we are happy to get going.

Q. Fran suggests you'll be together tomorrow or does he want to switch it around? Would you like to stay together?

ALEX NOREN: I think they are going to try different pairings and see. We haven't really heard.

Q. Who is the top darts player?

ALEX NOREN: Not me.

THOMAS PIETERS: We haven't had a competition yet.

ALEX NOREN: You're pretty good.

THOMAS PIETERS: I'm okay.