ABU DHABI HSBC GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

January 19, 2023

Francesco Molinari

Yas Links

Quick Quotes

Q. How good a score is 5-under par 67 in those afternoon conditions?

FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I mean, it's obviously pretty good. The wind was up all day. Never really let down. I think it's a course that if you hit the ball well enough off the tee, you get a few chances. But yeah, it was nice obviously to keep a clean scorecard, a few birdies here and there. So some stuff to improve over the next few days but the score was really good.

Q. Unbeaten at The Hero Cup, 3 1/2 points out of four. How good is the game feeling? Because it looks pretty good to us.

FRANCESCO MOLINARI: It's still very early days. I think it feels different. I think it looks different but it was really today my first stroke-play round of the year, so feet on the ground. Like I said, there's still a few things I need to do better. I putted great today and that obviously reflects on the score but let's see what I can do in the coming days.

Q. How quickly can the confidence return when you hit a few quality shots and hole some putts?

FRANCESCO MOLINARI: It takes awhile. I think I've been making progress for a few months now, but the better you play, the harder it is to keep improving.

Last week was great for my confidence, and just taking the responsibility of being a playing captain helped my game to mentally being ready on the first tee and stuff like that. So it's been a great start, a great start of the week today and just keeping going, try to improve what I can still improve and see where I can get to.