HERO DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC

January 16, 2025

Ricardo Gouveia

Majlis Course at Emirates Golf Club

Press Conference

Q. 7-under par 65 is a fabulous score out there, including eight birdies. Was it a hot putter, general all-around good play? What was it?

RICARDO GOUVEIA: One of those days everything went really well. I hit some good tee shots, some good second shots. Holed some good putts, as well, and that's key out here. You've got to be on the fairway to be able to attack these pins, and that's what I did today.

Q. When I looked at the course in practise, I did not see a 65. It looks like it's really difficult, deep rough, fast greens. Did you anticipate anything like that sort of score?

RICARDO GOUVEIA: Not really. I knew someone could shoot a low one, but yeah, I knew it was going to be really tough to do it. Like you said, the rough is really thick, really tall. It's hard to get close to these pins if you're not on the fairway, but if you get on a hot streak, I guess you can go low.

Q. You went into the last tournament of last year, last tournament of your year, anyway, needing a fifth place finish to keep your rights to play on the Tour. Came up with a third. Incredible performance. How much belief and confidence does that give you coming into this year?

RICARDO GOUVEIA: A lot. Just under the gun, just knowing that I can perform under the gun, under that amount of pressure, it's really important, and just gave me a lot of confidence, obviously.