HERO DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC

January 23, 2026

Andrea Pavan

Majlis Course at Emirates Golf Club

Press Conference

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Q. A pretty successful two days here at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, 7-under through 36 holes. How do you feel?

ANDREA PAVAN: Yeah, definitely. Never really had much success around here. But yeah, happy to have had a good start, and there's 36 holes left.

Yeah, I felt like I played pretty well.

Q. I was going to say about your history, you have a lot of inconsistent results around this place. What's been different so far this week?

ANDREA PAVAN: Yeah, I felt like the last few years, kind of since I got my card back, you know, I missed by one, so I was really struggling around the greens because generally, I mean, my tee shot's always been kind of poor. But the last few years around here, I felt like I played well enough to make the cut,

If you're struggling on these greens, it's tough. They are very fast and very solid breaks and this week, they were very tricky. I felt like yesterday, I didn't really have the pace, and today was good. Still missed a few. But yeah, I was just overall happy.

Q. There's a big difference in your scoring on the back nine holes to the front nine. What is it about those nine holes that suits your eye?

ANDREA PAVAN: Well, I think just the field in general. I mean, I think it's just easier. There's three par 5s, and a few more wedges probably. Front nine has, I mean, you've got second hole, and then, you know, there aren't that many birdie holes other than the third.

So front nine is more about just trying to play well and pars are good. But then the back nine, you can take advantage of a few par 5s. 14, 17 are shorter holes, so yeah. That's the difference.

Q. Just finally, going into the weekend, firmly in the mix, this is where you want to be in these big events, isn't it?

ANDREA PAVAN: Yeah, for sure. Definitely. I haven't been much around mixes in a long time. But you know, it's good. I mean, obviously I'm doing things pretty well. There's two more rounds to go, so it's a lot of golf. Yeah, I'll just try to play. I know I'll miss some shots, and hopefully I can hit more good ones than bad ones.