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THE SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP


July 21, 2011


Albert MacKenzie


SURREY, ENGLAND

ALBERT MACKENZIE: I went to the European school last year. But this is my first event as a senior. So I'm thrilled.

Q. How long have you been down in Saunton?
ALBERT MACKENZIE: I've been club professional at Saunton for 14 years.

Q. I was just explaining that it is one of the jewels of --
ALBERT MACKENZIE: It's the best place to be in the world. It is.

Q. And if there's a bit more sort of infrastructure around there, that could hold much bigger events?
ALBERT MACKENZIE: It's often referred to as the best course that's ever held the Open. I would back that up certainly. It's a wonderful place to be. It's great to be the club pro.

Q. We have a 3-under par 69 in the first round of the Senior's Open. How thrilled are you with that?
ALBERT MACKENZIE: Absolutely over the moon. I was thrilled to get through qualifying. And my first goal was to make the cut. So hopefully I've made some inroads into doing that today. I'm going to regroup tomorrow and affect our game and be sure to go level headed tomorrow and just play the course. And looking forward to it. It's been great fun.

Q. When you pitched up this week and you saw some of the names around on the practice ground, the Watsons, the Kites, the Langers of this world, does that make you feel -- or what did that make you feel like?
ALBERT MACKENZIE: It makes me feel privileged to be in the same field as some of the best players in the world. It's a thrill to be here. And to be able to be on the board today was rewarding and up a bit.

Q. You came through qualifying which in itself is no mean feat. What were your expectations coming in?
ALBERT MACKENZIE: I put some good work in prior to that. And I played, I practiced Sunday with two of my very good friends, Andrew Hull and Andrew Reynolds. I was so bad after nine I decided I would go watch the golf and put my feet up.
I think it's the best thing I did. Because after nine holes, it was watching -- it wasn't pretty. So I watched Allen win the and took some inspiration from that. And I played lovely Kingsbird Monday. So it was a nice fallout through the rain today.

Q. We can hear from your accent where you come from. And yet you spent most of your club professional career down in Saunton, in Devon. As an exiled Scot, what's it like down there?
ALBERT MACKENZIE: It's the most wonderful place in the world there. Thrilled to be the club professional there. I wouldn't swap it for anything in the world. I'm thrilled to be the club pro at Saunton. Been there for 14 years. Great bunch of people. And I hope I thrilled some of them today with that round. That's made me really happy.

Q. And the members in the bar, they're going to be very excited to see your name right up there?
ALBERT MACKENZIE: They'll be very surprised. Most of them hammer me in pro's days. I play them in pro's day and most of them absolutely destroy me. So it's nice that I've managed to really show them that some days I can do quite well.

Q. What would be the targets from here on in?
ALBERT MACKENZIE: First target is to make the cut. Let's be realistic, making the cut would be a great achievement. But I'm playing well. I hit the ball great in practice.
It's funny, I didn't feel today I was quite at my best. But I really putted well. And so I'm going to make the cut, try and make the cut, and then hopefully push on from there.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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