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VIVENDI SEVE TROPHY


September 17, 2011


Nicolas Colsaerts

Peter Hanson

Raphael Jacquelin

Matteo Manassero

Alexander Noren

Jean Van De Velde


PARIS, FRANCE

MATTEO MANASSERO: obviously we didn't win any points, so it was a bit disappointing but we played a really good match. We played a really good match, they probably putted a bit better than us. I was very happy the way we both played. So just disappointed because we didn't win a point.

Q. That was a rather nice finish to a tough day.
PETER HANSON: It was nice to get a halve. We played pretty good golf, both teams today, a lot of birdies and a lot of eagles. It was good fun and a good match and came down to that putt and it's always nice to get it in.

Q. Nice to hear the crowd cheer, as well. They are very much behind you guys?
PETER HANSON: It's nice. Coming down to the last hole it's always nice, when you have a putt and a clutch putt, you have to make it, and this time, lucky to be able to goat it.

Q. And you and Alex seem to be playing well together.
PETER HANSON: Yeah, we enjoy each other's company. Alex is playing well, hitting the shots good and putting well. I've been struggling a bit off the tee, but in greensomes, you get away with it. So playing golf with his drive in foursomes -- it might be a bit tougher. You have to play a bit better off the tee.

Q. Well, it was a great way to finish the match.
ALEXANDER NOREN: It was a great putt by Peter, when he needed it the most. Very good.

Q. But all through the game, huge putts going in from everywhere, it looked like a really tough match play contest?
ALEXANDER NOREN: It was a great match I thought, and we got -- even on the first, start off with tie for a birdie and then it just kept going like that. And then Horsey putted so well, and Darren played well. It was a great game.

Q. You knew you had to stay with them.
ALEXANDER NOREN: Yeah, we needed -- we played a little bit -- off the tee, we were not as accurate as yesterday, me and Peter. But Peter hit some great iron shots and he made some putts as well, but also we had two good birdies on 8 and 9 which got us back in the game, because it was a bit slow and not much happening for us. But then they hit -- I thought I hit a good shot onto 17 about four metres from the pin and they hit it to two feet, eagle. It was tough.

Q. But it was an important half point because you need to stay as close as you can going into this afternoon.
ALEXANDER NOREN: Yeah, they are playing very well.

Q. You are a couple of good competitors.
ALEXANDER NOREN: Yeah, it's so much fun, and I really enjoy it. I need this experience, and it's incredible just to be in such a good team. I wouldn't have thought this a few years ago.

Q. Did you and Peter work out a strategy? Because it's a game that very few of us play, greensomes.
ALEXANDER NOREN: Well, I played first on every tee box, and then on the last, I just -- he played first, because it fit in my -- I liked his driver better than he did, I fancied it better. I just tried to hit a hard drive down, maybe catch the front part of the fairway and I didn't do it really.
But it's a strategy. You've got to play, but most of all, you just put two balls in the fairway and you can choose whichever you want to use.

Q. Little bit of a shift in momentum again today. Is that disappointing for you guys?
NICOLAS COLSAERTS: Yeah, too bad, we got off a little shaky start. I made a few mistakes but Matteo was there to hold it up together a bit. We got back to square after nine which was really good and then on we had a bit of momentum.
But Dyson holed a monster putt out of two breaks on 14 I think, and then we made a bit of a mistake on 15. It's too bad, because I thought Matteo and I worked well together. We could have probably gone to 18 and try to get a half point but not this time.

Q. Coming up against Dyson and Donaldson, seriously in form.
NICOLAS COLSAERTS: Yeah, it's a good pairing, these two. You can see they are good friends and they get along very well. They probably didn't play their best match today I think, but that's just team events. If you get along well with your partner, you've got a good recipe.

Q. A little bit of work to do this afternoon after that morning.
RAPHAËL JACQUELIN: Yeah, after the first day, there's no rush. They have been better than us today I think in my game. Just going to try to get this point back in the afternoon. 14 points to go.
Played great, but we played great as well, but not good enough.

Q. How are you feeling in your own game?
RAPHAËL JACQUELIN: I feel all right. It's coming better. It's not 100 per cent at the moment, but you don't need to be 100 per cent to win a match anyway. If you do the best as you can, it can be enough.

Q. How is the partnership with Thomas?
RAPHAËL JACQUELIN: I enjoyed it. We lost today but it was good fun. He's playing well. So I think he's going to play well tomorrow and I hope he's going to do well this afternoon as well.

Q. Good play by both sides, but it was the putting wasn't it.
JEAN VAN DE VELDE: It was very good, the last group, the rest was 1-up, 1-down, 1-up, 1-down, very, very tight. They seemed like they hit the right shot at the right time. Look at Dyson's second shot on 15, when we are 60 yards ahead with a 6-iron coming into the green. They have a putt for three and we make five with a 6-iron. So all of the sudden, pretty much thinking, hey, at least it's going to be 1-down, maybe square; boom, 2-down, the game is over.
And Thomas Björn, his group with Raphaël they were extremely close as well. Going down 13, they were all-square, they lost a couple of holes, none of them find the fairway on 15, unforced error there, no mistake from the opposition, and that was that. So all of a sudden, they go birdie, birdie, when ours go par, par, and they are 2-down and the game is over.
So great finish by the Swedes, I have to say. Phenomenal. I think Peter was the one who hit the least fairways of the whole lot, and he knows it, as well, but they hang on and they really tried hard.
That's all we can ask from the guy, really. It's just unfortunate it's 3 1/2 - 2 1/2. It could have been easily -- at one stage it was liking like it could be 2-2 and it swung the other way around. It's always bad when there's a real dominance in one group because you know it's almost a lot of point there.
But having said that, Horsey putted extremely, extremely well today. He putted very, very often, because -- great combination. He hits, as well, a lot of fairways off the tee. So he hits a fairway off the tee, his partner hits it on green, he makes the putt. The next hole, he still hits his ball on the fairway, his partner putts it on the green and he makes the putt. That's what happened. It worked like a clock with Darren.
So how many times has that happened? Well, it happened on the first hole. It happened the second hole. It happened on the 4th and it happened on 17; in and out in and out in and out in and out. At the end of the day, what can you do to that? All credit.

Q. What can you do for foursomes?
JEAN VAN DE VELDE: Well, there's going to be a shamble of the pairings. You'll going to see what's going to happen there.
But at the end of the day, it can easily -- the thing is with foursomes, it's very, very unpredictable. It can go either side. You have your foursomes, go and play three and 4-under, they are going to be hard to be beaten. So it's a whole new game this afternoon. If we can come back, if we can clean the plate or get two points back -- only two points behind and singles to go, ten games, let's see how we go.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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