European Tour: Thomas Pieters Talks Posting 65 in Tough Conditions at Omega Dubai Desert Classic

European Tour professional Thomas Pieters speaks to the media following his opening round of -5 under par at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic about results last week and expectations this week.

European Tour: Thomas Pieters talks with the media following round 1 of Omega Dubai Desert Classic

Q. A terrific round of 5-under par. Let’s talk about the first nine. You started from 10, out in 5-under. Tell us about that, terrific scoring in those conditions?
THOMAS PIETERS: Yeah, it was. My drives and 3-woods weren’t very good today, but somehow I found the greens and if I did hit a fairway, I took advantage of it. Played the par 3s very well. So that means I’m hitting my irons pretty good as I did last week and I just rolled in a few putts, which was nice.

Q. Having gone out in 5-under, you double-bogey the first and bogey the second, obviously frustrating, but how pleased with the way you bounced back, birdies at 5, 6 and 7?
THOMAS PIETERS: It was a lovely putt on 5, about six feet of break on it, and 6 and 7 were good iron shots and good putts from eight, nine feet.

Very happy, and made two pars on eight, always a bonus, as well.

Q. Played the first time last week in Abu Dhabi and finished 30th. What were your expectations coming into this week?
THOMAS PIETERS: I don’t know, I’ve been working on my putting real hard, and I just hope to see some progress. I saw that today. Hopefully we can keep it up. I know I’m hitting the ball quite nice, and you know, I’m just looking forward to the next three days.

Q. You’ve told me in the past that you like tough golf courses. How tough is that one?
THOMAS PIETERS: That was pretty tough with the rough being that thick, it was definitely a challenge.

Q. A lot of guys having very sporadic scoring, and you seemed to find it easy. What did you find easier today?
THOMAS PIETERS: Well, there’s nothing easy about today, but I found 14 greens, which is always nice in these kind of conditions. Yeah, I thought putting was quite tough because the greens are rock hard. I gave myself plenty of chances and luckily made a few.

Q. Is putting an area of your game you’ve been focused on? How much has that been a focus on you?
THOMAS PIETERS: I’ve been working real hard on it. Obviously the last couple years, I think was because of lack of making putts. My scores didn’t match — the ball swing has been there and the ball-striking, but if you don’t make putts, you can’t score. That’s the last thing that needs to improve and today was progress.

Q. You started the season last week in Abu Dhabi. What were your anticipations going into that week after the big break?
THOMAS PIETERS: It’s always a bit scary starting out. You don’t know what to expect, even though you’ve put the work in; that competitive mind-set sometimes takes awhile to kick in. But today was I think one of my better rounds of the year, really.

Q. We’ve heard so much about the rough and how much tighter the fairways are, and of course the greens are running pretty fast. How much can you tell us it’s changed from years gone by?
THOMAS PIETERS: A lot, actually. Still, there’s some really tough holes. For myself, if I fade the ball, it’s never nice to have 90-degree doglegs to the left, but the rough has been really juicy, I don’t know why. Maybe they don’t want to see the 24-, 25-under winning the golf tournament.

January 23, 2020

Dubai, UAE

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports