Q.  Travis, nice 7‑under 65, that’s got to feel a good way to start the Vic Open.

TRAVIS SMYTH:  For sure.  I’ve never gotten off to a good start here, so teeing off early this morning in pretty calm conditions, yeah, 7 under I’ll take any day.

Q.  And would I be right in saying you made a bit of a nice long putt on the seventh to get things kick‑started a little bit?

TRAVIS SMYTH:  Yeah, so I got off to a good start, hit some pretty good shots close, three sort of easy birdies, easy‑ish, and yeah, holed like a 25‑footer and that was to get to 4 under through seven.  That’s when I really sort of felt the momentum.  Yeah, just really played well all day basically.

Q.  This is coming, isn’t it?  This is building and building?  You were close in New South Wales, you had some good results in Asia to start this year.  This is coming?

TRAVIS SMYTH:  Yeah, 100 percent.  Haven’t been around the top of the leaderboards for too long, but I believed right from the get‑go winning that event as an amateur, I will be up there eventually and consistently, so it’s starting to trend in the right direction.

Q.  Have you ever had a moment where you thought it’s not going to go that way? 

TRAVIS SMYTH:  Oh, yeah, for sure.  I mean, middle of the year of my first year, even middle of last year in Asia, I just couldn’t really figure it out.  I don’t know, just felt a bit off and scores weren’t really reflecting too much of how I was playing.  Just felt like everything was against me a little bit.

Yeah, just sort of pushed through and a few things sort of changed and momentum is on your side again.

Q.  Do you watch your peers who have made a move and think about them or no?

TRAVIS SMYTH:  Well, at first that’s what kind of would get to me a little bit, like guys that I would mix it with as amateurs doing well.  In a way it gives me confidence that I can go and do what they’re doing, but it also made me get a little impatient at times because, you know, I wasn’t playing so well.  I just felt like I should be.  Yeah, up and down.  But now I just try and really ‑‑ I’ve learnt that that doesn’t really get me anywhere and just really focus on what I have to do, keep trying to play well.

Q.  What are you going to do mentally here deep in this thing on Saturday and Sunday afternoons?

TRAVIS SMYTH:  Just try and hit golf shots and try and putt well.  For me around here, the winds are quite tricky.  A lot of shots off the left, and me as a right‑hander, I struggle with a little bit, but I’ve always said if I can nail that shot, I think I’ll do pretty well around here.

Q.  You’ve got to tell us about this hat, mate.  People are giving you grief about the man‑bun, which you’ve covered up with this floral hat.  What’s going on?

TRAVIS SMYTH:  Look, I don’t know.  I’ve never worn anything outrageous like this before.  They showed me the whole bunch of hats and it was just you’re playing whites, navies, blacks; I just thought I would mix it up.

Q.  Going to keep going with it?

TRAVIS SMYTH:  Maybe.  I’ve got a couple hats, a couple just like this, so yeah, you might see me around wearing this day in and day out.

Q.  You’ll play nude on Sunday if you win the trophy, right?

TRAVIS SMYTH:  I don’t know if I could do that.  I’ll leave that for Brooks Koepka and Greg Norman and all that.  I’m not there yet.

Q.  Fantastic round to start, well done, mate.

JUSTIN WARREN:  Thank you, appreciate it.

Q.  And it’s come in sort of a slightly odd way.

JUSTIN WARREN:  Yeah, yeah.  I mean, it was a weird day.  Like I didn’t quite hit the ball amazing.  I mean, I still hit some really great shots, but I holed a lot of putts.  The putter was really good out there today.  Yes, I parred three of the par 5s and parred the second, only had 7‑iron in there.  And then the fifth hole was only just short of the green for two and didn’t get up and down.  I missed basically a tap‑in on 17 for birdie, about a three‑ or four‑footer.  So I could quite easily have been a few better, but I made probably five or six 20‑ to 30‑footers out there, so I really can’t complain too much.

Q.  You were telling me yesterday you’re feeling pretty good about your game.  What’s got you in that positive frame of mind? 

JUSTIN WARREN:  I had a really good end to the year last year, like coming up just short at the New South Wales Open, but to be up there right until the last hole of the tournament just gave me so much confidence about myself and about my game. 

So, you know, out here European Tour event, I don’t feel out of place walking amongst some of these guys out here.  I’m hitting the ball well and the putter feels good, so I just kind of stuck to a game plan out there.  As long as I do that, then I can’t really find myself in too much trouble.

Q.  Have you allowed yourself to think sort of what might be at the end of this week or is it just wait?

JUSTIN WARREN:  I mean, it’s always in the back of your mind whenever you come to one of these Aussie Tour events co‑sanctioned with Europe.  You know, always from the start of the week you’re always thinking about the winner gets that European Tour card.  It’s hard not to think about it, but when you’re out there and just playing, you’re kind of just doing your thing and not thinking too much about anything else, just really the task at hand.  So I’m sure come Sunday if I’m somewhere near the top of the leaderboard, I’m sure it will pop back into my mind, but I’ll be doing my best to stay focused and do what I can.

Q.  You’ve come up with some high‑profile amateurs and some high‑profile collegiate players.  You’ve always sort of been playing second fiddle in the publicity stakes.  Would you like to sort of make a change to that this week?

JUSTIN WARREN:  Yeah, definitely.  I would love to kind of walk around and have guys look at me and think, “Oh, there’s Justin Warren, he’s a gun.”  So, you know, at the same time I don’t mind kind of flying under the radar a little bit and just kind of being, you know, a little nobody that just does his own thing.  But at the same time, like I said, I would love to kind of be that guy that everyone’s kind of, you know, looks at and thinks, “Wow, he’s a really good player.”  Obviously a good week here can do that.  I’ve kind of stamped myself a little bit amongst the Aussie guys after my finish to the year last year, so I feel the guys know me, but I would certainly like to make a really big impact this week.

Q.  Matt Griffin, great start to a tournament you love.

MATT GRIFFIN:  Yes, it’s always nice to come back to a place you’ve won before.  Yeah, got off to a good start around the Creek course today.

Q.  Seven under on the card, no blemishes.  Walk us through a bit of it.

MATT GRIFFIN:  Well, I hit all 18 greens so it created a lot of chances.  Sort of got a bit slow and then got hot to the back end of the back nine on the course, our front nine today, and then made a few through the middle.  I think out there when there’s not a lot of wind, there’s plenty of chances, so it’s nice to capitalise on that.

Q.  A little birdie who maybe shouldn’t have said this could have said you left a couple out there.

MATT GRIFFIN:  Yeah, I hit a few putts that didn’t quite go in, but that’s golf.  I’ve always never played that well around the Creek course, always only shot 1 or 2 under, so it’s nice to get a low one today and then get back out on my favourite course tomorrow.

Q.  Do you remember what you shot out there the year you won?

MATT GRIFFIN:  I think it may have been actually 1 over.  It was a really strong northerly, hot Melbourne day and it probably wasn’t a bad score in those conditions.  I’ll definitely take 7 today.

Q.  Your coming off a great year in Japan, and we just spoke to Brad Kennedy as well.  What is about that tour that’s starting to really produce good form here?

MATT GRIFFIN:  Yeah, I think the thing in Japan is you’re playing tough golf courses every week so you’re really ‑‑ sort of 2 or 3 under is a good score there.  So I think it’s nice, you come back to Australia and the courses are set up a little bit more for scoring so you can get a good score going.  I think you’ve got to play really good golf to score well over there.  It’s nice to come home and play a bit freer.

Q.  Do you feel bulletproof when you come in here, mate?  See the picture on the driveway to the course and see your name on the trophy, does it bring back memories of you being invincible?

MATT GRIFFIN:  It’s just a level of comfort; you’ve been there, you’ve done it, you’ve gone all the way to Sunday and you come back and go, “Why not do it again?”  It’s always nice to come back to a place you’ve done well at before.

Q.  Do you get a feel of what it might take from here to get there on Sunday afternoon?

MATT GRIFFIN:  Well, if we get conditions like this, more rounds like that, if the weather’s nice, it will probably be something in the 20s will probably win.  But I think by the forecast, there’s a couple windy days on the weekend, so hopefully that comes.  Maybe tomorrow will be another good low scoring day and then maybe hold on a bit over the weekend.

Q.  I was going to ask you, what suits you, is it the birdie fest or is it the tougher conditions?

MATT GRIFFIN:  Well, today obviously the birdie fest suited, but overall tougher conditions, I think.  The more wind, the better.  Getting to be one of the older boys out here now, so get to use my experience.

Q.  Last thing, good start to the year for you and another year coming up in Japan, so great to get some confidence early, I would think.  I know it’s only one round, but it’s a start.

MATT GRIFFIN:  Oh, it is, definitely.  I tired off a little bit the end of last year.  So I really normally have a break over summer and really enjoy the break, but this year I was pretty keen to getting back out and practising, so it’s nice to put in a bit of work early in the summer and get some rewards today.

Q.  Another great start.  You must love this place.

BRAD KENNEDY:  I do.  It’s nice to come and start the year again really.  I’ve just had six weeks off and picked the clubs up last Monday and tried to see what I could do.  Yeah, I guess the expectations of last year have gone and it’s all about trying to see what we can do for this year.

Q.  When you come back here, is it an overwhelmingly positive thing or do you flash back to what might have been?

BRAD KENNEDY:  Oh, it’s positive.  Anytime you can sort of be amongst the leaders and contest in your first event of the year is always great fun.  I guess it was no fault of mine, so that’s just the way things go.  Just nice to come back to 13th Beach and just really enjoy the hospitality down here.  Just going to go for a nice coffee and relax now by the beach and put the feet up.

Q.  Great way to start getting the birdie early on the Creek course?

BRAD KENNEDY:  Well, I birdied the 10th and then I was a bit flat and I might have ‑‑ three‑putted 18 and made a soft par on the second.  Really just couldn’t get any momentum going.  It wasn’t until I holed, what was it, a 50‑foot putt on the fourth for birdie and then made a couple birdies after that.  So it was a little bit soft in the middle, but I just kept patient. 

Again, with no practise, you’re going to hit some poor shots.  Luckily today the shots that I hit didn’t really cost me, but I just wasn’t close enough to make lots of birdies.  It’s definitely out there today, the course is playing great and I’m sure there’s going to be possibly even maybe a 10 out there.  The greens are good in terms of their pace and all the par 5s seem to be down breeze, too, so that gives you an opportunity to make a few softer birdie and then have to be on with your wedges for the rest of the game.

Q.  You told us previously you haven’t got forever to go in your career, but you must be nearly in career‑best form; would that be fair enough?

BRAD KENNEDY:  Yes, I guess it’s just learning ‑‑ continually learning about what I’m capable of and sort of practising in an environment that allows me to perform under pressure.  For me, that’s the biggest gains that I’ve made over the years is seeing the shots that need to be hit, then being able to hit that shot without consequence.  For me, that’s been a huge learning curve in my career.  Once you start to do that and you start to hit those shots, then it just fuels that desire and that passion to keep going rather than feeling a little bit ‑‑ I guess trying to ‑‑ in my early in my career I was very conservative and whether that was through practise or just my own personality, but now it’s just full‑on attack and I don’t stop until the 18th.

Q.  No disrespect, but I don’t think we’re going to refer to you as a young guy.  Is there something about this venue and this style of golf that lends itself to blokes that have been playing the game a bit longer being able to contend and compete?  We don’t see a lot ‑‑ we tend to see in golf these days, it’s mostly young blokes.  Just your thoughts on that.

BRAD KENNEDY:  I think it’s just the breeze.  Playing in Japan for the last 10 years, it’s taught me a lot in terms of course management.  The fairways are very generous and I think for me that’s a negative because I didn’t miss a fairway today but it actually hurts me in terms of Japan courses are really narrow, the fairways are 20 metres wide where here you’ve got some that are sort of 50, 60, and it lends itself to hitting poor shots and getting away with it.  So it probably doesn’t suit me as much, but I just think with my wedge game and putting game, any course, if I can get those things going, I’ll be competitive.

Q.  Your resume speaks for itself, but you do tend to still fly under the radar here in Australia.  Do you have any thoughts on that?  Does that suit you, does it needle you?  How does that sit with you?

BRAD KENNEDY:  I don’t know.  It doesn’t really bother me too much.  Anyone else can have the hype, I’ll just do what I do and I’m happy to be amongst ‑‑ I really just try and let my clubs do the talking. 

Sometimes there’s always the occasion where things can happen and you just feel a bit frustrated, but when you play 20 weeks a year in Japan and I only play four or five events here, it’s hard to really get that recognition, I guess, in Australia. 

I love coming down here, it’s a great tournament and hopefully it can get bigger and better.  I’m not sure how many years I’ll be back here, but yeah, I’ll be trying as much as I can.

Q.  What do you do if you win it?  European Tour card, Japan Tour card, is there a decision there for you to make?

BRAD KENNEDY:  We’ll wait in three rounds.  No, had that situation at the PGA as well.  I finished third on the Money List.  If I would have finished second, I would have gained that exemption as well.  My thoughts weren’t really all about exemptions, I just ‑‑ I’m not sure how many events I’ve got left.  I always tell my wife that end of 2020 I was finished, so that gives me 25 events until my career’s over.  We’ll see how that pans out, but for me it’s all about being in contention and trying to get as many names as I can on the trophies, then I’ll be able to put the feet up.

Q.  Seems like at the start of 2020 that maybe the end of 2020 maybe a bit premature.  It’s a pretty good start this year.

BRAD KENNEDY:  Yeah.  In 2019 I finished ‑‑ started off the year with second and then finished second in Japan both ends of the year and started off again nice.  But I guess for me it’s nice to be able to come out of the box playing how I’m playing.  I think that’s just a lot of experience in terms of trying to manage myself on these sort of courses without having to put myself under too much pressure, and then when I can hit those good shots, then I can start to score and move up the leaderboard.

Q.  Last one, I promise.  You’ve been playing the game a long time.  You get a feel for tournaments and rhythms.  You mentioned you wouldn’t be surprised if 10 under was leading.  What do you expect out of these next three days?  What does Brad Kennedy have to do to be there Sunday afternoon?

BRAD KENNEDY:  Well, I hope it’s windy.  I love the breeze, especially the Beach course, it’s such a fun place to play.  Gives you all the shots, and for me that’s really the key to golf is you need to hit all the shots that need to be hit under pressure. 

I think I’m just going to keep trying to keep attacking without worrying about the lack of practise.  But again, I think the courses ‑‑ hopefully gets a little bit warmer from the Gold Coast, it’s been freezing the last two days.  I haven’t had a jumper on for two months, so it was a bit different this morning coming out at 5:00 to get ready. 

But yeah, I think the same sort of score’s going to win.  There’s a great field, so if I’m there, I’ll be trying to knock it down.

Q.  How good was that?

LAURA DAVIES:  It was nice, yeah, 67.  Played alongside Madelene there, she had 65, so still couldn’t win the group, but I’m really pleased with six.  And I didn’t know what was going to happen, I haven’t played a tournament since the Scottish Open in August, so it was nice for me to get out and get a really good round in.

Q.  Do you ever think about, you know, how you used to grind away or whenever it comes to a bit of a gap in your schedule like that?

LAURA DAVIES:  Yeah, I’ve never had that long off in my life.  My mum wasn’t very well and I just stayed at home with her.  Just kept entering tournaments and had to withdraw, withdraw because she wasn’t getting any better.  It just worked out that I had six months off and now I turn up here not knowing what I’m doing.  I’ve been on tour 35 years and I didn’t have a clue what to do.  It was a bit weird, but a good result.

Q.  And you love this tournament, I know that.

LAURA DAVIES:  Oh, yeah, it’s one of my ‑‑ well, it might even be my favourite tournament.  We play on two great courses and we get to play alongside the guys, which is always nice for us.  The galleries come out and watch us, so you can’t really beat it.  As long as the weather stays like this, which I don’t think it’s going to, the weekend’s going to be mean, but other than that it’s a good week.

Q.  You had a first‑time caddie on your bag today, Rebecca Artis, former LPGA Tour player.  How did she do?

LAURA DAVIES:  You know what, it’s the best I’ve putted in 20 years.  I don’t know how many putts I had, but it’s the fewest I’ve had, so it was really nice to have someone on the greens.  She’s a really good green reader, she does that AimPoint, which bamboozles me.  I haven’t got a clue what she’s up to, but she got the lines right.  So if I keep striking it like that and she keeps reading it like that, we might have a chance making the cut and make the weekend and see what happens, which when I got here I wasn’t too sure about.

Q.  And if you do that, you’re a revered, renowned winner, do you ever let that sort of sink back into your mind?

LAURA DAVIES:  No.  I mean, to come here and think of winning, no.  For me, if I make the cut, certainly the first cut and the second cut would be a huge bonus after six months not playing tournament golf.  No, the thoughts of winning haven’t entered my head.  Sometimes when you don’t think about things, they happen.  But no, I’m a long way from winning, I can assure you that.

Q.  You’ve had wins, it hasn’t been on the LPGA Tour, but you’ve won the Senior Women’s Open and that sort of tournament.  It’s still in there?

LAURA DAVIES:  Absolutely.  Don’t get me wrong, further down the line, you know, two, three months’ time if I play a solid schedule, which I’m going to do, I’m going to play a really big schedule this year, then who knows if I’m playing well.  But at the moment I’m just trying to find my feet again, which, as I said, it’s weird after 35 years.

Q.  Well played.  I’m sure you made a lot of people happy out there today.

LAURA DAVIES:  Well, thanks very much.

Q.  Must happy with that start to a title defence?

DAVID LAW:  It was good.  Got off to quite a slow start and then I was playing decent, but not really holing too much.  But then had a good run around the turn birdieing 18 and then birdied one, eagled two and picked up another one coming in.  Yeah, I was happy with that.  I would have ‑‑ I think in the wind conditions, I think 4 under was decent but not great, but no, I’m happy with the score.

Q.  What were the differences between the two courses?  Which do you prefer?

DAVID LAW:  Yeah, I think ‑‑ yeah, I think last year I did it the opposite way, I think last year I did it the other way.  No, it’s nice to get out there and put in a decent score.  I think that’s the easier of the two courses.  It’s good to get off to a nice start and you tackle the other course hopefully the next few days. 

No, I’m looking forward to getting back out there and playing.  I’ve not played all week, and we walked it on Tuesday.  I played the pro‑am on the other course.  I’ve not been out and played it, so I’m looking forward to getting back out there.

Q.  Is there anything in particular you liked out there today?

DAVID LAW:  I drove it pretty good, drove it straight and iron play was decent enough.  You know, holed a few putts.  I feel a bit more comfortable on these greens than I do in the Middle East.  I didn’t really putt all that great on grainy greens and stuff, but these ones I can actually see the ball rolling a bit.  And I feel comfortable on the golf course, I think that makes a big difference.  All in all, I was happy about today.

Q.  Madelene, fantastic round at the start of the Vic Open, well played.

MADELENE SAGSTROM:  Thank you very much.

Q.  You are in hot form.

MADELENE SAGSTROM:  Yeah, I must have been doing something right this offseason.

Q.  So 65 today, 8 under par and coming off a win in the United States, what is it that’s got you rolling so well?

MADELENE SAGSTROM:  Well, I think currently I’m really working hard on my patience.  Today I came out with a really hot start and then in the middle kind of just got dry there for a little bit.  Just stay patient, stay patient.  Then I finished off with three birdies.  So I think that’s what’s really working out for me, and obviously I’m hitting the ball very nicely, putting nice.

Q.  Can’t be too dry if you had eight birdies?

MADELENE SAGSTROM:  No, it wasn’t, but I had a streak there.  I think I was 5 under through my first seven and then I finished with three, so there was a few pars in there, a few saves there.

Q.  Are you playing with a lot of confidence?

MADELENE SAGSTROM:  Yeah, I think after my first win there definitely added confidence to everything, just knowing that I can compete out here, knowing that I can win on tour.  I think that is definitely helping me out.  It’s also created kind of a little bit of a calmness; just okay, it’s going to be fine, it will all work out, it’s the beginning of the season.

Q.  And you’ve been knocking on the door for a couple years, I think that’s probably fair to say, and do you see the world rankings open up or Olympics, or what do you see opening up in front of you?

MADELENE SAGSTROM:  Obviously winning helped a lot with a lot of things.  I mean, I just kind of see it as a step by step.  I’m trying to do the best I can every day, and every day if I get a little bit better every day, I’m really happy.  So currently it’s going really well, so I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing because it seems to be working.

Q.  Did you have a good look at the Beach course in your warm‑ups here the first few days?

MADELENE SAGSTROM:  Oh, yes, and this is my third time here.  I’ve been here before and I know what’s in front of us.  I’m really happy to have a good start. 

I’m sorry, I really don’t like the flies here, that’s the only part I don’t like.  They’re everywhere.

Q.  We’ll get rid of the flies.  You’re a big fan of the Bellarine Peninsula?

MADELENE SAGSTROM:  Yeah.  If you can get rid of the flies for me, I’ll stick around longer.

Q.  Jake McLeod, Min Woo Lee, 7 under and 6 under, well played.

JAKE McLEOD:  Thank you.  We’re off to a weird start.

MIN WOO LEE:  It was good fun.  We fed off each other and we holed some putts at the end.  Jake played pretty solid all day and I just finished off really nice on the back nine.

Q.  I don’t want you to go cliché on me here because I watched a lot of this round and it wasn’t looking good for a while. 

MIN WOO LEE:  For me it was a bit shaky there, but Jake had a pretty solid round, I think.

JAKE McLEOD:  Yeah, yeah.  Well, he had a lot of birdies, I’ll tell you what.  I sort of kept it pretty clean on the card, which was nice.  I think it must be the black outfits or something today, I don’t know. 

MIN WOO LEE:  We look pretty slick.

Q.  You look like a small Henrik Stenson from behind. 

MIN WOO LEE:  Oh, thanks.  I mean, a little different, but I’ll take that.

JAKE McLEOD:  He’s a pretty good looking bloke.

Q.  In all seriousness out there today, you left a track load of chances out there. 

MIN WOO LEE:  Thanks for ruining my confidence, but yeah, early on I holed the first two putts with birdie and then, yeah, I kind of fell from there, but I regained a little bit of focus and the back nine was really special, it was good.

Q.  And that course has got a special spot in your mind, I’m sure, 61 a couple years ago and obviously feeling it today again?

JAKE McLEOD:  Yeah, yeah, wasn’t quite as good but obviously a great round today.  I don’t know, I just sort of like the course.  Get out there and don’t have to think too much about it and just give it a rip and see how we go.

Q.  You can make big strides on the European Tour, I guess pedigree standings if you do something special here.  Has that crossed your mind this week? 

MIN WOO LEE:  Yeah, obviously we’re here to compete and we’re here to win, so obviously the field’s not as strong as usual, but we have a good chance.  I’m sure we both know we have a good chance of winning.  Yeah, we’re going to go out there and do our best.

Q.  Have you thought about what it might mean to you to get something big here on the board?

JAKE McLEOD:  Yeah, obviously it helps with points on the Race to Dubai, but yeah, I mean, first tournament of the year for me, I’m just looking to dust off the cobwebs and see if I can make it until Sunday, yeah.

Q.  Make it until Sunday?  Jake, that’s the worst cliché you’ve ever given me.  What have you got for me, any more clichés?

MIN WOO LEE:  No.  Let’s keep it up.

Q.  Oh, my God. 

MIN WOO LEE:  And I’ll see you tomorrow. 

JAKE McLEOD:  You’ve got to stick to the process. 

MIN WOO LEE:  I’ll stick to my game plan and just hit one shot at a time.

Q.  If you do that, the questions are going to get really weird.

Q.  Haley, first professional round, LPGA professional round as a pro, you started out pretty well.  Tell us how you did today.

HALEY MOORE:  Yeah, I pretty much just stayed steady all day.  I just had two birdies.  My first hole I made a really good birdie putt and then made another good one on a hole after that, and then coming up 18 I was just outside in the rough and I had a really good look into the green and I hit a really good shot into there, playing the wind properly.  Then I hit it to about eight feet and made the putt, so that was pretty cool.  Then just made the turn after that, just kind of really stayed steady.  Made a couple good up‑and‑downs on the front nine.

Q.  Did you know in your mind that this was a really, really good round for your first time out while you were in the middle of it?

HALEY MOORE:  Yeah.  I was just trying to stick with my game plan all day and not worry about looking at a scoreboard and seeing where I was.  I was just like everything’s going my way and just keep putting the pedal down and just get ready, just keep doing this tomorrow and the next days will be good.

Q.  Tomorrow, playing a different course, different mentality.  How do you take this and put it toward your second round?

HALEY MOORE:  It’s definitely motivating as the Beach course is a little tougher out there, and when I played it it was super windy so I know that when it is windy out there, it does play tough.  So just kind of stick with my game plan with my caddie and I and just really go attack pins that are attackable and then just play safe when I need to.

Q.  I know this isn’t your first time playing in Australia.  Seems comfortable for you down here?

HALEY MOORE:  Yeah, I love it down here.  This country’s absolutely amazing.  All the people are great and love all the golf courses and all the culture behind here.

Q.  Well, congrats.  Welcome to the LPGA Tour.  We’ll see you tomorrow.

HALEY MOORE:  Thank you.

Q.  How pleased are you with that start to this tournament?

RYAN FOX:  Yeah, really happy.  The golf courses are tricky enough.  Probably the greens aren’t as good as what they would like with the weather they’ve had, so it was tough to hole some putts.  I’ve been struggling with that anyway.  So I hit a lot of good shots today.  I probably left a couple out there, but you’re never going to complain too much with 5 under as a start.

Q.  I just spoke to David Law, he says he prefers these greens to the grainier ones in the Middle East, you can see what’s in front of you here.

RYAN FOX:  Yeah, they probably haven’t been quite as good this year as previous years, but when you’ve got floods and 40‑degree days alternating, it’s pretty hard to get a golf course absolutely perfect. 

Yeah, I’m with David, I think it’s a bit easier to see the lines.  I grew up on very similar greens to these, so it’s easier to see the lines whereas the Middle East for me, they’re so pure but there’s a little bit of grain in them at times and sometimes it’s really hard to see it.  I struggled the last three weeks on the greens and it was nice to see a couple go in today.  I certainly left a couple out there, but as I said, you’re not going to complain shooting 5 under to start.

Q.  And what’s it like preparing for a tournament like this when you’ve got to take on two golf courses?

RYAN FOX:  I don’t mind it, to be honest.  I mean, I’ve played here ever since the inception of this event, so I’ve played both courses a lot.  So I actually didn’t even bother looking at the Creek course this week until today, so I guess not seeing it this week and going out and shooting 5 under, I’m pretty happy. 

Definitely makes it trickier trying to prepare for an event with two golf courses if you haven’t seen both of them.  I know there’s a few European guys and probably a lot of the girls this week doing the same thing.  Yeah, it makes it a bit of a longer week prep‑wise, but they’re two great golf courses and I really enjoy playing both of them. 

I guess the only tough thing around here is you can get the breeze blowing from a couple of different directions, so you can see the course in practise one way and then it will play completely different in the tournament.  Doesn’t look like we’re going to get that this week, thankfully.