KATHIE SHEARER:  It’s been quite a while since we’ve sat beside one another being interviewed, but this is your club.  You’ve been a member here since you were 14, 15?

MATT JONES:  Correct, since ’95, since I was 15.

KATHIE SHEARER: And your game is in good shape, you know all the nuances around the course?

MATT JONES:  I would have known the old course better than I do this one, but I know this one pretty well.

KATHIE SHEARER:  What was the strength of your game today?

MATT JONES:  Probably putting.  I made a few putts for par to keep a round going.  If you miss those, then my whole round is a total different ending.  Sometimes those par putts, 6, 8-foot putts to make par are more important than a 6-foot birdie putt.  To not lose a stroke I find is far more important than making a stroke.

KATHIE SHEARER:  I was speaking to Cam Smith and he was saying he’s 3-under but he really felt that that will be well in the mix by tomorrow, the wind is picking up, it’s very hot out there, do you feel the same?

MATT JONES:  Yeah, I have no idea how I stand, I don’t know where 4-under is coming, because I saw a couple of guys were off to a hot start early and it didn’t seem to get that tough out there with the wind.  It’s still difficult out there to read the greens and the wind was picking up a little bit, so yeah, at 4-under I’m sure we’ve got a lot of good players out there this afternoon, they could definitely shoot a 5 or a 6.

KATHIE SHEARER:  But you’re satisfied with the start?

MATT JONES:  I am, yeah.  I definitely didn’t hit it as good as I know I can, but I saved my round with a lot of good putts.

Q.  Can you talk us through the eagle on 18?

MATT JONES:  Yes.  I hit a good drive, I think I had 230 to the pin and I cut 2-iron to about 25 feet, but if it didn’t go in, it could have gone in the water, the putt was going that firm.  I didn’t hit a good putt.

Q.  Did you leave the flag in?

MATT JONES:  No, I didn’t.  It hit the back of the hole, popped up and went straight down.  Geoff and I both laughed because it was definitely going off the green.

Q.  You’ve got great memories here, having won in 2015, of course, you must feel great just coming back here?

MATT JONES:  Yeah, I do.  My record in the Australian Open is pretty good, so in enjoy coming back and playing in the Australian Open every year.  It’s something I look forward to.  It’s something that, when I haven’t been able to as last year, I just needed a break. I was worn out.  Not to be able to come back last year was disappointing, but every time I get to come back to play in Australia it’s always something I look forward to and something I have on the calendar every year.

Q.  The last thing from me, we all do talk about the fact that you’re a long time Australian member and stuff, but it’s not just about that, is it?  You’ve obviously got to bring your best stuff, other than being familiar?

MATT JONES:  It might add a little bit more pressure, because you’ve got to be able to perform and you’re expected to perform because it’s your own golf course.  So, it’s never seemed to bother me, because you’ve still got to hit the good shots. It’s still a difficult golf course.  The winds can be swirling.  But I probably have somewhat of a better idea understanding where I can miss the golf course.  I learnt that when I played Augusta with a couple of the old guys, they missed it in the right spots and they made easy pars, where I’d miss it in the wrong spot and I made an easy bogey.

Q.  You kind of just answered the question for me, but what is it in particular about this course?  Is it lines off tees that you just like or is it the overall comfort factor or is it a specific thing?

MATT JONES:  Just overall comfort factor, when you’ve been at a place for 15 years.  I haven’t really been here since I was 18, I’ve been in America since ’99.  I’ve played here six times a year for the last 15 years.  It’s not like I come back here and play and know the golf course, but it’s probably more comfortable off the tees and the lines to take and where to miss shots.  I don’t know it as well on these greens and these new green complexes after Jack came in and did it.  The old ones would have been much more comfortable to me, but I’m getting used to them.

Q.  Are there any courses you play on Tour that you have that same level of comfort with, where you just show up and you feel like you’re right at home?

MATT JONES:  I do, Pebble, I love playing Pebble.  For some reason I’m very comfortable out there.  That’s one that comes to mind straight off the top of my head.  Other than that, I’m sure there are, but that’s the one that sticks out.

Q.  I assume you’re talking about the conditions when you say it was awful out there, with the smog and the smoke?

KATHIE SHEARER:  Yes, we were just speaking before I spoke to you Matt and it’s getting quite swirly this afternoon, it’s a bit smoky, everybody’s eyes are getting a bit itchy.  So, to get out this morning and put a score on the board is what they were saying, that they don’t feel that this afternoon someone is going to come and shoot 8 or 9-under.  It’s gradually getting a little bit worse out there.

MATT JONES:  Yeah, I’m not sure what the forecast is, but the smoke’s not good at all.  It’s tough to see your golf ball when you’re out there playing, where it finishes.  Your eyes do burn.  I’ve got that cough like you’ve got something in your lungs, phlegm in your lungs or whatever, but it’s not fun.  I hope my kids are inside in the hotel room.

Q.  Have you experienced that elsewhere in the world?

MATT JONES:  Never.  Even when I played in China I didn’t think it was like this at all.  Definitely not in Malaysia, it’s just unbelievably humid, but no, I’ve never experienced anything like this.

KATHIE SHEARER:  Thank you Matt, thank you very much for coming in.