The Belgium speaks to the media after the first round of The Open Championship.
D3, how you doing? Yeah, fine. Thank you. Uh, can you give a sense of how difficult it is out there, Thomas? Yeah, just it just really switched that rain sort of came in and um I hit the driver on hole number eight. Uh sort of in meters sort of 230 235 to cover the slope and I snuck at my driver thinking I’ll be perfect. you’ll be way up there. And it it pitched like 20 yards short of where I really thought it would pitch. So, it really certainly switched as soon as the the rain and the cold sort of came in. Um, obviously the wind is up there as well. So, it’s um it’s definitely tricky. You know, the greens have slowed down a little bit with the moisture as well. Um, I put some really, really good golf today to be honest. You know, it’s a bit of a shame those last two bogeies. Um, I made bogeies and I hit great shots. You know, I hole number 16 played incredibly long. Yeah, I play with Chris Garop who hits it pretty hard and he just hit an incredible forearm. Still pit short. I hit mine just front edge of the green. Actually left myself a really easy putt, but um you know the moisture, the wind and everything left it four or five ft short and I missed it the one coming back. So a bit of a shame to have bogey that 16th hole, but a great drive on 17, same on 18. So I’m pretty happy with the way I played and I think I’m in a decent position. What about your attitude? You were just saying there that you know that those were good bogeies. You know, you know that what you chalk things up to. How do you keep the right attitude? The mentality, it’s not easy. I feel like I’ve been getting a little bit impatient, but um today was good. You know, I I stayed really patient. I came back on the par after the rough start. I was two over after four holes, I think. So, um it was it was really good, you know, just um it’s all about, you know, like conditions like this out here. you think you’re having a bad day or you’re getting unlucky and then you get home at night and you see that everybody has had the bad breaks and everybody’s missed the short putts and you think it only happens to yourself but it happens to everyone. So you got to keep that in mind and look at the bigger picture and just keep focusing on little things, you know, like routine and and hitting good shots and determine targets. So I feel like that’s really the key. Yeah. What about the first hole that looks might look fairly innocuous to some people, but it’s actually playing one of the hardest today? What is it about that makes so tough? I think it’s it’s a T-shot, you know, like the wind. It’s you sort of don’t really feel the wind, but it’s in off the right. There’s two bunkers sort of in play with if you hit driver. I’d quite like to hit a little driver, but then the wind is off the right hard. So, if it comes off a little bit left with a draw, it’s OB, you know, like you’re very conscious of it. I’ve got my 3-wood. I sort of like to draw it as well, and I was sort of conscious of that as well. like if I sort of overdraw it a little bit too much, it goes one down to B. So, I’ve sort of held it right a little bit and and then suddenly it spins up a little bit and you’ve got 200 yards into the wind up the hill to the flag. So, I think that’s one of the reasons why I think hole one was probably a hole where you probably had to take on the T- shot a little bit. You know, there’s sometimes there’s a couple of holes and it feels like you just want to get it in play, but it might not be the right play out there. like you sort of want to be a bit more aggressive off the tea and make sure that you sort of get it in play um a bit more aggressive to let yourself a better chance to make par because it’s uh it’s really long. So I feel like for me I mean I hit 3wood but probably a chip driver would have been the right shot, right? Yeah. Can be easy when you’re surrounded by the grand stands there as well because you can’t feel the wind and like if it’s coming off the right brings that left side. It’s quite narrow, you know, and and you feel like the right bunker is in play, but it’s then it’s not really in play because you sort of hold it against, but then if you sort of turn into with the wind, then then the left bunker is in place. So, I think it’s just a brilliant hole, you know, it makes you think um yeah, I boogied it, you know, like I shot even after that. It was pretty good golf. Have you played the women’s opens going to Royal Portal in a couple weeks time? Have you played the course? What do you make of it? Uh I’ve never I’ve never played Royal Portal, but I know it’s in Wales. No, it’s Well, I know it’s an incredible Lynx course, but I’ve never played it. Well, for you, when you have a chance to play a Lynx course and you get to play it, what typically is the right mindset when you show up on a property of a link? Uh, well, it all depends on the weather really. I mean, the only mindset is sort of uh wait and see what you get, you know, like the wind could drop now and the rain could stop and then I’m going to be lying T 100, you know, and then if the wind keeps going and it keeps raining, I’m going to be T-25 at the end of the day. So, you know, that’s one of the things that you have to keep in mind. Um, You know, that’s just whatever the nature brings you. You know, that’s what the name of the open forged by nature. Really, that’s what the golf course does and that’s what um that’s what it does to you, right? Excellent. Thank you. No, appreciate it, buddy.
