Abraham Ancer and David Puig of Fireballs GC speak after Round 2 of LIV Golf Dallas, where both remain firmly in contention — not just for the individual title, but also for a potential spot in The Open Championship. With Sergio García also in the mix, tensions are rising in the Spanish camp.
🎙️ In this press conference:
Ancer reflects on a rollercoaster round featuring 7 birdies, 4 bogeys, and a flagstick heartbreak
Puig opens up on his return from injury, his battle with Sergio for Open qualification, and the role of his now iconic mustache
Both discuss the mental game required on a hot, windy, punishing Maridoe Golf Club
And why playing aggressive and staying present are the keys for Sunday and beyond
🔥 Will Puig lock in his Open spot and leave Sergio on the outside looking in? Can Ancer pull off the win in Texas? One final round to decide it all.
#LIVGolf #DavidPuig #AbrahamAncer #TheOpen #LIVDallas #FireballsGC #SergioGarcia #GolfDrama #RoadToTheOpen #LatinoGolf #GolfRivalry #GolfPressConference
all right let’s welcome to the uh media center at LiveGolf Dallas two members of uh Fireballs GC got Abraham Answer who is uh tied for second at six under after three under 69 and then we’ve got David Puj who is tied for fourth at five under uh he also shot 69 today uh Abe let’s start with you it’s kind of a wild ride out there for you today seven birdies four bogeies and a par off a flag stick
yeah it was uh it was definitely a little roller coaster um I felt like I I stayed in it mentally really well i obviously started hitting the ball really nicely on the front nine and then um yeah that was a little weird coming from like four straight birdies in a row hitting a really good shot on eight looking like this is might go in and then he hits a stick and and comes off the green which is unfortunate but uh you can’t just keep thinking about it you have to forget about it you have to uh just focus on the next shot try to get up and down because there’s nothing that is going to or nobody’s going to feel bad for you but even if they do it doesn’t matter so um yeah the only thing that matters is the next shot and got up and down but then from there got into a little bit of trouble and three three bogeies in a row and then I I battled back i felt like I stayed in it i knew was playing tough so there’s a lot of bogeies out there you just have to stay patient and uh don’t get too uh too caught up in the emotion of a of a bogey and uh and yeah and I battled back nicely made a couple birdies coming in and a really good par save on 17 um and a great tupa on 18
davidid Davidid you missed the Virginia tournament due to some back issues guess it’s safe to assume you’re feeling no pain right now
yeah I feel good um it was a a pretty tough stretch on the PGA and maybe the week before that and you know the week of Virginia as well um but yeah I I worked hard with the team and got it figured it out and I’m yeah ready to ready to be back
is it the power of the mustache i don’t know it I definitely tried it um during those off weeks that I had and you know I’m like I’m going to Dallas so I’m going to keep it and I mean for the most part I heard that everybody likes it so I I think I should keep it all right so both of you came into this week with a opportunity to get that open exemption uh David you’re a little closer and right now through two rounds it’s basically you and Sergio or neck to neck how much have you been thinking about that open exception i mean it’s it’s definitely a a goal of mine um anytime someone you know can avoid going to the qualifier it’s great um that’s you know that’s the main that’s the main goal obviously I want to play the Open it’s one of the best tournaments of the year and I really want to be there and I’m trying to do as as much as I can on my part to to be able to be there and again I’ll I’ll try to do my best tomorrow and hopefully get that open spot and if I don’t get it myself hopefully it’s either Abe or Sergio
so right now you are scheduled to to play that qualifier in Tuesday in England what’s that itinerary look like just a direct flight to London uh ran a car and drive to Singorts um I I played the course two years ago so I I’m not planning on doing a practice round but maybe maybe walk the course a little bit and and I think the weather’s going to be great which is you know not common in in you know near near London so that if the weather’s good you know maybe hit a few balls and and get ready for Tuesday and a we talked about this yesterday you came in with an outside shot uh I would think you know right now with David playing well and Sergio playing well that it might be a little bit tougher but uh do you still feel like there’s that opportunity or or how are you going into tomorrow
yeah I mean obviously I’m like every tournament I’m I’m trying to win and try to do as best as possible um and if it’s mathematically it’s tough I mean it is what it is i had opportunities uh before to to play better and and be be higher on the on the points list so I’m just going to do really whatever I can tomorrow to to finish as high as possible and try to try to win the tournament and then we’ll see where we end up
last question for me this is for both of you uh a lot of shot makers at the top of that leaderboard in fact Davidid you’re the only one in the top 20 in driving distance that’s near the top what is it about Merido this week that kind of plays to the shot makers abe
well I just I just feel like you just have to be in the fairway if you if you’re not in the fairway you’re going to struggle you’re going to make big numbers i mean bogeies come really really quickly even if you’re from if even if you’re in the fairway so I think if you’re in the fairway you can kind of shape it both ways it definitely helps um it helps a ton out here and it’s a golf course that penalizes when you’re not in the right spots and u I like it i like golf courses like that um I like when you’re out of position and you’re going to struggle
David
no yeah for me it’s you know the same pretty much i think mentally you need to you know you need to be prepared for the test um it’s hot it’s windy um it’s playing tough so you need to stay in the present and I think I I did a very good job mentally to you know to to be where I am um I had a great start yesterday and then kind of lost it a little bit but I was able to you know fight back and finish strong and today was kind of more of the same i think I you know I started so so and then I I I actually played really well it the finish you know it went a little sideways but proud of the couple up and downs I got at the end and hopefully I’m I’m the same way tomorrow
all right we’ll open it up for questions matt over here abe you got a real bad break when you hit the flag stick and it came down and it seemed like things might have started to get away from you but you really rebounded and finished strong was there a certain point in the round where you felt you know things get back on track yeah like I said I was coming from a really good stretch uh made four birdies in a row and then I I hit the flag stick with a nice shot there that you think you should have a a close birdie putt and then you’re you’re grinding for par but I mean I made par i didn’t think it it got me into any frame of mind of of uh of really making those bogeies uh it just happens out here and I tried to just try to brush them off and and keep uh keep my head in the present and I feel like I did that pretty well after I made those three bogeies in a row i hit some nice T- balls some nice um second shots into the greens and and roll a couple of really nice putts um so yeah I mean I I think I did a really good job mentally but and you have to if you if you lose your mind out here you’re going to make a lot of bogeies and it’s just going to be tough to to stay in the present
david you’ve played in multiple qualifiers now trying to get into majors what have you learned in the first handful that you’ve done that you might use on Tuesday i mean you need you need to you need to play good um you need to be ready you need to start strong and you need to play really well for 36 holes um cuz you know there’s every time I play there’s only four or five spots out of you know 90 players and 90 good players so you really need to perform well um I think I think I’ve done pretty good um on the qualifiers that I played um but yeah you need to be maybe a little more aggressive towards the beginning um you know try to try to make as many birdies usually um as fast as possible and obviously towards the end just kind of see where you are but it’s you know it’s a pretty aggressive hook golf call for 36 holes and and yeah you need to be ready
thank you all right uh one more question here last question um what does it mean to you guys to have fans stick it out in the heat and be here to cheer you guys on when it’s this like brutally hot outside i think it’s I think it’s it’s great i mean the I’ve seen a lot of people a lot of support for the Fireballs um you know lots of people talking about my mustache and you know different different stuff but especially my mustache um yeah just great to see as many people i I know it’s hot um I mean it’s sunny it’s you know it’s great weather but it’s obviously very hot so it’s you know um really um really appreciate everybody that showed up um these couple days and you know hopefully it it gets pretty loud tomorrow
yeah i mean I was definitely surprised i was like man this is really hot and I heard today was sold out which is really cool to see a lot of kids a lot of energy a lot of support um a lot of a lot of Latinos out there representing and and really pushing us i know he’s not Latino but we you I mean you speak Spanish which is kind of close in a way but uh it’s been it’s been really cool i think I feel personally every time I’m in Texas I get a lot of support and it feels really nice
thank you guys
all right we appreciate the time guys all the best tomorrow
thanks
1 Comment
Ancer is such an impressive golfer in this time of bomb and gouge