With five birdies and an eagle on his first seven holes of 2022, Victor Perez started the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship in attack mode. A go cleared in 29 shots and a birdie on 14 even placed him in the lead of the tournament for a time. But two bogeys on the delicate 15 and 18 finally relegated him to a very provisional joint 2nd position. Reactions from the French No. 1 to the microphones of the European Tour and Canal +.
“Did you expect such a start?
Minus 7 after 7 holes was the perfect start. We were also the first to leave this morning, the conditions were perfect, with very little wind. I hit a lot of very good shots, I made a lot of putts and I very often put myself in a birdie position. Afterwards, it’s never easy to keep this rhythm, to chain the birdies. I gave two points to the course at the end of the game on a return which I found generally more difficult than the outward journey, with a wind which gradually rose rather against and coming from the left most of the time. But overall, I’m satisfied with this first day.
What part of your game gave you the most satisfaction?
Everything worked pretty well in my game. My iron game was very sharp, I took a lot of greens and therefore didn’t have a lot of pressure to put on my chipping. I made quite a few putts of 2 to 3m which were synonymous with birdies at the start of the game. Overall everything worked well.
“The state of mind is going to be very important tomorrow (with a more present wind), we must not set the bar too high and accept what is going to happen”
Do your two late game bogeys taste bitter?
We can say that we were -8 and that we finished two shots higher, that’s for sure. I rather see the glass half full, if I had been told that I would sign -6 leaving early this morning for my first tournament of 2022, I would have signed immediately.
The wind is supposed to pick up tomorrow (Friday), how are you going to manage its presence?
You have to adapt, stay patient and above all accept that you can hit several good shots and simply sign a par when the wind picks up. The state of mind will be very important, we must not set the bar too high and accept what is going to happen. It was all the more important to start my week well. Because in tricky conditions, it’s never easy to race for birdies and come back from behind. »
