Rio medallists, Rose, Stenson and Kuchar, tee off at Singapore Open

SINGAPORE-Left to right – Justin Rose of England, Henrik Stenson of Sweden and Matt Kuchar of the USA pictured at a press conference, Tuesday January 14, 2020 ahead of the SMBC Singapore Open at the Sentosa Golf Club, Singapore. The USD$ 1 million event is co- sanctioned with the Asian Tour and Japan Tour, January 9-12, 2020. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Lagardére Sports.

Singapore, Jan 14: The three medallists from thee 2016 Olympic Games are gathered in Singapore for the 2020 Singapore Open that tees off on Thursday. Here the the trio, Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson and Matt Kuchar speak of their expectations for the event this week.

 Justin Rose (Eng)

Sentosa is a golf course widely regarded amongst all of us players. One of the best golf courses in Asia for sure. Conditioning out here is incredible. I haven’t been on the golf course itself yet but the condition of the practice areas as I walk down to see the 18th and 9th, and everything just looks perfect down there. The staging of events is really nice coming back into the 9th hole and the 18th hole. It’s got a really nice atmosphere to feel and yeah excited about the week. This is the first time dusting off the clubs for 2020, felt like I really started to get some momentum in the very back end of the year during the Hero World tournament in the Bahamas. I felt like that was the tournament I really began to feel like I was hitting much more as I remembered. So when I managed to get the momentum, I didn’t really want to put my clubs down too much during Christmas. I went out and played more than I normally would just to keep a little bit of momentum up so I feel very clear with my swing. I haven’t got a plan in place for this year, how I’m going to approach it. I’m just quite excited. I’m just going to do my best to enjoy it and hopefully, it works out.

 

Henrik Stenson (Swe)

I’ve played two times before in Singapore so this is my third time here. It’s been a few years I think it was 2012 last time so it’s great to be back. Like Justin said, it’s a lot of different things here this week, golf course, food, people and there’s another course and everything else, so it’s a very friendly place and happy to be back and start off my season here. I haven’t done a lot of practice over the holidays, as you all know it’s the season all the way around these days. From December to early January, I’m enjoying my break. Had a great finish to the year – the only really good chance I had to win and I managed to take it. I just had a really big smile on my face and definitely enjoyed my holidays. In terms of form, of course, there’s always a little questioning where you’re standing when you take it out from first week of the year, but hopefully, too much of the momentum from the Bahamas hasn’t worn off and just trying to do all the right things to do and the overall chance to be good. I’m very excited to be here and challenge these guys.

 

Matt Kucher (USA)

First time for me in Singapore. It’s one of those appealing cities that everybody wants to go and see and be a part of. It’s beautiful, even just out the media centre it’s quite spectacular. Amazing port, amazing city. There’s a whole lot of attraction, a whole lot of reason just to come visit and be able to play at a tough course like this that’s so highly regarded. I’ve talked to so many people. Davis Love was here last year, he’s a friend back home that was telling us all the things to do and visit. I’m excited to be here. I am probably more prepared for winds of 20 – 40 miles per hour than almost anybody else. I suppose there’s still a lot to be seen. We played a lot last year, in different conditions and in a couple of different leagues but I’m excited.

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