Q. This is your 22nd home Open. Do you still get the same excitement when you tee it up?
EDOARDO MOLINARI: I think it's always exciting to play your home open, your National Open. It's something we all look forward to. I think this week will be no different. It doesn't matter whether it's your first or 22nd, it's still exciting and still looking forward to play and hopefully play well.
Q. Always nice to play in front of home crowds as well?
EDOARDO MOLINARI: It's fantastic. The Italian supporters are always very vocal and they push you to play better, and it's always great fun. It's always exciting and as I said I'm really looking forward to it.
Q. Obviously a special venue with The Ryder Cup coming up in a year's time, but give us a sense of the challenges that this course has?
EDOARDO MOLINARI: It's a big golf course. There are some strong par 4s, especially around the turn and the finishing stretch. I think it's going to be a great course for spectators. It's been built with The Ryder Cup in mind, so there's a lot of viewing areas, and it's going to be very exciting. The finishing stretch is very good, as well. There are some tough par 4s and there's a reachable par 4 with water. 18 is a par 5 over water as well.
I think it's going to be very exciting.
Q. Now obviously you're coming to this week with two hats on, one for yourself and one for The Ryder Cup. Have you spoken to Luke about what you potentially want to get out of this week?
EDOARDO MOLINARI: Yeah, we had some discussions yesterday. Obviously I'm very keen on data and stats, so there are a few things that we try to change from last year, and see how the players react to it. You know, what kind of players tend to play well off certain tees in certain conditions, and then we are just going to make our mind up after this week and decide exactly what setup we want for next year and go from there.
Q. In that case, how important is player performance this week as you look ahead to next year?
EDOARDO MOLINARI: I think it's important. I think anyone playing well this week will obviously be seen under a different light in a year's time. Obviously still a very long way to go. Everyone will have to play very well to make the team or get a pick.
But as I said, I think playing well this week would be no harm to anyone and I think will actually be quite good.
Q. Is that part of why you went to six picks for next year?
EDOARDO MOLINARI: Yeah, there are a lot of reasons. With more picks, you have more flexibility. You can pick in-form players. You can pick rookies. You can pick experienced players depending who is already qualified for the team. I think obviously on paper we are slightly underdogs against the Americans. They seem to have slightly more strength and depth than we have, and I think having six picks can go a long way to deleting that that deficit.
Q. The likes of Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick here this week as well, how important is it for them to get a sense of what this course is going to be like ahead of next year?
EDOARDO MOLINARI: I think it's very important, at least to have a good first look. I mean, as I said, we are going to make a few little changes but the bulk of the course will be the same, and even just for us to get their opinion on how the course is playing and what they would like to see and what they like to see on a golf course, how they play better in certain conditions or others, I think it's just a benefit for everyone, and obviously it's much appreciated that those guys were able to come here and play this event ahead of The Ryder Cup. Hats off to them.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports