THE MODERATOR: Let's welcome Abraham Ancer from Fireballs GC. You shot 5-under today. You're currently sitting at 9-under, tied for the lead with Carlos Ortiz and Sam Horsfield. Tell us a little bit about your round.
ABRAHAM ANCER: Yeah, very solid tee to green. I felt like the highlight was definitely the putter. The putter was rolling nicely. Can't complain about that. Kept the ball in play. Missed it in the right spots whenever I wasn't in a perfect spot to attack.
That's what you've got to do on this golf course. You have to be very smart. You have to be very diligent where you place your ball because you know when you hit it in the wrong spot, you're not making par or birdie if it's a par-5.
It's been a battle. It's awesome. I love this kind of golf. I've always loved playing in Australia. Seeing the conditions like this is exciting. It's tough, but it's really good for me. I like it a lot.
Q. There was not a lot of scoring today. Actually in the other direction. You had a lot of your friends out there shooting 7-over, 8-over. Not a lot of low scores today. Talk about the difference the way the course played yesterday versus today.
ABRAHAM ANCER: Definitely. Even yesterday it was playing tough, and if you're just a little bit off, it really gets tough. With the wind, if you're not hitting it crisp, the wind is just going to affect the ball a ton more, and when you miss the greens out here, it's not going to be easy.
Yeah, you might see the scores being really high and you'd think somebody played extremely poorly, but maybe they were just missing it by a little bit.
Like I said, really happy with my round. It was a battle, but I enjoyed it.
Q. The Fireballs are currently tied for second place at 9-under. We were just chatting, with all four scores counting, really anything can happen tomorrow. Just talk a little bit about from the team side of things and what the expectations are tomorrow.
ABRAHAM ANCER: Yeah, I was watching the leaderboard, and it was all over the place. When the golf course is this tough and four scores count, there's going to be a lot of fluctuation. I saw Puig at one time, he was maybe a couple over and then he'd turn it around, 3-under. I think he finished around there if I'm not mistaken. Sergio was battling; he was around par, I think, all day. And Luis, probably about the same. It's tough to collectively all play really good on a golf course like this. But we have a chance tomorrow as a team, so we've just got to keep our blinders on and play good solid golf.
Q. For you personally to get the individual win out here, obviously you won in Hong Kong last year and you have a chance tomorrow. What would a win at LIV Golf Adelaide of all places mean to you?
ABRAHAM ANCER: It would be incredible. I've always loved playing in Australia. Winning the Aussie Open was awesome. I feel like that win really gave me a lot of confidence, and then playing the Presidents Cup in Royal Melbourne was an incredible experience. I just love this kind of golf. It's exciting to see it, exciting to play. The crowds are incredible. I think they've always supported me and taken me in as their own, which has been really nice.
Yeah, we've just got to see what happens tomorrow. The guys up there that are playing with me on the leaderboard are obviously extremely good, which I can't really be thinking about that. I've just got to play some good golf and see what happens after the round.
Q. Fellow Mexican national Carlos Ortiz also 9-under and will be in your group tomorrow. How exciting is it to have Mexico so well represented on the first tee?
ABRAHAM ANCER: Yeah, it's definitely nice. I think that we're both playing at a pretty good level. I feel like last year we were neck to neck. I can't remember what we ended up. Also I won in Hong Kong, he won in Houston, which is awesome to see, and he's a great player. He's been a really good player for a long time. Hopefully tomorrow will be a great battle that we'll enjoy. But I can't be worried about that. I've just got to be focusing on my game, and like I said, we'll see where we end up at the end.
Q. Just because you've been to the previous two LIV Golf Adelaide events, how does this one stack up to the last two years so far?
ABRAHAM ANCER: Every year is incredible. The crowd is insane. I think everything is really well organized. The crowds are incredible, super supportive but not disrespectful, which is really cool to see. They appreciate good golf.
Sometimes you can hit a shot and it might not look incredible, but they know it was a good shot, and they appreciate that. It's been phenomenal.
Q. Abe, when you won here or won in Australia in 2018, was that the first time you'd played in Australia, or had you had some experience before?
ABRAHAM ANCER: No, that was my -- I believe that was my second tournament. I played alongside another Mexican Roberto Diaz at the World Cup in the week before that or maybe the week after that. So yeah, that would have been the first tournament that I played, now that I remember correctly.
I remember flying from -- I think at the time it was in Mayakoba and flew directly and I got here on the Wednesday and it was the first time that I was really, really thrown off with a time change. The first round I felt like a zombie and managed to post a good number, and then after that I felt really good and played really, really well.
Q. Is there something specific about Australian courses that you like?
ABRAHAM ANCER: I just like the creativity. I feel like obviously the players that hit it a mile -- like today I played with Bryson and Dustin, and I know they didn't have their best stuff today, but it doesn't really matter that much how far you hit it, but you just have to be extremely precise, where you pitch your ball, where you leave it. Your short game has got to be extremely on point, and putting is extremely important, as well.
I just like that kind of golf, and I feel like it kind of evens out the playing field a little bit.
Q. You had mentioned you and Carlos obviously played together with the Fireballs. You have the Olympic experience. When you're down going head-to-head for an individual title, do you kind of throw the friendship out the window to a certain degree?
ABRAHAM ANCER: I guess we just have to do that everywhere we've grown, playing together, but it's not like you're fighting each other. My opponent is the golf course, and if I take care of that, then it's probably going to be a good result. So I don't really see it as that. I'm not going to be different towards him, obviously, at any moment. Definitely not. The friendship is there, and I just have to beat the golf course.
Q. You mentioned you played with Bryson. What was it like to see him drive the green on that par-4?
ABRAHAM ANCER: Yeah, I mean, it's obviously very impressive. I felt like when I first turned pro and I played with somebody like that, I was really, like, amazed, and I was like, man, I've got to do some -- it made me change my game plan, but after the years I realized that I just don't play that kind of golf, and I just have to stick to my game plan.
He's definitely exciting. He's definitely a person that brings the crowds and that brings a lot of excitement to the game. That is really cool to see, and it's really cool to see some shots that I know I can't pull off.
But yeah, it was definitely fun.
Q. Where were you standing when Bryson left the course to get on a balcony of a house off the course to get a yardage? Did you see that, and did you know what was going on?
ABRAHAM ANCER: Yeah, I was in the middle of the fairway, and he blocked it right, and off the tee you can't really see where that would land because there's some trees -- myself and DJ, we were in disbelief like where did he find that ball. He ended up hitting it in the middle of the fairway from the bush, and I think he almost made par, which would have been insane. Then I see him in the house on the balcony. I had no idea what was going on.
Q. Did he actually leave the course?
ABRAHAM ANCER: I think so. I think the house might be outside -- I was like, is that OB or not. Obviously the ball wasn't OB. I think he just got on there to see where he could go.
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