An Interview with: OLAFUR LOFTSSON

Q.  Just another round of golf.  It’s not anything crazy, different, special.

OLAFUR LOFTSSON:  I think it helped a little bit, you know, after the first hole, even though I made a double bogey, I felt a little bit relaxed, now I can start playing some golf and now I can do my thing.

And I think after that, after I made par on 11 and made birdies on 13 and 14 my confidence was very high and I felt very comfortable out there all day.

Q.  You’re a senior at Charlotte.  So North Carolina golf in this heat doesn’t bother you a bit.  Tell me a little bit about golf in Iceland.

OLAFUR LOFTSSON:  Golf in Iceland is very different from golf in the States here.  We have about 60 to 70 golf courses, mostly links style, and we have the unique ability to play golf 24/7 during the peak of the summer.

So basically it’s a lot different — it’s probably 50 degrees colder there but right now I probably prefer being in the 40s than in the 90s.

Q.  I’ll bet you would.  How does a nice boy from Iceland get to Charlotte?

OLAFUR LOFTSSON:  You know, my dream is to play on the PGA TOUR.  You can’t play year-round in Iceland so you have to go somewhere else and I think, you know, being in college in the States you have best opportunity to go to school while chasing your dream and that’s kind of what I’ve been doing so far and it’s been a great experience and I’m very excited about the future.

Q.  Without many golfers from Iceland, who is your role model, who is your idol growing up and getting ready to come over here and play?

OLAFUR LOFTSSON:  I didn’t really have a particular idol.  Obviously all these guys — you know, I recognize most of these guys out here on Tour and I’ve looked up to these guys all these years my entire career.  It feels great to be around these guys and playing with them.

Q.  Hey, Graeme McDowell came from over here to Alabama-Birmingham and won a U.S. Open.  Your accent is a whole lot more Southern than his is.

OLAFUR LOFTSSON:  Thank you.

Q.  Is this what you expected in your first Tour event, first round, beyond what you expected?

OLAFUR LOFTSSON:  Pretty much.  It was a little bit nerve-racking on the first tee box.  But after I got over that, I felt a lot more, you know, at ease, but the guys here are so nice.  I’ve been able to chat with a lot of these guys and they’re so friendly and helped me out a lot.  It’s great to be here.

 

FastScripts by ASAP Sports


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