00:00Nico, welcome back to Celtic Manor, obviously a big week for you. I know you're in Belgium
00:04for your national Open, but this really feels like it's been more of a break since the back
00:08end of the Desert Swing for you. How are you feeling?
00:11I'm feeling great. I'm really, really happy to be here. Yeah, this is only my fifth event
00:17of the year. As everybody knows, I got into a little bit of health issues over the winter.
00:22But yeah, it's great to see everyone. It's great to play golf again. I was on the range
00:29at seven o'clock in the morning yesterday in the drizzle, and I was the happiest man
00:32on earth. So yeah, I'm really happy to be here.
00:34You spent a lot of time in Dubai as well, didn't you, at the clinics over there? How
00:37much did they help you get back onto your feet?
00:39Well, they've been a huge support. I'm really, really grateful to have come across these
00:47people because I was in a pretty dark place in November, not really knowing where I was
00:52heading. And being looked after the way I was the last couple of months with the people
01:00from Aveve in Dubai has been really incredible, not only from a medical point of view, but
01:09also from a personal point of view, to be able to get me back on my feet and come again
01:16or come and do again what I used to do on a regular basis.
01:19How do you like this course, the 2010 course? I was flicking through the history. Notice
01:23your 447 yards, which I think to this day is the longest down here, especially at the
01:2718th.
01:28Yeah, it's pretty cool to have a plaque on a golf course. I mean, I can only think of
01:32a few like Ben Hogan, Jimenez in Valderrama and McDowell, Bobby Jones at Lidl, and I have
01:39my own on the Radical golf course as well, which is quite cool. I've always liked this
01:43place. We came here and played the European Amateur back in 2000, so I have a bit of
01:50history here and it was one of the reasons why I decided for this week to be my first
01:55event back. It's a place I'm familiar with, a golf course I like, you stay inside in a
01:59nice hotel and the weather's great, believe it or not.
02:04This feels like a start of a lot of weeks to look forward to this year. You've got the
02:08Kazoo Open in France. You're going to be still defending champion there, given it's not
02:13been played since 2019. How much are you looking to represent the tournament title
02:19from 2019 in the national?
02:21Well, of course, I'm looking forward to going back to France. As you mentioned, it's been
02:26a couple of years because of COVID. We didn't get the chance to play in France. Quite an
02:32emotional win because it's been a while. It's in Paris, a place I know really well. I'm
02:37French speaking. I've always been part of the golfing landscape in France because of
02:42the language. I had a lot of reasons for that win to be emotional. I'm really looking
02:49forward to go and defend the title and play a reasonable or pretty much a standard schedule
02:56until the end of the year.
02:57Lastly, what do you remember of that win? I know it's not like it was last year, but
03:00I'm sure you've still got a lot of fond memories when you think about it.
03:04I remember the people, actually. Throughout the week, being French speaking, I really
03:12got a lot of support. I always had a lot of French people come in and watch me play when
03:16I play in France. For whatever reason, that week, I really felt like they were carrying
03:21me throughout the weekend. It made a bit of a difference in the end. It was either between
03:28George or J.B. Hansen. I feel like I owe it a little bit to French golf to be a French
03:36speaking winner.
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