Meet the press - Eddie Pepperell

After his maiden European Tour victory at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, Eddie Pepperell faced the world's press at Doha Golf Club.

Here is what he had to say.

Many congratulations, how does it feel to be the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters champion?

"Good. Relief I guess, first win and all that. I'm as pleased as I can be."

You've been out on Tour a few years. Did you ever think that it would take this long for someone of your talent?

"I didn't really have any expectations to be honest of how long it might or might not take. Obviously I had some good opportunities to win in 2014 and 2015 and then 16 was a bit more of a struggle.I had some chances, I wouldn't say I had a lot of very great chances like I've had today so to actually go out there and win today, going into the final round with a lead as well, that's great. It could have gone the other way quite easily so to answer your question, I didn't really have any expectations.

For somebody who had never won before it seemed like it was a perfect game-plan executed perfectly, certainly for that front nine.

"I didn't feel totally comfortable with my swing so that forced me to play a little bit more conservatively on certain  holes with certain pin positions. My course management was very good, Mick was fantastic on that front and I had to just play to my strengths today which I felt were my wedge play and my putting. The rest didn't feel quite in the same spot where I've been the last few days. That was a bit of an ugly win and I'm quite proud of that.

Was there a key shot out there or a key moment in the round that really turned it for you?

"It was a great par on 12, that kept some momentum. 12 and 13, I couldn't really bogey one of those in hindsight, it just made the finish even tougher. I knew 15 was going to be a key hole, it's a tough hole. You've got to take into account Oli and what he's done. It certainly made things more interesting.

Oli put in a big charge there at the end, were there any nerves setting in at any point?

There wasn't any nerves, none more so than the first tee-shot. You never feel like you do on  a Thursday afternoon on a Sunday when you're in contention, things are different so you do feel different. But not at any point during the round today did I feel different. I was confident, I felt like I was going to win this golf tournament, I felt like I was doing enough good things and that it was a case of me going on and playing smart and I did that. I didn't even play my best but that goes to show that sometimes you don't have to play the best and just manage the game and your mentality as best you can.

Have you got anything to say to the Twittersphere today?

I love them all really.

A lot of emotion there at the end. Can you describe what emotions you were felling after the final putt?

Just relief. When Oli was over his putt it ran through my mind that I had a play-off before and lost it. I won one on the Challenge Tour when Jeppe Huldahl holes a good putt on the last to force a play-off and I thought, 'this is going to a lay-off here'. And then when Oli missed I thought 'my parents are going to be going metal' so there was a lot going on mentally before that tap-in. Just pure relief. I felt like if I'd won by two or Oli hadn't done what he done, I wouldn't have been half as crazy. Oli forced that and that's to his credit. Relief is the main emotion.

The mood seemed to change as a spectator from 16, 17, 18. You said you weren't that nervous but it just felt different, particularly with Fisher's putt.

The worst shot was the second shot up 18. That's a four iron, that was the only shot that was a bit anti-left and I just put myself in a horrible spot. The feeling on 16, I thought I executed a really good game-plan for my game. Hit a great shot into 17, made a good par, just didn't read it quite right. I think I executed a lot of really good golf shots and committed quite well except for the second shot at 18, that was a poor lay-up but I hit a great third shot. That was a horrible lie. Mick wanted me to hit nine, I was in between wedge, we chose nine and it was a great decision in the end. My mood was probably different all day to how it was yesterday and certainly the first two days. Especially playing in a group like this with Oli and Sean, Oli's won once before, Sean hasn't won, so we're all really in a similar position. There are going to be some nerves between the three of us and you can see that We just hung on.

Would you say describe this as a breakthrough win or is it too early to say that?

I think this is just another good performance but with a win. I've had a lot of good performances, in the back end of last year, where I didn't win but they were good performances. Sometimes the margins are so fine between second, and third and a win. It's tough to win out here but it's also tough to be consistently a top ten or top five player out here. By and large I've achieved that quite well in my career, I've just never manged to win. In my mind, it didn't show that I wasn't a winner or I needed a breakthrough win. I'm just a consistent golfer and my time would hopefully come and it came today. I feel like if I do the right things going forward then I'll win more. Certainly, winning one will mentally help me moving forward, to be more aggressive probably in the early part of the weeks as well. The one thing I did think today was how much of a good thing it was to be a few shots ahead of third and fourth position heading into the final day. I was proud of yesterday when I tried to tell myself that it was a Sunday, just to imagine it was Sunday and therefore I didn't want to come off second or not first, so I think that was a smart thing to do in hindsight.

You mentioned that you felt it was your tournament, when did you start thinking that?

After Friday really. I had played so well tee to green in the first two days - I putted terribly on Friday but I was still there. Then I knew that my shot plans were very consistent so I felt like there was going to be nothing stopping me this weekend. I was super-confident today, I won't lie. I said to my friend Laurie Canter, walking out of the room this morning, it's an inevitability. I don't wish to sound arrogant, I just wanted to sound confident, because I felt confident enough that I was going to win today. I tried to just keep that mentality all through the round and I think having someone like Mick on the bag as well, can power you on and re-enforce that because he's a guy who knows how to get wins and get things done.

You played really solid and consistent and deserved to win, but did you think that you were a little fortunate that Fisher missed his birdie putt that could have forced a play-off?

Oli had a chance I guess and if he had have holed that it would have been a great finish. But it's just a game of margins I guess, I've had that happen against me in the past and never for me, so I'm sure there'll be more times in my career where golf will continue to make a little more sense.

Now that you've won, will you get a sponsor for your hat?

How much money have you got? A fiver and it's yours!

Eddie, going forward – it sounds like you're not the kind of person who changes your goals too much – but do you reassess things now going into the rest of the season?

No, I mean I think it's probably going to mean I'll get a better TV draw on Thursdays and Fridays. But it doesn't really mean too much in that sense, nothing has changed really – it's just that I'm now a winner and that will lead to certain things. We'll see though, I'm looking forward to the summer a lot. I'm going to be playing the Rolex Series events on courses where I feel like my game is most suited and there are a few of those events where I would certainly to contend. I guess now I've won one tournament I wouldn't be afraid to win again, I'm definitely looking forward to hopefully doing that.

Hole 12 was obviously a really interesting one for you this week, what were you thinking when you saw it come off the rocks again?

I just didn't hit a good shot today – I fatted it and I knew that it was coming up short. Yesterday's was actually a great second shot and I was surprised when it came up short but that didn't transfer into my emotional state after it happening. But certainly, to make up and down there today – I probably owe that hole something.

In terms of your career journey, going back to 2016 which obviously wasn't a great end of season for you, could you even imagine that you would be in this situation so quickly off the back of that?

Yeah, I knew I was a talented golfer and you don't become a bad golfer overnight or in the space of three months. I know I have got some ability but for me it's about unlocking that and working with the right people and working on the right things. I've done that clearly in the last 18 months and been rewarded for it. There's every chance I could make another bad decision in six months time and fall off the face of the earth, that's just the nature of golf and that's just how difficult it is. I said in an interview that I didn't think what happened in Portugal (losing European Tour card) would define me and that's just the way I see life. I don't react much to the lows and I don't react too much to the highs either really – sometimes I wish I did!

Celebrations tonight?

Yes, lots of red wine. I'm not flying until the morning so a few drinks no doubt. Someone told me at the prize ceremony that they'd give me some nice wine so I'll definitely drink that."