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WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP MEDIA CONFERENCEFebruary 6, 2007Gary BecknerJohn BeltonWade DunaganMichael GartenRick GeorgeGeoff OgilvyJAMES CRAMER: We're very excited to come here The Gallery at Dove Mountain, and I appreciate the fact that we have a standing-room-only audience. It's nice to see this many people out here in advance of the event. I'd like to begin by introducing our distinguished guests who are here in the front row and who you'll hear from in a little bit. I'd like to start with the director of global event marketing for Accenture, Mr. Gary Beckner; and we have the executive vice president of PGA TOUR Championship Management, Mr. Rick George; Mike Garten, the executive director of the Accenture Match Play Championship, whom many of you are working with on a daily basis; we have the Conquistadors Tournament chairman, Mr. John Belton; and then the project manager for the Gallery Golf Club, Mr. Wade Dunagan; of course our guest of honor today, the 2006 World Golf Championships Accenture Match Play champion, Mr. Geoff Ogilvy. I failed to mention, not only to I want to welcome the media here today, but I also want to welcome the media who are joining us on the national and international conference call, to welcome everyone. To get started I'd like to show a video about the history of this event and what you have to look forward to in a couple of weeks. (Video played.) THE MODERATOR: As you can see, there's a lot to be excited about when the world's best players come together in competition. Accenture has been a partner with the PGA TOUR and The International Federal of PGA Tours since its series debut in 1999. With that I'd like to reintroduce Gary Beckner of global event marketing to say a few words on their behalf. (Applause.) GARY BECKNER: Thank you all for coming. James mentioned the PGA TOURs, but they all represent great organizations that have worked on putting this event together, and that's obviously the PGA TOUR and the Conquistadors and The Gallery Club. With us today, also, representing the Governor's office is Kristin Almquist. I didn't bump into to Bob Watkins. I don't know if he's here. But from the very beginning when we looked at working with the TOUR and where we wanted to go with this event following La Costa, we had three or four things in mind that would really make this thing work, and it was two years in the making for us to find Tucson. First of all, we wanted to go to a place that had great weather, and there's no doubt about that; Secondly, we wanted to pick a place where we'd get a lot of community support with the spectators and federal and local governments and the mayor's office and the governor's office certainly provided that; thirdly, we wanted to make sure that we had a great golf course, and for those of you who are playing golf today, you'll find out that the Gallery Club has all that to offer and more. And also we wanted to make sure that we're in an area where we have a bunch of class hotels where we could host our group and our spectators and people coming from all over the world both to play and to participate in attending. And lastly, probably one of the most important things, is we wanted to make sure we had a good partner, a community organization, sales, marketing if you will, exactly like the Conquistadors, who have been very important in supporting this group and the community and rallying all the businesspeople around it. We think, too, with the work of the Conquistadors and the work and The Gallery, we will have probably without a doubt one of the finest events on the PGA TOUR this year and every year certainly while we're in Tucson. It's my pleasure here today representing some 140,000 Accenture men and women working in some 50 countries around the world. For those of you not aware of whom we are, Accenture is a global management consulting technology services and outsourcing company, and our people deliver technology and management, innovation, to some of the world's best-known companies and collaborate with our clients to help them become high performance businesses. As a global company, we have proud to sponsor many events that showcase the power of high performance. Our sponsorship of the World Golf Championship Accenture Match Play Championship is a natural fit because of the way this event brings the world's top performers together in a competitive format offered by no other event in the world. The global attention this tournament receives and the great things this event will do for the local community and for the state of Arizona make it a special opportunity for us, and we're looking forward to it very much. James mentioned Accenture has been involved with the World Golf Championships since its inception in 1999. Maybe some of you know, maybe some of you don't, and we go back a little bit further than that. We were part of the initial global Match Play competition, the Accenture World Championship of Golf that started in 1995. We're very proud of being part of the initial concept of international golf and very pleased to be part of the incumbent of Match Play to join the World Golf Championships as the title sponsor of the singular Match Play Championship event. In addition to our support and title sponsorship of this event, we work with many organizations throughout the world in providing technology services and products, and we're also pleased to say that we also work we closely with the PGA TOUR in providing consulting services to many of their needs and requirements, and currently we're working with the PGA TOUR on a very unique learning program for The First Tee on a national basis. So we'll have some information that we'll share with those who are interested at a later date. Now in 2007, our 13th year of association with professional golf, specifically Match Play, we're thrilled to be working with all of the people, the media that are here today that are so important to make sure that the people here and around the world know just what a great state Arizona is, what great cities Phoenix and Tucson are and all the counties around here, and what great people that you have that make up the great communities. We're also very pleased to work, again, our 13th year with the TOUR; The Gallery has been superb in working with us and providing us all the assistance in their model since we met David. As he said right off the bat, the answer is yes, what's the question. We are here to really write a new chapter in the history of the Match Play Championship and professional golf throughout the world, and we thank you for all being part of it. We look forward to a terrific event, and we're really excited to be here at our new home at the Gallery Golf Club in Arizona. Thank you all so very much for joining us today. For those of you playing golf, have a great day, enjoy the course. For those of you covering the event, letting the world know all the good things that are taking place here. Again, thank you so much, and we hope you enjoy it, enjoy seeing what you like and sharing what you see with the world on this great event. Thank you all so much. JAMES CRAMER: I'd now like to introduce the gentleman who has the direct responsibility for the World Golf Championships in his role as the head of PGA TOUR championship management, Mr. Rick George. Rick? RICK GEORGE: There's really not a lot I can say, so thanks for being here, and have a great day (laughter). By the time I get up here, there's nothing to say. I think James and the video really spoke to the event, and Gary, obviously talking about their involvement with golf and what they've done for the PGA TOUR and the Accenture Match Play Championship speaks for itself. So before I get into my very brief remarks that you've already heard from two others, I want to thank Gary and Accenture and all of their partners around the world for their support, not only of the PGA TOUR but the World Golf Championships, and specifically the Accenture Match Play Championship. I think part of the reason for being here today is. The vision that they have and that we have on the TOUR and the International Federation of Tours. We can tell you that we're excited about being here, and we're excited because we also get to work with two great groups, the Conquistadors, who I've known for a long time, Russ Purlich and Judy McDermott. They're a tremendous organization that provides a lot of charitable dollars to the local community, and to have them involved in the support that we've already received from the greater Tucson area has been just outstanding, and the Gallery at Dove Mountain, the golf club, has been just terrific. So I want to thank them. On behalf of the International Federation of PGA Tours, we want to welcome all of you here today. It's a full two weeks before we get on with what we think is going to be a great championship. In just two weeks the very best players from around the world are going to be in Tucson, the top 64 players. You know who they are, and it starts with Geoff Ogilvy sitting here in front of you, your defending champion. He leads the group of 64 players that are going to compete and going to provide a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and excitement in this community for that week just a couple weeks from now. The Accenture Match Play Championship fulfills the goals that were set forth by The International Golf Federation. Those goals were to provide more playing opportunities for the top players to compete against each other. I think they're going to find the competition out there is just going to be tremendous, play in different formats, this is the only format of this kind around the world, and there's a lot of exposure and a lot of people excited about what this things into play on that Sunday for the championship, and Geoff will tell you that in a few minutes. It's truly outstanding. And the last thing is we want to play a great venue. I think you'll find out there when you play that the Gallery at Dove Mountain is a tremendous facility and a tremendous golf tournament that's going to provide a great stage for the world's best to compete. This event draws great global exposure. It's been played in ten different countries on five continents, and the video said, but I think it's grown, it'll be viewed by over 220 countries around the world, and that matches what Accenture does around the world in their business, and it's tremendous for the PGA TOUR and for The International Federation of Golf Tours to be able to be on that stage. As I said, Geoff has his own streak that you may or may not know. There's all this talk about Tiger Woods winning seven in a row and this could be his eighth or ninth that he'll be gunning for, but Geoff has his own streak winning the Tucson Opening in 2005. Unfortunately he wasn't able to defend because he played last year's 2006 Accenture Match Play Championship and won that. So he's got his own little streak that he's going for, and I can tell you that he'll be ready to play as will the 63 other of his peers as we come in a couple weeks. I'll close by saying that I think there's a lot of interest and a lot of enthusiasm for this championship because it is different. It is unique. It's one-on-one, it's the very best competing, and you saw the golf shot from behind the tree and Chris DiMarco getting up-and-down and Davis Love and Geoff Ogilvy playing a 36-hole match on Sunday, and there's so much excitement, and we've also experienced a lot of excitement in this community. I can tell you that our players and the golf fans around the world and in the Tucson area are going to have one heck of a show because our players are excited about being here and having the opportunity to be the only person standing on Sunday. Again, I want to thank Accenture for their tremendous support of the PGA TOUR and the Accenture Match Play Championship. I want to thank all the media for being here today. We can't tell our story without you. We appreciate what the Conquistadors do to raise charitable dollars that will benefit a tremendous amount of people in this community. We're excited about being here in two weeks, and we look forward to seeing you the week of the 19th. Thank you. (Applause.) JAMES CRAMER: As the executive director of the Accenture Match Play Championship Mike Garten is tasked with the day-to-day operation and running of this event, so I'd like Mike to come up and give an update on the event. MIKE GARTEN: Thank you, James. I'd like to start out, as well, and I know I will echo some of the sentiments as I go down the line, but it's much appreciated that all of you from the media and other organizations, as well, with us today. I know Gary mentioned this, as well, you obviously play a big role in this event and its part of what makes the event a world golf event. I did want to share a story, but part of what really does make match play compelling and different during the year is that last year, and probably there's very few of you in the audience that may remember this, is Geoff's match versus Mike Weir, and was it on Friday? GEOFF OGILVY: Yes. MIKE GARTEN: Third round, yeah, Geoff's playing Mike Weir, obviously a formidable competitor, on Friday. If I'm not mistaken Geoff was four down with four to play. Be my guess if you're someone in my particular job or even James or could be Gary or Rick, any of us, part of the event, you sit there and watch the electronic scoreboards or happen to be watching on-line at one of the video terminals, and you're saying, it looks like Weir is probably going to advance, and I'm looking at who the next player he's going to play on Saturday, and I turn around about five or ten minutes later, and I see Weir three up. Another five or ten minutes goes by, take a look at a scoreboard, Weir two up. All right, well, I've seen that before, two or three comebacks in the tournament, but I don't know if someone's been four down with four to play. Next thing I know, Weir one up. And at La Costa Resort and Spa, the 18th hole happened to be in an amphitheater-type setting right in front of the clubhouse, and now everyone paying a little bit of attention has figured out that Geoff has made a tremendous comeback or what's going to end up becoming a comeback and a victory. He wins 18, goes to extra holes, and if I'm not mistaken Geoff won on the third playoff hole. So it was just a terrific match. But I think of that as a great recent story and a small part of what makes match play really exciting. I think it'll be fun for all of you to get a chance to see it up close and personal in two weeks. I wanted to thank again, and I'll be brief on this, but it would be remiss if I didn't thank Accenture, Mike Nolan with Accenture, and I've worked with them for the past eight years. As Gary had mentioned, they've been a partner with the TOUR from the inception of the World Golf Championship period. They go back over a dozen years, a proud supporter of global golf, and they're a great group to work with. If nothing else, their attention to detail and their commitment to excellence on what we all do as partners on this is always very much appreciated. I wanted to thank CA and Bridgestone, which are two of our newer sponsors as part of a series. The CA Championship will be played at Doral Resort and Spa in Miami, Florida, in I believe the third week of March, and the Bridgestone Invitational will be played at a venue that has become very familiar to golf fans for probably close to four years now, the Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. And I believe that that date now is moved into late July. I wanted to also thank two of our official sponsors, Kohler and Rolex. Rolex is relatively new with us; Kohler has been a partner of ours four or five years. I also would like to say thank you to a sponsorship category that we have that is essentially designed for more of a state or regional opportunity, and we have two people or two organizations we've been able to craft a partnership with, and they've been great to work with, and that's the Arizona Office of Tourism and Golden Eagle Distributors, which some of you in town would know as the Anheuser Busch distributorship here, so thank you for all their support. I wanted to thank the Conquistadors. They have the relationship, and Gary and Rick talked just a little bit about -- has really changed the face and the dynamics of this event in a big way. For someone that's worked on this event from the very beginning, this event will look and feel significantly different here in the state of Arizona and in Tucson here in two weeks, and I know all of us that work on the event are really excited about that. I wanted to say a special thank you to Judy McDermott. Quite a few of you probably know Judy was the tournament director, executive director as what was the Chrysler Classic of Tucson for 14 years. I wanted to mention a thank you to because she's been great to work with, and the Conquistadors at large; John Belton, this year's tournament chairman, Tim Prouty, the president; and their organization consists of I believe it's about 55 active members and about 190, close to 200 members in total over their 40 years. So it's just been a nice opportunity to meet a lot of the leaders in both the business and corporate civic community here in Tucson. Judy helped me navigate that along the way, so I wanted to thank her. I wanted to thank The Gallery, also. You heard from Wade Dunagan, John McMillan the owner and Wade have been so easy to work with, a first-class group here, and as Gary said, the answer is yes, what's the question. I'm going to steal that from you. That's the way they operate. Any of you that know them know that that is the truth, and they've been just a pleasure to work with. I wanted to thank David Mehl. I'm sure quite a few of you might either know David personally or at least of David, and his company here in Tucson Cottonwood Properties, and David goes back in the Tucson community for a long, long time. He's also been tremendous to work with. He plays a key role in what we were building from the ground up. So thank you for your help. I wanted to thank not only the city of Tucson but the county of Miranda. I believe we have a couple people with us from the town of Miranda today, and I believe I had shared earlier that from a government or civic standpoint, there's absolutely been no better cooperation on this particular event than what will be the ninth playing, hands down. So thank you for everything that both of those groups have done. And last and certainly not least, I wanted to thank, and I'm not sure where they might be right now, but Joe Toomey, and Christie, you, as well. Joe Toomey is the tournament manager. For a few of you that have had a chance to meet Joe, and Christie Mannis is our tournament coordinator, and both of you deserve a tremendous amount of thanks from me personally because what we do really 365 days out of the year and seven days a week and obviously some times are busier than others, but I can promise you all of you know the way this works, I really work for Joe and Christie, and they deserve at least round of applause for putting on media day. (Applause.) One more person, and I'm not sure if he made it, is Steven Nutt here? Steven Nutt is the operations manager, and Steven has two young gentlemen work, with him right now, David Young and Ricardo Nuñez, our operations team, and Sean McConaughey, and we'll literally have about six different operations people here that basically spend anywhere between -- Steven has been here since December 1st and made four to six trips out here during the six months prior, so what you actually see built out today when you get a chance to play golf is the work of what they've done. With that, two weeks from now, we look forward to it. Let's see if we can't make a big run. Thanks. (Applause.) JAMES CRAMER: As we mentioned earlier, the Tucson Conquistadors have been an integral part of the fabric of golf in the Tucson area, and with that I'd like to introduce Mr. John Belton, the Conquistadors tournament chairman. JOHN BELTON: Thank you everyone for coming today. It's been a perfect match, matching Accenture up with us and WGC. When they came to us with this opportunity, we knew that we could deliver with a volunteer phase as well as a failsafe. In the past 40 years, $16 million to our charities, and that's what the Tucson Conquistadors are all about is charity. This year when I put together the budget, we were trying to figure out ticket packages and where we wanted to go, I wanted to be the first one who raised above a million dollars for our organization. Our goal is to do $1.5 for this year. All that will go to youth athletics give that all away. The First Tee program is our main focus here in Tucson, but amateur athletics is where our focus is. The Match Play is the perfect event for us. Having Geoff come back, we appreciate that. Tickets are one thing I want to get out. We still have tickets to sell. The championship club tickets are probably the ones that we are trying to focus on the most, which is kind of like our Grand Slam tent. It'll be more of an upscale sports bar, and we're really looking forward to having that at the 15th hole -- 12th, excuse me. Anyway, the Championship Club is going to be a great spot to be if you don't have the corporate tents or out just walking around. With that said, again, we've got tickets to sell and we'd like to sell some more if possible, so media, that would be the number one thing to say, that tickets are still available, as well as we're looking forward to a great round by all 64 players, and we want to thank everyone for coming today. Thanks so much. (Applause.) JAMES CRAMER: I'd now like to introduce Mr. Wade Dunagan, project manager of the Gallery Golf Club, our host for the tournament and our host for media day. WADE DUNAGAN: On behalf of John McMillan and all of our members and staff, we'd like to welcome you The Gallery at Dove Mountain. Many of you have been here before. I'm pleased to see so many people and so many friendly faces, so welcome back. The Gallery is a very special place. It first opened with our North Course in December of 1998. That was designed by John Fought and Tom Lehman. The South Course, which will be the venue for the Accenture Match Play Championship, was designed by John Fought, and that opened in November of 2003. It's a tribute to the classic features and design characteristics of a legendary architect in Mr. Donald Ross. With four reachable par 5s, two drivable par 4s, we expect to see some extraordinary golf. We expect to see some exciting matches, and we're very much looking forward to seeing the best 64 players in the world. I would like to take a moment and introduce a couple of folks. I don't know if John Fought has made it in yet, but he will be available throughout the day if you have any questions. I'd also like to take this opportunity to introduce our golf course superintendent in the back, Mr. Paul Ellwood, and our head golf professional, Mr. Paul Nolan. Thank you for joining us today. We look forward to a wonderful couple of weeks in a couple of weeks, and please make yourself at home. Our house is your house. Thank you. (Applause.) JAMES CRAMER: Before I introduce Geoff, I'd like to ask if you have questions during this Q and A session, please raise your hands so that the media joining us via teleconference can hear your questions. It's now my honor to introduce the gentleman that lifted the Walter Hagen Cup last year in victory, a three-time winner of the PGA TOUR, including this distinguished championship. Later in the year he went on to win the United States Open Championship. We look forward to him coming back here in two weeks and putting on a strong defense. Geoff, if you'll join me up here. (Applause.) JAMES CRAMER: Geoff, talk about what it meant to go to La Costa last year and win your first World Golf Championships event, and then we'll take questions. GEOFF OGILVY: Obviously these are the big tournaments. I mean, you've got the majors and THE PLAYERS Championship and these right behind those. These are the biggest tournaments in the world because everyone is here. It was disappointing actually because Tucson was one of my favorite golf tournaments. I got to win Tucson and then I didn't get to come back, which was a shame because it's almost a home event for me. I make Phoenix my home, so I was playing in my home state, but I get to come over and play a bigger golf tournament really. And I snuck through the first four rounds, extra holes every time, and the lucky one was with Mike Weir. I hit a decent shot but he let me off the hook a couple times, then I played better as the week went on. An unbelievable finish when you're the only two people on the golf course. You don't get that experience a lot. It was a fun event. That was the biggest win of my career to that point. The U.S. Open might get a little bit in front of it. But I probably wouldn't have won the U.S. Open if I didn't get to win this tournament. Yeah, it was this point last year. It's a good week for me, that third week in February. So we'll see if we can do it again. Q. Just talk a little bit more about the nostalgia of being back here in Tucson where you had your first PGA TOUR victory? GEOFF OGILVY: Yeah, it's cool. It's like an adopted home event almost. That's the cool part. We used to love the Tucson Open, the crowds, the tournament. It was one we enjoyed a lot. That was the first time I ever won a golf tournament and I didn't get to come back and defend. That was a bit annoying. It's bad because it's nice to be able to come back and defend a golf tournament. And then I win the same week and then the same week it comes back to Tucson, so I get to defend two years later, which is nice. I'm almost defending twice this week, which is very odd. It's kind of a fun deal. Q. (Inaudible.) GEOFF OGILVY: Similar to what the guys are saying on video, it's true. It's more a hole-by-hole thing where if you look at a 72-hole stroke play tournament as a whole, it's a whole week's work. It's like a four-day project kind of thing. Whereas 18-hole match play, it really is a hole-by-hole thing. Really, what the other guy does really influences what we do. It shouldn't do, but it kind of does. Really you spend the whole day watching what your opponent is doing. Stroke play event, you don't really think about that until the last few holes of the golf tournament. For some reason, putts and chips go in left, right and center in match play. The more putts, the more chip-ins into the hole for par, putts going in. I wish I worked out why we do that because I'd do it in a normal tournament. I think it's because every hole, that's the end of that hole, so you've got to hole it or it's over. A stroke-play event it's a bit more gray, whereas match play it's black or white. I mean, it's a fun deal to play. It might be frustrating to play if you played it every week. You play it once or twice a year. It's fantastic, great fun. Q. You hear much chatter during the year from your fellow pros about match play? Is there conversation between you? GEOFF OGILVY: People talk about these tournaments. A lot of people are looking forward to this tournament, for sure. Every Tuesday on Tour -- and every weekend at every club in the world, people play match play. So it's really the proper way to play golf, isn't it (laughter)? That's the way everyone plays. Yeah, I mean, people talk about it. I mean, it's a fun deal. As I've said, more crazy stuff happens in match play that will ever happen in a stroke play tournament. Crazy stuff happens in the last six holes of a stroke play tournament but crazy stuff happens all week in match play. You'll see a guys chip in to go down extra holes or you'll see a guy win four holes in a row or hole three 30-footers in a row. I mean, the Ryder Cup is the pinnacle of that sort of stuff happening, and the match play that same sort of stuff happens. I don't know why that is because maybe if you don't chip this in, the hole is over. Something happens and you grind and -- I mean, it's incredible. It's an amazing thing, match play. We always wish we could bottle what happens in match play for a stroke play tournament because we'd probably do a lot better. We always have lower scores in match play than we do in a stroke play event. Q. Is there such thing as a good match play course? And if so, what elements go into making a good match play course? GEOFF OGILVY: I guess there probably are good courses for match play courses. Four par 5s that people can get to. If there's holes that people have to make decisions, it's going to a good match play course because there might be a guy who might want to lay it up on a par 5, and if his opponent has pulled a 3-wood and hits it on the green then he has to go for the green. I mean that sort of stuff; it's interesting, whereas if it's just an obvious everyone lays it up and everyone hits the same shots all day, then it's not going to create the excitement and the decisions. The funnest part about golf is watching us struggle with the decision whether to go over the water or not go over the water, should I go for it or not go for it, then go for it. That's the funnest part about watching golf, isn't it? If you've got four par 5s that you can reach and two par 4s that you can drive it on, then you've got decisions. It's nice to have a few holes like that, but this one you're going to have more holes like that I'd suggest. Whenever you have golfers making decisions they don't want to make, golf is a better game to watch. That's what's going to happen here. It's going to be a good tournament. Q. That was going to be my question. Early thoughts on this course? Have you been able to walk around and check it out? GEOFF OGILVY: I haven't, actually. I'm sure it's beautiful. Last time I played here, we played one here in 2000-2001 Tucson Open and it snowed (laughter). So hopefully we've come for better weather. I'm sure it's going to be like it is outside. That was a very odd affair. This course is beautiful. I'm sure we're going to have that chance. I may sneak down before the tournament and have a look, but I'm sure it's great. Q. Hey, Geoff, how do you prepare -- is there a way to prepare for match play? And two, what's the camaraderie like behind the white lines in this event versus a regular stroke-play event? Do you guys get a little more chippy out there? GEOFF OGILVY: When you're playing a guy, it's like you've never been friends with the guy, it's kind of strange. You stop talking to each other. But As soon as it's over, it's over, and you're having a beer or a Gatorade or whatever you have in the locker room afterwards. I remember last year I walked into the breakfast room, and the breakfast room is as big as this room or something, and I walked in to have breakfast and Davis walked in to have breakfast, and there was 25 tables set and just the two of us having breakfast. It's the strangest thing. It was really quite bizarre. So we ended up going across the room and we sat in the middle of the room and had breakfast together. What else are you going to do? You're not going to sit across the other side of the room. There's more camaraderie because I might not have had breakfast with him otherwise. So that's quite a fun deal like that. But preparation for match play, like any golf, if you drive the ball straight -- it's hard to play against a guy that looks like he's hitting it on every fairway and it's hard to play a guy that doesn't look like he's going to miss a putt. That's the same as most golf. Drive it straight and putt well you're going to win anywhere. If I knew how to do that better, I'd do it every week. So I'm just practicing like normal. If you putt well from six feet, you're not going to lose many match play matches. You're going to have a lot of them all week, to stay in holes, to win holes, to halve holes. Whoever holes the most six- to eight-footers is going to be hard to beat. Q. How important are the pairings each day? Do you look forward to playing certain players and hope not to draw other players? GEOFF OGILVY: Obviously you don't want to draw good friends and you don't want to draw guys that you think are going to be really hard to beat. Playing Tiger in the first round is probably not a great draw, but he's lost twice in the first round so maybe he's not so bad. Just don't say anything bad. He won the first nine holes last year after Stephen ruffled him up a bit. Tell him how good he is, and you might have a chance (laughter). I don't know. You obviously don't want to knock your best friend out or get knocked out by your best friend or any of your friends you play with on the first rounds. I don't know. I mean, look, every one of the top 64 players in the world are good players. It's probably important -- I mean, I guess if you're ranked in the top 10 or 15 in the world, you're probably playing better than the guys who are ranked between 50th and 64th at that time, but it doesn't mean you're a better player, you just had a better last couple months or maybe you're in better form. I don't know, a little bit, you just don't want to play your best friend and get knocked out. You're more competitive against your friends than your enemies. You just don't want to beat them, it's strange. I had a tough draw last year, really. I went in ranked, I don't know, 50-something probably, 40-something maybe, and played Michael Campbell in the first round, which is a pretty tough draw, and then Nick O'Hern, who's the best putter out there, so he's a tough guy to beat in match play, and then had Mike Weir and David Howell and Tom Lehman. So I think I had a pretty tough run through so I think everyone can run through all the way. It's tough with the top 64 players in the world, that's the best thing about this event. To answer the question, it probably doesn't matter, really. If you're playing well, you're going to beat the guy you're playing. Q. How has your life changed since last year winning the U.S. Open? GEOFF OGILVY: Quite a lot actually. Actually four months ago when we had a baby, actually that completely changed things (laughter). Priorities when I go home changed. Quite a lot. I started last year thinking I was a reasonable player who had a chance and maybe had the goal to win more golf tournaments, maybe make the TOUR Championship, play well in the majors and stuff, but to win a golf tournament like this early in the year, that's a pretty nice way to start. It sets the whole year up, the biggest tournament I had won, one of only four World Golf Championships. At that point, Tiger had won nine out of 12 of them or something, so it was a pretty nice list of winners before me. That was a very nice thing. I probably wouldn't have won the U.S. Open if I hadn't won this. I mean, six rounds in a row or four rounds in a row -- I had four playoffs in four days. I mean, that's a whole year of experience in four days. I mean, you can't buy that sort of experience. I think I had 12 or 13 putts or something and I'm probably getting around 10 putts of four, five, six feet that I had to hole or the tournament was over or I was shaking hands and the tournament was over. You're lucky to have one of those putts a month on Tour that mean that much, and I had 10 in five days. So the experience you get out of this week is incredible, too, if you play well. Stephen Ames didn't have a great experience last year; he lost on the 10th green or 11th green. I'm not bashing Stephen Ames; I quite like Stephen Ames. I mean, it's a career builder, isn't it, when you win something like this. Q. I was going to ask you a question about Augusta. Last year was your first time playing at a Masters. What did you learn from your first trip that will make you more competitive this time around do you think? GEOFF OGILVY: Well, I had a great time at Augusta. I felt I played pretty decent. I actually had a putt to go about two or three behind on Sunday, and I hit two great shots, hit it about 15 feet behind the hole and I had a putt to go 3- or 4-under at that point, and 7-under was leading. I thought I had a legend at that point, but then I three-putted from 15 feet. I think the moral of the story was don't hit it above the 13th hole on Sunday. I think that golf course, that type of experience, any time you play Augusta, you're going to be better the next time you play it. I'm going to go there early again. I'm going to play a few practice rounds, just try to learn as much as I can. There are right spots and wrong spots on every hole to hit it for every pin position, so every time you play the pin is in a different spot. There are right sides of the greens and wrong sides of the greens, and it really is an experience golf course and a golf course where you have to use your brains. Brains are sometimes not my best attribute. Just try to use my experience for next year. I think my game is quite well-suited to Augusta. I think it's a course I can play well at, I'm just looking forward to learning more again this year. Q. Do you think that's a tournament that lends itself to guys who have won or competed at a high level in major championships like yourself and then won the U.S. Open, guys like you are going to do better at a place like that? GEOFF OGILVY: It's definitely a place you want to have your nerves about you. It's a pretty nervous place anyway because of the way it is, and there's so many shots out there that are -- that are such key shots. The second shot into 13, the tee shot on 12, the second shot on 11, I mean, the whole back nine is just littered with shots you don't want to have to hit but you have to hit, just awkward shots and such failure if you hit a bad shot. I don't know if I've got control of my nerves any more than the next guy. But if you've already won a major, there's less -- I know I've hit some shots when I needed to hit some shots, and maybe another guy hasn't done that, so I think the experience you get from winning something like the U.S. Open is going to help you down the stretch because every shot is so -- every shot is a round-killer coming down the last few holes at Augusta. You've got to be really careful where you hit it. Yeah, I don't know, I just think someone who's done it before is going to be a little bit less freaky about it than a guy who hasn't played there. Q. How long did it take you last year before you became comfortable, a little bit more comfortable out there? GEOFF OGILVY: By the end of the week -- I think I played better every day. Sunday I played my best. I kind of -- it was a perfect first Masters for me because I made the cut easy enough. It was a weird one because there was that early cut on Sunday, and I had to go out and start from -- I think I had to play six holes on Sunday morning. I just kind of got better every morning, every day, and then Sunday I played great -- I made a putt that made me 4-under for the round, I think, on 13. So I played better every day. Every day you get more and more comfortable with the place. The first time you walk into the place, for anyone that's been there, it's an incredible place. The atmosphere is amazing. It's just getting comfortable with the place. Like I said, learning with the golf course, I mean, the first few days you're just soaking it all up. By the end the week you're learning about the golf course and getting more comfortable. I just remember having a lot of fun there. I'm looking forward to coming back. Sunday last year -- the worst part about Sunday is you don't get to play Monday. You don't get to play there for another year, so I'm looking forward to it. Q. I just wanted to ask you, if you have any thoughts on why a country as small as Australia, at least in terms of population, has been able to produce so many top-notch, highly ranked golfers, especially even at the current moment. There's a number of you highly ranked in the world. Do you have any theory as to why it's come about? GEOFF OGILVY: There are lots of things. The most obvious thing is 20 years ago we had the best and most notable player in the world in Greg Norman, and he made a lot of kids pick up golf 20 years ago. I mean, he was Tiger Woods before Tiger came along. I mean, he was the big gallery draw and that whole aura he used to carry with him whenever he went anywhere. We all wanted to be Greg Norman. He made golf cool in Australia 20 years ago, and before that it wasn't. I think a lot of kids picked up a golf club at the right time. I think he had success and then Finchy came along and had success and Elkington won a major, and then a whole younger generation, Stuart came over and started winning, and I think winning promotes winning. You play against a guy in Australia and you beat him and then he goes to the US Tour and wins a tournament and you think if he can do that, I can do that, and it snowballs. Sport is just life in Australia. I mean, all of Australia is happy when the cricket team is winning and the football is going well and the golfers are going well. It's just part of the culture. Sport is really part of culture in Australia, and golf is one that's really been -- the government puts money and everybody puts money, and the coaching is great. No stone unturned in Australia at the moment, and it's showing. We've got 20-something guys on Tour and it seems to be growing every year. I don't have any real specific theories, but I think it's just a combination of a lot of things. Success breeds success, and a few Australians win -- I mean we had Badds win again last week, and when he wins it will fire up a few other Australians. We might see another one win in the next few weeks just because they're jealous that another Australian won and they didn't. So success breeds success, and I think it's a combination of a lot of things. JAMES CRAMER: Geoff, we wish you the best of luck in two weeks. End of FastScripts |
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