|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
THE RYDER CUPSeptember 24, 2014Stephen GallacherAUCHTERARDER, SCOTLAND SARAH GWYNN: We have Stephen Gallacher with us now. Welcome. If you wouldn't mind summing up how it feels to be a Ryder Cup player. STEPHEN GALLACHER: It's not bad. No, obviously, it's been hard, you have a lot of sacrifices and a lot of hard work, and it's paid off to be here in Scotland and as a proud Scot, a couple of days out before the tournament, I just can't wait. Really excited. SARAH GWYNN: Is it a challenge to keep a lid on that excitement? STEPHEN GALLACHER: The hard thing I think is to conserve energy. You're here quite a long time before the Friday start. My uncle sort of told me it's been a long week, early mornings and late nights, and if you can conserve energy, and Poults touched on it, as well, get rest when you can and get your game plan and just be ready for the three days. Q. Is it almost like a dream, a fairy tale for you, are you having to pinch yourself now that you're sitting here, just a day or two until The Ryder Cup gets underway, just the stuff of dreams? STEPHEN GALLACHER: Well, it was my lifetime ambition. It was my goal to get here. I'm proud that I'm sitting here. I am very excited, and it is a bit surreal still, because I live so close. But it's one I'm embracing and just trying to use the positive energy, and the crowd is going to be spectacular, as well, and it's just going to be really entertaining. Q. What's the highlight of the week been for you so far? STEPHEN GALLACHER: That's been a lot. It was nice to hear Sir Alex Ferguson talk last night. We had a good laugh in the team room and had a couple videos that have been quite funny. We are not taking ourselves too -- what we are doing is we are having fun. It's been quite a good week. It's been a quick week so far already even just since getting here Monday at lunchtime. But playing golf yesterday, getting off the 1st and playing a round, getting the full round underway was good, hitting the first tee shot and whatnot. It's just hard to keep it in tow until Friday. Q. Can you tell us what the videos were? STEPHEN GALLACHER: No. They were just funny videos. It was just to lighten the mood a bit. We're not taking ourselves too seriously in these videos if you know what I mean. No, it was really good. Q. I can't imagine you've had that kind of crowd for a practise round before. What was that like, first of all? STEPHEN GALLACHER: It was good. It was good to get that one under the belt early on. I know it's going to be three times as busy, four times as busy come Friday, but you get a sort of sense of what to expect with the big grandstands and the hospitality, the way the course is set up. It's just the course is perfect and it's going to be great for viewing. It's going to be great for everything. There's going to be lots of birdies, especially coming down the stretch with a couple par 5s at the end. You know, The Ryder Cup is all about the drama and the passion and I think you're going to get that this week. Q. Also leaving aside whether you're a better golfer now or not, are you better prepared for this than you would have been maybe ten years ago? STEPHEN GALLACHER: I would say so, yeah. I think I am a better golfer, and I think I feel ready for playing now, yeah. You know, you try and get in The Ryder Cup, you know there's going to be things attached to it, more media and more in the spotlight. If you don't fancy that, well, there's no point in trying to get in it. It's just part and parcel. You're going to get people on the tee and you're going to get expectations. The key is to just embrace that and just stick to what you've been doing that got you here. Q. What was it like to play that practise round with Ian Poulter and Justin Rose, and did you feel they were picking your brains on the way around, given your knowledge of the course? STEPHEN GALLACHER: Well it cost me 150 quid, if that's what you mean. Q. Did you hole a bunker shot at the last? STEPHEN GALLACHER: Rosie holed that. He had a ten skinner on one of the holes, which was a sore one. No, it was great. They are good mates of mine. It was good to play with them. I came up a couple of weeks ago and done the last couple of year's pin positions. I had the books and done a few breaks and whatnot. I was just giving them a bit of info, because they don't really know the course that well. Gave them info of where the pins are, important things, reads on the greens, where the wind normally comes from. If I can help in any way, I'm delighted with that. Q. What were their impressions of the course? STEPHEN GALLACHER: They thought it was great. It's in brilliant condition. Greens are nice and firm. Weather was good yesterday, as well. People were out. It was just a fun 18 holes to have yesterday with those two. Q. Furyk said the rough was a bit on the long side. How does it compare to the Johnnie Walkers you've played in? STEPHEN GALLACHER: It's a bit thicker. The rough is thicker. Whether that's just been we're having such a good summer, or I don't know if it's meant or not. It is thicker. But the fairway widths of pretty much similar. It's ultimately the same course we've been playing. The course has been evolving over the sort of last four years to get ready for here. They started a few alterations and they put the SubAir in and they sort of cosmetically changed bunkers, run-offs. You're just getting ready for now really. So I've seen the gradual change, and they are all for the better, as well. The rough is just a little bit thick, but when you've got heavy dew wet in the morning and it's quite warm during the day, I think the course is set up pretty good. Q. What's been the best good luck message you've received and have you heard from anyone that you would never have expected to hear from? STEPHEN GALLACHER: I've had a lot of good luck messages pretty much just from all my friends and had one from Martin O'Neill, which was nice. I spoke to him a couple of times, just because he's Paul's friend and he spoke to me at the Masters, and then he sent me a voicemail. Just lots of people, my friends, nothing -- Q. What did he say? STEPHEN GALLACHER: He just says, "Well done for getting in. You'll love the team environment. Probably one of the best weeks of your life," and stuff like that. And he's right, it will be (smiling). Q. In your opinion, which are the key holes on the course, and are there any specific shots that they require? STEPHEN GALLACHER: I think the key holes, like anything else, when it gets to the end of the round, there's a lot of different holes. There's par 5s that you can (get) up with a drive and a wood; some of them you hit iron on. But when you get to 14, sort of risk and rewards, you can get it up and knock it on the green, if you hit a really good drive. So someone knocks it on the green there, there could be a swing. Obviously par 5, par 3, par 5 finish, you can see eagles, birdies, doubles. It's just great for match play. The last -- from 13, the last five holes, it could swing either way. You can always take, no matter how your game is going, it's probably never finished until it's done on those five holes. Q. Is there any strategy you employ on those holes if you maybe don't go for the green on 16 and 18, are there any subtleties that you can -- STEPHEN GALLACHER: You're trying to get on the fairway so you can hit the green, basically. That's the key. You hit your tee shot in the fairway, you can reach on those ones. 17, again, is a good par 3 with a two-tier green, but pin is on the left and you can feed it into. So there's going to be some good shots there. 14, as well, if you've got the length and you can knock it on, it's a huge advantage rather than trying to leave yourself a wedge or a sand wedge from laying up. The long hitters have got maybe a slight advantage there. Q. Just wondering how much you've spoken to your uncle since you got on the team and how useful is it to have someone in your family you can speak to about your Ryder Cup experience? STEPHEN GALLACHER: Certainly he's experienced enough, he's played in eight and captaincy and vice, too. I spent the week with him when my gran was ill in the hospital, and he was sort of chatting away, basically giving us good advice, nothing new that I've had from the five backroom staff or the guys on the team. He says, you're going to have long, long days, so it's all about conserving your energy. Ultimately he wants me to enjoy myself, take a time-out to soak it in. You know, just be yourself, play your own game. Q. Just going back to Sir Alex last night, how long did he speak to you and is there anything in particular that you took out of the evening that you're going to carry with you this week? STEPHEN GALLACHER: Yeah, I thought he was brilliant. He spoke for half an hour, and then we sort of asked him some questions and he was very candid and very open. Yeah, there's bits that I definitely would take away from it, not just as a team aspect, but for progression going forward. Q. Anything particularly surprised you or struck you from speaking to him? STEPHEN GALLACHER: Just how sort of confident a person he was. I kind of knew he was, anyway, but to hear him talking, you can see why the players respected him so much and how he got -- he won 13 titles in 21 times, 21 goes. You can see his sort of passion for the game and how much he loves football and how much he loves the strategy and the game. He misses it a bit he said, but you know, an absolute legend in my eyes. Q. It's right and proper that there's a huge amount of Scottishness here and surrounding us, and you're the centre of most of it. Are there any downsides to being the Scot in a Scottish environment in a Ryder Cup in Scotland? STEPHEN GALLACHER: I don't think so. I think every Scot would want to be here, as well. What better to play really than Gleneagles for your first one. If I could have picked it myself, I would have picked it here. To play in front of your home fans, you could say it's like the football with the 12th man. I know the fans are going to be wanting Europe to win, but they are also going to be partisan and they are going to be respectful. Hopefully they are going to help pull the Europeans through, maybe more so me as well, being at home and seeing a lot of friendly faces and family. I think that can only be a positive really. Q. Will there be any extra pressure on you? STEPHEN GALLACHER: No, not really, no. I've got 11 other teammates. It's a team game. It's not about me. It's about the 12 guys and for the captain and for the five backroom, for your family. It's a massive thing. It's not just down to me. Q. What qualities have impressed you so far about Paul McGinley's captaincy, and can you give some level of insight into the one-on-one interaction you've had with him so far this week? STEPHEN GALLACHER: Paul's been brilliant. He's been very thorough. He's very articulate, good at speaking, left no stone unturned. I've never heard any negative words from anybody. Everybody is upbeat and positive. Everybody is having fun, and that's what he's wanting to instill, everybody enjoy themselves and take it in. "These are the happiest days of your life" is the quote he's got put up from Bob Torrance and it's true. Q. Has he spoken to you one-on-one? Could you give us an insight maybe what he said to you and expects of you? STEPHEN GALLACHER: No. He has spoken to me, yeah, but I cannot tell you what he said. Yeah, he spoke to everyone, and that's his management skills, if you so like. He's passing on what he thinks, telling you what he thinks and what he's expecting, and that's basically it really. Q. You've had a fantastic year. Did you ever think in your circuitous route to get to The Ryder Cup, it might have passed you by at one stage of your career, ten or 15 years ago or whatever? STEPHEN GALLACHER: No, I definitely thought it had. But I made a conscious effort a couple years ago to get in this one. Especially for my generation, it's never going to be here again. It's a course I like in your home country. It's kind of like the one that that -- hopefully the one I can kick on from. As I've been here now, you get a taste for it and you want to play more. But it was definitely, I made a very conscious effort to. Q. Can you be more specific? Have you changed things? STEPHEN GALLACHER: Just improved every single part of my game, whether it be mental, whether it be nutrition. Don't get -- injury prevention, down to my equipment, swing tinkering, the way I go about things, you know, your routines, absolutely everything. You get a little bit better in every aspect, and the overall, the big picture gets better through that. Q. And this was a conscious decision a few years ago? You actually targeted this tournament here? STEPHEN GALLACHER: Yeah, yeah, I did. After watching Medinah and speaking to Paul Lawrie quite a bit and how much he obviously -- was a massive high coming off Medinah, and speaking to Paul, and I've watched it all my days. I thought, you know what, I'm starting to play a bit better now, let's try. And I knew I had to have the best year of my life to get in. It's not easy to get in them and I've had the best year of my life so far. I can take a lot of pride, and I'm happy to be sitting here just now. That's what the hard work and the sacrifices and everything's all about. Q. We're from Germany, and we arrived here and we thought that the people here are quite emotional about the vote last week, still very emotional. Did you vote last week? STEPHEN GALLACHER: Yeah (laughter). Q. Will you tell us how you voted? STEPHEN GALLACHER: No (laughter). Q. And does that have an effect on you or on the event, do you think that would have an effect in some way? STEPHEN GALLACHER: I don't think it will have any effect on the event, no. I think politics is politics and this is golf. I'm not a politician. I'm a golfer, and these things happen in every country. It just so happened the same time as The Ryder Cup, and you know, that said, it done and dusted and I'm just trying to get on the tee Friday hopefully and give it my best shot. Q. You mentioned the tee on Friday. I don't expect you to tell us any of your conversations with Paul and when you might go, but all the players say that the first tee at The Ryder Cup is a unique experience. By definition, you haven't experienced that before, so what are you doing to prepare for that? Have you thought about what it might be like to put the tee peg in that first day? STEPHEN GALLACHER: I'm hoping I'm going to really enjoy it. The fans, you come under the tunnel and the last person you see is Seve, you're seeing all the greats on both sides, European and American. You come up the tunnel and you go up the hill and walk around and it's like walking into a football stadium. It was full yesterday and it was people down the left, as well, were ten deep. And I hit a good drive, so hopefully I can just try and imagine it was Tuesday. I'll tell you on Sunday what it was like or Monday. The good thing for me is I've never experienced it. So it's one, you make nerves how you make it really. It's one of those ones. I'm trying not to put too much pressure on myself. First tee at the Masters was pretty good and first tee playing at St. Andrews is nice. I know this is going to be tougher, but I'm hopefully going to enjoy it. Q. Don't tell us, but has Paul told you when you'll play? STEPHEN GALLACHER: Maybe (laughter). Q. Another sort of political question. I'm really curious about how European does The European Team feel, or do you feel you're really playing for your own country? Do you feel politically European? STEPHEN GALLACHER: Well, we are European. Q. But do you -- STEPHEN GALLACHER: It's Europe, the Europe flag. That's who we are playing under. We have guys from France, Spain, Germany, Denmark -- Q. So you feel a real unit? STEPHEN GALLACHER: Absolutely. The European Tour, that's the great thing about The European Tour. We have friends from all different countries who come together for one week as one. There's no individuals at all this week. It's 12 guys and a continent versus a continent. It's a unique week, really, for us. You get to bond with guys. You know them playing against them, but it comes to this week, we bond as one and we are all getting on well and we all get on as a unit. That's the great thing about this is you get closer to people who you didn't really -- who you're competing against, where you come to this week, it's totally different. It's different attitude and different sort of vibe. We are definitely all pulling as one. I think since it went from GB&I to Europe and Seve sort of created the European thing, and you just see all different guys from all different countries now involved. I think that's just such a unique thing. You know, we have galvanized as a unit. Q. How many rounds would you say you've played here over the years, roughly? STEPHEN GALLACHER: Well, nearly a hundred probably, over a hundred. Q. And with your uncle's background and growing up close by, do you feel like a rookie? STEPHEN GALLACHER: Well, I'm 39 years old. I'm not a rookie to golf. I'm maybe a rookie to The Ryder Cup. But I think having it in my home country is making it a bit easier to adapt as a rookie. I know all the guys really well, as well. So we're all sort of -- Jamie Donaldson, myself, 38, 39. I've known Lee Westwood since my amateur days. You know I'm a rookie to Ryder Cup, but I don't feel as much a rookie because I think it's in my home country, and the guys have made me feel really part of the team and welcome. So partly to do with the backroom staff and the way Poults set it out and my teammates have made me feel very much at home and part of the squad. SARAH GWYNN: Thank you, Stephen. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|