THE RYDER CUP MATCHES

September 27, 2002

Sergio Garcia

Paul McGinley

GORDON SIMPSON: Sergio, a wonderful day's playing for you and Lee, to get two points out of two. You seemed to gel incredibly well.

SERGIO GARCIA: Yes, we did. It was great to see Lee playing so well. He was putting beautifully. When you get a partner that is just rolling the ball nicely and it takes a lot of pressure off you. We just gelled perfectly. We had a lot of fun out there. We really enjoyed it and that made a big difference.

GORDON SIMPSON: I think a lot of the public would have enjoyed seeing him back to form as well.

SERGIO GARCIA: Yes, a lot of the public, and ourselves, too. He's a fellow professional and a friend of yours, and you don't like a friend to do badly. It's nice to see him playing better. He's just getting better every day.

GORDON SIMPSON: Paul, some general comments to you on your debut at long last.

PAUL McGINLEY: Obviously very disappointed to have lost. We played well and we played pretty decent. We would have been there in most games, but we came up against two guys that were right on their game today. They made a lot of putts. 5, 6, 7-under par. In foursomes golf that's pretty impressive.

Q. For both of you guys, you started off real well, obviously, in the fourball this morning, which seems to be a transition for you guys. But with the way the U.S. came back, what's the mindset of the team? I know you were all out on 18 for the end there with Monty's last match, and obviously that went to a halve. Do you think that the U.S. comes in with a little more momentum now?

SERGIO GARCIA: No, not at all. I think the feeling of the team is great. We're all really happy. We're playing well. So that always helps. And it was a little unfortunate that we would have liked to win that point. I think we really deserved that point, but we're still in the lead, and that's always something that you have ahead of you.

PAUL McGINLEY: I agree with what Sergio says. There's a hell of a long way to go, and this wouldn't be the Ryder Cup if one team got too many points ahead. And it was in the cards that the Americans would come back strong this afternoon, after getting beaten 3-1 this morning. It wasn't a surprise to us. Like most Ryder Cups it will go right down to the wire.

Q. How important was it for you to deny Tiger Woods a point today and what kind of boost do you think that will provide to the European team?

SERGIO GARCIA: It was good, but more than for me, it was good for my team, and that's what you've got to do in this tournament. It's not about Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods; it's about Europe against USA. And it's always great to be the -- beat the number-one player in the world. Thankfully I have a great record against him in match play. And but more than anything, the feeling of being up there in the lead as a team, and having a good time, it's the most important thing.

Q. Do you think denying him a point today is going to give the team any sort of morale boost tonight?

SERGIO GARCIA: Not only that, I think everything we did today is going to give the team a morale boost, there's no doubt about it. I think we performed really well. We've got to go out tomorrow and -- I think if we go out there tomorrow with the same frame of mind and the same willingness to try to do good, I think we'll do fine.

Q. Sergio, you were up close and personal with Tiger today at firsthand. Can you share any perspective as a fellow professional as to why he doesn't seem to get the formidable results in these fourball, foursome matches as he does when he's on his own. Three Ryder Cup points to Tiger Woods Ryder Cup history; can you shed any light on that?

SERGIO GARCIA: That's the beauty of the Ryder Cup. The beautiful thing that the Ryder Cup has is that the best player in the world can lose easily, and a guy that maybe doesn't look like he's playing that well, he can just travel around and get a point or a half and that's the beauty of this tournament. It must be hard to be number-one player in the world and not have such a good record in the Ryder Cup. But he's still a great player. Even losing today, he was hitting some unbelievable -- some really beautiful iron shots and things like that. That's why he's who he is.

Q. You and Lee obviously were having a really good time; does it that help to cut the tension?

SERGIO GARCIA: I've always said, I think there's enough pressure in this event to take it seriously -- don't get my wrong, you have to be as serious as you can, you've got to try as hard as you can, but just try to enjoy it a little bit, have a little bit of fun with it, have a little bit of fun with the crowd, and that makes you relax. It gets your mind out of all that pressure. It just makes it easier to play your own game. I feel that's the way I perform the best and I really think that it helped Lee and Jesper three years ago.

Q. You're a long time out there, and you can just sort of shut off from that and focus on your next shot?

SERGIO GARCIA: Yes. You've got to realize that it's hard enough to concentrate for four hours, when we're playing a normal tournament. Imagine trying to concentrate for seven and a half or eight; it's even tougher. So I think that the more you try to enjoy it and -- even if you're losing. Today we were 1-down, and we're having fun. We were just enjoying every bit of it. That's the way at least I feel I've got to play this tournament to do well.

Q. How do you feel about having a 3-1 lead this morning and having the U.S. cut back a little.

SERGIO GARCIA: Every time you're in the lead in the Ryder Cup it's important. Of course it feels like we could have got a more this afternoon and it would have been sweeter. You've got to realize that those things can happen.

Q. How do you feel with Lee, how well did you gel?

SERGIO GARCIA: Our personalities are very laid back, and we like to have fun, and I think that really helped me getting into Lee's head and relaxing a little bit, so I think that was really good for us.

Q. Are you going to go for the 10th green every time you hit?

SERGIO GARCIA: If the wind is right, I do, because I actually feel like -- I don't know, I feel like I hit that green every day. If the wind feels the right way, I'll probably go every day.

Q. How do you assess Lee's performance today, bearing in mind he struggled for about a year now?

SERGIO GARCIA: I think it was great. Of course, unfortunately, he hasn't been playing too well this year, and you could see a couple wayward shots. But I hit some wayward shots myself, too, and I've been playing pretty well. So it's just all the Ryder Cup pressure. But he looked good. He putted really well and when you get a guy in foursomes that if you get him more or less pretty close to the hole, he's pretty much going to make every putt, it takes a lot of pressure off you. And I'm really happy with the way it went.

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