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THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 16, 2015

Charl Schwartzel

ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND

Q. A dropped shot on the 2nd, great way to finish up. You must be pleased.
CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Yeah, very much so. I was unfortunate on the 2nd, probably the only way you can't hit it, I found. I had to take a penalty drop early on in the start of my British Open. You know, I felt like I had good momentum coming from the U.S. Open, played well there, you know, especially with my swing I was very happy. I felt like I was going out. The front nine here was obviously a lot more birdies to be taken and I was happy to take advantage of those. The back nine played tough, but you know, I still thought I hit some really good shots, had some good lag putts, which you need to do around here. So overall pretty happy with the way I started.

Q. You mentioned that (inaudible) on the bag again. Talk about that.
CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Yeah, he's been on the bag for a while, but it's always nice. He's carried for me in quite a few of the Dunhills. He knows my game well, and he's a pretty relaxed guy, and that helps me out there.

Q. A couple of guys mentioned the pin on 17 was tough today.
CHARL SCHWARTZEL: 17, yeah, it is. I actually played it as good as you can possibly play it, and then I did the easy part that I didn't get right. You know, I think maybe with some experience -- we hit it up the left for that flag on the second shot. I was on the fringe of the green and three-putted. But yeah, it's difficult. The guys are going to have a tough time with that. You don't give yourself much chance if you go to the right. You're going to have to get it up the left side, and hopefully the guys do the same as I did, three-putt (laughing).

Q. When there are conditions like this morning, the course will change throughout the course of the day?
CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Well, this morning was as easy as you'll probably find it. It was a little chilly, but the back nine the temperature dropped quite a bit. It felt like the wind picked up a little bit. But with the temperature drop, the ball was getting affected a lot more than it normally would, and the back nine playing in off the left makes it very difficult. If you want to make a good score today, I think you're going to have to do it on your way -- on the front nine. You're not going to get it right on the back nine.

Q. How good is it to get that 5-under under your belt now?
CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Yeah, any time I can start off with a good start like this, it puts you up there. It takes a little bit of pressure off. But there's a long way to go. I just at least feel like I'm playing decent. Like I say, it's a long way to go to make any sort of big statements, but I'm just feeling very comfortable.

Q. Talk about how good it feels to have (inaudible) sorted now?
CHARL SCHWARTZEL: It's been a while. I'm still upset with myself that I lost it, that I let it go. You know, it's cost me a good year of good golf. But I suppose that's also what makes you come back. You've found something, and it's a major challenge to get it back and make it maybe even a little bit better, and it's feeling in really good shape. Yeah, it makes you excited.

Q. Is it in your mind that it was something simple that was staring you in the face the entire time?
CHARL SCHWARTZEL: It normally is. I think most of us don't really do swing overhauls. Only Tiger seems to do things like that. You know, but small little basics fall out of place, and the problem is it takes a while before you realise it, and by the time you realise it, it's gone so far that it takes just as long to fix it. Most of the time you fix it and then there's another aspect of confidence to build up again that you've lost along the way. It's been a journey, but it's just all back to simple basics the way it was when I was an amateur. But it was hard to find.

Q. South African players are making a serious go at it. What do you think their chances are?
CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Well, they must be good. We get to play here quite often, the Dunhill Links, obviously, so we play more than a lot of the guys. And a lot of the guys are playing well. It could be an exciting weekend.

Q. Nice to see the Goose up there, as well?
CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Yeah, great. Same with him. He's been struggling for a long time, and it's nice to see him have a good round.

Q. (Inaudible) how did that affect you?
CHARL SCHWARTZEL: That's when it got really cold. I don't know, I think J.B. Holmes was looking for a ruling. We weren't sure what was going on, but it took them about 10 minutes before they called us to hit, and then we went through. It's not nice to stand around when it's that cold waiting to play, but it was okay.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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