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ABERDEEN ASSET MANAGEMENT PAUL LAWRIE MATCH PLAY

August 3, 2016

Stephen Gallacher

East Loathian, Scotland

MICHAEL GIBBONS: I'm flight delighted to welcome Stephen Gallacher back to The European Tour. Stephen, welcome back. Give us an update on your health, 100 per cent now?

STEPHEN GALLACHER: Well, I hope so. Fingers crossed. I've been practising hard for a couple weeks now, so been playing a lot of golf, and I've had no repercussions, so I can't wait for this week really.

MICHAEL GIBBONS: Good week or bad week to come back, match play?

STEPHEN GALLACHER: I think any time you play a European Tour event staying in your own house is pretty good. Match play is fun, isn't it. It's a great event, great format on a great golf course. So all we need's the weather.

MICHAEL GIBBONS: Are you quite worried about your first-round opponent?

STEPHEN GALLACHER: Yeah, he's a good lad. Nice young kid, very fast. Good, young player. Burst on the scene. So you know that 63 of the guys could beat anyone this week. That's just the nature of the beast. It's just about playing well at the right time and seeing how far you can go.

Q. How much more awkward is the preparation for a game when you've got to stack a dishwasher before you leave the house tomorrow?
STEPHEN GALLACHER: Walk the dog; but that's the things I like doing -- it's an apron. It's an apron (laughter).

No, it's just you stay at home, drive the car. Just you bring the family down. It's always nice to play in Scotland, and especially at Castle Stuart, it's tough when you have a son that's a golf addict when you're out injured, sitting and watching every single tournament that's been played.

In a way it's been great. I made myself, I watched The Open and I watched Castle Stuart. I thought The Open was brilliant. Whets your appetite a wee bit when you're out. You just desperately want to get back.

I've done everything by the book. The only thing I'm lacking is playing golf courses. So this is why I'm sort of playing here just now. I have another couple weeks off -- because I've had to change my technique. If I had not had to change my technique, it would have been easier. My doctor said, if you don't change the way you load your left wrist, you'll not be able to play.

The only thing is I've got is playing into the wind. I've played into the wind all my days, played a certain way, and having to sort of change that, it's just taking a wee bit of time.

Q. I was just going to ask you, about changing the technique. Changing something you've done all your life, it must be extremely difficult.
STEPHEN GALLACHER: It would have been if the doctor said, if you don't do it, you'll not play. So then it becomes pretty easy, you know, so then you can get task-focused on it.

It's just changing a habit, Jock. It's just going to take time on the golf course. Where I would normally have brought the ball back in my stance and trapped it a bit, where now I've got to take a club up, grip down and swing it normally, shallower, so it's less impact. Apart from that, there's not really been -- I've worked hard with Alan, and I've just had to retrain the way my right arm works on the golf swing.

It's going to help me in the long run, anyway, so I'm actually happy I've done it.

Q. Has this been the toughest two or three months of your career? And also, now that you're coming back, is there a sense of almost first-day excitement?
STEPHEN GALLACHER: There is definitely a bit of that. It's more than the two months it's been since the PGA last year really. I played the end of last year, and I was struggling the last five weeks.

Probably went on with it because The Ryder Cup points had started, and I never hit a ball December. Had two injections in December, and thought that would be it. Then three tournaments back in, I had to go back in for another couple of injections.

Then thought that was it, and then two more again, and then I had to get my operation. So it's been -- this is the first time I've actually played pain-free since the PGA in 2015. Even that, knowing that -- it's tough when you're injured. I've had four or five, this is it, you'll be fine from here on in, and it's broke down again.

But now at least I know if I change my swing, it's not going to come back. So yes, I might hit a few poor shots or whatever, but I'm not going to be injured. So that's the main thing. The only thing worse than a bad swing is no swing.

So I'm delighted -- like you say, I am actually looking forward to it. It's like you go back and see your pals at school again after the summer holidays. You're getting a bit of stick and all that. It's good.

Q. For most of your career, you've gone into events believing you can win. What are your sort of expectations this week in the circumstances?
STEPHEN GALLACHER: You still believe you can win. It's knock out; anything can happen. I've been playing quite a few sort of bounce games with my pals recently just to try to get into the habit of it.

You know, it's a great tournament for me to come back in the aspect, I know the course now. It's quite a relaxed week for me. And you've just got to hope that you play well enough to beat the guy you're playing, that's all it is. You just play the course until your hand gets turned and that's it.

Q. And this is a perfect match-play course, isn't it?
STEPHEN GALLACHER: It's a great course. It's in brilliant nick. Again, it's just weather. I've been here a couple of days and it's been total opposite wind both days. Enough to keep us on our toes. Like I hit 3-wood, 6-iron into 10 yesterday and I had rescue, wedge, the day before.

The course is challenging weather-wise, but a great finish, as well, with pushing the tee up at 16, long par 3, and then a par 5 at the last. It will be great for TV. It will be great for the viewers.

MICHAEL GIBBONS: Thanks very much.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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