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NEDBANK GOLF CHALLENGE PRESENTED BY GARY PLAYER

November 7, 2018

Sergio Garcia

Sun City, South Africa

Q. This championship has a wonderful Role of honour. You've won it twice. How special is that to you?
SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, it's extremely special. Every time you can be a past champion in a tournament, it's an honour and it's extremely special and be to twice here at the Nedbank Golf Challenge, it's obviously something that I'm very proud of.

Q. What is it you particularly like about this golf course? What brings the best out of you?
SERGIO GARCIA: Well, it's a tricky golf course. The wind is very tricky and it moves a lot throughout the round. You've just got to have one of those weeks where obviously the game is on, but you're precise with what you choose with your club section, and knowing how tight some these pin positions, the spots where they put them, how tight they can be, like I said earlier, you have to be very precise.

Chipping from this kikuyu grass, if you get a good lie, it's okay, but if you don't, you have to bounce it off the green and stuff like that. It's extremely tricky.

Q. Is it fair to say this is a golf course that examines every part of the game?
SERGIO GARCIA: It definitely does. Obviously it's important to drive the ball well. There's a few holes that are quite tight. Then there's a lot of holes that gives you a little bit more room and because there's not a lot of rough you can manage. But like I said, going into the greens, is the most challenging.

Q. A wonderful Ryder Cup, a win at Valderrama, where is the confidence right now?
SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, confidence is good. There's no doubt it's been a good last couple of months of the year. So hopefully, we have three tournaments left, and we can have three decent weeks, finish on a high and get ready for next year.

Q. Nice to be back here?
SERGIO GARCIA: Definitely. It's always nice to be back here in Africa. I've always had a big following here. Always felt very, very loved, so it's good to be back in Sun City.

Q. Walking up here, the ninth hole, seeing all the names, your own name, how special is that?
SERGIO GARCIA: It's nice. It's new for me. I think that's probably been done since the last time I've played here. It was a nice thing to see today, and it's an honour to be twice in there.

Q. Coming back as somebody who has played in this event and a past champion here, what sort of experience do you bring here, or have things changed over the course of the last time you were here?
SERGIO GARCIA: The course has changed a little bit, not a whole lot. You know what happens here. You know how tricky it can be with how the wind swirls and everything. You've just got to try to be committed to what you do, even though sometimes you might look a little bit silly, some shots that the wind might switch or something. Try to be as committed as possible and play the best you can.

Q. How are you feeling coming in? Great momentum from The Ryder Cup and the win in Spain. How are you feeling personally about your game?
SERGIO GARCIA: It feels pretty good. Obviously you never know how the week is going to go, but you are hoping that it goes well. You are hoping that you get things doing, and you know, you can have a good week and that's the goal this week.

Q. Anything you come to this week looking at in particular that you want to focus on when you get to a course like this?
SERGIO GARCIA: There's a lot of things, but I think this kind of golf course is kind of testing you in every part of your game. It's testing you on some tee shots. Some tee shots are quite narrow and then some others give you a little bit more room. More than anything, going into the greens and around the greens is where it's the most difficult and the trickiest.

I think your iron play and your chipping and putting has to be on form.

Q. Two-time winner on this golf course, runner up in 2013. Had has some very happy memories for you.
SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, it's obviously been a good place for me. Hopefully more of that this week. Excited to be back here in South Africa, Sun City, where I've always had a great following and felt a lot of love. Hopefully I can give them plenty to cheer for.

Q. What do you put your success down to, because this can be a very tough golf course?
SERGIO GARCIA: It is a very tough golf course. It's very tricky and the wind swirls a lot. It's difficult to pick the right clubs over and over. You just try to be as committed as possible. Try to hit as many good shots as you can and kind of deal with a couple of times here and there that the wind might switch and it might make you look a little bit foolish. Other than that, it's the kind of golf course that you have to be patient on.

Q. Obviously coming here on the back of the win at Valderrama, confidence high, The Ryder Cup, as well. You must be riding a crest of a wave at the moment?
SERGIO GARCIA: It's good. There's no doubt it's been a good couple of months and we are hoping to keep going that way. That's the goal. You know, hopefully we can have another solid, good week here and have a chance on the weekend and then head off to Dubai.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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