DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP

October 5, 2002

Sandy Lyle

SANDY LYLE: I'm just trying to play one round at a time, but I've been playing a lot better this week and making some putts and that's half the battle.

I don't know what's happened, but it just seems to have gelled together this week and I'm very pleased with it so far. Ball control has been good and I haven't put myself in too much danger other than the 4th hole today. I put it in the left hand trap. It came out poorly - went past 50 feet, but I holed it for a par.

Q. When was the last time you were in this position going into a final round?

SANDY LYLE: Probably at Loch Lomond. I was last match off on either the third or the fourth day. I think I shot 76 or something so I went down the list sharpish.

This is the first time this year that we've had a bit of bounce on the fairways. Muirfield was getting a bit more like it near the end of the week, but this is good old links golf and it's been fun again seeing the ball bouncing to the pin. Watching Romero too has been enjoyable. His ball control is looking real sharp at the moment - hitting it long for almost a 50 year old. I'm not far behind him!

Obviously him winning Loch Lomond this year is encouraging, although it's giving me lots of grief because my wife says 'if he can go out and win why can't you?'

Q. Do you still get nervous?

SANDY LYLE: Not so much nerves as doubts in your mind. It can be quite disconcerting when you get a long iron in your hand and you get a bit of doubt. Your concentration can be difficult to focus sometimes towards the end especially when you've been out there for over five hours. I do feel a bit apprehensive because I haven't really had a good week for quite some time. Obviously the first round of the Open was nice but I had a miserable second round. I just made the cut and the whole week went a bit sour after that. Poor ball striking didn't help. So this week I'm just trying to keep going. I'm enjoying it - that's the main thing. But I wouldn't say it's a walk in the park. You've got to keep your concentration going because this course can very quickly turn round and bite you. But my ball control and distance control has been quite good.

Obviously tomorrow it's no good shooting 72. You've got to be in the low numbers. If I can play like I did today without putting myself under pressure, there's no reason why I can't do well.

End of FastScripts....