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WGC AMERICAN EXPRESS CHAMPIONSHIP

October 8, 2005

Henrik Stenson

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

Q. Leader in the clubhouse right now. First off, great round. Take me through 18 and how tough is that going to be for the guys that are playing behind you?

HENRIK STENSON: Well, it's going to be a tough one today. The tee shot is

really hard to get on the fairway because it's coming in on a cross angle there. It's tough to hit the fairway. There's not going to be too many balls on the fairway. Once you get on the green, there's a lot of things falling down from the trees, as well. You almost need a vacuum cleaner to clean it up before you putt. It's a very good one to make a 4 today, so I'm happy with that.

Q. You had 75 feet, nine inches for your birdie putt, but I wouldn't call it a birdie putt. You were almost a cable car ride away from the hole, but you did two putt.

HENRIK STENSON: I managed to two putt there and managed to sneak in that last one from five feet, something like that. I almost feel like the position is going to be in the back swing on this one.

Q. Tell me about your play and what you were pleased with.

HENRIK STENSON: Well, I was striking the ball pretty good today and kept it under control in the gusty conditions and made a few putts here and there, so very happy to keep it together, and I shot a good score.

Q. How did the gusty conditions change your approach today?

HENRIK STENSON: Well, you've got to try to squeeze a few of the tee shots out there on the back nine. When you turn around you're coming into the wind from 14 onward, so those are the tricky ones there. I managed to hit a fabulous shot on 17 to about a foot. That makes it a whole lot easier, so I'm very pleased with the way I played today.

Q. Pleased looking ahead to tomorrow?

HENRIK STENSON: Absolutely, yeah. It's going to be a great day tomorrow, and we'll see what the conditions are like and just go out there and do my best and hopefully it's good enough.

On a day like this, if you keep it together and keep the ball under control and if you make that extra birdie putt, you're going to make up some ground. I was just trying to play as well as I could, and I'm pleased with the way I controlled the ball today.

Q. Obviously you're very pleased?

HENRIK STENSON: Yeah, I'm pleased with the way I played today, kept the ball under control in these gusty conditions, made a putt here and there, so no, very happy with that.

Q. You did very well at the last WGC event. What is it about this kind of field and this kind of competition that brings out good play?

HENRIK STENSON: Well, I just like playing with the best players in the world. I moved up a level this year and had some good results. I was out playing with Phil the first two days, so that sort of makes you want to play your absolute best. I kept it up today, as well.

Q. When you have names like Vijay and Tiger and the big names in the field, do you feel for an American audience that this is a chance to get your name out there?

HENRIK STENSON: Of course. I'm trying to play as well as I can, and if I do it long enough, they're going to know who Henrik Stenson is.

Q. We saw you kind of drew a Tiger fist pump there.

HENRIK STENSON: It was just nice to squeeze that last one in. It's never nice finishing with a bogey. 18 is a tough one today, and I just managed to get that par putt in there and it completed a good round of golf, so I'm happy with that.

Q. Your thought, your strategy for tomorrow?

HENRIK STENSON: We'll see what the conditions are like. You never know, it might be the same tomorrow, it might be calm tomorrow, so I'll just go out there and play my best and see how far it takes us.

Q. Talking about how well you did in the last tournament here, is there a carryover in a group of guys like that when you do so well?

HENRIK STENSON: Well, just as she said, I feel like playing with the best makes me play my best, and I just like to be around good tournaments and play with the best players in the world, and that sort of triggers me to try and be my best. It seems to work pretty good.

Q. Will you be nervous starting tomorrow's round?

HENRIK STENSON: Well, there's always a little bit of tension there, and I would be disappointed if it wasn't there. You should have a little bit of a small butterfly in your stomach when you tee off, and also coming down the stretch if you have a good chance of winning it. There's always a bit of pressure there, and there should be. Yeah, it will be like any other time being in contention, really.

Q. As you walk away from here tonight you're the leader in the clubhouse now, I guess, but there will be a couple of guys ahead of you. But as you go home, are you really happy with where you stand? Do you look back and say, if I had only made this one and this one?

HENRIK STENSON: You can't. Everybody wants to play their best and make all the putts and don't miss any shots, but it's golf, so everybody does it all the time. I think I've been just handling that very well this week. I made one or two stupid mistakes where you feel like you shouldn't have done that, but you've just got to move on and focus on the next shot or next putt and not make another one because you're thinking about the previous one. I think I've been very good mentally this week for the first three days here, so hopefully I'll keep that on tomorrow, as well.

Q. You feel real good right now going into

HENRIK STENSON: Absolutely. I've tried my hardest, my best for three days, and just one more to go, and I will try and do the same tomorrow.

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