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BUICK CHAMPIONSHIP

August 28, 2005

Tjaart Van Der Walt

CROMWELL, CONNECTICUT

TODD BUDNICK: We welcome runner up to the 2005 Buick Championship, Tjaart van der Walt. Tjaart, an incredible 6 under today 64 put you in a playoff with Brad Faxon. You hit that great approach shot. Just a great day for you today.

TJAART VAN DER WALT: It was. I got off to a nice start and then just tried to plod away. I hit it good off the tees. I didn't even look at my stats, but I think I hit most of the fairways, most of the greens, or was thereabouts around the greens, and made some nice putts. I missed a couple, too, but I'm very satisfied.

TODD BUDNICK: You make bogey at 16 to drop yourself two back and then come back with birdies on 17 and 18.

TJAART VAN DER WALT: I guess so. I didn't look at the board at all. I told my caddie walking down the fairway on 17, and I said, "What do we need?" He says, "We need two." I said, "Are you ready?" He said, "yeah."

Same thing on Friday, I holed my second shot on Friday with an 8 iron, exact same club I had in today, so knocked it up there. Corey left his putt in regulation a little short and I couldn't get a read on the putt, but it was a tough little tricky right to left putt but made it. Then on 18 I knew I had to make that putt. It snuck in the left corner and I knew it was a playoff.

TODD BUDNICK: You came into the year on a major medical extension. You need to make about $484,000 during the remaining events. You made the majority of that today, so you're set to work on earning your card for next year. Talk a little bit about that. It takes a little bit of ease off your mind.

TJAART VAN DER WALT: Yes and no. I'm thinking of that obviously, but I think I've still got another six events, or I guess now I can play a little more. But it's always in the back of my mind.

It was just at the beginning of this year I had a little of a setback. You work so hard to get out here and then you get hurt, it's not a nice feeling. A lot of people kind of wonder sometimes what was going on, but it's such a niggling injury, the wrist, that it's complicated, and I opted not to have surgery and I went the other way by just getting it treated. I have the physios here, employ a guy to help me to actually fix it, and they've done that. I'm just happy to be able to play with no pain, and now to almost look I don't even know what the situation is. To be close or thereabouts, it's a really nice feeling.

TODD BUDNICK: Walk us through last year when the injury came about. Talk a little bit about the wrist.

TJAART VAN DER WALT: It actually happened at Q school in '03. I think I started making some swing changes and was a bit aggressive and tore two ligaments in the left wrist, TFCC ligament and scapho lunate, a very common injury, but the TFCC is around a nerve, too, and I had a couple of misdirected needles, and it hit the nerve and caused a neuritis.

It just snowballed, and I was obviously excited to be able to play through Q school, get the card, and then a took about a month off at home, played the Sony and played well. I never hit any balls, just played. You know out here if you don't practice you're not going to get anywhere. So went to a few guys on the West Coast, went back to the East Coast, saw a couple guys on the Midway, so I went to absolutely everybody, and they said you've just got to rest.

I tried to play through it with rest and then qualified for the British Open. I couldn't let that go, so I tried to play there. I did, and then on the 15th hole at Royal Troon, I hit it in the left rough, only bad shot, hit a shot out of the rough and I felt it tore again, so that was it. I called the Tour and told them that I will not be able to play for the rest of the year, and they were nice enough to work with me on a major medical, and that's where I am now, I guess.

Q. Why don't you look at leaderboards? Do you feel it makes you more nervous?

TJAART VAN DER WALT: I used to get so into the board being from South Africa there's no such thing. We just play golf. They might have one or two towards the end, maybe on 16, 17 and 18, but here it's smack in your face. I guess it does, but it also makes your mind wander, and whether it's nerves or anxiety or whatever you want to call it. But I guess it's nice to know where you stand, but it's also nice to just play your own game, and I guess that's what I've been trying to do the last couple of weeks, even in Reno or the smaller events, I try to do what I have to do and not what the board tells me to do. So I guess that's the reason.

Q. Before you asked your caddie, did you feel you were done or that you had a shot?

TJAART VAN DER WALT: You know, I didn't know where I was standing. I did not know I knew I was close because I kept looking back to Justin I think I saw one stage his score, but I didn't know where I'm not going to lie to you, I didn't know where I was standing, honestly.

Then after the bogey on 16 because the cameras were there, I knew I'm there or thereabouts. So when I walked down the fairway on 17 after the tee shot, because you go to bed thinking about that tee shot on 17, or I do. But it's an intimidating if you take the hole on, I guess it rewards you, and I took it on today and hit an aggressive tee shot, and when I got to my ball, I looked at my caddie, and said, "Did I mess up or not?" He said, "No, you're still in it." I guess Brad had finished at 14 and I had to get there.

But just coming back to watching boards, I set a goal today to try to get to 15. I didn't achieve that, but you set them high and you get close, I guess you're still satisfied, so I guess that would have been a good number.

Q. If you don't hit the flag in the playoff, does the ball spin back to

TJAART VAN DER WALT: I think I would have been inside Brad if I didn't hit the flag. You know, in regulation, I was about five yards shorter in regulation, so now I'm 133 to the flag I think it was, and I told Damien, my caddie, "Does this mean I have to hit this one full?" Because the shot I hit in regulation, you don't want to get too aggressive because then it runs down there where Jerry was. I hit a good shot there, and I said to Damien, if I hit this hard, obviously because of the situation here, and I thought I had to hit it just past the flag, and I think you look at the angles, it probably would have been a good shot if it didn't hit the flag.

Q. Spelling of your caddie's name?

TJAART VAN DER WALT: D a m i e n L o p e z.

Q. Your putt in the playoff, confident I'm sure over the putt. Were you stunned when you missed it?

TJAART VAN DER WALT: Absolutely, because in regulation I'm below the hole, I read it just outside the left edge, and it broke just inside the left edge to go in, and then from the top I thought it would do the same thing, funnel to the front. I told Damien right edge, and he agreed, and actually I didn't look from behind, but it looked like it started where I said and it kept moving the other way, and I was completely flabbergasted.

Q. Great shots the last couple of holes and a playoff, and still it wasn't enough.

TJAART VAN DER WALT: You know, I don't know what to feel yet. I guess it will hit me tonight. It's not like I missed the green. I left quite a few out there still. He hit a great shot. From where he was, to hit it where he did, I don't know the odds of that. But it's a great shot, and what you have to do is probably try and top that, and I was able to, I hit the flag, just got a bit unlucky. It could have gone off the green, so at least I still had a putt at it.

But yeah, I felt like I did everything except on No. 2 and 16. I missed two short putts. But then again, I rolled a few in. Birdieing 17 and 18 in this situation, and you can't go "if" or "why". You know, I'm pleased.

Q. When is the last time you won?

TJAART VAN DER WALT: I've never won.

Q. Anything?

TJAART VAN DER WALT: College. I played junior college golf. Actually the last time I won was when I turned professional in 1996, believe it or not. I won Q school in South Africa to turn professional, so that's the last time I've won. I've been 2nd, I don't know the stats, but I've been 2nd a few times.

Q. Were you comfortable riding in the back of the cart instead of the passenger seat?

TJAART VAN DER WALT: I didn't realize he was going to go cross country with it. I thought he was going to get on the cart path and drive. But the reason why is Damien and I and even my wife my wife caddies for me actually quite regularly, and if I don't make the cut last week, she was on the bag this week. So I made the putt and I have the caddie again this week. But she has been a few times on the back of the cart, and she's actually gotten hurt from being on the back of the cart, and I told Damien get in the front because you can keep an eye. I wasn't uncomfortable, but it wasn't the best ride down there.

Q. What were your expectations after two years on the Nationwide Tour and then going to a qualifying tournament? What were you expecting at the beginning of 2004?

TJAART VAN DER WALT: Actually I think I played four years on the Nationwide, which used to be Buy.Com and then Nationwide, played in South Africa, got my card in Europe. I guess everybody saw what I did coming down the stretch a few times on the Nationwide. It's not a nice feeling, but there must be a reason for it.

I've made some changes to I don't think everybody always says, oh, you've got a great swing, you can play. But I have idiosyncrasies that cost me under pressure, and I get the club in the wrong position. I just started working with guys the last two months to correct that, and I think I've made the right decision to do that.

Getting to Q school was there an expectation to get through Q school or just

Q. Years on the Nationwide Tour and then Q school

TJAART VAN DER WALT: Yeah, correct, and then obviously getting hurt at Q school wasn't a nice feeling. But yeah, I felt like I was good enough to come out and compete because I've played with Ernie, I've played with Nick Price, I've played with Retief, I've played with Darren Clarke, I've played with a lot of good players over the years and I've beat them on the day, and I know I can play out here, I've just got to do it. It's not the easiest thing in the world, but it's also not that difficult. You've just got to believe a little harder.

Q. What was it like with Faxon being the favorite here? He was obviously backed by the crowd. What was that like?

TJAART VAN DER WALT: Horrible. I had my wife and my mom and dad here this week actually, but it's not a nice feeling. Every hole you walk down, "come on, Corey," "come on, Jerry," it's not a nice feeling. Every now and then you hear a squeak, "come on, Tjaart."

I think that's what made it more satisfying today to finish where I did, not winning but to be able to overcome that. I guess a little bit no one expected me to do well, so I guess that's why I was a little calmer within myself. I was trying to push myself to do well, but you're right, I was surprisingly calm today, except for 16, because I know I thought I hit a better shot than I did off the tee, so I was more disappointed at the shot, where it ended up and three putting, but I did come back from that.

TODD BUDNICK: Just walk through your birdies and the one bogey.

TJAART VAN DER WALT: I hit a 6 iron to I think it was 20 feet maybe, made a nice putt up the hill.

Birdie on 4, I hit a 9 iron to about six feet maybe.

No. 9, hit a sand iron just short of the green on the fringe and putted it, 12 feet maybe, 10 feet.

10, 7 iron to about 15 feet, I guess.

14 was a wedge to probably the same distance, 12 feet.

Bogey was a three putt from 30 feet on 16. I hit a 7 iron.

17 was an 8 iron to eight feet maybe.

And 18 was a pitching wedge five, six feet.

Q. And the playoff?

TJAART VAN DER WALT: Hit a wedge to 15 feet above the hole, 12 feet, and then missed the putt.

Q. What was the yardage on 18 in the playoff?

TJAART VAN DER WALT: 18, I had 134 to the hole.

Q. In the playoff?

TJAART VAN DER WALT: That was the playoff. Regulation I had 124 to the hole.

TODD BUDNICK: Thank you, Tjaart.

End of FastScripts.

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