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VOLVO MASTERS ANDALUCIA

October 27, 2004

Sergio Garcia

SOTOGRANDE, SPAIN

Q. Just could you talk for a moment about the fact that so many of your Ryder Cup colleagues are now going to come and join you in America for much of the year; is that what you had expected?

SERGIO GARCIA: Well, I think it's great. I think that, you know, that they want to show everybody how good of players that they are and it's going to be nice to see them around there and have somebody else to hang around with.

But, I don't know, I think hopefully it will be a nice thing. Hopefully they will play well and, you know, we can settle in there a little bit as a little group. I think it should be fun.

Q. Could we have you sum up your year quickly?

SERGIO GARCIA: Great year. Quick enough? (Laughter.)

Q. Too quick.

SERGIO GARCIA: I think it's been a great year. A year that I had to overcome a couple of things, and with all of the practice and the changes I've been doing for the past year and a half or so, it's nice to get through this year and play some good golf like I did. You know, to be able to win twice in America and once in Europe so far, and of course the Ryder Cup, it's definitely a very positive year for me.

Q. Are the changes finished on your swing or have you got more to do?

SERGIO GARCIA: The main change, yeah. I think now just have to keep improving it. But the main, the biggest part of it, yeah, is definitely done.

Q. Have you looked at the roster for the major championships next year?

SERGIO GARCIA: Excuse me?

Q. Have you looked at the courses for the major championships next year; do you have any favorites?

SERGIO GARCIA: Well, of course the Masters is not changing. We know where that's played.

U.S. Open, I think it's at Pinehurst Number Two? The British, St. Andrews, and then Baltusrol. Four great courses.

But I've never played Pinehurst and I've played Baltusrol once, I think. So you know I'm looking forward to it. And you know, they are four really nice courses and hopefully I can do well in them.

Q. Can you give a description of the main change to your golf swing?

SERGIO GARCIA: Again, pretty much, the two biggest changes are setup and the start of the swing. On the setup, I'm a lot taller than I used to be. My body is standing up a lot more than it used to be. And that's helping me start my swing on a better line, you know, where it used to be a bit more down and my hands used to be lower and my backswing was a bit on the outside and then would cut in the inside. Now my hands are a bit higher so that gives me a better chance of starting on line to get the club higher on the top.

So it's not as much movement as there used to be.

Q. What does this tournament mean to you in relation to other European events?

SERGIO GARCIA: Well, there's no doubt that this is one of the tournaments I want to win. A little bit more when it's played here at Valderrama. I'm very good friends, as you all know with Mr. Patino. And I played, I actually practice quite a bit here when I have some time off.

To be able to win a big event here at Valderrama - nowadays it's the Volvo, the Volvo Masters - it will mean a great deal for me and I'm sure that Mr. Patino will be very happy, too.

Q. I'd like to ask you about 17 here. It's a very colorful hole. Your thoughts on the 17th and how it should perhaps be played in your eyes?

SERGIO GARCIA: Well, I think it's a great hole. You know, it's a hole that gives you a lot of different chances, different options. You mainly depend on the wind. If there's no wind or very little wind into you, or downwind, you can miss the green. You're going to be hitting long irons or 3-woods into the green but you can definitely get to it.

If you play it into, with a bit of strong wind, you have no chance. It's just a lay-up and a difficult third. Although you're hitting a short club, it's still a difficult third shot.

But I think that, you know, a par five should be like that. You're going to be hitting -- if you don't go for the green you're going to be hitting a lob wedge or a sand wedge in, so it should be a difficult shot to make your birdie. I think it depends a lot on the weather, but you know if you feel comfortable, you can go for it. If not, you can lay it up to a spot that you feel comfortable with and just try to get up-and-down.

Q. Ernie Els was telling us about some correspondence he's had with Tim Finchem. Have you had any communication and what is your position for someone to try to play both tours?

SERGIO GARCIA: A, I haven't had any. And B, my position on?

Q. On the fact that they are trying to try to make him play more in the States.

SERGIO GARCIA: Well, B is not my problem. That's all I can really say. When I'll have that problem, then I'll have to deal with it.

Q. Seve has got himself in a little bit of a straight with the tournament officials. What do you think would make Seve happy and get him back to his old self; would it be to play good golf again?

SERGIO GARCIA: I don't know. Unfortunately that's something that he has to figure out and find something that makes him happy and gets himself back to the Seve we know.

You know, I guess it's not easy, either. You go through tough times like he has and it can be frustrating.

But, you know, hopefully he'll get through them and be back soon.

Q. Your name is starting to appear in the media as the best player yet to win a major.

SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, they always forget to say, "The best player yet to win a major, is 24 years old."

GORDON SIMPSON: It would be different if you were 44.

SERGIO GARCIA: No, I'm not worried about that -- touch wood.

But if I'm lucky and injuries behave, I think I'm going to have so many chances to win majors. I'm not even worried about it. I'm just trying to win as many as I can. But I'm sure it will happen.

Q. Playing to beat Monty's record in the Ryder Cup and playing to your 40s, does that give you nightmares?

SERGIO GARCIA: Well, same, hope I continue to play well and keep away from injuries. If I manage to do that and qualify the team, I'm going to try to help the team as much as I can. To me, I don't really care that much about those records; I care about seeing the name of Europe on the trophy. That's what we all try to do.

Q. A lot of talk about yourself and all of the other young players coming through the European tour, Casey, Justin Rose, all of these; do you see the same sort of players at the same sort of age coming through on the U.S. tour?

SERGIO GARCIA: American players, not so many. I think that here in Europe we've had a good run of players guys like Luke Donald, Paul Casey as you said, Ian Poulter and some of the guys. And also, guys like Adam Scott that are not European but they are not Americans, either.

So I think that the sport is in good hands. I think that we are all trying to get better and better and there's more young guys to come.

A couple of names maybe around the U.S. and I'm sure they are working hard on trying to get plenty more.

Q. Who is the best young Spaniard in America right now, you or Pablo Martin?

SERGIO GARCIA: Excuse me?

Q. Do you know who Pablo Martin is?

SERGIO GARCIA: Yes.

Q. What do you think of his game?

SERGIO GARCIA: I think he's a great player. He's achieved some really good results. He's done some great things and almost won the Spanish Open, I think it was a couple of years ago.

So there's no doubt he's a really nice up-and-coming, and I think he's 20 or something like that, 18, 20 -- 18. He's quite young and a good player. He's just got to keep working hard and never get ahead of himself. You know, if you manage to do that, he'll probably be a nice player and be around us playing some good golf.

Q. How would you sum up this year for Europe's top golfers? Obviously on one hand you had the huge win in the Ryder Cup and on the other hand it's a year gone by with no European names on a major title and two South Africans on top of the Order of Merit. How would you sum up the year?

SERGIO GARCIA: I think it's been great. I think it's been good. We had some good results. But you've got to realize, that you know, there's great players all over the place, all over the world and you've just got to see how many international winners they have, for example in America, it's unbelievable.

But that shows you that in Europe there's great players coming out, also in Australia and New Zealand, all over the world.

I think that's the best thing about it, the game is getting more and more global and that can only be good for it.

Q. Would you be one of the first players to sign up for a world tour event if that started in the next five or ten years?

SERGIO GARCIA: Well, it could be a good idea, something like an ATP Tour like they do on tennis.

I don't know. There's a lot of things to it. It's not an easy decision.

I pretty much do anyway without having one.

End of FastScripts.

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