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VOLVO PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 30, 2004

Scott Drummond

SURREY, ENGLAND

SCOTT CROCKETT: Many congratulations. There's been a lot said to you already, a lot of statistics thrown at you, but the most important one is that you now get your hands on this trophy. Can you tell us how you are feeling?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: A bit numb to be honest. I really had not thought about winning the tournament. Obviously at the start of the week, I wasn't thinking that. Over the weekend, I wasn't really thinking about winning, either. I was taking one day at a time and one shot at a time and I just, for my own sort of satisfaction. I just wanted to get a nice solid tournament in, four solid rounds because I had been struggling over the last few months and needed to make some cuts.

My prerogative at the start of the week was just to play four nice, solid rounds, and it's just a dream that I've shot the scores I've shot and collected the trophy. It's hard to believe.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Having said that, did you have a wager on yourself, I believe.

SCOTT DRUMMOND: Yeah, my mind coach, or psychologist, sports psychologist, met up with me on Wednesday and said, "I've got 500 to 1." And they only let you put ten pounds each way and I asked him if he would do the same for me, so a slight bonus there.

Q. How much?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: Ten pounds each way.

Q. Do you normally back yourself?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: No, I don't actually. I don't really bet at all. Probably the worst thing I could bet on is golf. I find it very hard to spot form there. I know some people do but no, I don't usually bet at all.

Q. So that was the first time?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: Yeah.

SCOTT CROCKETT: It couldn't really have gone any better for you. Your form out there was just fantastic.

SCOTT DRUMMOND: Yeah, like I said, earlier, I probably felt more pressure last six holes yesterday than I did at all today. I just felt very relaxed from the off today. Actually on the putting green I probably missed more putts this morning sort of warming up than I have done all week. Everything just came together and I kept focus and kept my composure.

I mean, going into the back nine, I really was expecting to start to feel some nerves and some pressure, but I have to say, somehow managed to keep those feelings down and got on with the job. I'm just thankful that my score was good enough to win.

Q. Do you think your psychologist had to do with the fact that you were able to keep so calm the last nine?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: Yeah, I've done a lot of work with Jeff over the last 18 months. But Kevin Smith, who caddies for me, he's also done his sports psychology. So he was good well, he was fantastic this week on the course. I think it was probably his idea at the start of the week that we just take it one shot at a time and think no further than that.

You know, we stuck rigidly to that. I promised him I wouldn't look at any score boards and I didn't. I've got Jeff, but I've also got Kevin; a big thank you to him, because he really kept me composed out there today.

Q. What's Jeff's last name?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: Pettitt.

Q. You said you didn't look at any scoreboards during the week. You must have had a look on 17 or 18 to see what you had to do?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: No, I didn't at all. I could probably sense from the crowd that I was possibly tied for the lead. But again, I wasn't even trying to think about that. We were just trying to give ourselves a chance at making two birdies on the last two holes. Angel, obviously, can certainly reach both of those holes comfortably. I knew if I plotted my way and played those shots, my short game from 100 yards in has been fantastic.

Obviously my putting today, probably the best thing about the day. So I knew if I did that, I could give myself two chances at birdies, but I honestly didn't look at any score boards. Even on the 18th green, I said to Kevin he said, don't look, and I said, I didn't look. I said, "You'll have to tell me after I've made the putt what's happening."

Obviously, I could tell from rolling it in, the cheer, and Kevin's reaction that we had actually won.

Q. Just from everything you're saying, you seem to have an incredibly strong mind to be able to not think about all of the things that most golfers could not stop thinking about. Are you that sort of person?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: I've surprised myself today, actually. Like I said, I've not had the best run of form, so to get a good result in this tournament was a big thing for me. Even just a Top 30, because obviously the prize money is so huge. It's on it's way to helping me retain my card, which obviously was my goal at the start of the year. First goal was to retain my card, second goal was try to win Rookie of the Year.

Yeah, I've certainly surprised myself out there today. Like I said the nerves on the back nine, I was expecting not to get jittery, to start to feel something, but I didn't. I was obviously my game was maybe it's because my game was so good and I knew I had the shots there. Everything felt in control. I just stayed relaxed.

Q. Was Kevin looking at the board?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: Kevin was looking at the boards.

Q. So he knew?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: He knew, definitely.

Q. Are you telling us that when you stood over that last putt, you didn't know you had two putts for the title?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: Yeah.

Q. You didn't know?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: No, I didn't know if I had one or two to win. It was just another putt, really. We were playing it one shot at a time and it was that's the putt and try and think no further than that. Obviously to try and hole the putt.

Q. When the crowd started spilling out on the 18th fairway and you had the pitch shot in, how did you manage to block out what's going on around you and not get caught up in that?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: Like I say, this week, I've just been able to do it. I've just been able to concentrate on the one shot. I've been really strong this week. Maybe it's the work that I've done over the last 18 months, finally getting into a situation where I really need to use draw on all of my resources to do that. I've been able to do it, obviously with Kevin's help as well out there.

Coming out of the 18th, that was surreal, really. I've seen that screen so many times with the crowd spilling across the fairway and the rope going up. It's like at the British Open. I've seen it so many times and it did feel a bit strange.

I can't really put my finger on why this week I've been able to do it. It's just happened.

Q. How often have you played Wentworth before?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: Never.

Q. Never played? Is this your first look at it?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: First look at it was on Monday. Claire and I used live in Bagschof for two years and a friend of mine used to work in the pro shop at Sunningdale and I used to play quite a lot of golf with him there. Every time I tried to come down here to get on, it was always busy, so I actually never had a game.

At the start of the year, I said to myself that I must try and get up and have a couple of games because I still know the guys at Sunningdale and maybe have a game with those but that never materialized either. Monday was my first look.

SCOTT CROCKETT: The last player to win on his debut was Arnold Palmer. That's a nice link for you there.

Q. You just had your first baby and first tournament win; any thoughts about first Ryder Cup appearance?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: No, not really. I had said jokingly to some friends a few weeks ago when I was obviously not having a good run of form, missed a few cuts, and everyone was sort of supporting me, I had said my game was in pretty good shape, I just wasn't scoring well. They said, well, you know you've got the big tournaments coming up and this and that. I jokingly said, yeah, if you win a couple of those big ones, you might even sneak the Ryder Cup or I might sneak into the Ryder Cup, but certainly no further than that. I haven't thought about it. I can't really think that far ahead now.

Q. Could you talk a little about what it's been like on the various tours the last few years and what it's like financially, what it's been like?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: Well, I turned pro in '96, same time as Steve Webster, who was my foursomes partner when we played for England, amateur golf. And Steve obviously went and won the Tour school that year and I didn't get through. Following year, I turned pro and played some Hippo Tours and Futures Tour that were going at the time, just to get some experience, really, of playing professional golf and the feeling of playing for money before I went to the Tour School to try and get my card. That was in '96.

That didn't happen. I ended up playing the Hippo Tour, the Futures Tour and the MasterCard Tour that was run by the PGA, actually. I played that for a few seasons. Did quite well there which got me some starts on the Challenge Tour. I think 2000, I played about seven events. That was my most to date. I did quite well in that and that got me a Challenge Tour card for the following year, and I think 2001, I was just outside the Top 15.

But financially, it's very difficult. I've been lucky enough, my dad has supported me all the way and always made funds available. I don't know how he's done it, really, but always kept me going. Certainly, the Challenge Tour is obviously very expensive to play, but two out of last three years, I played very well and won some decent cash, which has more than covered my expenses for the year on the Challenge Tour.

But it's hard for most guys, you know, playing on these tours, until they reach the main tour and have a chance to earn some serious money. For a lot of guys, they will play maybe two, three years on the Challenge Tour and run out of money. So I certainly empathize with those guys.

Q. Your father's name and what he does?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: George. He's retired now. He's 70. So he's been enjoying a bit of travel this year. He's been over to Dubai and some places he's always wanted to go.

Q. He's here today?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: Yeah, he's here. He came up on the 18th green.

Q. What was his reaction?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: Trying to think what he said now. I think he said I've made his life. That was it. My dad is so much behind me, it's hard for even me to believe, really. He's lived for this; not for this specific moment, but for me to get my Tour card, right since I started playing when I was about six years old. It's always been his dream for me to get on Tour and play, just to do that, obviously was a massive achievement last year. Coming through the Challenge Tour. So for this, he's going to be uncontrollable, I think.

Q. Did he push you?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: No, not at all, no. It was always my I used to go and watch him and pull his trolley around when I was about six and started then. Joined the local club when I was eight. Got hooked on it. Got my first hole in one when I was nine, and started to win a few of the Junior competitions soon after that and just progressed from there, really.

Q. What was behind your decision to go for Scotland when you became pro?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: Well, my whole family is from Scotland. Mom and dad moved down in 1966 to myself and two sisters were born in Shrewsbury where everybody else is Scottish. I think during the Amateur days, if it possibly had been easier for me to go, or if we had been able to go to Scotland and play amateur things, I may well have actually had to play for the Scotland team at the time. But that didn't work out and I needed to play the Amateur circuit in England.

I thoroughly enjoyed playing for England at all of the levels that I've played, and being England Boys captain was a great honor. I always knew that when I turned pro, it's kind of in honor of my parents and grandparents and everybody else; that I would represent Scotland.

Q. What's wrong with your father's neck; he wears the brace?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: He had a couple of accidents at work and got a crushed vertebrae. He's had it for about 18 years now. He just lives with a neck brace. He's kind of come to terms with it now. It's been such a long time.

Q. Is it a passion for you to play and represent Scotland in the World Cup?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: Yeah, obviously. I mean, I think that's probably that is about the only tournament that you play team golf at the moment. But, yeah, certainly that would be another, or is another ambition of mine, to represent Scotland in the World Cup.

Q. It's a rare thing these days to write about the victorious Scot, but how much are you looking forward to making your European Tour debut in Scotland at Gleneagles?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: That's going to be fantastic. At the start of the year when I was going through my schedule and fortunate to know that I was going to get into almost every tournament, obviously Gleneagles and Loch Lomond were high on my list of tournaments that I was looking forward to playing, and this is just going to be awesome now to go there, having won a tournament. It is going to be great, so I'm really looking forward to Gleneagles in two weeks.

Q. And the Open now?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: Yeah, I didn't actually realize I'd be straight in the Open. Yeah, obviously, the Open, the last time it was at Troon, I was at final qualifying and I needed par on the last at Irving to qualify and I took 6. So I was absolutely gutted there to not play the Open that year. That was the closest I've been. Yeah, that's just another awesome thing that's come out of this week.

Q. The par 4, was it?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: Yeah, short par 4. Took driver and hit it in the thick stuff. I made 6, and, yeah, was gutted.

Q. You got in here because Greg Owen withdrew, what will you be saying to him; buying him a beer?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: Yeah, I didn't actually realize it was specifically because of him. I know there were some withdrawals.

Yeah, I'll certainly buy him a beer. Possibly give him one of those large battle bottles of champagne.

Q. Will you be leaving Jeff the five grand from the winnings?

SCOTT DRUMMOND: Yes, I think I will. He's got his own bet. He's going to get some bonus, obviously, so I will take my small my large winning, actually, 5,000 pounds is a lot of money to me.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Well done, Scott. Thanks.

End of FastScripts.

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