U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 19, 2005

Sergio Garcia

Q. Tell us how difficult were the pin placements today, especially on 15?

SERGIO GARCIA: They were tough. The one on 15 is tough, and it's even tougher when every green is like a rock, and the front of that green, probably the first three or four yards is soft. So if you bounce it if you bounce it on the upslope, to bounce it up, it doesn't. If you bounce it on top, it goes over the green. I don't know how you're supposed to hit it more or less closer.

Q. Were these the hardest pin placements of the weekend?

SERGIO GARCIA: They were tough. There were a lot of tough pins this week. But today, as it should be on a Sunday, they were quite tough. I just felt like a couple of the greens were a little irregular on firmness. Like 15, that front part section of the green, it can be so soft, because then, I don't know, you're playing with

Q. Talk about the putts on 17 and 18.

SERGIO GARCIA: Had a great putt on 17. I thought we were looking at it, we were pretty comfortable with we were thinking about a center putt. I hit a great putt, great stroke, it felt great. And unfortunately, the ball went the other way and just missed. That's all you can ask for. It's tough.

I played well today. I really feel like I shot the highest score I could shoot today. I could not shoot anything higher than even par today. And you've got to get breaks. And you've got to make a couple of putts here and there. And if you manage to do that, you're standing here with a cup, and if you don't, you finish okay.

Q. How do you like Pinehurst No. 2 as an Open venue?

SERGIO GARCIA: Great. I thought it was a great Open. It's a really difficult course, but it was it was well set up. Maybe today a couple of mistakes they might have made. But it was well set up all week long. It was really nice.

It's a shame that I couldn't putt a little bit better on the weekend. Today at least I made a couple of putts, but yesterday I just didn't make one single putt all day, and that cost me a little bit.

Q. Did you have a number in mind that you thought you needed to get back to, or close to level?

SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, I was thinking, looking at how well Retief has been playing these three days and everything, I was thinking I had to shoot probably 65, 66 at the best. But as the day went on, I could see that it was changing a bit. I really could have gone to 2 over, easily.

Q. Do you feel the chip shots you had to hit are going to prepare you well for St. Andrews?

SERGIO GARCIA: Well, it depends, because I mean yeah, it definitely will, because of the but at the British the ball rolls smoothly. You don't have the Bermudagrass in to you, and when you hit the putts from the green, they bounce, and things like that. But it's definitely a nice preparation for The British Open.

Q. When did you start scoreboard watching? When did you think you could back into it?

SERGIO GARCIA: I was watching since the first hole. I love watching what I'm doing, I love watching where I'm standing. It's just a shame, because I felt I felt like I played great today. I felt like I played very solid. I had a great shot on 4, and unfortunately, it bounced a bit too hard and it went just over the green, and I ended up making bogey.

Hit a good shot on 6 and the wind switched instead of bouncing I didn't make par there.

On 15 I hit it straight out, and I thought it was perfect, bounced in the middle of the slope instead of bouncing up, it backs up. And it's one of those things. To win this tournament, this championship, you have to play well, but you have to get lucky, and unfortunately, this week I wasn't lucky enough.

Q. Fred Funk said that there were a lot of accessible pin placements coming down the stretch, 10, 12, 17 and 18. How did you feel whether or not those pins were filtering the ball to the hole?

SERGIO GARCIA: 10, if you laid up, it was impossible to get it close, because it was downhill and it was just over the mound, and it was impossible to hit it close.

1, you could get it close because it was playing downwind; I was hitting sand wedge into that hole.

12, yeah, it's a decent pin if you hit it in the fairway. It all comes down to where you are off the tee. If you're in the fairway, you can be a little bit more aggressive to some of those pins. If you're in the rough, you can't. It's just impossible. I mean, once in a while you can hit a good shot out of the rough, but it's not going to happen all the time.

I don't know, I thought they were quite tough. They were good, and it's just a shame I didn't get a couple more putts.

Q. Do you feel you're making good progress in the majors, maybe you've crested the hill a little bit?

SERGIO GARCIA: I felt I played well. The most important thing for me this week is my attitude, how I took it and how I got over everything that happened to me this week, because the last two days were tough days. They were days where I played well and I scored high. And it's tough to get over those things in this kind of tournament.

I was 2 over through six holes today, feeling like I was playing unbelievable. And now I'm standing there 7 over par for the tournament, and I'm thinking, what's going on here? And fortunately, I got it going a little bit. I had a great chance on 10, had a great second shot, it bounces right and goes in the bunker, and it's a tough bunker shot, and didn't make par. I hit a good I didn't make birdie; had a great putt, but it didn't go in.

11 I had a great chance.

12 I had a good putt, almost made it.

13 I had a great putt, I didn't make it.

14 I had a great chance to make birdie.

But 15 I hit it straight out and I thought it was perfect, absolutely perfect, and it comes back down, you're in that sandy area, you can't chip it. It's a perfect shot to bump it with a lob wedge. You can't chip it because it's sandy, and if you catch it heavy, you might double hit it. So, yeah, it's that bad.

That's the way it is. I played 16, 17 and 18 great. And unfortunately, it just didn't happen.

Q. But you handled it, attitude wise?

SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, it was good. And my caddie, Glen, told me, "This is the best you've been on a major, attitude wise, since I've been caddying for you." So that's nice.

Q. I remember after The Masters two years ago you were beating yourself up a little bit, very disappointed. And today you seem to have a different attitude. You went out, you played the best you can play, and that's all I can do. Is that maturity?

SERGIO GARCIA: I guess so. I guess you learn, I guess it's the way you handle things, the way you focus, the way you approach the game. I think I'm learning to do that now. I finally a couple things happened that kind of woke me up a little bit. I have a friend of mine that is only 24, he's got lung cancer, and to see those things, it really wakes you up.

And it makes you realize that a bogey, you don't want to make a bogey, but it's really not that bad. You're still trying your hardest, and that's what I did.

But I'm happy. I'm happy with the way things have been going, and I'm happy with the way I played. I'm extremely happy the way I hit the ball today. I hit the ball so well. On a Sunday at U.S. Open, if you come off the course shooting 70, knowing that you couldn't have shot any higher than that, that's pretty good.

Q. Putting golf in perspective, does that make you a better golfer?

SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, definitely. I mean at the end of the day, I mean we're trying our hardest, but you've got to take things the right way. And if you do, you get rewards. If you don't if you don't kind of get so uptight and trying so hard, sometimes it's better. And today was an example. After playing so well for the first six holes, and being 2 over, I knew I was playing well. I wasn't happy, but I knew that it could happen, and that was nice.

End of FastScripts.