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JOHNNIE WALKER CLASSIC

April 20, 2005

Sergio Garcia

BEIJING, CHINA

SCOTT CROCKETT: You've one of the few to have been out there today. Tell us, what were the conditions and how difficult that was today.

SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, it was really difficult. It was very, very windy out there and it was very cold this morning. It's always tough to play in those conditions, but at least we get a good look at the course and the course is in very good shape. The fairways are very nice. The greens are very nice, too. They are quite firm and they are rolling pretty nicely.

Looking forward to the week and hopefully, they say it's supposed to start getting a bit warmer, and we'll look forward to that.

SCOTT CROCKETT: You talked about the conditions. How about your game, how are you shaping up for the week?

SERGIO GARCIA: Well, I'm looking forward to it. I'm not hitting the ball too badly. Definitely, I could definitely hit it a little better, but I'm looking forward to the week. It's my first time here in China playing, so I'm hopefully, you know, going to do well and put a good show on. It's a good tournament, a lot of really good players here, so hopefully we can all play well and make the people enjoy it as much as possible.

Q. This morning, Adam Scott said you are a very upstanding player. Do you think you have a huge confidence to win this match?

SERGIO GARCIA: This tournament? Well, I have been playing well. Unfortunately I haven't been scoring the way I should have been with the way I've been hitting the ball. You know, hopefully I can get it going, and I feel like, you know, I came here to give myself a chance of winning. That's what we all try, and hopefully I can give myself a chance. I'm looking forward to that and we'll see at the end of the week, but, you know, I came here to try to win the tournament.

Q. You mentioned you're not scoring well; is it mostly on the putting green? And the second part of the question, your swing change, working with your dad, do you consider it's completed or you still have some little things you're working on?

SERGIO GARCIA: No, most of the work is done. But, you know, there are still things that I can improve on and we're still working on it. Just shape it a little bit more and get it even better.

Yeah, mainly it's just getting the ball in the hole. You know, I feel like I've been hitting good putts. Unfortunately I haven't been able to make many. When you don't make many putts, it always feels like you're struggling a little bit, so hopefully I can get that going a little.

Q. This week there are several top young guns here, and you are all good friends, like Adam and Luke Donald and Paul Casey, and some of you played on the Ryder Cup Team, your Ryder Cup teammates. We asked this question earlier to Luke Donald and Adam Scott as well. Among the four of you who are playing this tournament, who is going to win the major first? Do you have a healthy competition among yourselves?

SERGIO GARCIA: Yes, definitely. We enjoy playing with each other and I enjoy watching Adam and Luke and Trevor and some of the other young guys doing well. I think it's nice for the game of golf, so I really enjoy that.

I don't know, I wish I could answer that. Hopefully, I mean, the only thing I can hope is that some of us do it quickly. I think Luke is playing at a very good level. Of course, Adam, he's been playing very nicely for quite a while now. I think we all have a good chance. It's just a matter of getting it together on that particular week and getting things to go your way. So hopefully it will be soon for one of us.

Q. According to one of your best friends, Jesper, he said that you never had a drink or never been drunk in your life; is that true or a little bit exaggerated?

SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, I guess it's true. I've never been wasted, you know, in a bad way where you start throwing up and things like that. I've always felt like I didn't need the alcohol to have fun to start with. And second of all, I've seen some of my friends get drunk and once you get drunk, you know, you're kind of wasting everybody's night. Everybody is focused on you and make sure that you're doing okay because you're feeling bad and things like that. So I don't want them to -- I don't want to spoil their night because of me feeling bad. So I've never had the pleasure of being drunk, no. (Laughter).

Q. What would you celebrate with if you won this tournament? How do you celebrate?

SERGIO GARCIA: Unfortunately I'm not a fan of whiskey, so I can't celebrate by drinking Johnnie Walker. But, I don't know, probably the closest I've ever been is the Ryder Cup when I got a bit happy. I don't know, I guess the way I celebrate is just with my friends, have a nice dinner, just a nice celebration and to have some fun. You know, drinking is not one of my favorites.

Q. You say this is your first visit to China, but given the way that golf is going and the number of tournaments that are scheduled here for the future, and it looks like that's going to grow and grow, would you anticipate this being the first of many visits here; and if so, how exciting of a prospect is that for a young golfer such as yourself?

SERGIO GARCIA: Well, you cannot tell, you don't know what's going to happen in the future. Definitely China is growing big time, not only in golf, but just in everything around the world. It's definitely a country that you have to -- you know, you have to take care of.

I'm really looking forward to play here this week. Hopefully we can get this wind out of the way. It's a good opportunity for everybody to come and get a look at this beautiful country, and we had the pleasure of going to The Great Wall yesterday afternoon. It's got a lot of nice things to take a look at, so I'm looking forward to coming back soon.

Q. What about the aspect to it of coming to a country which doesn't have a golfing heritage, but clearly has a great deal of enthusiasm for it, but there is, if you like, a whole revolution to be part of?

SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, as we were saying before, this country is growing massively. It's growing very quickly, but as I said, not only in golf, football and everything that there is. It's becoming very big here in China. So I think that it's a country that has got a lot of potential, so hopefully we can all help it going the right way.

Q. I know you changed your swing last year. How is your new swing going and how do you feel, and what's the difference between the different kind of swing before last year?

SERGIO GARCIA: Well, it's going great. I'm hitting the ball very nicely, so that's very important. The main difference is pretty much the setup; I'm standing a lot taller than I used to be. What this is helping me do is kind of start my swing more in line, not so much outside. By doing that, I get the club on top aiming more towards the target, not so much aiming left and laid back and lay down and then to get it back with as much lag as I used to. It's a bit easier to repeat. I guess it's just a bit more consistent than it was before.

Q. This is your first time to China; welcome to China. A question for you. As a top player of the world, your game was taught by your father at the very beginning, and then way down, I'm not quite sure if you know him, Zhang Lian-Wei, you played with him in the Masters, he's a top player of China, and his game is self-taught. Since you've played with him, what impression do you have? And golf in China is a relatively new game, and Spain is a foreign country also, and what can we learn from Spain to improve our game in China?

SERGIO GARCIA: Well, I think he's a wonderful player, no doubt about it. He's been doing very well. He's won a couple big tournaments. Probably just a shame that he's not a bit younger. He's toward the mid, end of his career. He's definitely a player that you have to look at. He's been doing all of the good things, and you have to give him a lot of good credit.

I think that mainly the way you have to look at the game and hopefully get on a good shape is just by, you know, teaching the youngsters. We know that the future of the game is in the young people and teaching them not only how to play golf, but how to behave around the course and how the whole game is brought up around the world.

So, I think that's one of most important things. You know, that's something that we can all -- we can all try to help by coming here and showing youngsters how to play the game and how it should be played.

Q. I remember yesterday that I found that it there is a 2-iron in your bag; how often do you use it?

SERGIO GARCIA: Every tournament.

Q. Every time?

SERGIO GARCIA: Every tournament, yeah. I always travel with a 2-iron.

Q. What distance?

SERGIO GARCIA: What distance? Usually about 245 yards.

Q. Why not a fairway wood or a hybrid wood?

SERGIO GARCIA: I do have a fairway wood, a 3-wood.

Q. And have you used the 2-iron today?

SERGIO GARCIA: Have I used a 2-iron?

Q. Today.

SERGIO GARCIA: Today, I did not.

Q. What did you think of The Great Wall after you visited?

SERGIO GARCIA: First of all, I was very impressed with The Great Wall. I didn't know it was so steep. It's really steep. So to walk, not even the whole thing, but to walk a little bit, it's quite hard. I didn't think it was that steep. And I thought, I guess it goes by, you know, there's some spots that are a bit narrower than others, but I thought it was a bit wider. It's an amazing work and just an unbelievable thing to have a chance of seeing. So I was very pleased that I got the chance of seeing it yesterday and to walk a little bit of it.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Sergio, as always, thank you, and good luck tomorrow.

End of FastScripts.

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