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HSBC WORLD MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP

September 15, 2006

Paul Casey

VIRGINIA WATERS, ENGLAND

GORDON SIMPSON: Congratulations, two wins out of two now, and a chance to beat the man who is just outside the door there. That should be an interesting match up.

PAUL CASEY: It will be very good. It will be a huge Monty crowd. It will be entertaining. Yeah, I mean, he's probably the favourite going into tomorrow. He should be the favourite going into tomorrow. He knows this place very, very well, and with the greens as receptive as they are, it will bring his long irons close, and I'll have to play extremely good golf to get near him.

GORDON SIMPSON: Obviously you're not playing too shabbily yourself at the moment.

PAUL CASEY: Yeah, it was good today. At the end I'm not sure what happened. He didn't really say much. His back tightened up on the left hand side. He had hit a couple shots left and right before, the 14th. Craig, my caddie, said he had seen Mike stretching earlier on.

And then on 14, he hit his tee shot it the left and short, and Craig told me that Mike was hurting and I turned around and he was clutching his back. So he still played a hell of a shot on 14. But even at that stage, you just don't know. I was happy to be 3 up going into that hole and I wasn't sure, it's tough to close it out against a guy like Mike Weir.

Q. Is Monty one of the names you might have told Woosie you wouldn't mind playing with next week?

PAUL CASEY: It's confidential. Yeah, I've love to play with Monty. There's not a guy on the team I wouldn't play with. I get along with all of them. But I'd play with Monty.

Q. Do you see his game as a fit for yours?

PAUL CASEY: Yeah, you mean in terms of like maybe a foursomes.

Q. Four ball?

PAUL CASEY: Four ball would be great. He's consistent, he's always in play, maybe give me an opportunity to hit a couple of long drives. But no, I think he's on top of his game right now.

Q. He said that yourself and Luke are a different generation to him and that, you know, because he's so old now?

PAUL CASEY: What, 43?

Q. He says you must have a huge advantage. Is he just conning us?

PAUL CASEY: (Nodding) Yeah, 43, I'm sure he feels younger than I am. Feels like he's 25.

Q. His reading of tomorrow would be that we you would be way past him off the tee and he would have to be accurate with his second shots.

PAUL CASEY: I guess that's what people might think, but he's not as short as people think he is. He'll work his golf ball very well out there, and you can you know, Wentworth is not overly long. There's many holes where you have irons off the tee and Monty will find a way of sneaking it down the fairway.

So I don't expect to be a long, long way past him on every hole. I mean, there may be a couple of holes, maybe a couple of par 5s, 12, 17, when I can maybe knock it past him. But I'm not sure how big of an advantage that is tomorrow.

Q. And you said that there will be a big Monty crowd, but surely as a local guy yourself, you'll have a few people out there as well.

PAUL CASEY: He's always got a big crowd, as he should.

Q. When you first came on Tour, was there a bit of an aura about him?

PAUL CASEY: Yeah, I think so. He still has a presence. You know when Monty's around because of the crowd, especially in Europe. You know because of the crowd. Yeah, I certainly think he has a presence.

Q. The Johnnie Walker Championship, wasn't it this year, are there any other duels you've had?

PAUL CASEY: Good question, not that I can think of. I think that's the last time I played with him as well and I did not go past him on No. 9.

Q. I think you played with him in Ireland.

PAUL CASEY: Did I?

Q. That's when he said he wanted not play with you.

PAUL CASEY: That was at The K Club? But we weren't dueling down the stretch.

Q. Two years ago in the Ryder Cup, did you see the full Monty in operation in terms of his impact on the tea?

PAUL CASEY: Yeah, I think Monty is a leader within the team. I mean, obviously Woosie is our leader, but within the team room, Monty was extremely supportive of the rookies last time around. He's vocal, he builds confidence within players, and I'm sure he'll do the same this time around.

Q. I know that this title on its own is something that you would treasure, but also it's another step towards trying to catch David, isn't it?

PAUL CASEY: Yes, I'm very aware of that. I have no idea how much, I'm behind but I don't know how much percentage wise goes towards it. Getting to the final would be a big, big step towards trying to catch David. That is the goal for the rest of the season. There's only a few events, only three more I think I'm playing after this one that count towards the Order of Merit. That's still very much in the front of the mind. After I'm done with this week and then next week, that's the goal.

GORDON SIMPSON: To get not Valderrama with a chance to win.

PAUL CASEY: I'd love to have a chance. David is a dear friend, and I think if David had not had the injuries he's had this year, then he maybe be he may have already wrapped the thing up. But you know, there is an opportunity there, but I'm going to have to play extremely good golf in the final few weeks.

End of FastScripts.

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