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CANADIAN OPEN

September 9, 2006

Victor Ciesielski

ANCASTER, ONTARIO

ANTHONY ALFRED: Welcome to this press conference with Canadian amateur Victor Ciesielski. 21 years old, Cambridge, Ontario. Scored 1 under for today and 3 under for the tournament. Victor made his way to Canadian Open shooting a 66 as part of the Monday qualifier.

We'll now take questions for Victor.

Q. They didn't get your hole in one on tape yesterday, but the camera didn't leave you today. Do you have to get used to playing with that sort of attention, specifically the cameras behind you on every shot?

VICTOR CIESIELSKI: It's too bad they didn't get my hole in one 'cause that was only my second. It was such a nice shot. It never left the flag. It was awesome. I'm at the Bell Canadian Open, that would have been everywhere. They missed out on one of the best shots of the tournament, I'd like to think.

No, you know, you get used to it. It's kind of like, you know, once you get in a zone, you hit your shot, it's kind of like you don't look at everyone else. You know, even though when everyone is clapping, wave, see all my friends and family. But it's one shot at a time. If you lose focus, it's not going to be a good situation.

Q. Could you still hear them?

VICTOR CIESIELSKI: Oh, yeah. No, the crowd?

Q. Yes.

VICTOR CIESIELSKI: I hear them after every single shot.

Q. Individual guys?

VICTOR CIESIELSKI: That's what I recognize. I recognize voices of my friends. It's nice. It's nice for them to come out here and support me.

Q. (No microphone.)

VICTOR CIESIELSKI: A lot. I'm missing frosh week at school right now. I'm going to go to Waterloo, but I can't imagine that being any more fun than this. It's amazing. You get treated like gold. It's just a dream come true. I'm playing on the PGA TOUR, second (indiscernible) PGA event. It's amazing. It's a national event. I'm playing representing Canada. How good is that?

Q. Those are not actually Burberry, are they?

VICTOR CIESIELSKI: No. We're going to keep them a secret. Wait till you see what I got for tomorrow.

Q. That's what we've heard.

VICTOR CIESIELSKI: Oh, yeah.

Q. Wear sunglasses?

VICTOR CIESIELSKI: I don't know. The theme might be Christmas. That pretty much explains itself.

Q. Feel like Christmas out there?

VICTOR CIESIELSKI: Yeah, you better believe it. It's awesome.

Q. Before the week started you said you've been playing awesome for like a month. Are you just a little bit surprised that you're sitting here talking to us on Saturday afternoon?

VICTOR CIESIELSKI: You know, that was my first goal, to make the cut. To tell you the truth, the last 30 rounds, like I commented on, have been so much better ball striking rounds than these three days. It's been unbelievable.

You know, I left a lot of shots out there. I'm really glad that I'm 3 under par right now. I'm playing well, but I'm scraping, I'm working really hard to grind it out. It seems like the last 30, 40 rounds came a lot easier than these past three. I've been working pretty hard at it.

Q. I interviewed your fan club yesterday. They said they were going to be celebrating with you. Could you tell us how you have been avoiding the celebration preparing for the weekend.

VICTOR CIESIELSKI: I've just been sticking with my caddie, J.D. Fitzgerald. He doesn't leave me out of his sight. He basically tucks me in every night. Walks me straight into my room, puts me in bed. All right, I'll see you at 7 tomorrow, J.D.

I've been getting phone calls like you wouldn't believe. It's amazing. It's fun. I try to answer as many as I can. I try to sign as many autographs because this is new. This is kind of like my spotlight. Who knows when it's going to come again.

I'm just kind of, you know I'm really happy to be here. I'm just glad it's working out in my favor.

Q. I think you won the Canadian Club Champions Championship. Shot 80 in the first round.

VICTOR CIESIELSKI: 83 actually.

Q. You wouldn't call it a PGA TOUR quality field. Then you come out to this event and you play the way you are now. What happened?

VICTOR CIESIELSKI: From that day, the 83?

Q. Yes. Enormous advance in your game in a short time.

VICTOR CIESIELSKI: I shot 83, but then the next day I shot 68. That was the course record. Perseverance, I guess. Just knowing that I had one bad day. It happens to everyone. Guys out here that are first, second, third in the world go miss a cut. What do you do? It's not just your week. You might have some other things on your mind. Golf course might not suit you. It just happens.

You got to know the next time you step up on the tee, you work pretty damn hard to make your game good. You just be confident, just go out there and know that you have the game to shoot a better score than you did.

Q. Have you always been able to do that? There have been a couple times where you hit the double bogey. Doesn't seem to upset you.

VICTOR CIESIELSKI: Are you sure (laughter)?

Q. You get it out of your system a little bit instead of letting it simmer. Doesn't seem to bother your game. Is that an ability you've always had or a learned thing?

VICTOR CIESIELSKI: Well, I don't know. My head pro, Dave (indiscernible), always says when I go to tournaments I'll shoot 75 or something high first round, then he just thinks I like being the underdog, coming in and not being in the spotlight, kind of battling my way back. Seems like I'll always shoot something mid 70s, but that last round or the next round is always going to be something like 66 or something pretty good.

It's hard to explain. You get upset out there. I'm putting so much pressure on myself to play good just 'cause I know I should be playing good. I am playing good. It's really frustrating when I make a really, really stupid mistake like that. It's just kind of like, you know, you've hit that shot probably 100,000 times this year. Come on, what are you doing?

I wear my emotions on my sleeve sometimes. I don't slam clubs or anything. I might get a little upset. Next tee is the next tee. You refocus, try to make a birdie, try to get a bounce back.

Q. I'm struck by how comfortable you seem to be. Does it feel strange to have become a bit of like a Canadian folk hero? Does it feel strange to be that guy?

VICTOR CIESIELSKI: It's definitely different. I don't know if it's strange just because the media's everywhere. You have to be able to handle yourself, carry yourself well. You deal with it everywhere. Just talking to a stranger, you got to be able to carry on a conversation. You just talk, have a good time, enjoy yourself, right?

It's not weird. It's very different having the spotlight on me. It's bright in here. I am enjoying it. I'm taking it for what it's worth.

Q. Will you shoot 66 tomorrow?

VICTOR CIESIELSKI: I can't tell you what I'm going to shoot. That's my caddie, J.D. Fitzgerald, trying to be smart over there. I'm hitting it good. I'm putting really well. As long as I keep it straight, I have potential to have a good score, maybe climb my way up that leaderboard.

Q. Have you given any thought maybe in two weeks' time what kind of star power you'll be carrying at Waterloo?

VICTOR CIESIELSKI: The coaches are definitely excited to go there for me to go there. I actually missed a mandatory meeting on Wednesday. I had try outs, so I'm not even on the team yet. Hopefully they let me come back and maybe make that up sometime.

Q. Before this week, what would you have rated as your single best moment in golf?

VICTOR CIESIELSKI: Single best moment? I think winning the Canadian Club Champions in 2005. It was a really good year for me, 2005. I just kind of elevated my game just a little bit more. I was just comfortable shooting under par. It seemed like a good year, a good steppingstone.

Right after that I went to the Canadian Amateur and played very well out in Nova Scotia, Bell Bay. I lost a stuff match to Jay Snyder. He eventually went to lose to Richard. It was a really good year. I took it as a steppingstone. I worked really hard over the winter with Waterloo. I guess this is where my hard work's got me.

ANTHONY ALFRED: Victor, thank you. Congratulations on your play to date. Best of luck in the final round of the Canadian Open.

VICTOR CIESIELSKI: Thanks very much.

End of FastScripts.

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