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WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP

February 25, 2006

Davis Love III

CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Davis Love, thank you for joining us. Congratulations. Long day out there, 33 holes, but 4 & 2 here I'm sorry, 4 & 2 here in the second match of the day. Obviously you've been in this position before. You probably feel very comfortable here on this course. Why don't you talk about today and a little bit about tomorrow's 36 hole match.

DAVIS LOVE III: Today I hit the ball pretty well all day. I hit a lot of fairways. I don't know how many I hit, but it felt like a lot. Andy North said I was 6 or 7 under in the afternoon; I don't know if it was that good. I felt like I played real well in the afternoon.

I knew Zach would be a tough match. He was playing very, very well. I talked to him earlier in the week about his game, and I knew he was real close. I feel fortunate to have gotten by him, because he's a very gritty player, perfect for match play, and I hope he's on our Ryder Cup team because he certainly knows how to play match play and play under pressure.

Tomorrow, another long day. We were talking riding in the van, at least we're not walking through the wet ground having to play this many holes. I think that makes a difference. It makes it easier to walk. It is a flat golf course, and having it be in great condition and dry makes it a little easier to walk.

Q. You were here two years ago in the finals. Do you feel this is like a second chance, and now you've been there before, you can do it this time?

DAVIS LOVE III: Well, match play is a special game. You never know what's going to happen. Certainly my match with Tiger, the turning point was at lunchtime. I kind of let him out of a trap there at the 18th and 19th holes. I felt like I kind of lost my momentum over lunch and he gained it.

Match play you've got to keep your man down or keep him thinking that you're not going to give him a chance. So certainly that's really the only 36 hole match I've played. I learned a lot and learned a lot already this week about how to handle being 3 up and then not being 3 up and being patient and coming back and winning and hanging in with every shot, like this morning. I hit a bad club at 17, and came back with the next one and knocked it right in the hole.

You have to be patient and keep grinding. I think I knew that in 2004, I just didn't apply it very well.

Q. It's been a long time well, not that long, but just talk about the 18th this morning. I think Paddy already hit in there about 10, 12 feet?

DAVIS LOVE III: He hit a pretty good shot, and I knew I wanted to obviously hit it close after I was feeling like I was hitting my irons real good. I hit a good one into 16 and hit the wrong one at 17 and I hit a lot of shots really close to the hole. So I thought it would be nice to hit one in there close and put the pressure back on him.

My caddie had said, "Let's do something to give the crowd something to cheer about on this hole." So I was real dialed in on hitting it close. And obviously when it goes in, it's lucky. I made a good swing. I hit a lot of good pitching wedges so far this week that have given me birdie chances or hit it stiff where I didn't have to putt that have made my matches go easier. It was a lucky shot, certainly, but a good shot.

Q. Did Padraig say anything beyond "good shot"?

DAVIS LOVE III: No, he was laughing at me because I didn't know where to go after it went in. I started walking over the bridge. So he was stunned, like I was, that it ended that fast.

Q. Normally when you hit a shot like that, you get a while to kind of bask in it and kind of revel in it a little bit, and you have to go and turn around and play. Does it make it feel like it almost didn't happen?

DAVIS LOVE III: Well, it happened so fast. And like I said, I gave it a high five with the caddie and a fist pump and started to go get the ball. And I said, oh, no, they're all going the other way to talk to Padraig. I was sort of stunned. And then you're off to play another match.

So I'm looking forward to seeing the highlights, and the only time I saw the 7 iron I hit close to the hole to finish out that match at 16 was on PGATOUR.com on the little video clip. I haven't seen the highlights. Hopefully that will be the shot of the game.

Q. Obviously you are probably going to be the favorite going in because of who you are. But do you think it matters so much when you're playing one other guy? And also, do you consider yourself a favorite considering Zach is still a fairly young guy and developing as a player?

DAVIS LOVE III: No, I think you're right; in match play it doesn't really matter. I think certainly if you're playing Tiger Woods and you're 2 down, you probably feel a little different than if you're 2 down with somebody else. But I think in match play anybody has got a chance, and it's a long match. Geoff looks like he's been whipping up on people pretty good. The shots I've seen, bombing it into 18 in two every time and knocking it on 3, knocking it stiff. I'm obviously seeing the highlights, but he's a good solid player.

And match play is it is a funny game. Anybody that gets on a roll can win. I don't take anybody lightly, and I don't know I'm not going to call somebody a favorite, but I'm certainly older and more experienced.

Q. Davis, you made an eloquent point yesterday that no one was crying about Tiger being gone. But you don't know who the hot guy is; you don't know who is going to have the hot putter. But for your own case, the two times you've had a chance to win here, both times you ran into Tiger, the semifinals and finals. Is it at all different for you this year since he's not here?

DAVIS LOVE III: It's always better to not run up against the world No. 1, I guess, but Geoff Ogilvy, like I said, is playing great. And I only I saw Zach Johnson in the bracket, that's the guy I saw, because, like I said, Zach and I had a chat earlier in the week about his game, and I knew he was going to be playing well. And it came out that way and he played well.

So I wasn't really looking ahead, but you look and say who is going to be the tough match to get to the finals, and I figured Zach would be a very tough match. I'm not wishing Tiger was here; I'd love to play him again, though.

Q. Are you hoping for no Aussie hecklers tomorrow?

DAVIS LOVE III: Well, the fans here have been very, very good to me, except for one; we'll leave it at that.

Q. When you talk about all the things you've done in your career, you don't have a World Golf Championship on your resume. Is that important at all? Is that anywhere on your list of priorities?

DAVIS LOVE III: Well, yeah, I think other than winning majors or THE PLAYERS Championship, these are the next tournaments on the list. The invitationals, which I've been fortunate enough to get a few of those, but I put the World Golf Championships and the invitationals in that order. So you need one of these on your resume.

You look at Tiger, he's won a bunch of these things. The best fields and he comes out and wins. So they're very important, and I'd obviously love to have several of them.

Q. How much have you played with Geoff, and do you do any kind of scouting before a match play event?

DAVIS LOVE III: No, I've played with him very little. I figure he's playing really, really good, so I'm going to try to get as much rest as I can and figure it's going to be a long day. I'm going to have to do exactly what I did today, play solid and make some birdies.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Your experience playing a lot of match play, is that going to help you.

DAVIS LOVE III: In a tight situation, yeah, experience might help. I've been in a 36 hole final. I've been run over by Tiger and run over by Duval in this thing, so I know what it feels like to come close to winning and I know what it feels to win a bunch of matches. It certainly can't hurt. But again, it comes down to who's got it rolling, and I would like to get ahead, certainly, of a guy that's playing solid like him.

Q. What do you make of a guy that's gone four overtime matches this week? I think he's played 95 holes.

DAVIS LOVE III: That just shows he's got a lot of guts and determination; he's not going to ever give up. Again, that he's playing well. Every time I've seen him, it's at the end of the match, whether it's 18 or extra holes, and he's hitting great shots. It just shows that he's playing well.

Q. Davis, Tom Lehman did not make it into the finals but had a great week. A guy almost 47 years old, is there any talk amongst the other players, and are you guys amazed at sort of finding his game again?

DAVIS LOVE III: I'm not. I've played with him this year already and watched him a little bit. He's fit and he's excited about his game and he's playing well. If you go back and kind of look, he's been sneaking up on this. I'm not surprised. Tom's a competitor. He wants to he's like Tom Kite when he was Ryder Cup captain; he wants to make the team, screw everything up (laughter).

I have a feeling Tom is going to have a good year because he's way ahead of the curve. He's learned from other captains that have tried to play and be the captain. I watched five or six captains, and they've all learned from the guys before them. And Tom watched very carefully the last two, and obviously he's been on the team some. He knows what's going on and he's ahead of it. I think he's going to have a good year this year because he's ahead of schedule with his preparations.

Q. As a follow up for that, is it feasible for Tom to be a playing captain?

DAVIS LOVE III: I think it is. I think he would obviously rely real heavily on his co captains, turn a lot of responsibility over to them. But the details that the captain ends up dealing with can be passed on to somebody else if he's playing good. And we'll all pitch in.

Q. You seem almost guardedly optimistic about your game. How excited are you about the state of your game? How close are you to getting back toward the way you were playing in 2003?

DAVIS LOVE III: Sitting out there on the green, no matter what happens out there tomorrow, I'm feeling excited about the way my game is going. I'm feeling stronger, hitting better, and my golf swing is right on track. I'm doing the things that I have to do to play better and I'm excited about the year.

Q. You would encourage Tom to be a playing captain if he does make it?

DAVIS LOVE III: Oh, yeah. I wouldn't encourage him to pick himself, but I would love for him to make it. Certainly he's got major championship type game. We've seen him there a bunch in majors. If he gets on a roll and gets a bunch of points and has a couple good majors, we want him on the team because he's a great, gritty player. He's the kind of guy we want on the team.

Certainly if he makes it on points, we have to have him. We have to have a guy that's playing good.

Q. The turning point in the afternoon for you probably was 8 and 9. I was curious what you had in on 8, because Zach went in the water, and did you almost play that too conservatively?

DAVIS LOVE III: The second shot?

Q. Yes.

DAVIS LOVE III: I'm trying to play away from clubs that spin a lot and shots that spin a lot. When you've got a back pin like that I wanted to stay back where I had 115 yards or something. After holing the pitching wedge, I'm trying to play it with a pitching wedge every hole. I'm trying to get in the range where I don't have to hit a full sand wedge into the green; I can hit a pitching wedge or 9 iron and not have a whole lot of spin on it.

But I've had that twice; the guy hit it in the lake, I'm putting for birdie and he has a short putt for par.

Q. Did you have any chance to get there in two?

DAVIS LOVE III: No.

Q. The bunker shot on 9, can you talk about that?

DAVIS LOVE III: I actually hit a few fairway bunker shots yesterday because it helps my swing a little bit to get through it, pick it off the sand; I watch Vijay do it all the time. I said when I hit it in the bunker, that's no problem, I hit it out yesterday. I had a pretty good lie, but that was a big shot.

Q. What iron was that?

DAVIS LOVE III: 5.

Q. It's almost been ten years since the PGA. Do you look back on these ten years, obviously you had injuries and setbacks, but do you feel like there's almost a second wind coming for you?

DAVIS LOVE III: Yeah, I felt like last year was a big building block for me, getting back to playing a full schedule. I only withdrew from one tournament and made The Presidents Cup team and made it through the full year working out and getting stronger, and then gung ho for this year. I'm looking to the next six or eight years. I want to play my way of out of having them pick me to be Ryder Cup captain. I want to be in the top five and they don't even consider me.

End of FastScripts.

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