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DEUTSCHE BANK PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP OF EUROPE

July 29, 2006

Robert Karlsson

ALVESLOHE, GERMANY

SCOTT CROCKETT: Robert, thanks as always for coming in to join us. Another successful day, no dropped shots, another round in the 60s and the lead in the tournament. You must be very pleased with your position.

ROBERT KARLSSON: Yeah, I am. I'm really happy with the way I felt when I was out there. I mean, that's the most important thing. You don't get out there and shy away from it, you just go out there and play. That was what I did, and I was happy with that.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Obviously you were looking to get off to a good start, and you certainly did that, five birdies in the first seven holes.

ROBERT KARLSSON: Yeah, obviously I played the par 5s well, good bonus there on the 7th, but obviously a great start.

SCOTT CROCKETT: The 7th was a pitch in from 30 yards.

Q. Obviously we had the break for the thunderstorm. Can you talk us through what happened on the 11th green there?

ROBERT KARLSSON: Well, someone stole my marker. That's how easy that was. It was a bad one to steal, though. It was one Swedish Krona. It's only worth about 8p. It was a bad one to steal.

Q. When you replace the ball obviously it's difficult to estimate where it was. Did you think you got it in the right spot because it looked like you may have got it further away?

ROBERT KARLSSON: I was definitely not nearer, I know that. Obviously it feels good to know that. You're never going to find the exact spot, but we tried to find the pitch mark but it was a couple of hours so it was difficult to find it, but I know it was just short and right of the hole. Pretty much as good as we could get it, I think.

Q. Was that slightly off putting, though? You might have been thinking I could have had a birdie here and I only got a par?

ROBERT KARLSSON: If I would have been smart enough, I would have put a tee there.

Q. Somebody might have stolen the tee.

ROBERT KARLSSON: Woosnam did the same thing and his tee was there.

Q. How special is it to play with the Ryder Cup captain in the last group?

ROBERT KARLSSON: Well, I mean, he's one of the other players who's trying to win this tournament this week, he's not the Ryder Cup captain this week. It's always good to play with good players, and he's got a lot of experience and he's a very a fantastic player. It was great. But nothing really special as Ryder Cup captain. If you get caught up in that sort of thing six weeks ahead or eight weeks, there's big problems.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Obviously it's hard not to get caught up in it, every question you're asked about it. If you win here you might be in good shape.

ROBERT KARLSSON: Obviously, but there's a lot more out there tomorrow than the Ryder Cup to play for. I'm just trying to take one shot at a time, and I'm happy with what I'm doing. If you look back to the beginning of May, that's what I'm building on. I'm trying to become more solid, feel better on the golf course, and that's what I'm building on, that's what I'm trying to do.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Going into tomorrow with a lead, that will obviously help you tomorrow.

ROBERT KARLSSON: Every time you're up there, no matter if you win or don't win, you always learn from it. Either you see what you are not capable of handling yet, or you will get a little bit of a boost that you can handle it. I mean, this is just fantastic; every week you're up there is a great experience, so I'm looking forward to it.

Q. And you'd like to get out of the habit of finishing bogey bogey when you win tournaments?

ROBERT KARLSSON: I've done that too many times. I would think tomorrow it's going to be tighter, but I'll just take it as it comes.

Q. On the 11th how far would you estimate the distance was?

ROBERT KARLSSON: Well, it was pretty close to where I think it was, probably plus or minus not minus one foot, but within

Q. But the actual putt you ended up with?

ROBERT KARLSSON: Probably about 10, 11 feet maybe, something like that. But it was pretty close to where it was.

Q. Have you ever had that happen to you before?

ROBERT KARLSSON: Yes, pretty much every time it happens. It happened in America once, not in Ireland this year because there was no one out there to steal it. The crowds didn't want to have my coin out of the deep rough. But on the green it happens quite a bit. Especially on overnight delays, in the morning the coin is gone. But I should have put a tee there and I didn't.

Q. There's a lot of good Swedish players this year. They're on the brink to make the Ryder Cup. Do you talk with the other teammates like Johan Edfors or Carl Pettersson, that it might happen that you take a big check home and the others drop out and at the end there's one Swedish player?

ROBERT KARLSSON: I think Stenson is already in, but I have not talked one word with the other Swedish players about the Ryder Cup, not one word.

Q. How good will it be tomorrow if you were to break into the Ryder Cup Top 10 and perhaps put aside what happened in 1999?

ROBERT KARLSSON: Well, I look at this tournament as one separate thing. I've got to go out tomorrow and play another 18 holes, and then tomorrow afternoon we'll see. I cannot let myself start thinking about this will happen if I win or that will not happen. I cannot go there and I will not allow myself to go there, either.

But I think there would be so many other things that would come with it, as well, I mean, with World Ranking points and all sorts of things. It's so easy to get caught up in things on the outside. If I should win tomorrow, I would look at that on Monday. Before that it's not even interesting because I might finish 20th tomorrow, who knows.

Q. Did you shoot 66 because there were some putts very close? Could it have been 63 or 64?

ROBERT KARLSSON: If you're not happy with a 66 you should have a serious look at yourself, I think (laughter). Obviously there was chances there. I hit a lot of good putts that didn't go in, that just stopped maybe just short second putts. The one on 16 ended up short of the hole in the line. Those sort of things happen, and I pretty much holed out fantastic the whole week. That's just sort of the way it goes over 54 holes, I guess.

End of FastScripts.

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