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QUINN DIRECT BRITISH MASTERSMay 13, 2006Michael CampbellPaul CaseyWISHAW, ENGLAND Q. Can you tell us what happened with the ruling? MICHAEL CAMPBELL: On 15, Stephen Gallacher saw his ball move from about three feet from the hole and he backed away and we wanted to see where he drifted the ball or not. The video showed in the BBC complex, he wasn't addressing the ball, so there was no penalty at all. He wanted me to come along to have a look, too, and an opinion. It was myself and Stephen, obviously, and John Paramor. So all good news for Stephen. RODDY WILLIAMS: And yourself, another good round out there, started off very, very well there. MICHAEL CAMPBELL: I wanted to get off to a pretty fast and put some pressure on this young fella here and make a game of it. He played great as well. It's going to be a great battle tomorrow. Paul is a great player, he's a strong player, and it's going to be fun tomorrow. I think we are paired together tomorrow in the afternoon, so it will be nice to go out there and play with each other. RODDY WILLIAMS: Paul, what about your round, must be pretty pleasing. PAUL CASEY: Yeah, I'm pretty happy to still be in front. It was a little bit of a struggle in the beginning. The whole group really struggled with momentum and obviously looking at guys like Michael making birdies early on. It did put the pressure on. So I made a few mistakes out there but really happy to make a few birdies at the end and remain a couple in front. Q. You said yesterday that you would try to have the same game plan, did that change? PAUL CASEY: No, the game plan didn't change. The difficulty was the fact that the conditions had changed. You know, the ball was picking up mud on the fairways on occasions and you had to play different clubs from the tee to be in the same position. So it was purely the elements that had changed the game plan, simple as that. No, I tried to play exactly the same golf. I just made a couple of mistakes today. Q. How many holes did you hit driver where you hadn't before? PAUL CASEY: Only a couple. Q. What's been the key for you this week? MICHAEL CAMPBELL: I have put my putting boots on. My driving has been pretty average, but besides that I think the combination of my iron play and my putting has been really, really sound. I So, I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Something to work object on the range this afternoon, my driver. But besides that, I'm just happy to be where I am. I haven't played for a long time, and had four weeks off, watching these guys play, and here I am amongst it. So I'm a little bit surprised but it's nice to be competing again against the best players in Europe. So just very surprised. Q. Paul said you were one of the guys who helped him last year. Do you remember that conversation MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Yeah, Paul went through a bad patch there last year but he's got so much talent. I was just telling him, be patient with yourself. We started a betting system, him and I. PAUL CASEY: I haven't told them. (Laughter). MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Oh nothing. We had a bit of a talk and told him, you have a lot of talent, hard work, patience and practice, you'll come through. MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Don't worry about it. It's a personal thing between myself and Paul. Q. Is it a challene amongst each other? MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Maybe. Q. Is it something you do during the round or each tournament? PAUL CASEY: It's come quite complicated. MICHAEL CAMPBELL: It's complicated. It's not as easy as you think. Okay, put it this way. About five years ago Retief Goosen and I were paired together in the Trophee Lancome and we come in about 30th. Goosey and I had Feraris back in those days, yeah, we played for the cover, and all of a sudden he won, I came second, so we decide to play a game within the game. I think it's good for your psyche, it keeps you, you know, more because sometimes I'm out there playing and I see, you know, certain guys up there ahead of me, makes me more try a little bit harder. In this game when you're out there playing on this tour, you get a little bit not very motivated. So seeing your peers do well, you want to beat him. This week is a prime example between myself and Paul. We've had a bit of a thing going on, and it's really helped me a lot last three days, let me tell you. PAUL CASEY: Helped me. MICHAEL CAMPBELL: There you go. Seeing him shooting 5 under on the first round on Thursday, made me want to beat him. PAUL CASEY: I was a shame you missed that putt on the last. MICHAEL CAMPBELL: You're right. It's one of those things that Paul and I have been doing for the last year or so, and it's really helped me, as well as helped him. That's all I'm going to say about it. Q. Do you think of Cambo as the reigning US Open champion or just another player? PAUL CASEY: He's more than another player. He's a tremendous player. I'm very happy to be playing with him tomorrow, but you know, to put the pressure back on him, he's sort of the man to beat. He's a Major champion and I've learned a lot from him, and tomorrow is going to be tough again. So hopefully I can play well and we'll see what happens. Q. How much does it help that you won here a few years ago PAUL CASEY: That Sunday was a tough Sunday. It was tough conditions. I think I only shot maybe 1 under. It was a grind all the way through. Hopefully tomorrow we can make some birdies and we can be more entertaining. Yeah, I know what it's like to win a tournament here. Hopefully that will help. We will see. MICHAEL CAMPBELL: I think the hardest thing for me is fighting the gallery. Obviously Paul being a local boy, it's going to be very vocal indeed. But, you know, it's one of those things you've got to ignore, really, and change your attitude towards it. That's one thing I did during the U.S. Open the last round. I had Tiger two groups in front of me and Americans obviously are very vocal. Every time Tiger made a birdie, I heard about it. But one thing I did there was I changed it into a positive where I suggested that they were cheering for me. So it's one of those things I used during the last nine holes at Pinehurst. Every time a cheer goes up for Paul here tomorrow, I'm trying to top it around and saying they are cheering for me as well. It's one of those things that worked for me those last nine holes, and I hope Paul and I will be streaks ahead from the third guy in the field and have some fun. That's the most important thing. We're obviously good mates, but when we stand on this first tee, we're competitors competing against each other and hopefully winning. But at the end of the day on the 18th green there, whoever wins, we shake hands again. That's the beautiful thing about this game is that we can socialize off the golf course and, on the golf course, we can compete. So I'm just lucky to be in this situation after four weeks off and I'm looking forward to the challenges tomorrow. Q. What have you learnt from Michael? PAUL CASEY: Too long a list to mention. You know, there's lots of things I like about Michael's game and obviously he's helped me through a tough period. But also, I like the way he plays. He's very aggressive. Cambo is the sort of guy who could go out and shoot 62 or less on any kind of golf course. When he's hot, he's extremely hot. I don't think there are many that play as impressive as a game as he does when he's on form. Keep going? MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Yeah. Whatever ... (laughter). PAUL CASEY: But hopefully not that hot tomorrow. We're good friends, he's been make a lot longer than I have, and we're good mates and he's looked after me and given me a lot of tips through my career. Q. What is so it about the Belfry that you play well here? PAUL CASEY: Well, I don't know, I don't know why I play well around here, but I like it. Hopefully that will continue, the good record. I think it's just good memories, when I go to somewhere, I enjoy playing and that really helps. Q. How did it come about that you spoke to Paul? MICHAEL CAMPBELL: I could see he was down a little bit, so we sat down and talked about it. It's nice to vent your problems to people that, you know, guys you trust and you know that they have been through the same situation, what Paul is going through. And we can bounce off ideas and opinions and stuff. That's one thing that we did is I said, look, just hang in there, mate. Forget it, look forward and forget the past and keep in the present time and things will come to you. His form the last six months or so has been wonderful. So it's good to see. It's nice, it's nice to sit back and see I'm not saying that I changed his whole career in no way whatsoever, but I'm just saying it's nice to sit back and see Paul play so well and go, okay, maybe I contributed to Paul's turnaround, or who knows, maybe I didn't. This game is a wonderful game. Although it's an individual sport, you'd be surprised how many players get on so well, how many players pass on advice to other players. I've had a lot of advice from Ernie, from Goosey, from Vijay, from all the top players about how to play this game properly. And now I'm passing it down to Paul and I'm sure one day he will pass it down to the next generation of players. And that's how I think that's why this game is so wonderful is that we are, you know, people who like to see the other guys do well, unless you play against them. Q. Is that something that happened to you when you were going through tough times, with players supporting? MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Oh, they are fantastic. They are wonderful. Obviously I have a group of people who are around me who are very important and my family, but players were extra special through the sad times and it was nice to see that they were very supportive. I hate to see a guy go through a bad stage, I hate it, it's one of those things that you do go through bad patches in your career, any career, whether it's golf or rugby or football, whatever, business, it's the same thing. If I can contribute to Paul's success, that's wonderful. It's just a nice game to be involved in. Q. Cambo said 1%, Paul what % would you put on it? MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Don't ask those questions in front of me. PAUL CASEY: He certainly helps. I don't think you can put a number on it. |
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