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CIALIS WESTERN OPEN

July 8, 2006

Mathew Goggin

LEMONT, ILLINOIS

JOHN BUSH: 5 under par 66 for Matthew Goggin. Thanks for coming by and spending a few minutes with us.

MATTHEW GOGGIN: No worries.

JOHN BUSH: Bogey free round today, two birdies on the front, three on the back, including the birdie on the last hole. Comment on how your day went.

MATTHEW GOGGIN: It was a pretty slow start, parring the course to death during the first seven holes. Didn't have a lot of opportunities. Hit a good shot into 6 and 7 and didn't capitalize. Looking on the leaderboard, I saw guys getting off to good starts and you're looking to turn it around and then I hit a couple good shots on 8 and 9, basically five feet on 8 and within a foot on 9 and that sort of kick started the round.

JOHN BUSH: Any particular thing that stands out in your day?

MATTHEW GOGGIN: I kept the ball in play, didn't really get myself into too much trouble, made a nice up and down on 4 after to sort of keep myself level par through the first four holes. It was a pretty solid day. I hit a lot of good shots and had a lot of good opportunities. I tapped in for birdie on 11, I hit a one footer on 9 and a couple of inches on 18, so I had a lot of tap in birdies so that was nice.

Q. You were talking on TV about using a sports psychologist. When did you start doing that and how long did it take to become effective?

MATTHEW GOGGIN: I've been talking to he's actually a guy from Chicago, a guy called Jim Fannin. He works with a lot of baseball players, A Rod, and quite a few other golfers, as well. I've been talking to him for a couple years now.

Sometimes you get results straight away. Some players, they adjust something in their attitude or change something about their demeanor and the positivity and it comes straight away. Other times you chip away at it and you gradually improve but don't get a great avalanche of results, and that's how it's been for me. I've improved a lot in that area.

That was sort of a struggle a few years ago. It still is a little bit, but it's 100 percent of what it used to be. I haven't had the avalanche results, but I've been a lot more consistent player and it's definitely helped me out.

Q. How does it kick in during a round?

MATTHEW GOGGIN: Well, I mean, no problem when you're playing well. Obviously if you're playing well it's the easiest thing in the world to go around and be happy go lucky. It's more when you're faced with diversity, to just try to turn it around and be a little bit more positive and try and stay in the moment and all that sorts of things.

Q. Much like you'd have a swing key, here you have a mental key?

MATTHEW GOGGIN: Absolutely. It's as simple as breaking the round down into groups of three holes or six holes. You sort of reboot after three holes or six holes and start over. There's all sorts of tricks you have in mind; just try to keep it level and relaxed and just try to stop yourself from going into the future or into the past. It's a cliche, but you really have to stay in the now when you're playing golf. It's one of those sports where you can't afford to think about what just happened or what's going to happen. That's the key, really.

Q. How much do you see Jim? Do you talk on the phone a lot?

MATTHEW GOGGIN: Yeah, I mean, we talk pretty much every day. Some of the phone calls are only a minute or so, others might go for an hour. Most of the time it's just a quick debrief on how the day went and what we're trying to achieve this week. This week he's obviously out here wandering around, and that was big because he can see things you're doing wrong that you don't realize you're doing wrong, body language I think I mentioned, when you drop your head or drop your eyes first, and you don't realize you're doing it. He can pick it up and instantly know that you're about to go down that slippery slope where you start to get negative or frustrated or maybe get angry. He can pick up on where it really starts and make you aware of, look, you dropped your eyes after that bunker shot even though you kept your head up and tried to look like everything was all right. You were telling us it was a bad shot straight away and you were trying to bluff everyone into thinking you were all right.

Q. Do you talk after the round or before?

MATTHEW GOGGIN: After. We pretty much talk Tuesday and Wednesday, and then after Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

Q. It's taken you a while to get out here and stay out here. Are you happy with your it's been an upward climb, you're progressing the whole way, and do you feel like you're more ready now for success than you have been?

MATTHEW GOGGIN: Yeah, I guess so. I've had a few things happen to me. My coach died when I was that sort of set me back, even though at the time you don't think it does. It's someone you confide in, and he was a swing coach type of thing, so that was difficult. So building up a new relationship with another guy in Australia. It's been great, but obviously the results haven't been what I wanted, and then working with Jim.

The last two years on the Nationwide Tour I've played really well, but I've come out this year and not playing really well. I've had some good weeks but the consistency hasn't been there.

The positive thing is when I'm playing okay I've been right in the tournament with some good finishes, so it's nice to do that.

Q. Do you feel like you know the courses well enough?

MATTHEW GOGGIN: Absolutely. This is my fifth year, so I've played quite a few tournaments. I think I've played here three or four times. I'm pretty comfortable and know most of the guys and sort of the way the traveling circus works.

Q. Was it I forget, was it your father or your uncle who was an Australian rules football star?

MATTHEW GOGGIN: My uncle is a Hall of Famer. Mother was a three time Australian Amateur champion; she's a really good golfer. My dad is a champion horse trainer.

Q. And your uncle played for Geelong?

MATTHEW GOGGIN: Geelong, yeah, the Cats.

Q. Do you still follow Aussie rules football?

MATTHEW GOGGIN: Absolutely.

Q. Can you do it over here?

MATTHEW GOGGIN: You can pay here monthly and watch every game if you want. I don't follow it that much, but I follow Geelong, absolutely.

JOHN BUSH: Matthew, play well tomorrow. Thanks.

End of FastScripts.

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