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BUICK INVITATIONAL

January 25, 2007

Jose Maria Olazabal

LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: José María, thank you for joining us for a few minutes here in the media center at the Buick Invitational. Great start to your year, 65 first round here at the Buick Invitational, and obviously you like this place pretty well.
JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: (Laughing) well, I'm not going to say I don't like it, but I don't know why. Obviously apart from winning here, this place has been pretty good to me, I have to say. But I really cannot figure out how and why.

Q. You started last year here, as well, but in previous years you started in Phoenix if I remember correctly.
JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: Yeah.

Q. Was there a conscious decision to come here as your first event, or was it just -- why did you choose to play here the last couple years as your first event?
JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: Well, the thing is that I haven't been in the first event of the year in Hawaii, so there's no point of going all the way there just to play one week. And then last week -- it's not a bad way to start, to be honest. You play four rounds for sure, and it might be a good place to start.
But for whatever reason, I feel comfortable starting over here. You play two courses, also, North and South. It's quite challenging, to be honest, the South Course. You know, you have to really get your score going on the North Course to have a chance.
And I like the place. The weather over here has been really nice every time I've been here. You know, it's a good place. I mean, the hotel is right next door. Everything is pretty handy.

Q. There are differences in the North and South obviously, but are there other events on the Tour where you play two separate courses? Are there very many of them on the --
JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: Well, you have the AT & T, you have last week, Byron Nelson, Disney. There's a bunch of tournaments, yeah, that we do that.

Q. (Inaudible.)
JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: Well, I mean, it would be hard for me to say. I haven't played Byron Nelson. It's true that the differences between these two courses are quite severe. As I said, I mean, you know you have to really get your score going on the North Course because you're not going to see many players shooting really low scores on the South. We know how tough the South Course is since they made the changes. It's true that it's a big difference between the two courses.
But I don't think that makes any difference. It's the same for everybody.

Q. Would you prefer to start out on the North Course like you did today, kind of get --
JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: Well, especially after having a break of five weeks, the easier the start can be, the better (laughing). It would have been obviously tough to start on the South. I mean, I played the South yesterday, and, you know, you realize how much tougher it is.
As I said today, I missed a few tee shots and I still ended up having pretty nice recoveries. That's not going to be the case on the South Course. You're going to struggle over there if you miss the shots.

Q. When you look at the South Course, before you got here to start playing, would you think with as long as it is that you would have had as much success as you've had here?
JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: No, when I got here I said that. I was asked that question when I was doing well, and I was really surprised, to be honest. We all know how long the South Course plays and how tough and well-protected those greens are. I'm not a long hitter of the ball. I'm not a short hitter, but I'm not a long hitter. There's some holes over there that I'm going to be hitting really long irons onto the greens, sometimes 5-woods.
It's not the type of golf course that you would say it suits my game, but for whatever reason, I've managed to win here and did quite well.

Q. What are the conditions out there?
JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: Well, the conditions are perfect, to be honest. When we teed off today at 8:30 in the morning, it was warm, there was not a breath of wind, and I think the difference between this year and previous years is that there is not so much rough. I mean, the rough is pretty light.
Other years the rough was high and thick, and I think that's why you'll see better scores this year. Even if you miss the fairway, you're going to have a better chance to maybe to hit the green or at least put the ball close to the green and try to save par.

Q. After '99 and winning a major that year and playing the Ryder Cup, you didn't play in two Ryder Cups and you got back on the team this past year. Do you characterize yourself as sort of having a resurgence now, and are you out there having more fun in these events? I mean, you seem to be as animated as ever.
JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: Well, to be honest, you have fun when you're playing good golf. It doesn't matter how old you are or what tournaments you play. If you play good golf, you're going to enjoy yourself. If you're struggling with your game, this game is no fun at all.
Having said that, I was pleased I managed to get in the Ryder Cup last year, but that is gone. There is a lot of events to be played. Every year to me is an important year.
You know, I know that there is less and less years in me, and I have to try to enjoy as much as I can the game, but at the same time I cannot relax myself. I know I have to really work hard at it. You know, the level of the game, I've said it all along, has increased. It's much better now than it was 10 or 15 years ago, so you really have to be on top of your game these days to have fun on the course and to be competitive.

Q. So with that said, are your goals the same now as they were let's say ten years ago, or have they changed, or is the basic core just to still win?
JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: Well, basically they're the same. The only thing is it's much tougher to achieve them now.

Q. How is your health?
JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: Health is okay. Yeah, no problems.

Q. On the two courses, is there a difference -- now that you've played them this time, is there a difference in the greens?
JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: Not really. The greens are pretty similar. I think on the South Course since they changed the greens the poa annua has taken place, and I think that it's going to be harder to make putts now than it was before. I mean, when we first played the course, the greens were really true. You could see the roll, how good the ball was rolling, and we all know with the poa annua grass that that's not going to happen so easily.

Q. Have you given any thought to what that place is going to be like for the Open once the USGA gets done with it?
JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: Yes, and I have nightmares, so don't (laughter) go that way.

Q. So on the greens, going back to that, really what I'm hearing from you, the only difference between the North and the South is basically the length?
JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: Well, the length and how well the greens are protected. That's a huge difference. You know, you do have a lot of greens on the South Course that you just mis-hit it by two or three yards and you end up in a hazard. You miss it in the wrong place and you're going to have a hard time to save par.
Those two things are crucial, yeah, not just the length. You really have to emphasize how well protected the greens are on the South Course, too.

Q. Would you go over your round?
JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Just quickly your birdies. You started on 10, birdied 14.
JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: 14, driver, 4-iron, sand wedge about three feet.
16, driver, sand wedge, made a long putt about 30 feet.
No. 1, driver, 1-iron, chipped it about three feet.
No. 2, driver, sand wedge, holed it from 12 feet.
No. 6, I hit that one about three inches.
8, driver, wedge, made a huge putt about, I don't know, 45 feet, something like that.
9, driver, 3-wood, sand wedge about two feet.
JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thank you.

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