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THE COMMERCIAL BANK QATAR MASTERS

January 28, 2007

Retief Goosen

DOHA, QATAR

RODDY WILLIAMS: Retief, that was some finish of you'd better tell us what's was going through your mind over those closing holes.
RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, I knew after 14, the sort of last four holes, everybody seems to make a bit of a score the last four holes. 15 was very disappointing. I hit 2-iron off the tee and missed the green with 8-iron and made five. I sort of felt my chances were gone then.
I said to Colin, well, somehow we need to get to 15-under in the last three holes. Because I sort of thought that 14-under was going to be a score in the clubhouse actually. Hit a very good 3-wood on 16 that went through the back, pitched on the green went through the back, poor chip shot, poor putt, and then I just told myself, I have to birdie the last two holes and give myself a chance.
Hit a nice little 9-iron on 17 that ended up pretty close and made a good putt there, finally made a putt.
18, finally hit the fairway. I missed it right all first three days and hit a good drive and hit a nice solid 3-wood in there and obviously Nick hit a good putt from there up close. I knew he was going to finish at 14. One of those we were just trying to get it close, it was not an easy putt, going up the hill first and downhill. When it sort of got over the hill, looked to me like it had a chance and went right in.
RODDY WILLIAMS: What does it mean to you to be the 2007 Commercialbank Qatar Masters Champion?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, it's a great honour to be the champion here and finally win a tournament first time since end of 2005. It's nice to get a win so early on and sort of gets you going a little bit now for the rest of the year.

Q. How long was your putt on 18?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Must have been ten yards.

Q. And how many feet break?
RETIEF GOOSEN: It was a putt that was probably about five feet break.

Q. The club you played on the 17th?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Soft 9-iron.

Q. How close?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Just probably about three yards.

Q. The 3-wood second into the 18?
RETIEF GOOSEN: I had to the pin I think 255 metres.

Q. How many tournaments have you won with an eagle?
RETIEF GOOSEN: How many tournaments? I don't know, I can't remember. First time I would imagine. Not too often. Not too often you have par 5s as sort of finishing holes.
Just today I played the par 5s obviously the best I've played all week, 4-under on the par 5s today and 1-under for the rest of the week. So the par 5s saved me today. First hole I hit a nice drive and a 3-wood on the green and 2-putted for birdie.
10, I hit driver, 3-wood just over the green left and chipped it down to a couple of inches so then obviously 18.

Q. (Putting pressure on Nick O'Hern)?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Nick played very well. Richard played well actually. He made two mistakes like I made yesterday on 13 and 14 and that sort of cost him the tournament. He made a great 2 on 16 to get him right back in it.
Nick chipped very well today. He for some reason didn't drive it as well as he normally does. He missed quite a few fairways and made a few great saves for par.
You know, the game is a funny game. Next time it's my turn, maybe somebody may make it on top of me.

Q. You've been saying throughout this tournament that you have not been playing well according to your standards, yet you still have the trophy on Sunday.
RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, sometimes when you're not playing that great, it sort of makes you concentrate harder in a way and scramble well. I chipped and putted very well this week and made a few putts early on in the week; I didn't so much in the last two rounds. Other weeks you actually hit the ball so well and you're just not making any putts and you're not winning the tournament.
It's funny how the game is sometimes. When you feel you're not really playing that well, but you are scoring well, and at the end of the day, it is about putting the score on the score card.

Q. How much of a cad did you feel when your putt dropped, seeing his face falling?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, I made it and I was sort of not really sure if I won the tournament or not. For a second I had to think, is that the winning putt or is somebody finishing at 15 as well. So yeah, it was only for a few seconds, five seconds afterwards that I sort of really thought that I made -- that I won the tournament. I then suddenly realised I think he's going to finish at 14.

Q. What were your feelings on the 18th, 1-down, one behind and you knew you needed to make a birdie to get into a possible playoff?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, I knew birdie would probably get me into a playoff. Like I say, hit a good drive and very nice solid 3-wood exactly where I was aiming just sort of ten yards right of the hole.
Nick hit a bad drive, laid up and hit a pretty good third from a long way back. He probably hit 4-iron for his third and he hit a great putt from there, so I knew he was going to make five.
Today I was struggling with the pace of my putts. I tend to leave everything short. The greens are a bit slower than they look. I just told myself, I've got to give myself a chance. Even if it goes past, you're coming back up the hill putting for birdie.

Q. In terms of struggling, what work have you been doing in recent times?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Me and Gregor have sort of been working, not that I have seen him for a couple of months, but before that, we've been trying to work on a few things and it's not been easy. I think my driver, it's been a little bit better but my iron play is still not quite as good as -- I hit a few very bad iron shots today. The bogey I made on No. 5 with 6-iron, I missed the green probably from 30 yards right of where I was aiming.
So it's a lot of bad swings still here and there. The good ones are good.

Q. In terms of now looking forward, have you sort of set yourself goals to get back?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, obviously it's been a goal to try and get back up in the World Rankings a bit. Obviously trying to give myself more chances of winning tournaments. Last year maybe I didn't have chances to win tournaments. So far this week, last week, I sort of had a chance to win last week and didn't really get anything going.
So it's good for your mind that, you know, sort of things you're working on is helping, and I am looking forward to the rest of the year now trying to see if I can get back in there, give myself a chance at the Order of Merit going into the end of the year.

Q. How far off has your golf been last year compared to say, when you won your Opens?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, it's hard to say. You know, winning those opens, I hit it well and I putted well, same as this week. There's no difference, really. Winning the Open, I probably felt just as nervous coming down the last as I did then.
So it's something you are always going to have, pressure and nerves and it's just how you handle it.

Q. Getting back to the 18th, you knew after you hit your drive that you have to go for it to give yourself a chance but then you must have known that if you sank the putt, it must be over?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Yes, I obviously knew an eagle putt --

Q. You were looking for a birdie, right?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, you're looking for a birdie so you're sort of thinking birdie would get you in a possible playoff obviously where Nick hit his third. Yeah, you know, you get so involved in thinking when you're trying to do that you don't really think of what you're doing it for.

Q. Will you be coming here next year to defend?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Yes, I'll be back. I definitely always try -- I've never not gone back to a tournament where I'm defending. So there's pretty good 100 per cent chance I'll be back next year.

Q. Are you playing next week in Dubai, and are you looking forward to it?
RETIEF GOOSEN: No, I'm not playing Dubai next week. I'm going back to London tonight and spend a couple of weeks in London or so, week and a half, and then I'm going back to America then for two weeks to play the Nissan over there and The Match Play.
I'm going over a little bit early to work with Gregor a little bit as well.

Q. What did you say to Nick at the end?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Obviously you feel for the guy but if he made the putt to win, then I don't know, would he have felt for me or not. But it's sort of mixed feelings in a way; you're happy but you're also sorry, you know that you did it for the guy. That's happened to all of us and I just, you know, I just said to him, you know, sorry what can I say, well played. He played well and I just happened to make the right shot at the right time to win the tournament.

Q. He won a couple of weeks ago --
RETIEF GOOSEN: He won a few weeks ago down in Australia. Nick's a great player. He's been around for a while and he's shooting consistent scores all the time. I'm sure it's a matter of time for him to pull it off.
RODDY WILLIAMS: Retief, 2007, Commercialbank Qatar Masters Champion, well done.

End of FastScripts

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