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WGC CA CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 21, 2007Sergio GarciaDORAL, FLORIDA LAURA NEAL: Thanks for joining us, coming off a good finish last week at Bay Hill and a really good record in this tournament as it's moved around and now at Doral. Do you want to just talk about how you feel going into this event. SERGIO GARCIA: Good. The golf course is looking very nice, totally different to what we've seen last couple of years here, three years here. It seems like it's going to be quite windy like it's been the last couple of days. The greens are firm. The rough is not very high, but the ball kind of nestles down quite a bit, so it becomes, you know, with the firmness of the greens and, you know, this bermudagrass, it becomes quite difficult to hit greens out of the rough. I think it's going to be a totally different tournament than we're used to seeing here and looking forward to it. Q. The last two winning scores here were 24- and 20-under, and I'm guessing it's not going to approach that; do you have any guess where it might go? SERGIO GARCIA: I guess it all depends on the weather. But they say we're supposed to get this kind of weather like we had today and yesterday, quite windy for the next couple days at least. You know, I'm guessing if we have two windy days and two calm days, you might get just around double-digits. But if we get windy days like this, it's probably going to be low single-digits I think, somewhere around 5- , 6-under, 4, something like that. The course is not playing easy. We'll see, I guess. Maybe I'm wrong. (Laughter) Q. Do you feel like you made a lot of progress last week? SERGIO GARCIA: Do I feel -- no, I wouldn't say that. I felt like I've been playing better every week. As I've been going around this year, I felt not too bad in the Middle East and then I felt pretty good in L.A. and Tucson. And then the last couple of weeks, I played decent. Last week I managed to get it going a little bit and unfortunately had a bad finish. You know, other than that, it felt pretty good overall. So I just think I'm improving slowly every week, which is a good thing. Q. I suppose you could ask this question at any event, but as difficult as it is to beat Tiger anywhere, he really seems to have a hold on these World Golf Championships events. He's won 10 or 12 of them. Can you put your finger on why he seems to excel, even more than usual, at these type of events? SERGIO GARCIA: I don't know. He just plays well at them I guess. You ask him and let me know. (Laughter) I don't know. Q. Hank Haney had a piece in one of the magazines about the U.S. system being to the detriment to the younger American players. Do you think there's anything to that? And you're a guy who turned pro very early. Do you recommend that for younger players? Is that a reason why there's so many good non-American young players? SERGIO GARCIA: I don't really know. My situation was, when I turned 19, after winning the British Amateur and playing the U.S. Amateur and getting to the semifinals, I think it was, I felt like really as an amateur, I couldn't really get better than I was staying as an amateur status. So I thought, you know, how can I become a better player than I am right now, and the only answer to that was turning pro and playing with the best players in the world in the toughest courses in the world. So I guess, you know, I thought about it. I thought when I was at the end of 18 and stuff, I thought about coming and studying here. But it really -- I don't think it would help my career at all, because it would have been four extra years of playing with amateurs and, you know, I could only have gone backwards really. So I wouldn't say that it hurts everybody. I'm sure it helps some players. But, you know, if you develop your game early on, going to college and spending three, four, five extra years in the amateur world, it is hard to become better. It is difficult, because you're not playing at the highest level against the best players in the world. So I'm sure it helps some people, but, you know, probably hurts some others. Q. Your sister, she went to college in America, and it was obviously right for her in that she wasn't at the same stage as you were at. But when people ask you, when they come up, a kid at 18, 19, deciding to go into college or not, do you say maybe it wouldn't be good for you? SERGIO GARCIA: Well, it depends on what kind of level he's at. If you see he's really -- he could be a really good player, and he's at a strong level already, then probably he wouldn't be. He wouldn't become a better player by going to college and studying and playing and stuff. I'm not saying it's the best thing to do because it's always great to have your career and everything. But then if you want to become a player, a golf player, and you reach that level when you're 19, 20, it is hard to keep playing on amateur events for another three or four years and hope to keep that level of playing. Mainly because, you know, the golf courses at amateur events, you really only have two or three events where it really tests you. Other than that, courses are fairly simple. So you're not really pushing your game to the limit, and if you already are a good -- one of the best amateurs in the world, it's harder to get motivated and see, you know, I'm pretty much winning every week; how do I become better or do I need to become any better. You know, I think at the end of the day, you've got to realize where you are standing. But if you're not -- if you haven't developed your game as much as, you know, some guys have by an early age, then going to college could be a good thing for you because it's still a challenge. Q. Are you one of those players who starts thinking about Augusta the day after the US PGA finishes? SERGIO GARCIA: No, not really. Augusta, what is that? (Laughter) No, I'll start thinking about it next week when I'm doing nothing -- well, when I'm practicing and not playing a tournament. When I'm out there on the course, I'm trying to focus on the course I'm playing and the event I'm playing and the shot I want to hit. I'm not thinking, you know, "Oh, look, this looks like a shot I could have at Augusta" and things like that. Q. When do you start thinking about it next week? SERGIO GARCIA: Oh, you'll probably think about it some. You'll think about some of the ones coming in, 12, 11, you know, 15, shots like that. You just think about it. It's hard to try to hit the shot if, you know, the hole is not there. You might find a hole that kind of looks a little bit like it and you kind of think, oh, this is a shot I could have, maybe 15 or something like that, but that's about it. Q. With regard to Augusta, do you feel like you've been there enough times that you know the nuances? Everybody talks about the first-timers. Fuzzy is the only first-timer to ever win it; because there are so many intricacies there, do you feel comfortable with all of those things or do you feel like you're still learning stuff when you go back there? SERGIO GARCIA: No, you always learn. There's so many things that happen on that course, you're always learning something. I guess you never get old on that subject. You know, I feel like I have played a good amount now, and feel a bit more comfortable on the course. So hopefully I can get some good things going on my side this year, and see if I can be a contender. Q. Do you usually go up early or do you wait until the week to play? SERGIO GARCIA: Either Sunday or Monday -- Sunday night or Monday mid-day. I'll probably go up Monday mid-day. Q. But not in the two months before? SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, I usually go, but I'm not going to go this year, no. Q. How often do you do that at other majors? SERGIO GARCIA: Never. That's why I'm not doing it this year. (Laughter) Q. It seems like with a lot of players, it seems weird that everyone seems to make the trip to the Masters, to Augusta, in March or February, whenever, but it's the same course they play every year, but they don't go to a Congressional or an Olympic Club or what have you. SERGIO GARCIA: I know, it is funny. That's one of the reasons why, you know, at the end of the day, you've got to try to treat it just like a normal event, one we play every week. A couple of practice rounds is more than enough to see whatever you want to see, and even more if you've played there already a good amount of times. Q. Have you ever looked back at the end of a week at a major and realized that you had overcooked it and you were too prepared by the time you got to Thursday; you ran out of gas? SERGIO GARCIA: Sometimes it feels, if you get to a major on Sunday, and you probably go up Monday and practice and Tuesday and Wednesday, it feels like the week is never-ending. It feels like it's just day after day after day and the tournament is not starting. So it feels like, you know, it's just making the week longer and longer. So, yeah, I used to do that. But I seem to get on a better rhythm if I get there maybe Monday mid-day, just relax Monday, get started on Tuesday, and that way you feel like you get a bit of rhythm without making it way too long. Q. Have you ever noticed a difference between practice rounds at Augusta and the other majors in that there seems to be a little more order inside the ropes where you get to some U.S. Opens and PGAs and there's like 40 guys on every fairway? Have you noticed that or is that just me? SERGIO GARCIA: No, it's definitely different. You're not allowed to sign autographs there either and things like that. It definitely has its own little things. And you do notice them. You get used to them as the years go by. So it's just a different week. Q. The guys on TV, especially Johnny Miller, are always sort of focusing on your putting, that that's what is holding you back from getting to the next level; do you think that's a fair criticism? SERGIO GARCIA: I think maybe in the past, yeah. I don't feel like at the moment I'm -- no, I don't think that's what's holding me at the moment. I feel like I'm playing pretty decent, not the best I've played, but my short game is definitely better than it has been for a while. So not only putting but chipping and kind of those maybe 100-, 120-yard shots. I feel pretty good, just keep putting myself in the position I put myself last week, and just believe in myself, trust myself and do what I'm supposed to do. Q. Does that get to you after a while, that they keep harping on the same thing? SERGIO GARCIA: No, it's okay. Q. Is the short game a major focus of what you wanted to do to improve this off-season, 100 yards and in? SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, it's always -- if you're good from 100, 120, 130 yards in, if you're doing good there, you're always going to score well. Even if you're not playing well, you know, even if you're hitting it all over the place, sometimes you get lucky, you have a shot, hit it on the green, make birdie. Even if you have to chip out, you feel like you hit it to 70 or 80 yards, you feel like you can get up-and-down most of the times. It does help, because one of those par saves, it really gets you going. Even though it's only a par, it doesn't feel like only a par. On the other side, if you continually don't do it, it kind of puts you down a little bit because it puts more pressure on your long game in thinking, don't miss it, because then you're going to struggle to make par and things like that. So it definitely does help a lot. Q. I was just getting back to the question about not getting there too soon, that you like to come in on Monday and relax and Tuesday get in a rhythm. If you don't do that, is it like burnout before the end of the week, having played six or seven rounds over the course? SERGIO GARCIA: Maybe, maybe you feel a little bit towards the end of the week. Once you get into a tournament, adrenaline gets going and you don't really feel -- you know, on the golf course, if you're in decent shape, you don't feel really tired. It's just, I don't know how you say, the anxiety of getting into the tournament, it feels like if you get there too early -- Q. It goes flat? SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, it just feels like you never get to it. You practice for two days and you say tomorrow -- well, no, tomorrow is still Wednesday. It's like, when is this tournament going to start? I think that's probably one of the reasons why I don't like to get to any tournament too early. Q. If you had a one-shot lead going into the last hole, would you rather play -- SERGIO GARCIA: I'll try to make par -- (laughter) Q. This wasn't a Winged Foot question. SERGIO GARCIA: Hopefully not go to a playoff. Q. Would you feel more at ease playing the 18th hole here or Bay Hill? SERGIO GARCIA: Bay Hill, no doubt. Q. Why? SERGIO GARCIA: Because driver is much easier. Q. At Bay Hill? SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah. Q. 3-wood, isn't it? SERGIO GARCIA: No, well, into the wind we were hitting drivers last week, the last couple of days. If it's not into the wind, then you can probably hit a 3-wood. Q. Did you play this morning? SERGIO GARCIA: Yes. Q. What's that tee shot like, 18th here? SERGIO GARCIA: It's tough. The way the wind is blowing, it's the worst one you can get, at least for a right-handed player. Into off the left, you're hitting driver to very narrow spots. The rough is quite bad on the right, and you hit a good drive, you're still hitting 5- or 6-iron in. I can only imagine some of the short hitters, what they hit in there. So Bay Hill, you know, you hit a decent drive, if you hit some sort of decent drive, you're going to hit the fairway. And then the second shot is challenging, but at least you know that you can always -- here it feels like you get a pin in the middle, and you pull it a little bit, you're still going to hit it in the water. Bay Hill, it feels like it's easier, too, because it cuts in a lot more towards the back of the green. Feels like it's easier to carry the water. Q. Can you bail out easier at Bay Hill? SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, I think 18 -- but this hole, the way it's playing these last couple of days, is playing real tough. Because it tests you not only as a driver, but on the second shot. Q. After you played the Masters as an amateur, and then you announced turning pro, at that point would you have thought by now you would have won the Masters, been close to winning it, lost it, something like that? SERGIO GARCIA: Well, I was hoping I was going to turn pro as a Masters Champion. (Laughter) Yeah, of course you hope you do that, yeah. After playing my first year there, I felt comfortable. I like the course. Yeah, I definitely thought I should have won it by now. But it's not that easy. Q. What happened? SERGIO GARCIA: What happened? Just didn't play well enough. It's not that easy. I'm not the only one playing. Q. I know it's not easy to do, but I would have -- I don't know how to say this -- SERGIO GARCIA: Careful. (Laughter) Q. With your start there, there were lots of us who watched you play as a youngster, whatever age you were there, and we thought this guy's got the fire, he's got the Spanish flair about him, this guy could be another winner here. SERGIO GARCIA: Well, I still have my chances. It's not over yet. (Winking) We'll do it, don't worry. Q. The short game improvements you're seeking to make, is it more mental or tactical? SERGIO GARCIA: I think you can work your technique, but at the end of the day, you have to trust it and you have to believe in it, because even if you work on technique, if you don't trust your shot and you quit on it or anything like that, it doesn't matter how much you work on it. So I guess working can make you believe in that, but at the end of the day, it's got to be in the head. David can tell you. He's a great short game player. (David Toms enters room.) Q. I know we haven't finished the tournament this week, but what do you think will wind up being a better preparation leading into the Masters, the schedule in Florida last year or the new schedule? SERGIO GARCIA: I love this new schedule. I think it's great. I think we have four really good tournaments in a row here in Florida. So I don't know, I didn't play -- I never played the week before the Masters, so to me, it fits perfectly, same thing. Q. Is there anything about last week and this week that's going to be especially helpful at the Masters? SERGIO GARCIA: Definitely, I think the way the course was playing last week, with the way those greens were, it really helped and this week is going to be a little bit of the same. Thank you. End of FastScripts |
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