THE RYDER CUP MATCHES

September 22, 2006

Luke Donald

Sergio Garcia

GORDON SIMPSON: Sergio, you clearly have started the 2006 Ryder Cup like you finished the 2004 Ryder Cup. Two points out of two, you must be very happy with that.

SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, definitely. I'm just really lucky, I get really good teammates all the time and, you know, I just go out there on the course and help them a little bit and that's pretty much how it works.

GORDON SIMPSON: Luke, what are your feelings, one out of one today?

LUKE DONALD: It was pretty tough, 16 I had this far away (indicating one foot) for birdie and 17 this far (indicating two feet), so I can handle that. It's nice when your partner hits it close but still nice to get a win.

GORDON SIMPSON: A fairly dynamic Garcia was it today?

LUKE DONALD: It's odd the way the course sets up. The person who takes the odds ends up hitting quite a few drives and does a lot of putting, and the guy who hits the evens hits a lot of iron shots and doesn't really putt that much.

And in a way, it's tough to get into a bit of a rhythm, and I struggled a little bit early on because of that. But after that, after the first few holes, we really got in a good stride and played some nice golf.

Q. The shots on 16 and 17, the clubs, the distances, and can you talk about the adrenaline of those shots?

SERGIO GARCIA: 16, I had after a beautiful layup from my partner, I had 108 to the hole. I hit just a little 52 degree sand wedge and flew it about 108, about five feet right of the hole and almost played it back into the cup. Jim made a great putt there to halve the hole.

On the next, my partner hit a great drive just making sure to hit it just in the first cut so I wouldn't spin it too much. (Laughter).

LUKE DONALD: I'm that good.

SERGIO GARCIA: He told me on the tee. (Laughter).

Anyway, 153, and I hit just a little less than normal 9 iron to about two feet. So that was pretty good.

But, you know

LUKE DONALD: Probably three feet.

SERGIO GARCIA: Two and a half. (Laughter).

I want to say one thing. For those who think that I'm not a good putter, I had two putts in 18 holes today, so that's pretty good, huh? (Laughter).

Q. Estaba hoy tu mejor día del año en golf? (Question in Spanish.)

LUKE DONALD: I'll take this one. (Laughter).

SERGIO GARCIA: Sorry, he's just been telling me that I've been playing shit. And I'm trying to make him realise I've been having a decent summer. (Laughter).

Q. Luke, were you disappointed to be left out this morning for four balls? There would have been an expectation from many people you would have been included. How difficult was it coming in for the foursomes, given that format?

LUKE DONALD: Obviously, you know, from a personal standpoint, I was disappointed. I want to be out there as much as I can. But it's a tough decision Woosie has. Obviously he has 12 players playing pretty well right now. You know, to leave four out, it's tough. I would have loved to have played, but so far, it's working well. I mean, we're 5 3 up, so you can't argue with what the captain has done.

But going to your second question, it is tough. I think I did struggle. I hit a horrible tee shot, again, for my first tee shot in the Ryder Cup, way right.

SERGIO GARCIA: Just looking for an angle.

LUKE DONALD: Hit a pretty poor iron shot on the third hole, too. It's tough to get into a rhythm. I think when you miss the morning and come straight into foursomes, there's a lot more pressure on the individual shots in foursomes. To come straight out in the afternoon is a lot tougher.

You know, found some rhythm at the end and started driving it well and made a few putts. I think the person who plays off the odds, you know, gets a lot of chances to make some putts and I made a few, which is encouraging.

Q. Picking up on that, everybody on the team has played today, and everyone contributed to the team points total, that's never happened for a European Team. How does that make The European Team feel for tomorrow, that must feel pretty good?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I haven't figured that out, but I think that's great for the team. I think playing early is an advantage, and it gets you used to the competition, the pressure, and you get a couple of the rookies out there, having a chance to play early on is important. And for all of them to contribute today, it's great. You know, to be 5 3 up is a good position for us.

Q. Sergio, how do you account for your tremendous record in team match play, obviously going 2 0 again today, and beyond that, how much do you relish not only taking the two points today but taking one of them from Tiger.

SERGIO GARCIA: I mean, as I said before, you attribute it to great partners to start with and second of all, just loving it. I just love the Ryder Cup. I couldn't live without it, definitely, and it's just amazing.

So I guess that drives me to try even harder in this event, and it's always nice beating Tiger, no doubt about that. It was a tight match, and you could see he was really getting on on the back nine, hitting some good shots. You know, we were trying to keep pace and hitting some good shots ourselves. Luke made a couple putts, very important, and I hit a couple of very important shots at the right time. It was great to get one from him.

GORDON SIMPSON: Thank you very much.

End of FastScripts.