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WGC CA CHAMPIONSHIP

March 23, 2007

Thomas Bjorn

DORAL, FLORIDA

Q. Let's get the nasty bit out of the way first. You're going along beautifully 6-under par through nine holes, everything is going according to plan and then a 4-putt.
THOMAS BJÖRN: Yeah, I hit a couple of -- left myself a little bit too much to do on 10. These things happen sometimes. In windy conditions like this, it was just really windy on the 10th and didn't feel very comfortable over the ball.
These things happen and that's just, you know, I think every player in the field has had one in their life. It was my turn today. And you've got to get back and try and steady the ship and I did that. I was just trying to make some pars and get back into it and I hit a pretty decent tee shot on the last and it just bounced right on me into the rough, and I ended up making bogey there for a round of 72, which leaves me in the tournament.
But all in all, I think what I've got to be pleased with is the golf I've played these two days. It's been really solid and there's a lot of good stuff in there that I can build on. And after four weeks off, that's pretty nice.

Q. Commentators mentioned that playing in the two ball, you may have got to that 10th tee quite early and had to wait. Was there any break in momentum, was that anything to do with it?
THOMAS BJÖRN: We waited a little bit but there's no excuse for that. We were well into our round and the wait wasn't long enough for us to worry about it. It's just one of those things, somebody had to be out first and somebody has to wait after nine holes. That's the way the tournament is and that's not an excuse for making 7.

Q. The 18th, as brutal as ever?
THOMAS BJÖRN: It's very hard. I remember some SKY guy saying it's not all that difficult. It's one of the hardest par 4s you're ever going to play I think. You stand on that tee and there's not much room to hit it into. And even if you hit a good drive, I mean, I played with Zach Johnson, two times he hit 2-iron into that green.
So it comes as hard as it can be, this 18th hole here, with this wind. You know, that's pretty -- that's a pretty good thing. I think the last hole has to be very difficult.
The gusty winds, that plays on you a little bit. Over every shot, you can have three different clubs within 30 seconds. So that's all down to controlling your ball flight and trying to hit the right kind of shots.
It's not easy, but today was easier than yesterday, that's for sure.

Q. Did you find something in the four weeks or did you work with somebody?
THOMAS BJÖRN: I worked with Pete. We've done some work and it goes back to the things that I always have to work -- sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. To be honest, this is probably not the best conditions for me to get some new things into my game, windy conditions. Here you have to be very focused on hitting the shots and you can't really work on your technique on the golf course.
I need to do some work on the range this afternoon and the rest of the weekend and all next week.

Q. What about the feel --
THOMAS BJÖRN: You have to play feel golf and that's normally the way I play. I think that's -- you know, you see that, you know, all of the shots that are good shots, you can kind of see that guys are feeling those shots. They hit them in low or they hit them under the wind. That's the way to play in these conditions.

Q. Are you proud of the way you had come back --
THOMAS BJÖRN: You know, I was playing all right. Things happen and you've got to -- we all make double-bogeys and this was obviously an unfortunate way to make it.
You've got to stand up and keep playing. And I came in with the attitude this week that if I'm going to prepare myself for Augusta, then I'm just going to keep going this week no matter what happens. Because at Augusta, you're going to make bogeys and double-bogeys and that's going to happen to everybody. You have to just keep your momentum going and keep your brain even and just get the best result.

Q. Can you tell us what are the things that Pete is doing with you at the moment?
THOMAS BJÖRN: You know, it's always been the same story with me. I tend to get across the line on top of my backswing, and the only way I can get away from that is having really low hands in the first part of my backswing.
You know, in these conditions, it gets very difficult for me. I like to let my right hand ride a little bit high, and that's just been the work that we're doing. It's difficult in these conditions for me. It really is. But I'm quite proud of the way I've done it this week because I think everybody loses the golf swing a little bit in these conditions.

Q. So Pete Cowen is doing a good job with you and Stenson?
THOMAS BJÖRN: Oh, he's done a remarkable job on Stenson over the years. I just said walking up the last, it's like a steady ship at the moment. It seems like -- it doesn't seem spectacular. It just seems like everything goes up everywhere he plays. He builds on every round. He just gets his way into the tournament and he just keeps going. It just is very impressive, and you know, they both take a lot of credit, and nobody takes more credit for it than Henrik. He's stuck with it and that's what you've got to do. He's a great example to any golfer out there that might not be playing their best; stick with it and you can come through on the other side.
It was easier than it was yesterday. The conditions were not changing as much as they were yesterday and the golf course played reasonably soft. So all in all, it was probably a better day for scoring today than yesterday.
But you know, it's one of these things when it's this windy that you've got to be very much in control of your game to shoot scores.
But it was certainly possible today.

Q. You hit seven fairways through two rounds, how did you manage to score so well out there?
THOMAS BJÖRN: I must have hit more than that, because I thought I drove the ball pretty well today.
You know, I've hit a lot of fairways just in the semi. I actually feel like I'm driving the ball pretty well, so you know, I don't really look at the stats. But certainly today, I drove the ball and as good as I normally do. So I can't really look at my driving and say there's anything wrong with it.

Q. Right now you're just three off the lead. Does that change your approach going into the weekend or how do you look at it?
THOMAS BJÖRN: You know, I came in here after a four-week layoff and I'm coming in here to play four rounds of golf and try and do as good as I can.
You know, when you shoot a round like I did yesterday, it gets you in the tournament and you start changing your approach towards things. But I really need to just stick with my guns at the moment and just play golf and we'll see where that takes me.
And if I'm fortunate to go out and shoot a good round tomorrow, well, that puts me in the tournament with maybe a little bit different mind-set for Sunday. But at the moment I just need to play golf.

End of FastScripts

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