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BARCLAYS SCOTTISH OPEN


July 13, 2007


Gregory Havret


LUSS, SCOTLAND

MICHAEL GIBBONS: Great round of golf, tell us about it, especially the back nine.
GRÉGORY HAVRET: The front nine was really quite good also but not that good. I putted nicely. It was a good shot on the first and I holed it for birdie.
Then on the fourth, I put a nice second shot, five-metre shot, that was nice.
10 it was nice, but not as good as the rest. I had a very nice 2 on 11, so lucky still on the course.
Then a nice drive and an 8-iron on the 12th about two metres short and I holed the putt.
Then driver and a 4-iron middle of the green, two putts.
Then I was fairly lucky to make that three because I snapped the tee shot on the left under the trees. I was allowed to put my ball over the green and I had a lob shot and I holed it, so that was very lucky obviously, but a nice shot.
On 16, I had a very nice drive and 6-iron, about two metres right of the flag and I holed the putt. So that was a good shot.

Q. Where did you say you holed from off the green?
GRÉGORY HAVRET: Yes, I hit a lob shot on 14. I was left and long and hit a lob shot -- I had a nice lie, but the shot was downhill all the way and I hit it nicely and it went in.

Q. How far was the shot?
GRÉGORY HAVRET: How far was the shot? I don't know, about 50 metres from the hole. I had five or six metres to go to the green and then ten metres green.

Q. You played well last week, too.
GRÉGORY HAVRET: Yeah, playing this week and also 15th in France. My game is really good. I really missed two holes at the French, the first and the 16th where I'm plus-eight during the week. So the rest was really, really nice. The game was really better.
Then I came to K Club and I played really good, finished two from Monty, from Colin. And that was a nice week, nice game, putting was really solid. These two first rounds were a little bit the same as previous weeks.

Q. Heading into The Open --
GRÉGORY HAVRET: It obviously means a lot for me to play The Open, but I don't think about it. I didn't think about it last week. I was very close. I have been the same score as Mr. Edberg, but he went through because of the last round. It's a bit unfortunate for me but it's like that. I'm playing good.
Yeah, I want to play The Open for sure, but it's not the main thing. I want to play good, I want to play shot after shot, and if I am lucky enough to go over there, I will go over there and that's important.

Q. Last time The Open was in Carnoustie in '99, do you remember where you watched the final?
GRÉGORY HAVRET: Yes, I was in a friend's home in Pau in south of France, a very nice old course over there, also. I have many friends over there, and I had been watching that all day long and I was just crying in the end, yeah.

Q. What was happening in golf in France at the time?
GRÉGORY HAVRET: That was obviously very big because Jean has been on TV where -- you don't think that golf like this can be on TV, at 8:00 in the main hour when people watch it. It used to be just tennis.
He did many things, but it was also very hard for him because he had to talk about the same thing and people didn't really realise what he had done during 71 holes. It's been big but it should have been a lot bigger if he would not have made that double on the last.

Q. Any particular ran why you think your form is so good?
GRÉGORY HAVRET: Yes, I think there. Is I changed my putter before the French. It was sort of a lucky one, I went to my flat and was searching something, I saw the belly putter and said, oh, why not, I was a little bit struggling on the greens. And since, I have to say that my putting is a lot, lot better. That was the first thing.
And the second one was Jos Vanstiphout, you know this guy? He came to me after my first round of the PGA and I was obviously playing very bad since the beginning of the year. My first ten tournaments was really horrible. The rest was fine but not really good and he came to me and we worked a bit together, and I was much better after that. And my coach came to see me at the French and said to him, "You know, you have to work with Greg, I think he needs you," so since the French we were working together. It's not like we are ten hours every day together, but he definitely changed something in my mind and I feel much better.

Q. If I remember this right, was it last year where your game dipped a little bit because you became a father?
GRÉGORY HAVRET: Well, I don't know if it's because I became a father, I did become a father last year. I was also in Dubai. I changed home a few months ago and now I'm near Marseilles, so that was obviously the main things in my life of course.
But I don't think that was a problem because I played really good till the French 2005 and since that, I was traveling, so even before the -- even before my little girl is coming. So, yeah I had like two years of really average golf. I finished 92nd last year, and you expect better when you finish 45th the year before. I was unhappy with many things in my game, my putting, but I just kept going and I kept working and that was probably very important for me.
Yeah, my little girl just came a little bit more than a year now, and I am a happy man, for sure, yeah.

Q. What was it that Jos changed in your mind?
GRÉGORY HAVRET: It's hard to say, because first we are talking French with him, so it's obviously a lot easier. It's just about thinking differently. You know, I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to putt technical things into my swing or some feelings different than what they have to be.
And I talked a lot with Jos and I came through simple, more simple things, and that was probably the main thing; to leave my body playing and not my mind, something like that. Not very clear, but.

Q. How does this rank; is this one of your best rounds on Tour?
GRÉGORY HAVRET: Yeah, it's definitely -- yesterday was probably my best day of putting ever. Not because I holed everything, but every single putt was good. So that was very nice, even if the score is not so good.
Today was very important I think. I played good, good enough to play low, of course, but then 11, very tough par 3, you expect a three and you know a lot of guys will make four and you make two because you holed a long putt. Then you have a difficult shot after, the par 5, the wind is helping, and everything is coming together and helped me a lot.
I'm very happy with my round, but I don't think it's my best golf this year so far.

Q. Have you worked with Jos before?
GRÉGORY HAVRET: You mean before, years ago? No, before -- oh, yeah, we had a little talk before. A year or two years ago. But I was not really into that. I didn't really realise what he was saying and I didn't really understand it. I think I understood it a lot better at the PGA when he came after that first round.

Q. And does he talk to you in French?
GRÉGORY HAVRET: Yes.

Q. His French is very good?
GRÉGORY HAVRET: His French is good enough to speak French with me. I had no problem, yeah. We also sometimes are talking in English because he's obviously a lot -- probably a lot more comfortable in English.
Also there's some English words where it's quicker. The French language, where the word is a bit longer, so, you know, sometimes the English words are coming quicker into the mind and it's better.

Q. The shot you holed at 14 or --
GRÉGORY HAVRET: Well, I didn't -- no, it not this kind of shot. Chipping was -- that chip came, it was obviously not a very hard chip. I had an uphill lie, nice lie in the rough, rough is not so thick this week, not like last week, for example, or the French week, also. It was good and it was a downhill shot. I knew with a decent shot the ball would be quite close. It's not the chip we were playing good. It was a good shot but I was quite confident into the result of it. So I didn't -- I was not scared about it at all. I just hit the shot as I saw it.
MICHAEL GIBBONS: Grégory, very good round, thank you.

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