	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 19, 2007

Sergio Garcia

CARNOUSTIE, SCOTLAND

STEWART McDOUGALL: Ladies and gentlemen, Sergio Garcia. Thank you for coming across, Sergio. 65, 6-under par. Give us your feelings after that round, now you're leading The Open at the present time.
SERGIO GARCIA: Most improved, I guess. Pretty happy. I definitely didn't have the best of practise sessions on the range. I felt quite uncomfortable with the left-to-right wind. I got off to a great start. I hit two really solid shots on the first and a wonderful putt. I got my round going from there.
I managed to hit a good amount of fairways, a good amount of greens, and on the back nine I started hitting it a little closer, rolling the putts in and managed to play those last four holes on even par, which is always very nice.

Q. That was a 24-shot improvement on the first round.
SERGIO GARCIA: That's why I said most improved.

Q. How happy are you about that?
SERGIO GARCIA: I really didn't think about it. I mentioned it once on the first hole to Glenn [Murray], to my caddie, when I rolled the birdie putt in. I looked at him and said, well, that's four better than last time (laughter). From then on, I didn't really think about it at all.
Like I told you at the beginning of the week, it's not about revenge for me. I just want to play solid. I just want to play a little bit like I did today, give myself good looks at birdies, not suffer too much out there on the course and put myself in a position where I can do something on Sunday.
This is a good start. It's definitely what the doctor ordered. I just hope that I can keep putting these two or three more solid rounds and have a good chance on Sunday and see where I can take it.

Q. Did you speak to your mom?
SERGIO GARCIA: I saw her at the end of the round. She just said very well done and well played.

Q. The belly putter, was that the first time out last week for those of us who are on the American side of the pond?
SERGIO GARCIA: Yes.

Q. Give us a play-by-play on how you arrived at that. Seems like a pretty good solution at this point.
SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, it worked nicely today. I pretty much decided on it right after the U.S. Open. There's nothing I hate more than not being able to start the putt on line. To me, of course, making putts is great, but at least feeling like you're hitting good putts, even if you have a round where you don't make pretty much any, but at least you know you're hitting good putts and they're burning the edge and you know that you have a chance. That keeps you going.
When you start hitting the putt and as soon as you hit it, you know it doesn't have a chance of going in, it's pretty frustrating. I started putting with the belly just the week after the U.S. Open. It felt good. I felt comfortable with it.
I felt like I was rolling the ball nicely. I've been just trying to get the best routine for it to see where it feels most comfortable. And it looks like I'm starting to get it.
And I putted pretty nicely last week. I didn't really make many putts on Sunday. But at least I hit a lot of good putts. And that's the least you can ask for yourself.

Q. Before today did you think 65 was a possible score on this course?
SERGIO GARCIA: It was possible. More than anything because it rained. The course is -- I said it yesterday, I think, I think it's the best shaped links course I've ever seen. I've never seen a links course where the fairways are so pure and the greens are so good.
It's definitely -- if you get going and there's not much wind, like it was today, there was a little bit of a breeze and it was a little cool so that didn't make it easier. But at least it felt like it was playable. You could hit a 5-iron and it wasn't going to release 15 yards or something like that, so you could stop it somewhere around the hole.
You still have to hit a lot of good shots because there's a lot of good holes on the back nine, 10, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18. So you still have to hit a lot of good shots. But there were some birdie chances out there. I managed to hit some good shots and hole some putts.

Q. Was it hard giving in to the belly putter, and why didn't you do it sooner than last week or just after the U.S. Open?
SERGIO GARCIA: Was it hard? I wouldn't say it was hard. It was just a matter of, like I said before, just kind of getting used to it and finding a good routine with it. But, no, it didn't feel hard at all. Why didn't I do it? I don't know.
Vijay has been telling me for like a year or two to do it and I haven't been listening to him. Mainly because I felt, when I was feeling comfortable with the short putter, I feel really good with it. But with the short putter it seems to be very highs and lows. So I wanted to be a bit more of a flat line. I wanted to be a bit more consistent. It still feels like I can make a lot of putts with the belly.
More than anything, you can't imagine the amount of good putts I hit on the front nine that didn't go in. But all of them looked like they were going in, and that's the beautiful thing about it. That's what I love about putting. You feel like you hit a putt and you're like geez, that has a chance. Not hit it and what's it going to do? So that's one of the reasons.

Q. Did the weather help, hurt or make no difference to you today?
SERGIO GARCIA: Did the -- well, I can't say that it hurt, because I shot a good round. It definitely wasn't the worst whether we've had on an Open Championship. It was definitely cold, a little breezy, not too much, so it was playable. But the rain from Tuesday and Wednesday and this morning softened up the course a little bit and made it a little bit easier to hit the fairways, stay away from the bunkers and also hold the greens.

Q. Going back to the putter thing, I know your dad has tried the claw and a bunch of different things over the years to get the ball in the hole. Was he encouraging you to go to something a little more drastic?
SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, he's been putting with a belly putter for over a year now. He's definitely improved. He still needs to get better, but he's definitely improved.

Q. Did he influence you at all?
SERGIO GARCIA: He's always told me just be open-minded, don't close yourself down and realise that there's more options out there. You know, whatever helps. At the end of the day it's about scoring, getting the ball in the hole, and it doesn't matter if you hole it with a putter or a broom or however you do it. So it's just about doing that.

Q. No one's won a major with a belly putter before?
SERGIO GARCIA: You shouldn't say that. That's no good. You guys are always trying to find something, you know. A European hasn't won in so many years, nobody has won with a belly putter and this and that. I'm just going to go -- you know, if I play like I played today and I putt like I putted today, maybe that will change soon. I don't care, I really don't. Like I said before, it's just about getting the ball in the hole. If I have to use, I don't know, whatever, a plastic bag to get in the hole, I'll use whatever. So it doesn't matter. It's just stats and stupid little things that you guys like to talk about.

Q. Just wondering, looking back at the experience in '99, how much did you grow from that and how much of a different player as you matured are you now, years later?
SERGIO GARCIA: I don't know --

Q. Seven or eight years?
SERGIO GARCIA: Six centimeters, five centimeters, from '99, hopefully.
I don't know, there's been so many questions about this. I've talked about it for a while. I've always said it, I'm sure at the end of my career I will have learned more from the 89 I shot in '99 than from the 65 that I shot today, because there's a lot more things to think about and there's a lot more things to worry about and to try to figure out.
So playing great is always wonderful and winning is great, but you learn from those near misses and those bad rounds that you have once in a while, and that's when you sit down and think about it and try to figure out what happened and what you could have done better and different and stuff. That's when you learn the most.

Q. In 1999 it was said that you wept tears after your terrible round.
SERGIO GARCIA: Today I almost went to tears again.

Q. Tears of joy this time. It must be a total change-around of emotion for you today.
SERGIO GARCIA: You know, I think it's enough about this. I said it already. You guys want to make it about revenge, and it's not that. I've always liked this course. Even in '99 it was just set up too tough. But I just enjoy the game. I've always loved this Championship. I've always loved links courses and links golf. I'm thrilled with the round I had today. So that's all really I can say.

Q. You've always obviously had some very good majors, but I can't think of too many, maybe '99 Medinah and this one, where you've got off to such a good start in the first round. How do you think -- how important is this for you and how do you think it sets up for you the rest of the week with the start you've had?
SERGIO GARCIA: I've had good rounds, good solid starts, maybe not like being up in the lead or something like that, but being really close. So I've just got to take it the same way tomorrow, just go out there and be positive, be aggressive, stick to my game plan, hit the right shots at the right time and just try to keep putting good rounds.
It also depends on the weather. If all of a sudden it's nice and windy tomorrow, you know you're going to have to scramble a little bit more. It's just a matter of getting it done. I'm just going to go out there. The good thing is I have something -- I have a little bit of a head start, so that's always nice. It's always better than having to come back. So just got to hopefully take advantage of that.

Q. Speaking of learning, what did you learn from last year's final round at Hoylake?
SERGIO GARCIA: You know, I enjoyed the last round last year at Hoylake. I thought it was a great experience playing with Tiger and everything that went around it. I wouldn't do many different things from last year, just hopefully make a couple of those short putts early on and keep my good momentum going.
But other than that it was good. I enjoyed the challenge last year. I loved the people. They were just amazing the way they treated me, and it's carried on. I'm really thankful for the British people, the way they've always treated me. They've been very thankful to me and they've always cheered me on. It's always a thrill for me to come back and play in front of them.

Q. Since you've had a couple of close calls in majors, do you put a lot of pressure on yourself to win one?
SERGIO GARCIA: No, not at all. I'm still young and I'd love to win one very, very soon. But at the end of the day, what I said before, the only thing I can do is give myself chances and put myself in a winning position. Sometimes I'm sure I'll get through and some others I won't. That's the least that you can do. Hopefully I'll put myself in that position again this week.

Q. Given that Seve Ballesteros retired this week, do you think it would be particularly fitting if a Spanish golfer would win this weekend?
SERGIO GARCIA: It would be great, yeah. Unfortunately there's only two of us. The odds are not huge. It would be amazing. It would be something out of, how do you call it, a fairy tale or something like that. It's just the beginning.
I don't want to get ahead of myself. I need to keep playing like this, keep doing everything the same way and at least have a chance on that Sunday.
STEWART McDOUGALL: Thank you very much.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297