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THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPJuly 21, 2007Sergio GarciaCARNOUSTIE, SCOTLAND STEWART McDOUGALL: Ladies and gentlemen, Sergio Garcia, 68 today for a total of 204, 9-under par, leading by three shots. Sergio, you've got a three-shot lead. How does that feel going into the final round The Open Championship? SERGIO GARCIA: It feels good. I've got to give it to Steve Stricker, having that round today. It feels good to have a three-shot lead. It feels good to see the way I played today, taking away two shots, and overall it's just great. I'm looking forward to tomorrow. It's going to be a hard day but hopefully one to remember. I can't wait to start. Q. I don't want to rekindle any bad memories -- SERGIO GARCIA: Okay, don't (laughter). Next question, please. You just said you don't want to bring bad memories. Don't ask it. Next question. Q. I'm going to ask you, will you something different this time? SERGIO GARCIA: I'm not going to do anything different. I'm going to go out there and try to play my own game, just like I've been doing every single day and just believe in myself as much as possible. That's the only thing I can do. That's what I did on Friday -- that's what I did on Thursday, that's what I did most parts of Friday and that's what I did today. The only thing I can do is control myself and that's about it. So I think if I am in control, the way I'm hitting the ball it's right there for the taking. Hopefully it will be good enough. Q. I appreciate that, but my second question was are you surprised that it's Steve Stricker that's immediately behind you, because he wasn't showing so much? SERGIO GARCIA: Well, I think if I remember correctly, I think he's been playing great in the majors lately. He had a good U.S. Open. He was up there the first couple of rounds, I want to think. I think last year he played very nicely in at least two of the majors. So he's been playing very good all year. He's been having some good rounds and some good tournaments. He hasn't won, I think, but he's been up there. He's been kind of like me. So he's one of those guys that gets it going, and he can post those kind of rounds. But still impressive to see; I think he shot 64, so still a great round. Q. A lot of irons on a lot of tees on a lot of long holes. What was the thinking? Was that the game plan all week or the game plan today? SERGIO GARCIA: No, it depends. It depends on the situation. 15 I hit driver on Thursday and 3-wood yesterday, yeah. 18, I've been hitting driver every day. But the wind was different. The wind was from the left, it was an uncomfortable wind, it wasn't hurting as much. I knew I could rely on my iron play. I could rely on a good, solid 2-iron off the tee and leave myself a 4- or 5-iron to the green, hit a solid shot. Even if I don't hit the green, hit it around the right bunker or maybe in the left trap, and from there I can make four, five at the worst. What you don't want to do is start hitting to these bunkers and get in trouble. So I was very much relying on that. And I don't have any complaints about it. Q. Tomorrow? SERGIO GARCIA: Tomorrow we'll see what the weather does. Q. Are you superstitious? You were wearing the colors of Spain today. Will you be wearing them tomorrow? SERGIO GARCIA: I'll be stinky tomorrow, then (laughter). Yeah, it's kind of the colors of Spain, not quite. It's orange more than it is yellow. But, no, no, I love my outfit today. I really liked it since the guys at Adidas set it up for me. It was just a shame it wasn't a little bit warmer so I could show the whole thing. I had to wear the rain pants all day. Q. It's obviously a very difficult thing to do leading a tournament wire to wire. Has this been a draining week to this point, or are you drawing strength and confidence in the way you're playing and the fact that you have seen your name at the top of the leaderboard? SERGIO GARCIA: It's definitely been tiring, but not only for me. I think it's been tiring for everybody. Majors are always tiring. I tell you what, I don't change it for the world. There's nothing better than seeing your name on the top of the leaderboard day after day after day. I think it's great. I'm thrilled about it. I've just got to do it for one more day. Q. Just to follow up on that, can you think of a time you felt better about your total game than you feel right now? SERGIO GARCIA: Definitely, yes, yeah, I definitely felt better about my game than what I felt the last three days. I have been striking the ball nicely, but there's some things I still need to get better at. That's for me, though. Q. I wonder if you could tell us, the second shot at 17. What was the club and what happened and what did you see? It looked like you walked away from that guy to compose yourself or just to get away from it? SERGIO GARCIA: I didn't walk away from him. He had plenty of people taking care of him, I didn't want to be on top of him. I hit a 4-iron, bad 4-iron, by the way, pulled it a little bit. When I got there, probably I was about 25, 30 yards short of it, and I saw that there was a person lying down. I knew right away that I hit him. It's never a good feeling. It's never nice. I don't recommend it to anybody. The good thing is that when I got there I shook his hand. He told me he was fine. He said -- of course he was a little shaken off and a little bit laying down. I think I hit him on the back of the neck. But he said numerous times, he said, I'm fine, don't worry about me, I'm doing okay. I signed a glove and a ball to him and shook his hand again, and I said, are you sure you're okay. He said no, I'm perfect, just worry about yourself. And that was really nice. That was really nice. The good thing, too, was that I didn't -- I don't think I cut him. So there wasn't any blood, which always kind of shocks a little bit more. So that helped. The rest, it was just a good up-and-down. Q. I know you've been asked a hundred questions about the new putter. I'm wondering, how different is the new stroke? Does the new putter have a greater effect on your confidence or on the actual application of it? SERGIO GARCIA: I think it gives me confidence on my stroke knowing that most of the times I'm going to start it where I want to. It's just a matter of getting the right read. Today the putts I missed on 13, 14 and 18, they were good putts, I just didn't see the break and obviously missed. No, it feels good. I made a couple of really nice putts early on; the one on 1 to kind of settle yourself down; the par putt on 3 was great; the par putt on 5 was great; and the birdie putt on 8. I was hitting good putts. I maybe wasn't quite as aggressive as maybe I was the first day, but I was pretty good. I felt pretty good about it. I don't really have any complaints. Q. Just wondering, I think this will be your third crack at a final group on Sunday, but the first time without you-know-who in the pairing with you. Is that a little bit of a relief to you to see him well back to sort of not get caught up in all that, as well? SERGIO GARCIA: It definitely doesn't hurt, but it doesn't matter. At the end of the day, like I was saying before, I only depend on myself. So I just want to go out there and play the same way I've been playing, be aggressive when I feel like I can, play the right way and hopefully be good enough. If somebody comes out there and shoots another 64 and beats me, hey, well done and congratulations. But at the end of the day I can only try to keep doing the same things. I've been up there for three days now, and I think I've been dealing with it a little better every day. So hopefully tomorrow there will be another day like that. Q. When you hit that approach shot to 18, it looked like you might have said, "be good." I'm wondering if that -- do you think in English on the golf course? SERGIO GARCIA: A little bit of both. Sometimes when I'm thinking to myself I think in Spanish, but most of the times -- the only time I speak Spanish is when I'm back home with my friends. I think my English is better than my Spanish at the moment (laughter). But, yeah, I think it's -- I don't know why. Maybe it's because I want Glenn to understand what I'm saying. Sometimes I do say it in Spanish, sometimes it comes out and I'll say like "baja" or "vuela" or something like that, but it's just one of those things. Q. How do you swear? SERGIO GARCIA: How do I swear? I don't swear (laughter). Q. You've been getting great support out there, and it sounds a bit like Ryder Cup. Can you talk about how much energy it has to have so many people shouting for you? SERGIO GARCIA: I've said it all week long, it's been great. This country, it's always been great to me. I guess, you know, I've given them a couple of things to cheer for or about. They've always supported me like if I was one of their own. I've never had a complaint about it. They know so much about the game. They know so much about how to behave on the golf course. It's been great. So I just -- I wanted to make a par on 18 just for them and to hear the roar that would have been just out of this world, but unfortunately it broke a little right. It's been great. I'm loving it and I always have, and I'm just glad that I have a great relationship with them. Q. How are you going to relax now between now and returning to the course tomorrow? SERGIO GARCIA: First I've got to get rid of you guys (laughter). And then just head back. I'm looking forward to -- do a little bit of stretching, just calm myself down a little bit and looking forward to some of my mom's cooking, which is always nice. And just watch a bit of TV with my family and my brother and sister and my parents and just relax. Just pretty much not think much about it, go to sleep and -- Q. Do you sleep easily at these things? SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, sleep great, great (laughter). Q. When you've struggled with your putting in the past have you ever put more pressure on your long game, and if so, has that been alleviated this week now that you've been putting better? SERGIO GARCIA: Yes, I definitely put more pressure on myself when my putter is not working too well. But not only on myself, I think everybody does it. When you feel like you're putting well, you don't care about missing greens, you don't care about hitting the bunker or hitting it right of the green or left of the green because you know that the percentage of you getting up-and-down is huge. So that definitely helps freeing up your mind, freeing up your swing and knowing that even if you miss the green you probably are going to make par. I mean, I think that's what Tiger does great. Every time he hits a bad shot, he seems to get it up-and-down over and over most of the time. So that's something that helps your whole game overall. Q. The two other times you were in the last group you were also having to make up a deficit, at Bethpage and then last year. How do you think it will be different? How will you feel differently, do you suppose, with a three-shot lead, with everyone having to chase you, so to speak? SERGIO GARCIA: I guess the good thing about it is even if you don't have the best of starts that you're still there, and your game kicks in and you can always do it. But if you're behind and you don't have the best of starts, it feels like you're falling way back. And it feels like then you can't play as comfortably. You have to attack more and try to go for some pins that maybe you shouldn't and things like that. So, I don't know, I haven't been in this position in a major, so I'm looking forward to it. And hopefully I'll be able to tell you more about it tomorrow afternoon. Q. Another question about staying calm and relaxed before tomorrow. Obviously you've got all day tomorrow to get through until you tee off, and people talk about the problems of remaining relaxed, especially when you have a late tee-off time. Some players have been known to use sports psychologists to talk to. Will you do anything like that or will you just -- SERGIO GARCIA: I haven't done it my whole life, why should I change now? No, nothing wrong about it, I don't have anything against sports psychologists, but I've never been a big believer on it. You can't try to do something if you don't believe in it. I've just got to keep doing the same things. It's worked all week long, so just keep doing the same stuff and just do what you're supposed to do on the course. Q. What about television tomorrow morning? Does it help watching the early starters putting to see how the greens are behaving and the putts are breaking? SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, it definitely does, yeah. I was watching a little bit this morning. It definitely does. I think there are some guys that like to do it and some other guys that don't. It definitely helps seeing how the ball is reacting, seeing some of the putts, seeing some of the pins, some of the tee shots, some of the clubs they hit from the tees and things like that. So I've always enjoyed it, and more than anything I enjoy it because I love watching sports. I love -- I just love watching golf. I love watching Formula One, I love watching tennis, football, soccer, everything. I just love it. I don't care if somebody comes and says, no, that's not good for you. I don't care. If it makes me happy it is good for me. So I will be watching a little bit. Q. Aside from how well you're striking the ball, I'm wondering mentally and emotionally what tells you you're ready to win a major and if you've felt all week the way this week has been going that this is your time? SERGIO GARCIA: I've felt good. I've felt good all week. I've felt nice. I've felt like it's been a weird week, though. The first day when it was a little bit windy in the afternoon it was really bad wind on the range, left-to-right wind. And I didn't hit the ball well on the range; I was struggling to draw it, I was just going with my little cuts. It just didn't feel -- I wasn't the most comfortable guy going into the first tee. When I hit my first two shots and made birdie, it kind of helped me a little bit, I just got on with my game from that point on. I think the most important thing about it, I've been playing very smartly. If I haven't felt comfortable hitting one shot, I haven't tried to do it. I consider myself a perfectionist, and sometimes you feel like you have to hit the right shot all the time. It's not that way. Sometimes if you don't feel comfortable hitting it one way, just hit it in the middle of the green and make your four and go to the next and things like that. I've been very good doing that this week. I just have got to do the same thing tomorrow and hope it will be enough. Q. As well as your love of watching sports, you also have a lot of famous sporting friends. Have any of them been in touch with you with messages of support? SERGIO GARCIA: I don't know. To tell you the truth I haven't looked at my phone all week long. There's too many distractions. I'll take a look at it tomorrow afternoon and start replying to some of the messages I have. I don't know if they have. I'm sure they have, but I really can't tell you. Q. How many messages will you have? SERGIO GARCIA: I'll tell you tomorrow. STEWART McDOUGALL: Sergio, thank you very much. End of FastScripts |
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