VOLVO PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 25, 2003

Ignacio Garrido

GORDON SIMPSON: Congratulations, Ignacio, on being the 2003 Volvo PGA champion, and of course, you won the Volvo German Open all those years ago, didn't you?

IGNACIO GARRIDO: I like Volvo.

I was actually talking to Mel Pyatt. I was this week looking at the Volvo cars because I really wanted to buy one. So, Volvo is my brand.

GORDON SIMPSON: I think you can possibly afford one now, can you?

IGNACIO GARRIDO: I'll have a look. I think I can.

GORDON SIMPSON: It's been a remarkable day. Is this the highlight of your career so far, to win this incredible championship?

IGNACIO GARRIDO: What do you think? Probably, so far, the Ryder Cup and that other win were my highlights, but I think this is probably better than any of those. Winning this tournament is far more than I thought I could achieve, really. Of course, I hope it's just a starting point, but it's a really good starting point.

GORDON SIMPSON: Maybe take us through that playoff hole. I think you got a little stroke of luck there.

IGNACIO GARRIDO: Well, I think there's no champion without luck. Yeah, I had good luck on my second shot. I couldn't see where it hit or what it did, but the lie I had was really good for the chip. It was a pretty straightforward chip that obviously, under that pressure is difficult, but it's more difficult if you have a worse lie.

Well, I don't know, I must say that when I was playing the playoff, I didn't really know that I was playing the playoff for the PGA Championship. I was so happy with how I had done during the day that it still had not settled in, really. By the time I realised that I was playing the playoff, I had won it. So it was -- it's true.

GORDON SIMPSON: Where is Samantha now?

IGNACIO GARRIDO: Japan.

Q. What's her best result there?

IGNACIO GARRIDO: Believe it or not, she has made more money than me so far this year.

Q. Did you caddie for her once?

IGNACIO GARRIDO: The last time I caddied for her was Evian Masters last year. I caddied also in South Africa once for her.

Yeah, she's doing pretty well. Her best is third, I think. But she's been very consistent. I think she's been Top-10 like six times out of ten tournaments she's played, so very good.

Q. How much has she earned?

IGNACIO GARRIDO: Oh, I don't know. I know more than I have so far.

I think things are going to change today. (Laughing).

GORDON SIMPSON: Did she know you had won?

IGNACIO GARRIDO: She told me yesterday, "Just call me, just wake me up." I phoned her when I was practising before the playoff. She was half-asleep. She didn't know what was going on. She thought she was dreaming. Then now was the first time that I could contact her after the playoff. So, it's nice. A pity she's not here, but we'll enjoy it anyway.

Q. How long has she been your girlfriend?

IGNACIO GARRIDO: Oh, good question. I don't keep track of that, but three years.

Q. Did you think you might have thrown it away when you didn't get birdies on 17 or 18?

IGNACIO GARRIDO: To be honest, I didn't know what position I was in on the last three holes. I didn't look at the scoreboard on the last three holes. The last time I looked was the 15th. I knew I was in front, and especially when I birdied 16, I thought if I could get a birdie on any of those holes or both of them, fantastic. If not, just play consistent and make sure you don't give it way, and that's what I did. Obviously, Trevor finished so strongly. He finished birdie par, birdie, birdie, which is not something you expect under that pressure. So he did very well to catch me, but to be honest, I thought with a couple of pars, the tournament would be mine.

Q. Could you just clear up a couple of things in the book for us. Your martial arts, what does that do, does that smash bricks up? How many insects do you have?

IGNACIO GARRIDO: Let's go one by one.

The martial arts, far from breaking bricks, which obviously we can do, as well. But the main thing, it keeps me very fit and it keeps me flexible. Although I don't have that much time at the moment as I would like to practice it. But I know my routines and I still do them when I can. They help me physically but they also help me a lot mentally. It's a very, very good discipline to have. I've been very lucky to have a really good master all these years, and he's taught me a lot of things. Actually, he's taught me movements that I use for my golf, as well. So that's regarding the marshal art thing.

Q. Which martial art is it?

IGNACIO GARRIDO: Tae kwon do.

Q. How many bricks have you broken at once?

IGNACIO GARRIDO: I haven't done it with bricks. I've done it with pieces of wood, but nothing serious. I would break my hand first.

The insects, well, to be honest, I haven't done it for a long time now time now. It's something that takes time and is very relaxing. I really like nature, and when I have the chance, I go and enjoy nature. To do that insect thing, I got to a point when I thought, well, I don't even have time, the ones I collected, I didn't have time to prepare them. That's not nice. Since then, I have a collection at home but I haven't done it for a long time.

Q. And the sleeves?

IGNACIO GARRIDO: The sleeves, I've heard loads of stories about it. Some people have told me that I had skin cancer or something that I had to protect. The other one was that my arms were full of tattoos and that's why. And some other one said that I was very strong on the short-sleeve shirts. Loads of silly things, really, because the only reason is as simple as when I was younger and my father had got all of these clothes from La Coste, which I have always been with them. He never used the long-sleeve shirts. He didn't like them. I started using them and I got to like them a lot. Years later, I started feeling uncomfortable with the short-sleeve for some reason. I got used to and that's no other reason. Nowadays, sometimes I've practised with short sleeves at home and it feels strange. I thought, why doing it, I'm not any hotter when it's hot. I feel happy about it.

I'm not trying to be different or anything like that. It's just a habit that I just haven't changed.

Q. Do you think it was written in the stars in this of all weeks that a man who has figured on the LPGA TOUR should win here, given what was happening in America this week?

IGNACIO GARRIDO: Could be. You never know. Well, I don't know; if you believe in destiny, probably. But it has taken an awful lot of work, I can tell you that. If it was written, I'm glad it was written this way.

By the way, making a comment on that Annika thing, I was one of those that said, oh, she will have no chance, especially of performing decently. I have been with the girls; I play with my girlfriend so many times, and, well, she couldn't compete with me from the same tee.

I haven't seen Annika play, but I thought, well, she'll be better, but still not that good. I'm just so surprised. I'm incredibly proud of her. I think what she has done under the pressure that she's had is unbelievable. She's proven that she's a real No. 1.

Q. What would you expect now from the rest of the season after having won this?

IGNACIO GARRIDO: I'll take every day at a time, like I've done always.

I know that -- I think one of the main things is to stay in the present. It's as bad to look backwards saying, oh, I'm the PGA champion of 2003. And I won't look forward saying I'm going to win the next PGA.

I know I've been in this game for a long, long time; first with my father and then with my own game, so I know how tough it is, how much it can change. I come from missing two cuts in a row, if you want to know. So I can go out there next week and win or miss the cut again and probably feel the same way both ways. It's really nice to achieve such a big thing with all of the work that you put in this, but if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen.

I'm happy with my work and that's the main thing.

Q. Do you know how close your father came to winning this?

IGNACIO GARRIDO: I don't know. I can't tell you.

With me caddying, I think the best he finished was like 15th or something like that.

Q. You didn't caddie this event?

IGNACIO GARRIDO: Oh, yeah, this event.

Q. What year?

IGNACIO GARRIDO: Oh, you're making me feel very old now. I must have been 16 years old, 15.

Q. Any win is a great win, but to do it like this, the way that you've done it, with so many good players playing well, is it doubly sweet to have won it this way?

IGNACIO GARRIDO: Of course. As you said, I probably would be as happy with an 8-under par win.

When I look back and I look at my round today, and playing with Ernie, it gives a lot of confidence. It feels really sweet. As I said before, I might go out there the next week and shoot 78. It just went my way. And for some reason, I don't know why, I didn't feel -- I felt the pressure, but it wasn't a bad pressure. It's not the pressure that is telling you, don't, don't, don't miss that. It was a pressure of saying, yeah, this is important, but this is what you work for. Just enjoy it.

I was, since the beginning of the week, I was with my manager and we were talking about what goals to set. He always said from the beginning of the week, just enjoy it. When you play at home, you play so well just because you enjoy it. So just enjoy it.

I did at first today. The press conference after the first two days, I said the main thing was that I was enjoying. I said I would try to do the same thing, and I can tell you that it's probably the most difficult thing but I managed to do it. I would like to see how I looked on TV but I was really enjoying it.

As I said in the presentation, my caddie, Kevin, he's such a nice guy, such a great guy. The fact that I know that he doesn't care at all if we win or not makes it so easy. If you are with someone that you feel that it means the world to him, it's more pressure, but to Kevin, just seeing me playing there, relaxed, he enjoys it. So it was great. I'm happy for me but I'm really, really happy from him as well.

Q. To whom do you dedicate this victory?

IGNACIO GARRIDO: Well, I couldn't pick one person. To everyone, really. There are loads of people that have helped me, starting with Alvaro, just next to me; to my father; my uncle; Domingo, the guy that helped me with my swing; all my friends.

Sam has helped me so much. She has been telling me from the beginning of the year that my golf is there, I just needed a better mind. She gave me a little book like two weeks ago, and she said, look, this is all you need. Just practice less and read more and take what the book wants to tell you. I've done it and basically, the book is saying, well, look, enjoy yourself. Enjoy life. Enjoy life because you can enjoy the good and the bad, and things will come. It happened exactly that way.

If I had finished second today, if Trevor had eagled the last or something, obviously, I wouldn't be as happy, but I would be very, very happy as well, because it was a big step in my career.

The fact that I didn't throw it away, it would have felt like a win even if I wouldn't have won. It would have felt like I could do it any other time. So probably Sam is one of the persons that I would dedicate it to.

Q. What was the book?

IGNACIO GARRIDO: The book is called the Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. It's from Deepak Chopra.

To be honest, I haven't finished it yet. (Laughter.) It has seven and I only got to the fourth but they are really good.

Q. Did you expect great things of yourself after the Ryder Cup?

IGNACIO GARRIDO: That was a problem. That was absolutely a problem. When you expect -- you shouldn't expect anything, really. Especially in this game. You should just keep enjoying it, keep working and letting things happen. The fact that I expected a lot of myself put me under a lot of pressure. But also, it was good to know, to let me know that my swing wasn't up to it, that I needed to change. It took me two or three years to realise that I needed to change it, but it was good in that way. That probably was the difference today, I didn't expect to win. I didn't expect to beat Ernie. I didn't expect to be in a playoff, so every moment of it, I really, really enjoyed it. Probably that was the key.

Q. How well is your new swing working?

IGNACIO GARRIDO: To be honest, it's not 100%. But, that doesn't mean that when it's one hundred percent the scoring is going to be better.

One of the main differences this week has been the putting. I'm working for three months now, I've been working with David Wood. He's a professional, English professional. I was a bit lost with my putting, as well. I'll be working with him on getting more rhythm and getting more confidence on it. Everything came together this week, and the putter makes everything. I mean, I wouldn't say I have played better than Ernie today but I holed more putts and he didn't hole any. But that's golf. The putter is as important as the driver, so, as I said, I'm not 100%, but probably one of the things that I needed, it was confidence that it could work. I'm sure this is going to help it.

Q. How much did your win boost Spanish golf after what happened to Seve the last few days?

IGNACIO GARRIDO: I'm really, really sorry for what is happening with Seve. It really hurt me when I see him having those bad rounds. He's been playing better lately. He's been my childhood hero, you know. To see him suffering is not nice. I would like everyone to remember him as the great player he's been and the great character he's been. It's a pity these things are happening, but I hope everything changes and he gets into a better way.

Also, he was my captain at the Ryder Cup. He was fantastic. I owe him a lot for that. He gave me the chance to play and then supported me. It's nice when someone tells you, "look, I trust you, it doesn't matter if you do it or not, I trust you." It's really, really nice. He's one of the persons that has helped me and I really appreciate it.

I hope he starts playing better and if he doesn't, I hope things go nice for him.

GORDON SIMPSON: Well, you followed in his footsteps today. He was the last winner of a playoff here at Wentworth. Congratulations again and we well done on being the Volvo PGA champion. Thank you very much.

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