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SMURFIT EUROPEAN OPEN

June 30, 2005

Trevor Immelman

STRAFFAN, IRELAND

SCOTT CROCKETT: Trevor, thanks as always for coming in. A good start to the morning and the tournament. Just talk us through the morning. What was good today?

TREVOR IMMELMAN: Really putted well, which hasn't really been the trend, so that was really nice. I had the last couple of weeks off in the States and focused a lot of time on my putting. You know, it was a fantastic feeling to see a few go in the hole.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Take us through your details, you started on 10, a rather adventurous first hole.

TREVOR IMMELMAN: Yeah, I didn't hit a very good tee shot at all into the trees on the left. I was probably lucky that it even stayed in play and managed to hack something down there and hit a 3 iron to five feet and actually missed it. Putt for birdie would have been the best 4 of my life. Yeah, I just tried to kind of gather myself and just try to hit a few good shots from there. I made a couple nice par saves and birdieing 17, 18 and 1 got me going.

SCOTT CROCKETT: 15, your sixth hole.

TREVOR IMMELMAN: Yeah, I hit a drive in the fairway and a 5 iron to about six feet and holed that one in.

17, I hit a drive and an 8 iron to about ten feet and rolled that one in.

18, I hit a driver and 5 wood to 18 feet and 2 putted.

1, I hit a driver and 8 iron to about three feet.

4, driver and 3 wood just short of the green.

5, I actually hit probably my best tee shot of the day down the fifth, and I hit about three inches behind the ball with a 5 iron. Ball came up probably 35, 40 yards short of the green. Hit a nice chip and good putt from ten feet and missed.

Next hole I hit a driver and 6 iron to about 12 feet.

The last was a really nice drive and a wedge to about maybe 15 feet.

Q. Did you have to call for a ruling?

TREVOR IMMELMAN: I was about to. I had called for a ball and the guys came running out of the fence to there to tell me that they found my ball.

Q. How far off was it?

TREVOR IMMELMAN: Probably 2 1/2 yards maybe.

Q. Everybody was it yesterday saying how the driving on this course is tough.

TREVOR IMMELMAN: Yeah, mostly I kept it in play. That's 100% correct. You have to find the fairway off the tee. The rough is very penal, especially with holding a bit of moisture, you're not going to get too much club face on the ball very often. So, yeah, you need to definitely keep it in play.

Q. Disappointed not to play in the U.S. Open?

TREVOR IMMELMAN: Yeah, it was very disappointing for me. Obviously I can't blame anybody but myself. My results haven't been good enough and I fell outside the Top 50. I missed the pre Q by one shot after the Memorial, so that was a bitter pill. But hopefully I have a lot more U.S. Opens to look forward to, and I'm already really looking forward to the Open Championship at the Old Course. It's going to be probably the highlight of my career.

Q. Do you feel your game is suited to the majors?

TREVOR IMMELMAN: Yeah, I don't think I've played enough majors to really tell you yet. I've played the majority of my golf on The European Tour here and played the Old Course and links courses quite a lot, so I feel quite comfortable. This year I think I proved to myself that, you know, I can get it around Augusta, as well.

I would like to think that my game could suit most golf courses; it's just a matter of trying to fit everything together on a given week.

Q. Was there anything in particular you were working on?

TREVOR IMMELMAN: I wasn't very lucky with the weather. We had a lot of rain over there so I spent most of my time indoors, but the time we had some sunshine I worked hard on my short game.

I really focused on my putting. I went back in the stats, I've been taking more than one putt per round than what I have in the three previous years. I felt like I putted pretty good. I identified that as my weakness, so I spent a lot of time on it, you know just trying to keep the rest of my game in shape, as well.

Q. Any thoughts of playing on the U.S. Tour?

TREVOR IMMELMAN: You know, I don't really think I know yet. I think I need to get on the U.S. Tour before I can make that decision. I've had a go the last three years trying to go over there and play and I haven't had too much success, apart from the Masters and the NEC where I finished ninth a couple of years ago. But I'm happy playing in Europe here right now and if the chance presents itself that I can get on the U.S. Tour, then I'll have to decide on that. Right now I'm just trying to get some good results in.

Q. Michael Campbell gave it a go a couple of years ago and found he wasn't comfortable; do you feel like that when you are over there?

TREVOR IMMELMAN: Well, I think it's a little different for Michael. If I may speak on his behalf, I think it's a little different for him because he's got two kids and that makes things a little more interesting with both of them starting to go to school. I've been married a year and a half and we don't have any children, so I think it would be a lot easier for me to move over there.

Also, I've spent a lot of time there from when I was a junior, playing amateur golf and all the way through into professional golf. So, you know, I'm quite comfortable. We have a home in Florida and we enjoy spending time there.

Q. Will you be going to Loch Lomond next week?

TREVOR IMMELMAN: Absolutely. Playing the next four. Looking forward to that, too. I didn't have too much luck at that golf course last time we were there, but hopefully I can have a good week.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Trevor, well done.

End of FastScripts.

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