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MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 11, 2008

Nick Dougherty

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA

Q. Nice second round, yeah?
NICK DOUGHERTY: Yeah, I'm pretty pleased. I'll take it. I started to unfold a little bit on 12. I was looking at some serious trouble on 12 there. I hit it in the bushes there on the back of the green, hit a provisional which went in the water. And I found it myself on my like 4:26, I thought. And so that was fortunate. So, yeah, sure I would like to have done better. I did well -- I was a little bit flustered, I was also covered in bush.
But I came back and birdied 13, 14, 15, let down on 16 and birdied 17. So I showed a lot of good strength of mind to come back and finish strong. But even still I'm thankful for that little break. I can live with this and that.

Q. How many people were looking for the ball?
NICK DOUGHERTY: Not many because no one can get over. I'm sure lots of patrons would have been very pleased to come over there. Maybe they really wanted to come over, but they wouldn't allow them. But I'm very, very pleased. That 69 is a superb score, lovely to make the cut in my first Masters.

Q. And high up as well.
NICK DOUGHERTY: Yeah, it is. It's lovely. I'm shooting 69, I was looking at the stats for the guys who played here loads of times and some really good players have never broken 70 here. So to have already done that in my second go is fantastic and I'm very, very pleased with my resilience and also to be playing on the weekend.

Q. Did you have equal chances to go for the par-5s or did you lay up?
NICK DOUGHERTY: No, I haven't, I haven't gone for, I went for 15, not really on 15, I started it right at the green at the grand stand and left myself an easy chip there.
13, I laid up both times. Could have gone for a 3-iron in, but on the back of what happened on 12, I laid up and hit my 64 degree and took my chances. I hit a lovely shot in and made birdie.
I actually ended up on 8 in two.
But, yeah, on 2 I ought to reach in two anyway. To get on there it's really difficult though. But, no I think my strategy's working pretty well.

Q. What do you find the most difficult hole on the course?
NICK DOUGHERTY: That's a tough one. I think that No. 9s really tough. Especially today. I had 6-iron in from 205 and it shouldn't really have been in the middle of the green, it's rock hard there. It's only going to get harder as well. Off that slope I hit a great shot and it still went through the back and I had to make an amazing up-and-down. So that hole is really difficult.
7s a really tough golf hole. And I think 10 and 11. 10 is such a tough hole, even if you hit a great tee shot, hitting in off that slope, it's tough. All of them are tough in their own way because if you hit a bad shot they're all difficult.

Q. What about the 11th, because that appears to be --
NICK DOUGHERTY: 11, I hit it four feet there. I pulled it. But, that is, I mean a driver, 4-iron in there today. Any time you're hitting a club like that and it's quite a narrow fairway there, compared to the width of most of them here. And then the change in elevation and the wind that's swirling and the pond down there, it's not easy, obviously.

Q. Where was your ball in there?
NICK DOUGHERTY: It was in a bush. I had to, to be fair I was even looking at making double anyway. But I just, I went back up the hill and I dropped down in the pine straw and just chipped it over, really. I didn't want to chance it running in the water. So I just chipped it over the rubbish just off the back edge and then a chip and a putt. So five was a good score really considering where I hit it off the tee. I was first off that hole. So I'm not looking forward to tomorrow on that one.

Q. What did you use?
NICK DOUGHERTY: An 8-iron. It should have been into it and like 148 into the wind, into the hole, and the thing flew comfortably 20 yards over the flag. And as soon as I hit it you could see the thing just go down there.
And I'm not sure what the tactic is. I asked Nick Faldo about it and Nick kind of said you got to just kind of, you know, commit to something and hopefully you're right. You know, it's difficult because the wind really does swirl down there.

Q. Did you get it on the down slope?
NICK DOUGHERTY: Oh, well, yeah, if only for that reason.

Q. With all the boys up there, you being under par as well, does this make a statement about how talented the new generation of Englishmen is?
NICK DOUGHERTY: I think there's a lot of really good English players coming through. I'm kind of the back of that. I'm also the youngest, but it's great to be with those guys, to be in the same group of those guys is a real honor because they're superb players.
Especially Justin, I think he's verging on being world class at the moment. He just needs a little kick on and something is going to happen for him, because is he a world class golfer.

Q. Are you convinced that it's a matter of time, that it's a when rather than if?
NICK DOUGHERTY: Oh, it will be. It will happen, yeah. Inevitably. There are too many, if it was one guy, you know, like Nick, I mean don't get me wrong, Nick won a bunch, but if it was one guy, you know who knows, because great players sometimes don't win Majors.
But with so many I just think it's got to be. Whether it be this year, in two years, five years time. I'm hopefully going to win Major championships, but you get five of us and there's more coming through, actually Simon Dyson and stuff like that, you've got to think that there's going to be a few Majors between us.

Q. If you were a betting man and you weren't allowed to bet on yourself, which would be the first one?
NICK DOUGHERTY: Justin. I have a soft spot for Justin because I love the way he plays golf. I think he's a great personality as well. I think his persona, his discipline, he's superb. He's world class, in my opinion. So if it not going to be me, I would like to see Justin do it first. But to be fair, any of those guys are worthy.

End of FastScripts

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