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IRISH OPEN

May 18, 2008

Richard Finch

ADARE, IRELAND

MICHAEL GIBBONS: Richard, congratulations, Irish Open champion, 2008. Start off with how that feels for you and then we'll go from there.
RICHARD FINCH: I'm still in shock, really. It's one of those things that all day -- well, last night and this morning and all the time when I'm playing you're sort of trying not to thinking about winning and don't want to get ahead of yourself.
I was delighted how I played, really. My swing from a sort of technical point of view didn't feel brilliant, as it were, but I think mentally I was delighted with how calm I felt, how in control I felt, and managed to capitalise on most of the opportunities I created, or if I did come a bit unstuck I managed to hole a good putt to recover.
You know, until the third shot on the 18th I felt quite calm and in control, and then (laughing) it all went into a bit of a blur, really.
MICHAEL GIBBONS: Your swing looked fine, it was your balance, I think.
RICHARD FINCH: Yeah, I never really -- when I was walking down there I had a little feeling that I might have just sort of hit it too hard with my second shot. But when I got there, I thought, well, it looks fine, I've got room to swing and I can get my stance, and I never really gave falling in a thought, to be honest. Never entered my mind.
I think it was probably just with the momentum I had from hitting the shot, it sort of happened before I knew it, really. But luckily I managed to get decent contact on the ball, which was the only thing I was really bothered about at the time, and it was nice to just see that on the green.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RICHARD FINCH: I didn't know. I had a situation where it was Bradley to play but was waiting for the green, so I had sort of walked ahead to have a look where it was, and then I went back, and he said, look, he was waiting for the green, so I played. So I had a feeling it might just run through into the rough, but I never thought it would have gone into the hazard.

Q. Can you talk us through the sequence of the shot...
RICHARD FINCH: I didn't really have a chance to see anything. I mean, I sort of -- I'm trying to think, really. As I hit the shot, I knew straight away I had sort of made decent contact. I don't know whether I slipped or went round with momentum. I'm not sure at all. And then the next thing I sort of just was gradually falling down the bank, which -- it was a case of, well, I kept trying to follow the ball, but obviously then I looked up and saw it on the green, and I was sort the in a bit of shock of, my God, what have I done (laughter)?

Q. did you see the ball landing on the green before you hit the water?
RICHARD FINCH: Oh, no, no. I would think the ball was about, I don't know, 20 feet from me when I probably landed in the water, so no, I didn't sort of see the flight of the ball at all. I just knew as soon as I had hit it I had made quite good contact with it in terms of the ball and the club, but I didn't have a clue where it finished until I sort of got in the water and then I had a bit of a rough time to get out because it was quite a steep bank and my feet were quite well in the mud. Luckily my caddie pulled me out.

Q.
RICHARD FINCH: Yeah, because I sort of finished up in the water to my sort of waist, and then I saw it on the green, so then I knew it was on dry land, which was obviously the main thing at the time. It was just about a foot on the green on the front left. I was playing for the left part of the green anyway just to try to get it on the green, and I wasn't really in a sort of position to try and make a birdie from.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RICHARD FINCH: To a certain degree, yeah. Going across the bridge, I ended up saying to my caddie, right, how many have I got? So I hadn't really -- I just tried to play my own game and play the course rather than -- I wanted to know the situation and I was aware that Felipe Aguilar had birdied the 18th and finished 8-under, so I knew I was in quite a good position, obviously, and just trying not to do anything silly, really. I sort of didn't in a way, I suppose, but falling in wasn't quite part of the plan.

Q. did you hear the crowd laughing?
RICHARD FINCH: I didn't really hear anything, I was just sort of absolutely dumbstruck, really. I didn't have a chance to really hear. I can't remember anything what I heard, to be honest.

Q. When the player fell in at the Presidents Cup, were you watching on TV at that particular moment?
RICHARD FINCH: I did see the event afterwards. I can't remember the guy's name, but one of the American team fell in, but I didn't see it live at the time sort of thing. I saw it -- I don't know.

Q. That didn't come into your mind as you fell in?
RICHARD FINCH: No, never entered my head at all, no. I just did think, my God, it's going to take a while to live this one down.

Q. Are you going to go to Walton Heath tomorrow?
RICHARD FINCH: It depends whether I get my flight tonight, really. I had planned of sort of have a practise round there before the qualifying on the 3rd of June. But I'll just have to see how the travel plans work out. I don't know yet, really.

Q. Can you Swim and did you ever fear for your safety?
RICHARD FINCH: I never had a chance to think about it. Pretty much once I had gone in, I pretty much got into a stance. It wasn't like I was sort of staggering around or anything like that, but I can swim, or I used to be able to anyway.

Q. Were you a good swimmer as a kid?
RICHARD FINCH: Yeah, I was all right swimming-wise. I didn't do it sort of competitively or anything. I just had swimming lessons as a kid. It was just a case of -- yeah, I'd have been all right; I wasn't fearing for my safety.

Q. Was the water very cold?
RICHARD FINCH: I don't think anyone had switched the heating on, put it that way, but it wasn't too cold.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RICHARD FINCH: Oh, massive, yeah. I was obviously aware that it would probably have -- I was thinking last night if today had panned out how I hoped it would, then, yeah, I obviously thought that things may change in my outlook in the coming months and what have you. But obviously I had not looked into that in any way, shape or form. I didn't want to sort of tempt fate and start thinking, well, if this happens, then that happens or anything else.
I'll probably have to sit down when things have calmed down a bit and have a look at different things. But you know, I'm delighted to have won, really. It's nice, obviously -- winning four or five months ago was absolutely superb, and to follow that up with another win in Europe with such a strong field is brilliant, and I'm delighted.

Q. How did you find the course?
RICHARD FINCH: Very good. I mean, I came over last year so I knew sort of what to expect. Obviously it was brutal last year with the weather and with the length of the rough, and I think the rough was a lot more fair, if that's probably the best way of putting it. It was a decent length where you had a chance of a shot rather than just having to chip it out sort of like you did last year.
But overall it was brilliant. I do think in the afternoon on probably the Thursday and the Friday the greens really dried out, and with having such thick rough around the greens that made it very difficult because you've got very little control over the ball anyway, and with firm, slopy greens as well, it's a pretty difficult combination. So it played very tough; there's no getting away from that. But it's a superb venue.

Q. Between the time of I guess it was Pula and the time of your win in New Zealand, have you made any changes?
RICHARD FINCH: Not really, no. If anything, the changes I made were prior to Pula, really, and I didn't make anything drastic. I just was at the point where I had played over a year's golf poorly, really, and it wasn't one particular part of my game that was sort of suffering. It was pretty much everything; confidence, as well.
So with the help of my management team and the people around me, I've put together a sort of good -- what I feel is a good team of people to help get me back on track. And all of a sudden, you sort of snowball really. Once you get the rock moving a little bit, it seems to move a bit easier, so things have sort of snowballed.

Q. What are you doing better now than you were doing?
RICHARD FINCH: Everything. That is the honest answer. I mean, your stroke obviously speaks for itself, but in terms of driving, I feel like I'm driving it a lot better, my irons are a lot better and my short game is a lot better and my putting is a lot better. And also mentally, in New Zealand it was a really nerve-wracking time, but today mentally I felt so much more in control and a lot calmer, and I was aware of the situation. I felt as though I was in control and I was aware that people were going to make birdies and other things, and I just played my own game and tried to stick in there, really.

Q. Ryder Cup possibility?
RICHARD FINCH: Possibly. As I said earlier to the guys on Sky, they mentioned the Ryder Cup and everything else, but realistically from my point of view, unless you're playing in the majors and the World Golf Championships and contend in those, I think that's a bit too far down the line for me at the minute because I haven't played in a major or a World Golf Championship yet.
I do think in order to qualify, in order to justify playing on the team, you've got to be playing and competing in those, looking at winning them. And obviously my immediate goal was to try and qualify for those. That's what -- since New Zealand when I won, I've put a greater emphasis on trying to do things differently and try and qualify for my first major, which was the reason I was heading straight to Walton Heath tomorrow originally, and then accompany down there in the afternoon.
My outlook will probably change when I sit down and have a look at things. Obviously my schedule might, as well, and things like that. But it's not something that I've really had a chance to think about at the minute.

Q. I was wondering what your lie was like?
RICHARD FINCH: As I was walking down it became apparent it was pretty close to the edge. I saw some of the TV guys, the commentators sort of walking over and having a look, so I had a rough idea that it was quite close to the edge.
You know, realistically my aim was obviously to get it on the green, give myself the biggest chance rather than chipping it out backwards and everything else. When I saw them looking, I thought, oh, it looks all right. And then when I got to the ball I had a sort of practise stance, if you knew what I mean, and I had room and I could get at it, so from then on it never occurred to me to chip out, no.

Q. Have you ever fallen in the water before?
RICHARD FINCH: Never.

Q. Don't suppose you have any Irish blood in you?
RICHARD FINCH: No, afraid not, no. I did think when I say Gary made it after I had played sort of three or four holes I saw him sort of tied for the lead, and I did think, my God (laughing). But I was pleased for him to have such a good week. He's such a nice guy. Maybe it's the Guinness rubbed off on me.

Q. No Irish granny or anything...
RICHARD FINCH: I don't think so, not that I'm aware of.
MICHAEL GIBBONS: Richard, congratulations again. Well done.

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