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IRISH OPEN

May 18, 2008

Richard Finch

ADARE, IRELAND

Q. Richard, we used to see players jump into the lake when they've won. You decided to go early; why was that?
RICHARD FINCH: It wasn't a choice, really. I never even thought about it, to be honest. Obviously it was a bit of an awkward stance, but I felt as though -- thought possibly of chipping out sort of backwards and then hitting the next one on the green, but I never gave falling in a thought.
It must have been the momentum on the follow-through because the club actually was -- it was a three-quarter shot, and the momentum just took me around and in.

Q. With the ball that far above your feet and that much loft, it can go dead left on you. Did that cross your mind?
RICHARD FINCH: No, not at all. The one thing I was worried about more than anything was hitting the ground first, so once I got a good strike on the ball I was pleased. I was sort of playing to the left-hand side of the green, so it was a situation, where I was sort of thing. So I just tried to knock it on the green, which I sort of did in a way. But I didn't really envision falling.

Q. Irish Open champion, how does that sound?
RICHARD FINCH: It hasn't really sunk in at the moment. Obviously delighted at how I've played all day, really. Swing didn't feel great, didn't feel like I was striking the ball absolutely brilliantly, but I was really pleased with how I was mentally. I felt calm, felt in control, and holed some good putts when I really needed to.

Q. Were the emotions down the stretch much different to when you won in New Zealand?
RICHARD FINCH: A lot different, yeah. You know, I really tried to keep going forward this time. Again, it's similar in some ways, but I think my own emotions, I was a lot calmer, I felt a lot more in control. You know, I was pleased with how I played.

Q. Great crowds out there. Tell us about the atmosphere from your point of view.
RICHARD FINCH: Yeah, it was brilliant, really good all week. Obviously the weather the first three days was absolutely superb and a lot of people came out to watch, and it's such a lovely venue, which it's great to have so many people out here, and it's a real good atmosphere.

Q. Seven months ago you're looking like you're losing your licence, you might not even have a job; now you've won twice. How do you explain that?
RICHARD FINCH: I wish I knew. You know, obviously it's just one of those things that sort of snowballs, really. At the minute I'm on an up, after 18 months of golf being poor, but the good thing was I kept -- everything else in my life was pretty good, and I just tried to keep my golf and think of it as only golf, and when it turns around, these are the good times and you've got to enjoy them, so I'm delighted.

Q. You've never played in a major championship. This is almost certain to get you into the Open through one of the Order of Merit systems. How does that feel?
RICHARD FINCH: Absolutely delighted. That was a goal this year, and I was playing on playing Walton Heath tomorrow morning as practise for my U.S. Open qualifying. Obviously I'm not aware of quite what that means in terms of qualifications for different tournaments and what have you, but I tried not to look into it last night. I knew if I could play well and keep doing the things on the golf course then everything else would take care of itself.

Q. What about the Ryder Cup?
RICHARD FINCH: Yeah, that's a long way down the line for me at the minute. It's not something I've really thought about, really. I think in terms of playing in that, you need to be playing in majors and competing and looking at winning majors. I'll settle for getting in them to start with, and hopefully down the line the Ryder Cup will become a possibility.

End of FastScripts

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