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BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 24, 2008

Oliver Wilson

VIRGINIA WATER, ENGLAND

STEVE TODD: Thanks for coming in, Oliver. Tough conditions for you today. Are you happy with that round.
OLIVER WILSON: Reasonably happy, yeah. Still in contention and still there roundabouts. It's possible to win from there so reasonably happy in the conditions. It was rough out there.
STEVE TODD: You've been in second place before and you know all about this, so it would be nice to build on it tomorrow and go one better.
OLIVER WILSON: Yeah, you know, from what everyone is telling me, it's going to be pretty rough tomorrow, so it's just going to be a complete grind and a bit of a war out there with the course, so result-wise, you know, I'm just going to -- I think there's too much going on otherwise than to think of the results. So I've just got to go out there and try and play my game and, you know, all of the clichÃ©s and see what happens. It was draining out there today. I'm worn out, so better get my rest and get ready for another fight tomorrow I think.
STEVE TODD: And the birdie opportunity on the last, frustrating not to pick up a shot.
OLIVER WILSON: Yeah, I hit a great second shot. It was a bit risky and I decided to take it onto give myself a chance good look at the green. Hit a good chip and I thought it was stone dead to be honest and just ran six-foot past. The Wentworth greens got me on the last so, it was a bit of a shame. But I can't be too disappointed.
I had a few good breaks out there and a few bad ones, but all in all, I'm pretty happy.
STEVE TODD: Do you want to just talk us through your card?
OLIVER WILSON: Yeah, first two holes, really solid. I had two birdie chances. Third, I 3-putted that. I hit driver into the trap on the right, hit a 6-iron on to the front, pitched in to the slope and came back, was a bit unlucky and 3-putted. A bit of a shame.
At 5, I hit a great shot in, just allowing for the greens to be firm like they have been, and I think they have been watered maybe a bit excessively and it just stopped right on the front and hit a pretty good shot and ended up leaving myself about a 50,60 -foot putt down the slope and hit the putt about four or five foot past the hole and hit a another good putt and it went completely opposite way I thought it was. So a bit unlucky there really.
7, hit a nice little Heavenwood in a perfect position and hit a three-quarter sand wedge to 12-foot and made three which was nice, sort of stead he'd me down and got me going back the right way.
13, I hit eight horrendous drive. Got really lucky, went nowhere and had a half decent lie in the rough and hit a great Heavenwood to about 20-foot into the middle of the green with it being downwind, so really lucky and just missed my eagle putt. I hit a good putt and misread it and tapped in for birdie.
15, those last four holes were playing really hard. I hit a decent drive but it just went in the left trap and then I tried to hit -- I was in between 3-iron and Heavenwood and chose Heavenwood and topped it and it bounced out of the hazard actually which was the big break. I had about a 20-footer for par after pitching on and missing that, so that was a shame.
16, hit a great 3-wood off the tee, prime position, so just tried to pitch-and-run a 9-iron off the green and it wasn't a shank but it wasn't very pretty. It was a bit thin and missed the green right and got really unlucky. It went right on the edge of the trap and did the circle of death and finished on the downslope in the back edge of the trap and so I had nothing and thinned it out over the back of the green which was about all I could do and played a fantastic little chip down stone dead. So it was a good five in the end but really frustrating from where I was on the fairway.
17, probably the best hole I played all day. Fantastic drive after the last two efforts. Hit it a long way down there for the way it's playing today. And hit a low, hooking 3-wood to about ten yards short of the green, so two really, really good shots, especially after bogey, bogey.
Hit just a little chip up the green with a lob-wedge to about three or four foot and tapped it in for birdie. So that was really big, as well.
STEVE TODD: That one could prove vital come tomorrow.
OLIVER WILSON: Yeah, I felt like I needed after 15 and 16, I needed to pick something up on the last two, and to be honest, I fancied sort of picking it up on 18 more than 17. It was playing pretty tough, so to pick it up on 17, I sort of thought I was in a good position there on 18 and would have been fantastic to make that on 18. If I had birdied the last as well, that would have been a great round and in slightly better position.
But, you know, happy days I suppose and reasonably happy with that.

Q. What do you think the real par was out there today?
OLIVER WILSON: Today, I don't know, I'd have to say 75, somewhere around there. It was pretty tough. I was astonished at seeing a few scores under par, like 3- and 4-under a few guys shot which is incredible out there. Some playing, that is.

Q. Because normally on this course, you've got the wind behind you coming in from 13. 15 was a brutal hole?
OLIVER WILSON: Yeah, and they moved the tee up as well. And I was really pleased with the drive I hit, just a few yards too far left and in the trap and I still had 220 yards to the flag. And it's the narrowest tee shot on the course, so it's a pretty tough hole, that. It was weird because it was always changing slightly. I guess it was funneling down the holes through the trees and it just makes it brutal. You get a little bit of sidespin on the ball, and it's off. Obviously that back nine is pretty tight, so every shot is hard.

Q. Are you fitter than foul; have you seen the results?
OLIVER WILSON: It was personal (laughter). They didn't show me the results. They mentioned that Nick had been in working pretty hard in there. I actually don't know. The sub-VO2 test was the one he was comparing us all on and I think I fared quite well on that, but he wouldn't give me the exact results but I'm not sure. Maybe just ahead of him but that's guessing.

Q. So Faldo gets all the results and you don't get to see them; is that how it works?
OLIVER WILSON: I get the results in a few weeks when they have put it all together. Yeah, I don't know exactly the results at the moment. It would be interesting to maybe have a little table. But I was reasonably happy with mine. Especially it was doing it on the Monday after the last tournament, so it was a tiring week.

Q. You're likely to go out second-to-last group, would you say it's going to be a grind?
OLIVER WILSON: Yeah, I'm really, really pleased I'm in contention this week. Like I said yesterday, it's great to be in contention in those other weeks, but this is the one, apart from the majors, this is the biggest tournament that I'm going to play this year. It's great to be in contention in a tournament like this. It's something I've wanted to do. It's just sort of another step up.
And I was pleased with how I played today. I went out, I was in contention, and you know, I'm still in contention after a tough day. So I was pleased.
You know, I feel like I belong there and I feel like I can compete out there and tomorrow, I'm looking forward to going out and seeing what I can do. If I can just get a little bit more comfortable with my swing, I would be very confident to be able to shoot a low number out there. But even in the conditions, to be honest.

Q. How do you do in wet weather?
OLIVER WILSON: I don't really play in it much. I've done all right in the wet weather. I don't exactly enjoy it. It's just hard work. It's just grind, grind, grind, all day, and if there's wind with the rain, then it will be horrible. So hopefully I'll be good tomorrow.

Q. With what happened to McGinley today and Karlsson now having the four-shot lead, with the way the course is playing, do you think you can close the gap on the clubhouse leader?
OLIVER WILSON: Yeah, you know, I think there's certain holes -- you've got to play well all 18 holes out there. But there are certain holes that are pretty big and if you can hit good shots, you know, you can do that. Rob showed today that you can go out and catch people if you shoot a good score. Obviously it depends on tomorrow a lot. But you know, it's not easy out there. And if you are not quite on, it's easy to make some scores.
Just all I can do tomorrow, again, is try and put a bit of pressure on him really, if I can just try and grind it out, get 2- or 3-under, depending on the weather, whatever the weather throws at us. But if I can get it under par, you know, if it's going to be anything like today, you know, if I shoot under par, I don't think it will be too far away. I'll certainly be right in there.
With those last few holes, as tough as they do play in the wind, there's chances. You can do some magical things on those last three holes. So if I can get on 16 tee maybe, you know, within a few shots, you never know. You can easily finish 3-4-4, 3-3-3 depending on how it's playing. You still have to hit the shots but it's possible and you can pick up some shots on the last few holes.
STEVE TODD: Thanks a lot, Oliver.

End of FastScripts

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