|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
THE CELTIC MANOR WALES OPENJune 1, 2008Darren ClarkeNEWPORT, WALES Q. As a man who shot 60 twice in his career, when you were 5-under after 7, did you think, here we go again? DARREN CLARKE: Not really. Obviously I knew I was playing okay, but I didn't want to get too far ahead of myself until I saw what was going on. I hit it very close the first few holes and made the most of it. Unfortunately just a couple of so-so tee shots and paid the penalty for it. Q. Could you believe what you were seeing on the leaderboard? DARREN CLARKE: Still can't believe it. I looked up and thought I was doing okay, and those guys were making birdies all over the place. The course is not that easy, but they are obviously making it look very easy. Q. Was the tee shot at 13 evidence of pushing it too hard? DARREN CLARKE: Yeah, the pin was on the right and the wind was coming off the right and I was trying to hold off a 5-iron and got ahead of it and made the mistake and hit it in the water there. But I was very comfortable with what I was trying to do all day and hit an awful lot of really, really good shots again. So, looking forward to next week in Austria. Q. The fact you bounced back so well from the disappointment, evidence the temperament is getting better? DARREN CLARKE: If you look at my stats this year, my bounce-back this year has been better than it's been in a long, long time, and so taking things on the chin and getting on with it. Had a chance of birdieing 14 straight after and missed it and made it from six feet on 15. My game is in good shape and I'm very happy, a couple of things I need to work on but overall I'm very pleased. Q. Having played a round like that, are you slightly disappointed that you are not going to be going to U.S. Open? DARREN CLARKE: No, I'm committed to Austria. To get myself -- I'm disappointed, yes, that I'm not in the U.S. Open and I would have arranged my schedule accordingly but before that, subsequently Austria has been in my schedule and I can't do it. It's disappointing. I wouldn't have got back till Monday night, and you guys know, you all have been to the U.S. Open and you know how difficult it is and if you're not prepared properly, it's a very difficult week, let alone trying to get over jet-lag and getting proper practise in and I wouldn't be able to do that. Q. Has your putting come on in a big way the last two or three days? DARREN CLARKE: The whole week has provided me with an awful lot of positives. I'm very pleased with the direction with which my golf is going at the minute, and I've got to tighten up a couple of things, and, you know, I'll be all right. Apart from my tee shot on 13, where I probably got a little too aggressive and I paid the penalty for it and hit an awful lot of good shots this week. Q. What's your schedule? DARREN CLARKE: I'm playing Austria and I think I'm playing BMW, and then I've got a run again. So hopefully I've got to do what I can do to make sure I'm exempt for The Open, and if not I'll qualify for The Open. We'll see. I want to play, and especially the way I've been playing I want to keep on playing. Last week was just a little bit of a blip at Wentworth I believe. Q. Going the right direction? DARREN CLARKE: Definitely, yeah, it's okay. Q. What do you look at first, World Ranking or Ryder Cup standings? DARREN CLARKE: I don't actually really look at either of them now. To tell you the truth, I don't look at them. I know I have to do more of what I've done this week, and that will take care of it. Whenever I start edging back towards the Top-50, then I'll look. Q. Talking about the way your bouncing back has improved, do you have to physically say something to yourself to not get annoyed? DARREN CLARKE: No, life's getting better, basically. It's all right. Q. When was the last time you were this busy, schedule this full? DARREN CLARKE: Long time ago, quite some time. A lot of it is through probably -- 90 per cent of it is through desire and ten per cent of it is through necessity. So there's more desire than necessity which is a good thing. It would be bad if it was the other way around. Q. You were putting in a lot of hard work on Tuesday and Wednesday. DARREN CLARKE: I do every week. Q. Maybe more than ever? DARREN CLARKE: Same as normal. Same as usual. Got to keep on doing what I'm doing, and hopefully there's another win or two around the corner pretty soon. Q. The bad shot on par 3, is it just one curse and get on with it or -- DARREN CLARKE: I actually laughed at it. I actually laughed at it this time. I don't always, but I did this time. Q. The club looked like it was going to go for a moment. DARREN CLARKE: It was a bad shot, and I played a great shot from the drop zone and I hit a really good putt that didn't go in. We all make mistakes. Q. How long has it been since you've had such an appetite for the game? DARREN CLARKE: Quite some time. Very, very long time. My appetite's never really been diminished, but it's been difficult because I haven't played the way I want to play; but my appetite has not diminished. I'm now hitting the ball very, very close to the way I want to hit the ball. Q. Maybe enthusiasm is a better word than appetite? DARREN CLARKE: Yeah, exactly. End of FastScripts |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|