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THE BARCLAYS

August 24, 2008

Sergio Garcia

PARAMUS, NEW JERSEY

CHRIS REIMER: Want to welcome Sergio GarcÃa to the media center. About as exciting as a playoff can get there. Just start off by talking about the 18th hole and maybe work our way through 17 from there.
SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, you know, obviously right where I wanted to be, you know, with a chance at winning The Barclays. I hit a great tee shot on 18. Vijay followed it very, very nicely after me. We both hit decent shots. Obviously mine, I pulled it just slightly and it caught the ridge, probably to about, I don't know, 25 feet or so. And Vijay hit a very similar shot, but to the right to probably 24 feet. So I hit a great putt, it just snuck in on the left side, and I knew at that time that obviously Vijay still had to putt, but I had a chance, and for sure, I wasn't going to be out of the playoff.
And then he followed it unbelievably, holed that putt after I did, and then he just played a really solid 17th hole. You know, again, he did it in regulation and he played it pretty much exactly the same way in the playoff.
Unfortunately I turned my driver just a little too much. I didn't think it was that bad. Obviously it clipped the tree and kind of spun a little bit to the left and didn't get the best of lies. I just couldn't turn it. I was trying to hit like a hokey 6-iron to leave myself a sand wedge into the green and tried to make birdie and maybe make the putt for eagle.
Unfortunately it came out straight. I got stymied behind the tree and I got lucky because I got a draw because of some gopher holes or whatever it was, whatever you guys call it. And then I didn't hit a good chip and unfortunately Vijay hit a good putt stone dead.
CHRIS REIMER: You put yourself in really good position going into the Playoffs; probably what you wanted at the beginning of the week.
SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, obviously you want to win, and for this week, it was even more special with everything that happened in Spain with the plane crash and with my Godmother losing her brother on Monday, I really wanted to win and dedicate the victory to everybody in Spain. I hope they feel good about the second place and I definitely gave it my best shot.

Q. Are you getting tired of watching guys put putts in on you? Same thing happened at Oakland Hills when Harrington was doing everything.
SERGIO GARCIA: Well, it happens. What can you do? You can't take it the wrong way. I think the most important thing about it is that I keep putting myself in a good position, and unfortunately somebody just seems to be able to come up with some spectacular playing when I'm out there on top. I felt like I played solid all week. I got a couple bad breaks here and there that maybe would have made the difference, and a couple good ones here and there, too.
At the end of the day, I had a shot. That's what you ask yourself for, and Vijay just came out with the goods and you've just got to give hats off to him.

Q. I know you guys exchanged high-fives after he rolled in putts on that first hole, but what are you thinking as that ball is rolling towards the hole?
SERGIO GARCIA: What am I thinking? Well, as I saw it, I knew it was looking really good. It looked like he was maybe struggling a little bit with speed, but it seemed to speed up quite a bit after he got over the hump. But you know, when it was probably four feet short of the hole, I knew it had a really good chance of going in.
Vijay is a good friend of mine, and, you know, we enjoy each other's company. You know, if I couldn't win, I'm happy that he did I guess.

Q. The lie on 16 in the rough there, was that a horrific lie? Was that the best you could do out of there?
SERGIO GARCIA: Well, first of all, I mean, coming off the tee, I thought my drive was going to be in the fairway, and I thought, you know, maybe first cut at the worst.
Obviously I had a hundred yards to the front, and I wasn't -- I was trying to hit it at the middle of the green, and I thought, just forget about the pin, you can't go at it with this lie, because even if you fly it over the bunkers, there's no chance you're stopping it.
I hit a full sand wedge that I usually hit 120 yards, so that's how bad it was. I only managed to fly it probably 85 yards. I didn't want to hit more club because if it comes out a little bit, I can fly it straight over the green, and you never know. I was just trying to make four.
I feel like I hit a good putt. I mean, I saw Jason Day's putt coming down the hill. It was exactly on the same line as mine. His ball never broke to the left and I was thinking probably right edge and when I saw his ball, I thought, well, I'll hit it a little bit straighter. It just seemed to move a little bit to the left and miss.
I made a good four on 17 after that and gave myself a good chance on 18. Unfortunately I just misread that putt.

Q. On 14, the ball hitting the stick there, from your angle kind of below, did it hit dead center?
SERGIO GARCIA: It did hit dead center, but I can't consider that a bad break. Because it was going in with a little bit of speed.

Q. On the 17th hole, what was the ruling you were going for there?
SERGIO GARCIA: Well, I just said it before, it was -- what do you call it?
CHRIS REIMER: Gopher tunnel.
SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, actually it was funny, because it was not where my ball was, but like about five or six feet left, it was actually moving. You could see the grass going up and down. It was actually there and we were trying to find it but we couldn't.
CHRIS REIMER: You led the field in putting average, second in total putts; can you feel that over the course of the week that the putter is hot.
SERGIO GARCIA: Oh, really? I didn't even know.
Obviously I'm putting much better; whoever doesn't think that is obviously blind. So, you know, I feel good about it. I think we've all put a lot of work into it, good work into it. So it's good to see.
Like I said in my interview out there, I probably should get the most improved stroke, putting stroke for the year. Unfortunately there's no trophy for that.
CHRIS REIMER: I'll give it to you.

Q. After you made your putt, most of the times, they say you assume the other guy is going to make the putt; but did you feel a good feeling after you made that? How did you feel about Vijay's putt?
SERGIO GARCIA: Well, I knew it had a chance. I mean, if he's ten feet away, you know that he's probably going to make it.
Obviously he still had a shot at it. The same way I made it, he can do it. And he did.
So I knew I had a chance of winning there, but I knew that if not there, I might have a chance on 17. You know, I wasn't going to be out of the playoff, so unfortunately it just didn't work out. He just -- I mean, he just hit two great shots on 17.
CHRIS REIMER: Vijay is now a four-time winner and you're a two-time winner here. You both have something with this tournament. What is it about the area and the tournament that makes it special for you guys?
SERGIO GARCIA: I don't know, it's funny how those things work. I guess there's some tournaments where you just feel good about it, some courses that you like. Obviously this is not Westchester, but it's got some similar looks in some places.
I think the people around here, they are very fortunate to have great terrain for golf courses, and that's why they have so many beautiful courses around here.
CHRIS REIMER: One last question, gearing up for the rest of the Playoffs, you're looking to be in good position.
SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. Obviously this was a good start. Not the perfect start, obviously, but it was a very good start. I'm looking forward to keep moving in the right direction, keep giving myself chances in the next two weeks, and then get ready for The Ryder Cup and see if we can have a good TOUR Championship and at least have a chance at winning the FedExCup.

Q. You were waving to Faldo there after that putt on 18; was there some message you were sending to him?
SERGIO GARCIA: Oh, no, no, no. I was just saying hi to my captain. (Laughter).

Q. Did you get up to watch the gold medal game this morning?
SERGIO GARCIA: No, I mean --

Q. It was early.
SERGIO GARCIA: I heard it was an unbelievable game. I heard it was just awesome. I heard that both teams played unbelievable. You know, the comments were that it was probably the best international basketball game they have ever seen and definitely the best Olympic game they have ever seen.
You know, obviously the guys that won, they were the ones that were supposed to win. I was hoping obviously as a Spaniard that Spain would win, but I thought hopefully they will give them a shot at it and make it tight and see if they can come out with the goods, and kind of similar to what Vijay did to me. They came out with good great shots, Kobe and Dwyane Wade down the stretch with three pointers and stuff. I think everybody is very proud of the Spanish team in Spain, and they gave it their best.
CHRIS REIMER: I'm sure they are proud of you, as well. Thanks.

End of FastScripts

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