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PORTUGAL MASTERSOctober 17, 2008Stuart ManleyVILAMOURA, PORTUGAL RODDY WILLIAMS: Thank you very much for joining us, 11-under par, clubhouse leader at the moment and a good day's work out there for you. STUART MANLEY: Yeah, absolutely. Played pretty good today. Didn't quite make as many putts as yesterday, but I would definitely have taken 68 at start of the day so delighted. RODDY WILLIAMS: The eagle at the 12th seemed to get you going. STUART MANLEY: Absolutely. Just played 11 poorly, poor tee shots and got away with a great par and chipped in around the green. And then that was a great save really, gives me a little bit of confidence to just commit to my tee shot on 12 and drove a great 4-iron to six feet and knocked that in and that gave me some confidence to carry on from there. RODDY WILLIAMS: And followed that up with birdies on 15 and 16. STUART MANLEY: Yeah, 15 was good. Just tweaked my drive actually into the long rough and had about 56 yards to go and just kind of blasted it really and just tried to get it airborne and landed it up by the pin and stopped. It was a lucky day really. Then the next hole, I hit a lovely 6-iron into the par 3 to three feet, lovely bonus. Q. Inaudible? STUART MANLEY: To be honest, I played pretty good all year, but just not taking it into tournament golf. I played great on a Tuesday and Wednesday, practiced really well and one every money game I've played on a Tuesday, which I'm really confident, and then I step on the first tee on the third day and just not quite performing to the way I've been playing on Tuesday. It's just confidence or belief and obviously this week will give me a little bit more belief to go out there and know I'm good enough. Q. STUART MANLEY: My coach gave me a few harsh words up in St. Andrews a few weeks ago, what you're not doing. Since the Dunhill, I've really emphasized the short game and done a lot of chipping and a lot of putting and basically that's where I've scored. My chipping has been fantastic and my putting is really good, as well. That's about it really. Q. How did you feel going out as the leader this morning? STUART MANLEY: I didn't have time to think about it really last night because I finished so late and I was off again early this morning. Just went and had a quiet meal down in the marina, stuck to my same routine, go to bed early and watch the news before I go to bed and got up in the morning. Kind of half expected to play average, you know what I mean, because I wasn't expecting to really shoot 4-under, but if you're going to play average or poor today, you might as well just be aggressive and go out there and try to shoot a good score. On the first hole ripped my driver and a lovely 9-iron. Q. Who is your coach? STUART MANLEY: Pete Cowen. Q. What did he say to you? STUART MANLEY: Yeah, he said, you know, you should be spending kind of four hours doing short game and one hour doing long game. I was spending more time hitting balls and perfecting my swing, where you don't really need to do that; if you can perfect your short game or go that close, you can hit more shots. Q. Inaudible? STUART MANLEY: Because I had been hitting it great, and there's almost no point in me hitting the ball, I've just got to spend so much more time working on the short game to improve that, like putting. I putted fantastic on the Challenge Tour last year and it's not taken quite this year on The European Tour. I've changed putters the last few weeks and had a good tip off my coach John, Wednesday afternoon, and just trying to concentrate on that every time I'm putting. Q. What was the change? STUART MANLEY: Just alignment between, just the basics, squaring up my shoulders. I've just been squaring my shoulders and just starting the ball on-line more. Q. How long have you been working with Pete? STUART MANLEY: Must be third year. Q. Inaudible? STUART MANLEY: It was just a bit of a tagging off. It wasn't that bad to me. First time he ever said that to me, because he speaks sort of -- he can speak harsh but not normally that bad. Q. How much time do you spend practising during a tournament? STUART MANLEY: You wouldn't do as much as that in a tournament, maybe on a Monday, Tuesday or if you've got a week off, you've got to try and do at least four hours, but maybe this week, probably hitting balls each day, maybe no more than 30, 45 minutes then probably spending two hours on the short game then. Q. Inaudible? STUART MANLEY: I was speaking to Connor last year and just felt I needed a change from ISM and thought it was a good move to sign with Horizon, good bunch of guys. Q. How did you know them? STUART MANLEY: I'm quite friendly with a couple of the Irish lads I played Walker Cup with, I was always friendly with conner, so we just always chatted and played a Pro-Am last year and at the end of the year we met a few times and went from there. Q. You said you take the money on Tuesdays -- STUART MANLEY: Oh, don't say that -- normally Garry Houston to Gary Murphy or sometimes play with Björn once or twice. Normally a doubles game, but you're relaxed and me and Sean obviously have struggled a bit this year and obviously Gary Murphy has kept his card and next thing you know, they are beating us in a tournament, so it gets a bit frustrating. Q. Did you have big expectations? STUART MANLEY: I wasn't expecting to be an instant hit, not really. I had a good Walker Cup and the year before, I wasn't 100% I would turn pro. Went to college in the States, came back, had a really good two years as an amateur, played on the British team and played Walker Cup and thought, yeah, I need to turn pro now. Not a lot more to do in amateur golf, so seemed the logical step. I didn't expect a big impact straightaway. Q. Inaudible? STUART MANLEY: At the time definitely golf, definitely golf. Always loved it. Always loved it going out and practicing and playing in the Pro-Am. I loved to go out -- I'd take holding a trophy on Sunday any time. Q. Inaudible? STUART MANLEY: No, I wasn't actually. I was in the squad but never actually played. It's just a bit trying, some lads from south Wales had been picked, just get to spend a day up there with them having like a practice and a trial at the end of the day. Q. Were you on good terms with any club? STUART MANLEY: I signed, I think it was like unofficial, it wasn't actually a professional contract but signed with Swansea and played two years down there, and then I had a season then with Cardiff around the age of 15, 16 but never got offered a professional contract and I didn't think I would -- I wasn't quite good enough, like maybe I could have gone to a smaller team, a local team, but my heart wasn't in it really. I just kind of pushed that away because I was pretty decent when I was younger, but wish I had given it up and concentrated on the golf really and got some good lessons when I was younger really. Instead I felt like I was playing catch up when I was 16 or whatever, much of the lads had low a handicap and always felt like I had to catch up and luckily had a good work ethic and caught up eventually. Whenever I played for Wales it was always good family, good camaraderie, and I played Walker Cup, always good fun. I always liked the team competition. Q. Inaudible? STUART MANLEY: My first year on Tour, two years ago, I was in the Top-10 a couple of times. I think Malaysia I was seventh going into the last round or Top-10 going into the last round but never really dealt with the nerves that time. Never really had contended. I know what I've got to do this week. RODDY WILLIAMS: You have a lot of family and friends, as well? STUART MANLEY: Yeah, mom and dad, brother, my wife's with me, a couple of mates, got a new caddie on the bag as well, a good lad, as well. Q. What have you got to do? STUART MANLEY: I just have to commit really. The shots if they don't come off, they don't come off, but as long as I commit and go out there and give myself a chance, that's all I can ask for, you know. What people have told me to read I've read, and I've had psychologists have helped, but you know the information, they just bring it out. I have a few things which I can use for the weekend. RODDY WILLIAMS: Well played, good luck on the weekend. End of FastScripts |
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