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OMEGA MISSION HILLS WORLD CUPNovember 27, 2008Alex CejkaMartin KaymerSHENZHEN, CHINA RODDY WILLIAMS: Martin, Alex, thank you for coming in and joining us. Great start for Germany, leaders in the clubhouse at the moment. You must be very pleased. Martin, if you could maybe just start us off with a couple of comments. MARTIN KAYMER: Yeah, we had a really good start today. The first four holes, made four birdies, and then a nice eagle on 7 and then another birdie on 9 that putt us in a really good position after nine holes. We were 7-under after nine holes, and we kept playing well on the back nine and yeah, I finished 10-under, which is a very good score today, because it was windy out there, it was a little bit tougher than last year, but I think we can be happy with 10-under. RODDY WILLIAMS: Alex, if we can get some initial comments from you, as well. ALEX CEJKA: Yeah, I must agree with Martin. It was a little bit tougher to play today than it was the first round last year. But you know, he played really solid golf today. Made a lot of birdies, an eagle, and I just tried to contribute a couple of times today. We'll see. We have three more rounds to go. We are delighted to be here. So far, leading, I think it's a great start for Germany. Q. Martin, it's been suggested that you had, as part of your Ryder Cup experience, you were given a say some a couple of foursomes partnerships; did you have anything to do with the one with Oliver Wilson and Henrik Stenson? MARTIN KAYMER: You mean for the future? They are very nice guys, and I would play with all of them. Q. Sorry; I thought Faldo had let you have a say in who should play with whom. MARTIN KAYMER: No, not really. I mean, he was the captain. I was just a guest. I was nothing more. It was nice for Nick Faldo to have invited me. Obviously I could learn a lot of things over there, but that was his choice and he made the final decision for the foursomes and for the singles. And so it was nothing about me. Q. Playing for The European Team for The Ryder Cup, you were there and witnessed the whole thing, and now you're here representing your country playing in the World Cup. Does watching The Ryder Cup, as one of the team members, not really playing but as a team member, walking inside the ropes and everything, does it help a lot for to you perform here? MARTIN KAYMER: Yeah, I mean, it's a very different kind of game. Usually you play only your own golf, and this week, or The Ryder Cup week, was different. Like you play for your country or you play for your continent, but obviously I learned a lot of things at The Ryder Cup, how to play foursomes. But it was a different format at Ryder Cup. That was match play, and here it's stroke play, and you can be aggressive in the best-ball, what we played today. But tomorrow is going to be different. I think every team event is different, and The Ryder Cup helped me in many ways. But it's very, very tough to say now what was the most important thing I learned or which helped me so much that we played well today. It's very, very tough to say. There were a lot of little things. Q. Alex, I understand you had a small operation for a trapped nerve? ALEX CEJKA: That's correct, yes. Q. Can you talk about how that's disrupted your season, and also going forward whether with The Race to Dubai now, you might play more in Europe next year? ALEX CEJKA: To the first question, as you said, I pinched a nerve just at the British Open, so the second half of the year was basically nothing for me. I was sitting on the couch and I had surgery. This is really my first event where I really take it serious, and been practising for a couple of weeks now. It's still frustrating. I'm maybe at 80 per cent of my game, but you know, I'm trying my best. And to the other question, I don't think so. I'm pretty happy in America. I'm going to focus still on the PGA TOUR next year, or the next couple of years hopefully. It's a pity, but you know, I feel very comfortable over there. This is my life, the last couple of years over there. It's nice to come over to Europe and play three, four, five tournaments, but I think that's the maximum of what I'm going to do in the future now, too. Q. You're healthy now? ALEX CEJKA: I'm healthy. The golf game is still not there, but I'm still in rehab probably through January. So I've still got to take it a little bit easier, but I'm trying hard this week. Q. Where is the pinched nerve? And can you take us through the four birdies, the shots? ALEX CEJKA: The nerve was between C6 and C7 in the back, in my neck, upper neck. So everybody thought it was lower down, but it was in the neck area. MARTIN KAYMER: Yeah, on the first hole, I hit it really close, to let's say two feet, three feet, something like that. Second hole, I made a long birdie putt from around 10, 12 metres. Third hole is a par 5 and that was another 2- or 3-footer. No. 4, Alex hit his approach to about three metres, made that birdie putt. And that eagle putt was one of my longest putts I've ever made I think. It was over a huge ridge, I don't know, how long was that, 25 metres? ALEX CEJKA: That was a nice bonus. (Laughter). Q. You've been playing on The European Tour and the U.S. Tour for more than ten years, and Martin, this is just your second year. So can you give a little comment about his performance the last two years, and also, can you tell us about your opportunity in the future regarding the majors? ALEX CEJKA: Where should I start, looking to Martin, he has been playing for two years now, and he's proven that he's one of the best players in the world. He won a couple of times and he had a lot of second (place) finishes. He's a great player, great ball-striker. And to me, the majors is of course a big goal for everybody. I had a chance to play a couple in my career, even this year, I was qualified for two; couldn't make them because of the surgery. But you know, it's always a goal I think for us players to play these big events and majors. I think that's where we all belong and that's where we all want to play and want to win. Q. The World Cup is a team format, two players, and some team members will be maybe two young players around the same age, and some teams are maybe one with a lot more experience. What do you think will be the best combination; is it two same-age players, or some teams with a long hitter or straight hitter, and what do you think is the best combination? ALEX CEJKA: I think the best combination is us; we are both young! (Laughter). No, I think it really doesn't matter. You've got to understand each other. We know each other for a couple of years now, and, okay, I play in the States, Martin plays in Europe most of the time. But we get along well, and we are trying to represent our country, play as best as we can, and I don't think it really matters if you have a 19-year-old or a 55-year-old in the game group. We qualified for this, and it's nice to be here and represent our country. Q. Martin, would you rather have a similar length or same style, one long hitter or straighter hitter? MARTIN KAYMER: Straighter hitter. (Laughter). No, last year was nice to play with Alex. The difference, I think if there is a difference between us from the age, it's not very important. He's a good player. I played solid today, and it's just fun. This week, I think it's more about fun here. Of course, you want to perform well and you want to play well, but this is a team event, and I think we should just enjoy this week. This is the last tournament for most of the players in the year, and we should just enjoy this week and have fun. Of course, we want to play well, and we will try our best this week. And what Alex said, it's always nice if you can play for your country. RODDY WILLIAMS: Martin, Alex, thank you very much indeed. Well played Germany, and good luck for the next three days. End of FastScripts |
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