THE RYDER CUP MATCHES

September 27, 2002

Paul Azinger

Thomas Bjorn

Darren Clarke

Sergio Garcia

Bernhard Langer

Colin Montgomerie

Lee Westwood

Tiger Woods

SERGIO GARCIA: It was great. Lee played well. I didn't play my best, but I managed to be there when he wasn't playing good holes. And I made a couple of very important putts on 9 and 10 to stay up there in the match. And from then on we just played good golf and a lot of birdies.

Q. Saw you both this morning on the range, considering the pressure of the situation, you were joking and having a good time.

LEE WESTWOOD: We were fairly laid-back characters. If you're -- nothing like getting wound up before these matches, it's pressure enough. There's tough shots out there, but education easier with Sergio out there.

Q. Lee Westwood, after the year you've had, can you imagine coming out the first day of the Ryder Cup and performing like you did?

LEE WESTWOOD: No. Not really. I played well in the practice. But the Ryder Cup is such a great format, it can turn your game around.

Q. Sergio, birdies are important in four ball, but it seems the pars you made at 9 and 10 were critical.

SERGIO GARCIA: Those were big, yeah. There were two very important putts to keep us 1-up. And I managed to make those two. And from then on we played great. We made four birdies coming in and had that eagle chance. It was good stuff from then on.

Q. Can we expect to see you two as partners again?

SERGIO GARCIA: I don't know.

Q. You wouldn't mind, would you?

SERGIO GARCIA: We'll see, but you never know.

Q. Gentlemen, that was absolutely fantastic.

DARREN CLARKE: It's the Ryder Cup. We know we had to play great to win. And we were making birdies all over the place, as were Tiger and Zinger. It was a close match.

Q. They've shot 63 and lost. You shot 10-under par, Thomas.

THOMAS BJORN: We played well and mixed well and Darren got off to a great start and that calmed me down, and on the back 9 I holed a few good putts. And it was just all day, we mixed well, and got on well together. It was perfect.

Q. What's it like to stand on the 18th tee on that situation?

DARREN CLARKE: You've got to trust yourself. We're both professional players; we can play the game. It is nerve wracking, but I've got the utmost faith in Thomas, and I think he's likewise. We'll give ourselves chances to make birdies.

Q. The atmosphere is absolutely incredible?

THOMAS BJORN: It's magnificent. The fans are fantastic. They're fantastic to both sides. We wanted a great match and a fantastic crowd

Q. The match was exciting, but those last two holes, you were the two rare people that have beat Tiger. What were you thinking when he made the birdie on 17.

THOMAS BJORN: You know what he's capable of, and it's always down to the wire. We needed to do our stuff, hit our shots, and we holed our fair share of putts today.

Q. How much extra motivation was there for you being not only the first match out of the box but against Tiger Woods?

DARREN CLARKE: Anytime you hit against Tiger, you're going to have a tough game, but we stuck to our guns, we got the run of the ball today, and we did knock in a couple of really big putts at the right time.

Q. Let me ask you this: Those four shots to the green, if there was any likelihood that you were going to be the one that was going to win that hole, what were you thinking as you were walking up to the green?

THOMAS BJORN: We watched that putt over and over again when Sam won that in '85. And it breaks more right-to-left than you think. I had a free run at it, and give it a go and see what goes in.

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: It's important for us to get off to a good start, and that's exactly what we've had. Bjorn and Clarke did us proud to start with to beat -- anytime you beat Tiger at golf is a fantastic result. And Bernhard and I have been around a while, and we've put a bit of experience on the course. We put a bit of experience on the way and got the job done.

Q. One of the big questions this week, Bernhard, was what was the atmosphere going to be like, over the top like maybe it was in Boston, was it going to be too calm or too serene. Describe what you felt out there today?

BERNHARD LANGER: I think the atmosphere was just perfect. You could obviously tell whether the Europeans made the point or the Americans. That's always been the case. I didn't hear any cheering for bad shots. The people were very, very good so far, and hopefully will stay that way all week.

Q. Congratulations on a great win.

Q. Tiger Woods, in the first match of the 34th Ryder Cup matches, just some general comments on the play out there today?

TIGER WOODS: It was disappointing we lost, because we really played well today. 9 or 10-under par today. And to shoot that low and end up losing the match is a little disappointing, especially when you birdied the last two holes. We sucked it up and got it done.

Q. Talk about their play.

TIGER WOODS: They played great. They got up and made a lot of putts today. Thomas played beautifully on the back nine. I think he shot about 5-under par on the back nine, so he really played well. It was just a matter of just trying to make as many birdies as we possibly could, and it just wasn't enough.

Q. Some comments on the atmosphere of the gallery out there, what is it like?

TIGER WOODS: I think this is much more how it should be. It's much more bipartisan. There are no comments at all from the fans. They appreciate good shots from both sides. And that's the way the Ryder Cup is meant to be played, and that's the way it's being played this week.

Q. Paul Azinger, some general comments on the play today.

PAUL AZINGER: Well, we played well. I'm just disappointed, Tiger 9 or 10-under par, and got beat by a couple of guys that were red hot. And there's nothing you can do that -- hope traditionally the team that gets beat in the morning, plays well in the afternoon, that's why the matches always seem to be close. We need to go out there this afternoon. The great thing about the Ryder Cup is I feel the teams with the most pressure on them seem to respond. Hopefully it will always be that way. Hopefully our guys can do it.

Q. You talked about Bjorn's play a little earlier?

PAUL AZINGER: Yeah, well, they just ham and egged it to death. But but on the back nine he hit about a 20-footer on 10, about a 50-footer on 12. 15 I had it two feet for birdie, and Bjorn had made about a 15-footer. I had a gimmee at 16. At 18 they hit a gimmee and they made it to win the match. They just made every putt.

Q. A little about the gallery out there today. Looked like you were having fun on the first tee?

PAUL AZINGER: Yeah, I was a little nervous on the first tee. I didn't know if it was a 2-iron or 4-wood. I'm very uncomfortable on that tee shot, anyway. That's the only tee shot I don't like. So what are you going to do? It was fun.

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