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WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP

February 26, 2009

Oliver Wilson

MARANA, ARIZONA

RODDY WILLIAMS: Thanks very much for coming and joining us. That was a good win for you, that one against Anthony Kim.
OLIVER WILSON: Yeah, it was a tough day today. I played great. We had a very good match. The back nine was pretty tense. Anthony sort of came alive a little bit on the back, and I managed to hang on, so a good day.

Q. Obviously a little bit of history dating back to the Ryder Cup?
OLIVER WILSON: Yeah, two good wins. He's a great player, and obviously the Ryder Cup I think maybe helped me a little bit, knowing that I've already beat him before. So I went out there just trying to play well and managed to do that, but it was a very tough match.

Q. You're obviously playing brilliantly. Can you sort of explain that? Have you been playing well up until now? What aspects of your game are going especially well?
OLIVER WILSON: I think this is a good course for me. It's not a long hitter's course, even though it's nearly 8,000 yards. It's about shaping shots, distance control and short game, and that's my strengths.
I feel like I've been playing good for a while now. I didn't get off to a great start in the Middle East before I came out here, but that was just due to putting. I think I figured that out a little bit, and the swing feels pretty good. All in all, everything is in good shape and just enjoying playing at the moment.

Q. You're obviously not feeling intimidated at all. You obviously feel like you belong here. Did the Ryder Cup help in that regard, as well?
OLIVER WILSON: Yeah, I think so. It is different coming out here. I still feel sometimes I come out and a lot of the U.S. players kind of sit down at a table, and I feel like nobody really knows me, but they actually do. They sort of say, "Hey, how you doing, Ollie." That's still a bit different for me. I'm still getting used to that.
I played last week in Riviera and I was surprised how many people did know me and said hello and that kind of thing, and that helps. I always keep myself to myself a little bit and feel sometimes I get out of it and people don't know who I am, especially when you hear the crowd talking and that sort of thing. I think people are starting to know who I am, and that helps me, as well.

Q. Was there any Ryder Cup chat between the two of you today?
OLIVER WILSON: There was no chat today. I get on with Anthony great, but for some reason every time I play match play, stroke play, whatever, I always seem to get somebody who's playing great, and I don't know if that's because I'm friendly out on the course and make people relaxed.
But in match play, every match play I've played as a pro, I've had tough times. I've played pretty good in every round and lost quite a few of them, and it's just down to having a great match.
I've tried to change a little bit, I haven't really spoke to anyone yet this week. I'm keeping myself to myself, grinding it out, and it's working so far.

Q. Did he try to speak to you?
OLIVER WILSON: No, I think we were both in our little zones today. You know, it's tough out there. There's a lot going on. You can't afford to make a mistake, so you just kind of do your own thing and we'll have a chat after.
I just saw him as he was leaving, and it was great, had a little chat with him then, but we didn't really say much out on the course. I think a lot of people are like that out here. You've got to do what's right for you.

Q. Is it hard for you because you're a naturally friendly player.
OLIVER WILSON: At times (laughing). No, it's not. Me and Rich, my caddie, just chatted away and get on with it. It's a long walk, but you've got things going through your head. Food and drink out there is really important. You're always doing something, eating or drinking as well as trying to plot distances and how far the ball is going to go. It's so hard.
There's so many calculations out there to make, for us especially. Desert golf is not something I've ever played before, and the ball is going miles, sometimes 350, 360 off the tee, which is good fun. But it's just not normal, and you've got to take that into account, so there's a lot of calculations and things to figure out.

Q. You meant sort of change the manner you sort of changed the mindset for match play?
OLIVER WILSON: Yeah, that's something we've tried to change this week. I'm just fed up with coming out and never getting an easy match. You want to play well, you want to have a tough match, but it would be nice to have the odd easy game.
But I'm shooting good scores every time and going to the last few holes or getting beat, Seve Trophy, that kind of stuff, is always tough. I understand playing against good players, some of the best players in the world, but it was just a different approach, and it's working so far.

Q. Are you conscious at all of the fact that Harrington and Garcia have both been knocked out of your half of the draw?
OLIVER WILSON: I didn't actually, no, not really. I'm just concentrating on mine. That's all you can do. I think the European guys have had a good day today so far. I know there's still some matches going on, but it's looking pretty good for most of the guys, so that's good for us. But I'm just one match at a time.

Q. Do you know Justin Leonard?
OLIVER WILSON: I know him, yeah. We have the same management group, but obviously Justin is over here. I've met him a few times, nice guy, saw him at the Ryder Cup, had a few beers after, and that was about it, really.

End of FastScripts

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