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WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIPFebruary 27, 2009Stewart CinkMARANA, ARIZONA MARK WILLIAMS: Stewart Cink, thanks for joining us in the interview room. Great win over Phil Mickelson and moving on to Ernie Els next round. Just talk about your match. It looks like you got off to a really good start and kind of got messed up at the end and you managed to get through. STEWART CINK: That's exactly right. I did get off to a really good start. I birdied 2, 3 and 4, and Phil wasn't able to birdie any of those holes. Then we both played pretty well if not spectacular through about 10 or so. And he won a hole, I won a hole, and then he -- I messed up 11 really bad, put it in the desert, got next to a cactus and it was ugly. Then I had failed to get up-and-down on 12. So we got squared up. We both played 1 well. He made a tremendous up-and-down and I lipped out for eagle. Then after that the wheels sort of came off for both of us. There was somebody in trouble on every hole after that, with the exception, I guess, of 18 where we both hit the fairway and both hit the green. But it was a case of who doesn't want to win this match or who does. And we took a long time to figure that one out. But once we got to 18, he had to make a 20-footer to keep the match going. MARK WILLIAMS: It's not often in this competition that you win a hole with bogey. But we'll open it up for questioning. Q. Great playing. You've got to be thrilled. Are you disappointed at all that no matter what else happens you don't get a chance to face Tiger in the final? STEWART CINK: No. (Laughter.) Why would I be disappointed? I would like to play Tiger in another match at some point, but if I'm going to play for the finals here, I would like to get there first, but I don't really want to play against Tiger. I had that experience last year and that was enough for a little while. Q. How much more comfortable are you getting by playing the golf course over and over? STEWART CINK: A little bit more you would think -- I think I'm getting more comfortable with the tee balls and where to aim them, what clubs to use, because it's not a lot of drivers out there for me. But with the how far the ball's going, the altitude is affecting the distance quite a bit, and I'm -- I think I might be less comfortable now than I was in the practice rounds because I'm hitting so many shots that are going further than I thought they would or not getting far enough. And today I had a couple of each that were -- one was or two or three were too long and one was too short, and I was surprised. And Phil was the same way. It's just, it's odd. I can't explain it. If I could explain it, then I would already have implemented some kind of system to overcome it. But you just have to be just a little bit more precise here than you do most places. Q. How about the greens? STEWART CINK: The greens I really -- yeah, there's a lot of mounds and humps and bumps, but in a way it almost forces you just to free it up, and you know you can't control everything about your shot because you're going to hit some good shots that turn out bad and some bad shots that turn out good. So it in a way it just helps you play with a little bit more freedom and be willing to expect any kind of outcome. Q. Did somebody tell you you're getting paid by the hour or something this week, because you have gone 18 or more every single match and you walked probably more miles this week than you would? STEWART CINK: Probably. I don't mind. As long as I'm sitting here at the end, I'm okay. I don't mind, I don't care how many holes it takes. But I was just glad that it reduced my average a little bit today by only going just a mere 18. Q. How would you describe the atmosphere today, maybe the day after the circus left town, so to speak? STEWART CINK: Well, when you draw Phil, there's always a little bit of circus environment, too, because now he's the hottest show left in town up until this match. But he's always got his vocal crowd out there and it's fine. I didn't notice a difference because I had him in my group. Q. When you effectively win a match with a bogey when you played as many good shots as you did earlier, how do you keep match play from driving you batty? STEWART CINK: Well, you're assuming that I'm not batty. (Laughter.) But it is, it is a very peculiar format in sports where both Phil and I had opportunities there to do some damage after I was in the fairway and then I missed the green with a pretty bad second shot, and then he had a -- I don't know what his lie was like in the fairway bunker, but he hit it in the desert and then he made a miraculous fourth shot pitch from over the green that looked like it was almost a cinch five, and then I go and pick up my putt and you know, and I'm in the depths of despair. And all of a sudden I look up and I see him grace the edge. It's hard to explain. But at the end of the day, if you win it with an 11 and the other guy makes a 12, you still win. MARK WILLIAMS: Have you played Ernie before in Presidents Cup competition at all? STEWART CINK: Ernie? I don't even know to be honest. You would have to go back and look. I played a lot of those matches and I know I haven't played him in singles. I may have played him in a team combination. Q. You ever partner with Phil any of that? STEWART CINK: No, never a partner. Never played Phil in a match, either. MARK WILLIAMS: We certainly appreciate you coming in, Stewart. Good luck tomorrow with the match. STEWART CINK: Okay. Thank you. End of FastScripts |
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