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THE 3 IRISH OPEN

May 15, 2009

Oliver Wilson

BALTRAY, IRELAND

MICHAEL GIBBONS: Tell us about today.
OLIVER WILSON: Obviously happy to be at the top at the moment. I don't know how long that's going to last. I don't think it will be too much longer. A bit disappointed, I played good early on in the bad weather and on the tougher nine. And I got to the second hole, and a great position, birdied the first, and didn't really do anything after that. I kind of plodded my way around on the three par 5s and made a shocking bogey at the second and that kind of halted things. I was a little disappointed not picking up anything else coming in.
MICHAEL GIBBONS: What happened on 2?
OLIVER WILSON: I hit a shot way right and a second shot even further right, and then I hit it left and then I 3-putted. So I was quite glad to get out of the hole.
But yeah, I just played it awful, really. But you can't avoid bad shots on that, a good birdie chance, and I picked up one on the following one, had a good eagle chance.
I played solid coming in, but didn't hit it close, sort of fairway, middle of the green. Disappointed to not give myself a few more chances.
Obviously in a great position and I feel like my game is in a good shape, and I feel like if I can keep that up through the weekend, I'll be in contention on Sunday.

Q. Somebody said after that 6, you went to sort of tap your foot and caught your shin or something, no, or maybe a lot more than you were letting on --
OLIVER WILSON: I don't think so. I can prove it. I have no bruises.

Q. How are you physically?
OLIVER WILSON: Pretty good actually. The neck's not 100 per cent yet but it's not affecting my golf. In certain positions it's a bit funny. The next couple of days it will be fine.
My chest is fine again so far. I've been icing it at night, so hopefully I can keep on top of that. I feel 100 per cent really at the moment. I'm not, but you know, it's not affecting the golf. So golf-wise, I suppose I am.

Q. How did the chest problem manifest itself?
OLIVER WILSON: Well, we have no idea really. It started in October, and I just started getting a few tweaks in my chest, and I thought it was just a tight pec just from travelling and golf and all that kind of stuff, end of the season. So I had quite a bit of physio, which it kind of helped it but not really.
So it's very much on and off. Then it got to the break after around Christmas, didn't have anything really, I had a couple of twinges but thought it would be fine by the time I come back. I played again in Abu Dhabi and Qatar and started feeling it there. At no time was it ever stopping me play. It was just a tweak, and a few times I would go on the range in the morning and feel a few tweaks here and there and then after five or six holes, it was gone.
But then I went from practice round in the Masters the week before and I couldn't, and I knew then -- it's twitches where the rib joint meets the sternum and it's not quite sitting in the joint properly and it's causing a bit of inflammation. It's not really muscular, it's inflammation, and I think that's why it's so random. It can be depending on what I've done, or if I've done something to irritate it. If it does get tight, tightness can affect it.
But I think it's more just the inflammation. And if I can keep on top of the inflammation, then that's no problem. Now I've had an MRI and obviously taking anti-inflammatories and fingers crossed, it's under control.

Q. Inaudible.
OLIVER WILSON: No, I don't really. I wish I did.

Q. On a much more positive note, are you ready to win?
OLIVER WILSON: I hope so. I feel like technically, this is as good as I've ever been in my career. Obviously confident. Just a bit rusty, and then I know I've played well and I'm doing well, but I've not really hit wedges very close. Just a few mid-irons into greens, certain shots sort of left-to-right winds and shots, sort of mid-irons where I'm knocking them down, taking a bit of distance, I've hit quite poor shots really. So I just need to work on that. So that kind of comes a little bit with playing and scoring and the wind doesn't help.
But I think as the week goes on, that will get better, and I know what's wrong on those shots and I can kind of fix it out there on the course.
Yeah, I feel good. I know I'm due. I just have to keep getting in contention, and I think -- now I know that if I play well for four days, I'll win. I feel like I've elevated my game to that point. It's not easy to win, you still have to play well and hole the putts. I know if I do that, and play solid, it's good enough.

Q. And you think you've done a pretty good job on coping with the disappointments of not quite pulling it off yet?
OLIVER WILSON: I think so. Obviously I'm disappointed. But the career is still on an upward rise. It's not like I have any down spells really.
So keep improving all the time. And I definitely feel a lot of the time, I haven't felt technically right and I actually feel like I'm very close to getting my swing exactly where I want it, which I've never even been close to before. So I just feel the club is working very differently, and it's making the ball react differently off the club, which has taken a little bit of getting used to.
But I just feel so much more in control of it, and I think as time goes on, this next few weeks as I get used to playing, hopefully in less waterproofs and a bit better weather, I'll really fit into it, get the feel and get the scoring and shots with the wedges under control, and when that happens, I feel like I could run away with a tournament.
But like this week, I just feel like I should have been a couple ahead really. I let a couple go yesterday and I let a couple go today, and it leaves you right in the middle of the pack in a big grouping; whereas, I could have gotten a bit away from it if I had been a bit sharper. But still delighted to be in that position. Every round I get under my belt, keep improving and get a bit sharper.

Q. (Regarding BMW PGA Championship last year).
OLIVER WILSON: Yeah, that one, home tournament kind of, my girlfriend was there, family was there, lots of friends, everything was kind of right for it, and it didn't happen.
So that's golf, I guess. I hit good putts. I think when I look back at it, I think I did one thing wrong, and that was I hit a bad tee shot on 17. Made bogey, and that was it really. You stood on that tee knowing -- well, I didn't know, but I think par, par would have been good enough to win. Knowing that now, you've got to be pretty disappointed that you can't finish par, par. Even making bogey on 17, you would fancy making birdie off 18. But that was a bit of a lack of course experience, just knowing how the wind affects the ball off that tee shot.
Yeah, it hurt pretty bad, but I think I'm ready to win, definitely.

Q. Somebody like Padraig Harrington has said he would rather come in second than finish lower, because it means you are in contention and playing very well.
OLIVER WILSON: Exactly. I think the first few seconds or the first half of my seconds, I guess a lot of them were -- apart from China, a lot of them were good results coming from long way back, and not having a chance to win and that's about as good as I could have done and I was delighted with those.
Now it's more getting into contention and it's mine to win. And I haven't done anything wrong, about you I just haven't done anything to win it. And that's where players like Padraig and Tiger and those guys, they make things happen.
I don't know why, I used to be that kind of player as an amateur. Don't know why it hasn't happened as a pro, but I'm sure it will. As I get more confident in my game and deep-down confidence in everything, I can forget about that and just concentrate, and hopefully that will be enough.

Q. Hong Kong, as well?
OLIVER WILSON: Yeah, Hong Kong to be honest was poor. I got off to a good start. I think I had a three- or four-shot lead after the first hole, or something like that, because the other guys had had a bad start. I played good actually. I just didn't hole any putts, and then missed two short ones. I think bogeyed 17, was trying to force it, the last 15 or 16 were just poor holes, and that's just poor -- if I don't par those, I was right in contention coming down the last few, and you never know what happens. 17 is a very birdieable hole. I've always struggled on that tee, and if you don't hit the fairway, and that's what got me. Looking back, it was quite poor. I should have won that one. That's what I felt like.

Q. John Daly, have you played with him before?
OLIVER WILSON: First time I met him. He's a really good guy. Didn't really know what to expect. A very, very nice guy.
I think he's obviously disappointed with his round. He played good today but a few bad breaks, and that's links golf, you can get a few bad bounces into bunkers and all of a sudden you are making a double. That's not great for him. But it was fun playing with him, yeah. He's a good guy and very enjoyable to play with.

Q. Did you have any sort of particular topic of conversation? You didn't see his trousers, did you?
OLIVER WILSON: No, I didn't see his trousers. Are they bright? I know he didn't have much on. He had a tee shirt on and a waterproof top, and I had an all-weather gear shirt on, a tee shirt, a sweater and a waterproof top, and so he must have been cold, especially this morning. I don't think him and his caddie were quite prepared for this. I mean, he's played in it before, but I don't think his caddie has much experience in this. He said it was pretty bad yesterday. Don't know what he thought today.

Q. (Inaudible).
OLIVER WILSON: No, that's kind of what I'm trying to get away from, mine is too long and it brings too many problems into my game, so I'm trying to shorten mine.
He's just so natural, it's unbelievable, and the process -- to stand up and process every shot so fast, and then just have the natural ability that he has is unbelievable. Around the greens, he walked up to a flop shot yesterday on the par 5 on the back nine, I forget which one it was, and he just walks up to it, looks at the shot, stands there, and quick practice swing and flops it up there. To do that, to process everything and then just pull that shot off, it looks like he's been doing it for years, which he has, but it just looks so easy.
For me, I've got to process it and actually think about it, and then think about what I'm going to try and do and do it. He's definitely got a lot of natural ability. You can see why he's had such a great career.

Q. Would you say he's one of the most natural players you've ever seen?
OLIVER WILSON: Definitely. Everything about him, me and my caddie were talking about, we've got to be careful not to put him off, because he just plays so fast. You hit your shot, you get especially in this weather, between the brelly and the gloves keeping the club dry, and by the time you do that, he's already hit and you start walking off, so you have to be on the ball. It's brilliant.
I think he's used to probably having to wait, and we didn't have people behind us, so we didn't have to rush.
MICHAEL GIBBONS: And on that note, we'll stop. Thank you, Oliver, for joining us. Good luck for the weekend.

End of FastScripts

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