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JOHNNIE WALKER CHAMPIONSHIP AT GLENEAGLES

August 26, 2009

Gregory Havret

GLENEAGLES, SCOTLAND

GORDON SIMPSON: Welcome back to what is known as our heat wave in Scotland. I'm sure you've got very happy memories of this country. We know you've won at Loch Lomond and you've won here in last year's Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles. So what is it about Scotland that brings out the best in you?
GRÃ‰GORY HAVRET: Good question, I don't know. Absolutely felt fantastic last year playing here and obviously Loch Lomond the year before.
Yeah, it's been two awesome weeks on two awesome courses and I really enjoy playing here that's for sure. I really enjoy the way golf is in this country and the way people are with us. They are really knowledgeable people. You can hit a great shot for you and feel like you did really well because you had a tree down the line and you put a ball eight, nine metres and people enjoy it. And that's quite rare on The European Tour; sometimes you hit a good shot and nobody claps, but that's not the case here.
Yeah, we feel good playing here and it's nice, even if the weather is not the best, it's nice to be here for sure, yeah.
GORDON SIMPSON: What do you remember most about last year when you won?
GRÃ‰GORY HAVRET: I remember to have a very good first round, a very nice 67. Not this weather, but nearby yesterday's weather, and that was quite a key to winning a tournament like this. And I had a nice week, because I was leading every night and I've been steady the three next days, and that was probably the key. I had a very nice putt obviously on the last to win, and it was nice to miss that playoff, yeah.

Q. Regarding Ryder Cup, will next year's event generate more interest in Gleneagles?
GRÃ‰GORY HAVRET: I think so, by the fact that we saw that K Club was a fantastic tournament because the field was year after year bigger and bigger. And it feels like because the course is a Ryder Cup course, yeah, it can bring some people here and a lot of interest obviously year after year. It was the case two years ago and last year and feels more like it's going bigger and bigger. It's only in what four years' time, Ryder Cup, still plenty of time and already you feel things, and it's good signs yeah.

Q. What was it like competing here as the last even for Ryder Cup qualification and not being on the team the last few years, what was that like?
GRÃ‰GORY HAVRET: Yeah, well, it was great to play that good when the field was really good, and a lot of players were competing for the last two spots. I had two 3-putts, also, and it was great to play in front of all the boys and also to be nice to be on top of the team in front of The Ryder Cup captain.
I didn't expect anything at all because the rest of the year was not as good, but it was definitely very nice for me to feel that I was about to compete against those boys, and we did really well in America. I didn't win obviously but it's always nice to feel that you can do it sometimes and why not more and more in the future. That's what it's all about, yeah.

Q. Did you think you had a chance to make The Ryder Cup - I mean, what do you need to do to make the team?
GRÃ‰GORY HAVRET: Yeah, at least two wins I think. When somebody is not playing the majors and the WGCs, you really need to be the best of -- well, you can already say that five or six players will be on the team. So it means that there's only five more spots, and a lot of people for four or five spots.
So those people who are like me, not playing the majors and the WGCs, it's a big thing. I remember when I won Loch Lomond, I was just on that team to play against GB&I two months later. I was not just, but I was not for sure in the top four or five, and it was the biggest tournament in terms of money that year.
So it means that for Ryder Cup, I will have probably had to win another one to be on that team that year. So when you won Loch Lomond and not even -- you're nearby the team but not in the team because I finished 19th in Europe that year, yeah, that means you have to win another one, and yeah, it means you have to produce some fantastic golf when you don't play those things. Well, even if you play those things, but for sure it's a little bit different when you don't play them, yeah.

Q. Who are your five or six players?
GRÃ‰GORY HAVRET: Well, it's tough to give names. Some will be, some don't, but I guess Padraig will be in. I guess Sergio will be in. I guess Henrik will be in. Well, Robert Karlsson is struggling physically, but without that, you can say he's got a great chance. And who else, I think Paul Casey is doing really well. Well, I don't know; Westwood, of course. Yeah, you can give names. Maybe one or two won't be there but I think 80 per cent of those names will be in, yeah.

Q. Your year so far?
GRÃ‰GORY HAVRET: It's going bad. I'm playing badly since, what, yeah, eight, nine months. I had a tough winter for many reasons but golf is one of the reasons. I'm struggling on my game, trying to work a lot with my coach, maybe trying too much to do things right and left, and forgot the way golf is. It's all about score and doing well, and if you should try too much sometimes, it's better to, as Westwood said a few times in papers, 'Just play as a great golfer is with his feelings,' and sometimes that's what it's all about.
Yeah, a bit like myself in things right and left, but trying more to concentrate on more important things now, and I believe 2010 will be a lot better than the past, yeah.

Q. Does the weather change your game plan?
GRÃ‰GORY HAVRET: Well, in this weather, what is very important is to be strong mentally because you don't have to -- when you miss shots, everybody will, and some percentage of the field, I don't know what percentage will lose head because it's really hard, it's really cold and it's really wet and the game is not there.
You have to be first on the percentage and after you fight with the other boys, and of course it's a very tough course in beautiful weather, so I guess in this one it will be such a test. But it's like that and just take it like it is and put the waterproofs and be as good as you can and don't forget that it's tough for everybody.
The worst is when you play the morning and you have all the rain and the afternoon it clears up, then you feel like it's a bit of an injustice. It's like that and you hope it's going to be the same with everybody and you fight with your arms -- in French, but with your capabilities of doing well, and the other ones will do, and when it's the same, it's nice, but sometimes it's tough because it's not the same old here.

Q. You mentioned the golf. What was the other part of your problem?
GRÃ‰GORY HAVRET: Well, it's more private stuff, but yeah, golf was not the worst.
GORDON SIMPSON: We wish you a very successful defence, and hopefully we'll see you during the week.

End of FastScripts

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