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JOHNNIE WALKER CHAMPIONSHIP AT GLENEAGLES

August 28, 2009

Paul Lawrie

GLENEAGLES, SCOTLAND

GORDON SIMPSON: Paul, rounds of 67-69, not a single bogey on the card, over a tough Ryder Cup venue; that must be very satisfying at this stage.
PAUL LAWRIE: Yeah, I played very well again today. Hit the ball extremely solid. Missed a few putts today which was a little bit disappointing but overall came out with 3-under to be 8-under overall without a bogey like you say. No, very pleased with the way I hit it again.
GORDON SIMPSON: Is there something specific you're doing right to avoid these errors?
PAUL LAWRIE: I'm hitting it straighter, that's for sure. My bad shots are just a little bit of a block, as opposed I've been prone to the old hook in my career. And I've certainly got rid of that the last couple of days, and certainly since I've been going to Bob I've certainly been hooking the ball a lot less. So that's been a lot better.
GORDON SIMPSON: Not as destructive.
PAUL LAWRIE: No, it's in play all the time which is nice.

Q. Was one of the most pleasing things about the day when you did seem to get in trouble, you seemed to get out fairly easily and keep the round going along?
PAUL LAWRIE: I wasn't in trouble a lot, but certainly the 8th hole, I hit a poor tee shot in the left bunker and hit it long by the TV tower and chipped to about 12 feet and holed it.
When I've had to, I've obviously kept the round going, which you have to do when you have no bogeys. When you have a golf course playing as long as this and as wet as this, now and again you're obviously going to have to do something to keep it going. But I think I've been in play pretty much all around but for maybe two or three times.

Q. What length of putt was it you holed on the 4th, the short hole? I saw you hit the tee shot.
PAUL LAWRIE: The 4th would have been 40 feet, 45 feet maybe. I'm not very good with distances but 40 feet. You can write down 30 if you want (laughing).
GORDON SIMPSON: 40 sounds better.
PAUL LAWRIE: I hit an awful lot of good shots, and if anything today, I would have said that yesterday was about right, I would said today one or two less would have been about the mark. But overall, I think the way things are, you're not going to grumble. But I'm a golfer and you always grumble.

Q. The Montymeister seemed to suggest that you might be a possible candidate for assistant in The Ryder Cup; has there been any communication between you?
PAUL LAWRIE: Sorry, the what Meister?

Q. Colin.
PAUL LAWRIE: I thought that's what you said. (Laughter) There's been no chat between the two of us about Ryder Cup at all, not one word. So there's nothing I can say about that really.

Q. On that same subject, Ollie played well the last couple of days. If you were Ryder Cup Captain, would you like someone as Ollie as one of your assistants?
PAUL LAWRIE: I played for Ollie when he was the captain at the Royal Trophy this year in January and I thought he was absolutely outstanding as a captain. I've played obviously for Monty in the Seve Trophy a few times, and Ollie and Mark James at Ryder Cup. And I would have said that Ollie was outstanding, the job he did in January. It's just a pity the team played poorly and the Asians played pretty well.
It's not for me to tell Colin what to do. But if Ollie is not there, I think it's going to be weaker. I would have him there in some capacity. But again, that's nothing to do with me.
GORDON SIMPSON: There was a fairly high-powered group there with the major champions, and he's in contention, as well. Is his game looking quite sharp?
PAUL LAWRIE: Yeah, his iron play has never been anything different. His iron play is just outstanding, and four or five times in two days, he's made pars from the thick stuff. He's the best at that that we've got on this tour, there's no question about that, making pars from a poor tee shot. His irons are fantastic. He's always good to play with and we've always got on well. A pleasure to see him playing, never mind playing well.

Q. We were just speaking to Danny Lee who says he loves cold weather and wind and rain and prefers it to the heat of America; do you understand that? Do you share that sentiment?
PAUL LAWRIE: Yeah, I would rather play with a sweater on than a sweater off. All been that way during my whole career. I like a slipover or a sweater. Don't feel all that comfortable playing golf in a tee shirt. It's just not how you grow up and it's just not how you played golf when you were younger. You always had a sweater on, and quite happy playing with a waterproof jacket on.
I can see where he's coming from. But he doesn't live in a cold country, so I mean, it's a bit strange not coming from there. I would rather play with a sweater on than a sweater off.
GORDON SIMPSON: You can tell; you come from Aberdeen.
PAUL LAWRIE: Not got much choice, mind you.

Q. What is it about Ollie that makes him outstanding as a captain, what are his great attributes?
PAUL LAWRIE: I like how he left notes in our locker every day, little things. Each player got a little note. He was fantastic out on the course. You know with the kind of player he is that you can ask him things out there.
You know, he's got a fantastic short game and if you're out there on the course a couple of times, I saw some of the boys asking him, what shot did you play here and he was just -- I can't tell you how good he was. He was just different class. He was there for the players. He put an arm around a couple of the boys when they were struggling and I thought he was outstanding.

Q. (Good saves today).
PAUL LAWRIE: 9, the ball was plugged. It was way in there. I mean, to be able to find it, too; it went straight in there on the fly, and I got a free drop and 8-iron up the fairway and wedge on the green.
It was a poor shot off the tee, there's no question. But obviously the ball's plugged, the ball's plugged. Had it not been plugged, probably would have got it up the fairway anyway.
GORDON SIMPSON: Well done, Paul. Good luck for the weekend.

End of FastScripts

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