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ALFRED DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP

October 2, 2009

Simon Dyson

ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND

SCOTT CROCKETT: Thank you, Simon, as always, for joining us. Congratulations, 68 at Carnoustie yesterday and 66 at St. Andrews today; fair to say you're pretty pleased with your first days' work here?
SIMON DYSON: Yeah, especially every part of my game was good today. Front nine I gave myself a lot of good chances, a lot of good chances, just couldn't quite hole the putts. And the back nine just started to drop a bit and I was knocking them a bit closer. Drove it good, iron play was good and putting was good.
SCOTT CROCKETT: Coming off the win in Holland, you're obviously confident in your game, and you're attacking the pins whenever possible; you must be pretty pleased with the way it's going.
SIMON DYSON: Yeah, very, very. Put a lot of work in the last six weeks, and starting to get a little bit of reward for it which is nice.
SCOTT CROCKETT: Just give us the details of your birdies if you would.
SIMON DYSON: Driver, 5-wood to about 30 feet and 2-putted that.
9 was 3-wood, sand iron to about eight feet. Knocked that in.
11, just hit 7-iron to about 15 feet.
12, driver, lob-wedge to about 12 feet.
13 was driver, 9-iron to a foot.
15 was driver, 6-iron to about three-foot.
SCOTT CROCKETT: Good save at 17.
SIMON DYSON: Yeah, good save. I thought I hit a good drive there to be honest. Took it just over the sign and thought it was all right. Got down there and I was in the thick rough by about a couple of inches and wasn't a great lie. I thought it was a bit jumpy. Played for a flyer and came out dead. Didn't hit a very good first putt, but made up for it with the second one. Was pleased not to drop a shot really.

Q. How far was the first putt?
SIMON DYSON: The first putt on 17, it would have been a good ten yards short -- about seven or eight yards short of the green.
And then the putt that I holed would have been 25 feet for par.

Q. Have you had a long drink yet?
SIMON DYSON: Yeah, after Germany I did. I didn't get a chance to celebrate my win after Holland, so I flew straight up to Scotland for a golf day up there. After Germany, obviously finishing third in Germany, and my win, yeah, flew home and had a few. But that's it. That's all I've done.

Q. Back to the old regime of working out and keeping fit?
SIMON DYSON: Yeah. I haven't been working out that much because I was ill last week at the Vivendi. I had a little bit of food poisoning. So my energy levels were very low. So I've literally just been having quiet nights and trying to rest as much as I can. I feel like I'm getting back to how I was feeling, which is good.

Q. Have you had good and bad experiences around here?
SIMON DYSON: Around St. Andrews, yeah, a bit of -- very average to be honest. I've never shot the lights out like, you know, 6-, 7-under. But I've never really shot like 5- or 6-over, either. It's always been around a level, 1-over to 2-under mark. That's my best by a long shot, yeah, a lot.
Used to play in the amateur events, as well, at the St. Andrews Trophy, so will be a good 30, 35 rounds around here.

Q. Have you surpassed your goals for this season already, and given the run you're having at the moment, your expectations rising all the time?
SIMON DYSON: Yeah, I mean, obviously straightaway, you want to get in The Race to Dubai from the start, so I've done that, and I wanted to win, so I've done that as well. And you know, I wanted to finish Top-30, because obviously that gets you straight in The Open next year, which it's here, and gets you in a couple other big events.
So yeah, I suppose I have surpassed my expectations, but you know, once I've won, you kind of set new ones, so now I want to finish in the top 20, because that would be the best finish I've ever had on Tour. My best is 21st. So I would like to beat that.

Q. What did last week do for you, performing in that team environment? Obviously you had the food poisoning, but otherwise you performed extremely well.
SIMON DYSON: Yeah, first two days I did me and Ollie, Ollie Wilson. We played well in it two years ago. It's a great event, you know. The team we had, we were massive underdogs, but everyone is good friends on that team. So we knew we had a really strong chance, and McGinley knew we had a strong chance.
Yeah, it's great to be a part of a team like that.

Q. Is there a different -- more intense --
SIMON DYSON: Not on our side to be honest. We knew what we had to do, and as much as we wanted to win, you still went out there -- I mean, we had such a good time, me and Ollie, the first two rounds.
We were laughing; the putts were dropping, but that's probably because we were going in with such a good attitude. Whereas, I don't know, we just seemed such a closer team, and which is probably because we are all really good mates. Makes a difference, a hell of a difference.

Q. Did any of you talk to Rory about team golf?
SIMON DYSON: Yeah, I mean, no one has to tell him anything really. He's a fantastic player, and he's going to learn it all very soon probably.

Q. I imagine it becomes a fact that you get to the business end of a golf tournament, are you concerned the food poisoning will have any effect?
SIMON DYSON: Yeah, might do. I'm just trying to do everything I can. I'm plying my body with vitamins and resting and not overdoing it.
If it does, there's nothing I can do, but at the minute, I'm feeling pretty good.

Q. What was it?
SIMON DYSON: Chicken I think. It's always a killer, isn't it.

Q. You've achieved a lot in your career this year, but what would it mean to win at the home of golf?
SIMON DYSON: Oh, everything, to be honest. My pal did it a couple years ago, Dougherty, and I was very jealous, very jealous of him. It is a fantastic event. It's one of the biggest on the calendar, and you couldn't win at a better place I don't think.
Yeah, this is one that everybody wants.

Q. Would it be right to say from your comments that winning at St. Andrews, a tournament of this magnitude, would be second only to a major?
SIMON DYSON: Probably, yeah. Probably, for me personally, yeah.

Q. Do you surf?
SIMON DYSON: No.

Q. Have you spoken to him about his career?
SIMON DYSON: Yeah, he's all right, isn't he. I've heard of him before. I've heard of him definitely. He's a legend in surfing world. I might pop over to L.A. and see him and get a few lessons off him.

Q. I was going to say, the way you live your life away from the course, pretty calm sort of night life compared to what you used to, I think it's fair to say, if you had taken that on sooner in your career would all this have been happening sooner do you think?
SIMON DYSON: I don't know to be honest. It might have done but I don't regret one thing that I've done. I enjoyed my life as a kid. You're travelling the world, and you've got to enjoy yourself.
So you know, still got a lot of time left in my career hopefully, touch wood. Yeah, I have settled down a lot. I'm happy -- I'm the happiest away from the course that I've ever been. I live with my girlfriend and she's a great girl, and you know, we've got a puppy, as well, and nice house. You know, what more do you want? I'm happy; very.

Q. You may just have answered the question I was going to ask, but what do you attribute this good run of form down to more than anything else?
SIMON DYSON: It's a mixture of things. Like I said, obviously been happy away from the course. That's a massive factor I think. But the working out I've done, as well, is down to it as well. You know, working out and practising the stuff that I need to practice. And just been a lot more professional about everything.

Q. Can we clarify your girlfriend's name?
SIMON DYSON: Lindsey.

Q. This is going to sound daft, but what is the name of your puppy?
SIMON DYSON: Ralphie. He's six months, chocolate Labrador.

Q. Are you wearing that breast cancer badge for a particular reason?
SIMON DYSON: Yeah, my mom just got over it. They had them on the first tee, so I think it's a great cause.
She got the all-clear about four months ago -- no, sorry, it wasn't. It was more than that. It was last November, because it was near her birthday, she got the all-clear, and on the third day, she found out her best mate had uncurable and unfortunately she passed away about three months ago. Yeah, that's why I wear it.

Q. What do you want to achieve by the time you're 40?
SIMON DYSON: You know, just a few more wins, a little bit better in the majors. I've had a fifth in the major, but I'd like to play in a few more and try to perform a bit better. But I'd like a few more wins under my belt, definitely.

Q. And I presume is your top goal a Ryder Cup, especially after the way you played?
SIMON DYSON: It's one of those, you look after yourself, and all my focus isn't on The Ryder Cup, but if I played in it, it would mean everything. That's what I'll be setting my goals to win to get in The Ryder Cup.
SCOTT CROCKETT: Simon, many thanks. Good luck.

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