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ALFRED DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIPOctober 2, 2009Alastair ForsythST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND SCOTT CROCKETT: Alastair, thanks for coming down and joining us, and we do appreciate you coming down from Kingsbarns to do so. Just talk about today, that was a very good effort, wonderful score and good position in the tournament. ALASTAIR FORSYTH: Yeah, played nicely yesterday. So I felt pretty good going out today. I knew obviously we got lucky with the weather. It was flat-calm basically all day. So Kingsbarns is a course that you can shoot a good score, and obviously knowing that the forecast is bad for tomorrow and I'm at Carnoustie, obviously a good score today was required. But a great start. Eagle at the third, that really got me going, and had a couple of chances at the first and second and that kind of kick-started me. I had some good shots. I hit a lot of good shots and most of the holes I parred I had chances on, but I managed to take them on three in a row there at 5, 6, 7. So 4-under after seven; I was flying. And had a good chance for another eagle at 9, 15 feet for eagle there but just missed. So 30 on the front nine was obviously a great effort and gave me a good chance of a really good score. A wee bit slower on the back nine, but managed to hole a good putt on 14 and got up-and-down beside the green at 16. Best hole of the day was the last, I drove it in the bunker and one of those could I only chip it out sideways. I pitched it out sideways and managed to hit a 7-iron to ten feet and holed it for par and that felt like a birdie as well. SCOTT CROCKETT: You talked a lot pre-tournament about the work you were doing, definitely a sign it is paying off. ALASTAIR FORSYTH: The last three or four months has been poor, but the last month or so, I feel like it's been getting better. Last weekend at Estonia with David, certainly on the Sunday, I felt back to my best. And I played nicely yesterday and hitting the ball well in practise, and today was about as good as I can play. Q. Well played, you've made your charge early, and with Carnoustie tomorrow and a bad weather forecast, is that a case of just getting through that unscathed to where you can go for it on Sunday? ALASTAIR FORSYTH: You don't know, the forecast wasn't very good for today, and you don't get better conditions than what we had out there. So it's a part of the world where you can get lucky with the weather. It just depends. We'll just take what comes tomorrow. Even when it's calm, Carnoustie is a tough test. So I know that -- I mean, it's nice to look at my name on the board just now, but I know I'll be doing very well to keep up with the other guys tomorrow. Q. You obviously are lifted by what you and David did last week, rather than being tired coming into this event. Can you explain how you've managed to do that? ALASTAIR FORSYTH: Yeah, it was good. I must be honest, certainly last Sunday was the best I've felt on the course for a long time. And we were hoping, we both got a real boost with the round we shot on Sunday. 66 in foursomes is a hell of a good score. I was just really pleased to play well again. As I said obviously my form hasn't been great this year, but I felt as if I had a lot of good shots, and my game really feels as if I was playing well again, and I've just carried that on this week. Q. Remarkably quick transformation because it doesn't seem long ago, a couple of weeks ago, you were close to despair. ALASTAIR FORSYTH: You've always got to remember, it's never far away. That's one thing I've learned over my ten years on Tour is that when it's bad, you feel as if it's never going to get better again, and the other side of the coin, when it's good, you feel as if it will never be bad again. But you do learn that it's never far away, and it just really has a steady improvement over the last month or so, and it really feels good again. Q. Still working with Pete Cowen? ALASTAIR FORSYTH: Yeah. Q. Have you decided that you are going to be permanently with him? ALASTAIR FORSYTH: Yeah, where we are going just now, I'm quite happy. Q. Richie was just talking about the natural Scottish skepticism, as he put it, as a contributing factor to why players haven't perhaps achieved that much recently. And he was sort of contrasting it to the American bubbliness and sort of glass-half-full I guess. What would be your take on that? ALASTAIR FORSYTH: I don't think from a player's point of view, I don't think I would say the glass is half-empty. I think a lot of the players, we know what we are capable of doing, and over the years, at times we have shown what we are capable of. I know what I'm capable of when I play well and out shooting scores like I did today, and that's why it's so frustrating when I'm not playing well. I think it's more other people's perception that golf is so poor in Scotland and we are not doing this and we are not doing that. The guys just haven't been performing to their best, but there are a lot of good players there, and it's nice to see a couple of Scots up there. You know, without going over the same old things we have been saying the last few years, people keep talking about the state of Scottish golf. I keep saying, the players are there, and when we play the way we can, then you'll see Scots winning tournaments. Q. Do you think you are too hard on yourselves collectively? I think that's basically what he was saying. ALASTAIR FORSYTH: Yeah, certainly as a said, we know what we are capable of and we know what we can do. When we play well, we have had two winners in this tournament, a big, big event, two Scottish winners we have had. That's guys doing -- playing the way they can. I just think that it was maybe a lot of our good players maybe just don't play at their best as often as we would like, and if we can get that, if we can get people playing well and more often, then you'll see more Scottish winners. Q. On golf course architecture, how do you rate Kingsbarns as a strategic test of golf? ALASTAIR FORSYTH: I really like it. I enjoy it. I must say, I don't think there's any doubt it's the easier of the three courses, but it's a beautiful setup. The scenery is fantastic. You just need a little bit of wind and it becomes a tough test. But on a day like today -- on a day like today, any links course generally plays, not easy, but the toughest test on links courses comes from the wind and we didn't have that today so it did feel pretty straightforward. No, it's a beautiful golf course. Q. One of the Scottish winners that you mentioned there has not been on Tour for a wee while; have you been in touch with Stephen Gallacher much? ALASTAIR FORSYTH: He flew down on Wednesday night with myself and Gary Orr. He seems to be fine and fit again. So hopefully Tour School might be the first time you will see him back. He just started chipping and putting. He's just starting to feel good again. I just got a text from him to say well done and good luck. It will be good to see him back next year. Q. (Do you hear from the other guys when you are doing well) -- ALASTAIR FORSYTH: It's all part and parcel and vise versa; if any of the guys are doing well, you get a call here and there and vice versa. Q. You were the last Scot to win on Tour 18 months ago now; what would it mean for you personally to do it here to win here? ALASTAIR FORSYTH: One of the biggest events we have on The European Tour, not just from a prize money point of view, but from a -- what's the word -- SCOTT CROCKETT: Prestige. ALASTAIR FORSYTH: Prestige, yes. From that, and obviously the strength of the field; to win this event, you've beaten a lot of really good players, some of the top players in the world, but I think after two rounds, with still Carnoustie to play, it's too early to start thinking like that. As I say, if I'm still there or thereabouts tomorrow, then they will be really pleased. SCOTT CROCKETT: Alastair, many thanks for coming down. End of FastScripts |
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