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WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIPFebruary 19, 2010Paul CaseyMARANA, ARIZONA STEVE TODD: Paul, thanks for coming in again. 5 and 4 win for the third consecutive day, it looks like you're enjoying this. PAUL CASEY: Yeah, I didn't see that one coming. I thought it was going to be a very close match the way it started out. I was behind to Brian after three holes, which is the first time I've been down this week. But it caught my attention, made me focus. I made some birdies, clawed it back, and I was surprised it turned around that quickly, but the four birdies starting on the 10th was huge. Even the one out of the desert on, I think, 13, which was a poor drive and somehow made birdie and halved the hole, which was big. So I'm very, very happy to be sitting here with a 5 and 4 victory. STEVE TODD: It gets you inside early, gives you a bit of rest, which is important with a long day tomorrow. PAUL CASEY: I hope it's a long day tomorrow. You know, the -- it doesn't ever get any easier. So it's going to be an early start tomorrow, and hopefully I'm here all weekend, that would be the plan. Who have I got, do we know? It hasn't finished yet, has it? Whether it's Charl or Stewart, it's going to be very, very difficult. I'm just looking forward to it, I'm very, very happy to be going into a Saturday. Q. Do you know what the 15th, 18th holes look like? Nick Faldo mentioned something on the telecast that maybe you should actually go out and play those four holes? PAUL CASEY: I played them in a practice round, and I played them last year. Q. Does Chris have to go back and do any extra notes for the greens? PAUL CASEY: No, we know how to play those holes. You don't know -- we don't know where the pins are going to be at anyway. If we did then maybe we go out there and have a little "recky." Not knowing where the pin locations are, they do two different golf course setups for Saturday, so who knows, they could really bump that tee up on 16 for one of the rounds, really knock it back. You don't know what they're going to do. It's difficult to prepare for that. I think the most important thing is to save the energy. I want to -- I want to have to play another 72 holes, that's the plan. And I'm going to need to save my legs. Q. What are the specific parts of your game that are going so well right now? Is this the best you've been for a while? PAUL CASEY: It's the best I've been, yeah, since May last year. I think it's all very solid. The one thing about this place for me is always taking advantage of a little bit of the heat and the altitude we've got here. The golf ball goes a long way for me and I enjoy that. It's rare that I can reach -- I mean, 11 today was bumped up, but it's still 600 yards and I hit 3-wood, 3-iron, flag high. That's kind of fun, you don't get to do that the rest of the year. So I don't think there's any one particular part of my game that's jumping out that is fantastic right now, it's just all very, very solid. Q. Today has been a good day for guys who have experience in this tournament and hasn't been so good for some of the newcomers. Is there sort of a built in advantage for having done this before and having had some success? PAUL CASEY: I think so. Yeah, these can be very long weeks. I mean starting on a Wednesday is different. There's not much time to prepare, if guys have come from Pebble to here, you know, maybe they didn't want to practice too much on a Monday to save their energy, you know, so they get one day to start. Then you go from sort of Pebble to, you know, sea level to where the golf ball is going really not very far at all, to here where the golf ball goes huge distances. That's a huge change. And guys who have played this tournament before, who know this golf course well have an advantage. And I also think this is a golf course, the more you play it the more you -- not only do you learn it, but you kind of enjoy it because it is a little funky, guys have been known to say this is -- not criticize it, but express their opinions about the green complexes. The more I've played it, the more I've kind of enjoyed -- I learned to love the golf course, because there are places you can hit is and be rewarded. Q. Is there a mental edge for that, having gone through the ringer here a couple of times? PAUL CASEY: Yeah, I think so. But in 18-hole matches, I don't think that -- you know, I don't think it matters too much. Anybody is capable of winning this thing still. But, yeah, maybe having been through sort of a long week here. Look at the guys -- Geoff Ogilvy, I'm surprised he got knocked out, but seems to have a phenomenal record around here. He knows what to expect, he manages his energy and he always does very, very well around here. Q. Just curious, did you get a chance to see any of Tiger this morning? PAUL CASEY: I saw a little bit. Q. What were your thoughts on what you saw? PAUL CASEY: I must admit I didn't really digest what was going on this morning. I was trying to prepare for the round. It certainly looks sincere, what I saw. And, you know, I'm sure when I get back in and turn on the TV, I'll get to see a little bit more of it. You know, it's nice to see him. Q. Probably the one question you guys wanted answered is when he's coming back. That's the one question he didn't answer is when he's going to play again. Is there sort of a bit of limbo for you guys not knowing that? Do you care at all not knowing at this point? PAUL CASEY: That's going to differ, depending on who you ask. He's the one who knows the answer to that question. And he will come back when he's ready. Q. Do you like the way the caddie situation is working out recently? It seems to be paying some dividends. Have you seen any brotherly -- PAUL CASEY: I've never found myself looking at the scoreboard, looking at what Luke's been up to before. (Laughter). Christian is still getting used to the yardages. It's great. I mean Christian is an excellent caddie and I'm enjoying having him on the bag. It seems that John McLaren, who is working for Luke, is working out on that front, as well, Luke played great in LA. And he's playing well again this week. So, you know, that was a very big change. I've changed caddies before, but that was a very, very big change for Luke, having had Christian on the bag for eight years, really the only caddie he's ever had. Even when I was playing Walker Cup with Luke, Christian was on the bag. So big change. But it's working out good. And it's good, because now I kind of get the gossip, as well. STEVE TODD: Thanks a lot, Paul, and best of luck tomorrow. End of FastScripts |
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