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WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP

February 19, 2010

Oliver Wilson

MARANA, ARIZONA

STEVE TODD: Thanks, again, for coming in Oliver. Another hard fought victory there, 20 holes. But a good one.
OLIVER WILSON: Yeah, tough day again, but did like coming out on top. It was pretty exciting down the stretch. It could have gone either way, and fortunately it went mine.
STEVE TODD: We were going to see this flag here come what may today. But how much does it mean to you to actually be the one holding it up.
OLIVER WILSON: Yeah, well, I'm delighted, you know. Obviously England golf is going great, but one of us had to go out. Obviously I'm pleased it wasn't me. Luke is in good form. He's been playing well.
It didn't turn out to be the match I thought it was going to be. It was much more birdies and bogeys, and obviously with Luke and myself, we are kind of steady and thought it would be a lot more pars and just steady golf. So it wasn't what I expected. But, you know, you've got to deal with everything. And like I say, it worked out well.
STEVE TODD: You got ahead pretty early on and kept the head all the way through, how important was that.
OLIVER WILSON: Yeah, did the same thing again, you know. I was in pretty good position, quite comfortable playing the par-5, 13, played it really smartly, just laid it up short of the green, left myself an easy up-and-down and if you go 2-up at that stage you're in pretty good shape, especially with the pins and the wind it's hard to make birdies. If you can par in from there, you'd feel pretty confident. I missed that and bogeyed the next. Hit it in a terrible position in the bunker, just dead. So obviously I've gone from feeling pretty good to game on again, all square.
The next few holes were -- well, the par-3, he made bogey there, which was good for me. And then he turned it on, made a great birdie up 17. And then obviously on 18 was a little bit harsh, I thought. That wasn't very nice of him. I hit a great shot in, best two shots of the day for me, stone dead, and he holes, I don't know how long it was, 45, 50-foot putt on me for the halve and to take it on to the extra hole. I wasn't over-impressed by that.
But I had a good chance on the first, as a playoff. We both did. I thought it was over then. I had probably 15 feet and I missed, and Luke was just inside of me and he missed, which was amazing, I didn't really expect that. And I got mine back on the next. I hold it from about -- I don't know how far that was, probably 35, 40 feet, to put the pressure on him, and he missed from 12 feet, which was a tough putt, but I just knew if I -- I think whoever -- if I'd have missed I think he would have hold that, so it needed to get done, and it was nice to get it over then.

Q. Could you talk about your emotions when you saw the putting on 18? How tough was it walking from that hole to the first extra hole?
OLIVER WILSON: I don't know if I can repeat that. Yeah, it's weird, you know, it's mind games at that stage. I've hit a great shot in, stone dead, and you are always telling yourself that you've got to expect the guy to hole it from anywhere in match play, but there becomes a limit on that, you know? From 25, 30 feet, yeah, he's got a good chance.
But add a bit of extra distance and a few mounds to go over, I was feeling reasonably confident and just thinking, well, maybe it's not going to be too hard on this one. And then it went in. So I was a bit speechless. What can you do? It's great golf. That's what we play for and things like that make it really exciting.
I had to give myself a lot of talking to on the next, on the way to the next tee. It's a long walk. Luke had a little -- we had a little laugh on the way to the first. And then I was just telling myself there's no reason I can't go on to win this. He's obviously feeling pretty good about things, but if I can keep the pressure on, it's not easy out there. So you've just got to keep playing any game and doing that.

Q. How far was your shot on 18 and what did you hit?
OLIVER WILSON: I have no idea. I think it was about 150 yards to the pin. I hit 9-iron. Like I say, it was -- after the tee shot -- the tee shot was the most important one, there. I took an aggressive line, which brought some trouble in, but it enabled me to get it close to that pin. Taking the safe line like Luke did, you can't get it close to the flag. I got rewarded for that, and hit it close, obviously. And I felt -- I stood back and thought, yeah, I've been rewarded there for hitting a good tee shot, good shot in. But obviously it wasn't enough.

Q. Did you watch Luke's putt on that hole? At what point did you -- did it look good all the way or what point did you start to sense it had a chance?
OLIVER WILSON: I watched every inch. And it still is going through my mind in slow motion. The first ten feet you're not sure, looks good, no, it's off line, all the way, and then it came over the slope and it was pacey, and it started to get on line, which I wasn't overly pleased about at that point. And then it was just trucking the last four feet. And, you know, you kind of sort of hoping it will catch a lip, but it didn't. Well, it did, it caught the back lip and went straight in. So fair play.

Q. The joke you guys laughed about on the way to the tee, what was that about?
OLIVER WILSON: He was just saying it was very rude up of him to do that and I agreed.

Q. Were you not tempted to celebrate yours on the 20th as much as he had his on the 18th?
OLIVER WILSON: Well, tempting, but you never know. I just -- I really thought he was going to make his putt there. Usually when you get in games like that it kind of can carry on and things happen and you get in the zone. And Luke's a great putter, it's a strength of his. And I figured that he was going to make that putt.
So I didn't want to celebrate too much. I was just pleased it went in. Just nice to have to put the pressure on him.

Q. Which putt was tougher, his on 18 or yours on 20?
OLIVER WILSON: Oh, his on 18, no question. It was longer and more slope. Mine was -- I actually hit it in a very similar position that I hit it in regulation play. So I knew the line. It was just -- it was a little different line, one more slope to go over, but it was reasonably straight so I just had to go aggressive with it. It was pretty slow.

Q. (Inaudible.)
OLIVER WILSON: Yeah, his at -- I think it had a windmill to go through at some stage. But, yeah, it was a little bit more difficult.

Q. Can you just talk, how much have you played with Sergio, and just talk about the match tomorrow?
OLIVER WILSON: Yeah, I played with Sergio quite a lot. We played in the World Match Play last year in Spain, where I managed to squeeze through on the last to beat him. And we grew up playing golf together. We played a lot of amateur golf together, European boys and mens and that stuff. So I've known Sergio for a long time. It will be good fun.

Q. I know you're probably sick of this, but how do you feel like Tiger's press conference this morning, has it overshadowed anything, did it affect you at all?
OLIVER WILSON: No, not at all. I'm glad he came out and said something, but, you know, I just think everyone should go on with their own lives now and let him get on with his. I just want to get him back on the course.
STEVE TODD: Thanks a lot. Best of luck tomorrow.

End of FastScripts

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