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MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 6, 2010

Angel Cabrera

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA

CLAUDE NIELSEN: Ladies and gentlemen, it is a real pleasure to welcome defending Masters Champion, Angel Cabrera, back to Augusta National and to the 2010 Masters Tournament. With 17 international victories, Angel has won two majors, the 2007 U.S. Open, and of course, the 2009 Masters, which he won in a it dramatic two-hole playoff, thus becoming the first Masters Champion from South America.
Making his 11th Masters appearance, please welcome Masters defending champion, Angel Cabrera. He will make opening remarks, after which we will open to questions. Angel?
ANGEL CABRERA: Thank you very much. It's an honor to be back here in a very special place, they always make us feel special, and it's just an honor to be here.

Q. What, if anything, is different this year returning as the Champion?
ANGEL CABRERA: There's different sensations. First of all, I have to defend the title, but also the fact that I've won it before, so that's very different.

Q. Only three golfers have ever won this thing consecutively, Tiger and Jack and Nick Faldo. Do you feel like you have a very good chance of being one of them, as comfortable as you've played this course?
ANGEL CABRERA: I think the chances, I have the possibility; maybe I haven't had the great results lately, but I do feel the chance is out there and I feel confident about it.

Q. Among contemporary players, Tiger obviously sets the benchmark with 14 majors, and then there's an elite group of players with three. How much would it mean to you to join that elite group of three majors?
ANGEL CABRERA: I think it would be a great honor to be able to be on that list, especially now I think it's going to be harder for players to get to that list.

Q. In which way has your life changed in Argentina thanks to last year?
ANGEL CABRERA: In Argentina, everything is the same. I'm still the same person. I still have the same friends. I still live in the same house and everything is the same in Argentina; it's always the same.

Q. What I really meant was not considering the victory, in Argentina, on the side of Maradona, Ginobili and other very famous sports figures; how do you think you rank now?
ANGEL CABRERA: In the world of golf, I think it was very important in Argentina, but I don't like comparisons. Everybody has their own things and their own sport. Sure, it was important what happened in Argentina, but I don't like comparisons.

Q. How much time did you spend selecting the menu for the Champions Dinner, and what are you most looking forward to from that experience tonight?
ANGEL CABRERA: I think very little time. It was obvious what I was going to pick, and I just want them to enjoy, to have a great time and to really enjoy some great Argentinian meat.

Q. What was it like driving on to the property down Magnolia Lane on Sunday night when you first got back here?
ANGEL CABRERA: It was a great sensation, a great satisfaction going down where I had left it last year with the jacket on. It's very hard even to describe what I felt.

Q. What is it that you will remember from the last few holes and the playoff that will stick with you for a long time?
ANGEL CABRERA: I think when that winning putt, that putt I sank to win the tournament is something that's always going to stay in my mind forever.

Q. Comparing this year with last year, how have new grooves affected your wedge game?
ANGEL CABRERA: I haven't noticed a lot of difference. I use PING wedges and there's not a lot of difference with the changes that were done from the old PINGs to the new ones.

Q. Do you know if Tiger Woods will be attending the Champions Dinner?
ANGEL CABRERA: I think you've got to ask him. I don't know. I hope he's there.

Q. I don't think Angelito was here last year when you won but he's going to be caddying for you this year; did you happen to take him by 18 and show him where you were under the tree and where you hit that shot from, and if you did what was it like going back to that spot and seeing it?
ANGEL CABRERA: Honestly, I'm the one who wanted to go see that shot, but he was a perfect excuse, and I said, well, I hit the shot that way and it came out that way, and that's what happened. (Chuckling).

Q. Could HE see the same opening that you saw when you tried to hit it through there?
ANGEL CABRERA: He said, no, you're crazy, there's nothing there to shoot at. (Laughter).

Q. Angelito being on your bag as a caddie this year, what will it be like for you and him to share that experience, going around the course with your son?
ANGEL CABRERA: Angel was with me in 2008. He knows a little bit about it. He had the experience of playing with Tiger the first two rounds, so I think it's going to be very different and I think he's going to enjoy it a lot more.

Q. You said that you've taken the pressure of winning a major before; how is it different now this week, knowing that you've done it before?
ANGEL CABRERA: It's still very important. Yes, I won a Masters, but you've still got to get up to the first tee and realize you are playing the Masters, how important it is. So it's still difficult but obviously it helps that I've won before.

Q. Do you think you're playing similarly at this point as you were a year ago, or even a little better?
ANGEL CABRERA: Yeah, very similar. I came last year not having very good results at the beginning of the year, and, yeah, very similar game.

Q. I may be late because I walked in, I apologize, I'm curious how much the year has been different for you, having been Masters Champion and what it's been like for you this past year since winning here.
ANGEL CABRERA: I think winning the Masters is the most difficult thing in golf. So anything that comes now is more accessible.

Q. You have to leave the green jacket at the club after this week, unless you win again; have you done anything interesting with the jacket in the past year, or did you kind of mostly just keep it on display?
ANGEL CABRERA: No, I have it put away, making sure nothing happens to it and protect it.

Q. What's it feel like to just go into a champions locker room now and hang out with all of those guys in that elite club that have won the Masters?
ANGEL CABRERA: It's very hard to describe to walk in there to see all of the names on the lockers and look around and see Ballesteros, Faldo, Nicklaus, it's a great experience and it's hard to describe.

Q. Whose locker do you share?
ANGEL CABRERA: I don't remember. (Laughter).

Q. With the huge focus on Tiger's return this week, has the build up to this Masters felt really different to you, or just the same?
ANGEL CABRERA: The Masters is the Masters. They can talk about anybody; they can talk about Tiger, but the Masters is the Masters, and we have to give that importance to the Masters as the Masters.

Q. Last year when you won, you said you wanted to get five majors, even if you've had all of the travels in 20 years and all of the things that it takes; do you still think that way?
ANGEL CABRERA: First of all, I said that I wasn't going to win five; that I would like to win five, but there's a hunger, the challenge, and it's always out there and trying to get it.
CLAUDE NIELSEN: Any further questions? Thank you, Angel, and congratulations and play well.

End of FastScripts

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