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JOHNNIE WALKER CHAMPIONSHIP AT GLENEAGLES

August 24, 2010

Stephen Gallacher

GLENEAGLES, SCOTLAND

MICHAEL GIBBONS: Thanks very much for joining us. Welcome to Gleneagles a lot of stuff going on, but for you guys, Johnnie Walker Championship in your home country, must have a great feel.
STEPHEN GALLACHER: Yeah, well, any time you play in your home country, you want to do well when you come here, fans and stuff like that. It's a special week, - there are four tournaments for in the year like that for and they all have a bit extra about them because they are at home.
MICHAEL GIBBONS: And the form is still very, very good, isn't it.
STEPHEN GALLACHER: Yeah, I'm playing well. I struggled a wee bit last week but then the difference is I finished 16th instead of missing cuts and stuff like that. So even though I'm grinding out when I'm struggling, so lots of positives.
MICHAEL GIBBONS: Good indication of your year, isn't it, not playing well and finishing 16th.
STEPHEN GALLACHER: Yeah, I struggled off the tee last week. So I did a bit of work on the range there and thought my short game held up well, which is what you've got to try and do. The top guys do it very well; when they are struggling, they still can make a score out there.

Q. Why did you decide to play last week?
STEPHEN GALLACHER: I wanted to play because I'll struggle to get starts at the end of the year. So I feel I probably wouldn't have played but just because I might miss -- after the Dunhill, I might not play again until The Dubai World Championship; and try to finish Top-30, get into the Open next year and things like that I just wanted to play and see if I could get further up the rankings. It was a good tournament, as well.

Q. You've had such a good year, do you feel that the target now is turning that into a win?
STEPHEN GALLACHER: You try every week to prepare to win. You don't want to try to say you're going to win. You just want to let it happen really. If you're in contention, you've got a chance of knocking it off. I mean, I think everybody here would love to win. But yeah, I'm getting closer, anyway; so hopefully.

Q. I was just going to ask you, you get into tournaments at the end of the season anyway with your position on The Race to Dubai.
STEPHEN GALLACHER: Well, I've asked for some invites for Portugal, Valderrama, Spain and Castellon. But it would be a bit of a shame if I have Dunhill and Race to Dubai, sort of six weeks in between. I'd like to just play a few. At start of the year I would have taken it. But I'm hoping so.

Q. So is your mind-set now much stronger than, say, it was a couple of years ago after the experiences you've had; you alluded to the fact that last week, you didn't play well and still finished 16th.
STEPHEN GALLACHER: Yeah, getting stronger. Getting older, as well, I think.
No, it's just even though I'm struggling a bit, my short game is improving, and that's what I've been doing all of the hard work for. You know, if you hit the ball well and you miss a couple of greens, you've got a chance to get up-and-down for bogey. But it also works when you're not playing that well, you can gain the result. You see the top guys doing that every single week.
So I got a lot of positives last week. My short game is good now. An hour and a half on the range with Bob this morning and hitting the ball a bit better so hitting the ball a bit better. This is a course you need to drive the ball well on. The greens are soft. So a big onus on the driver this week.

Q. The Ryder Cup is a big issue this week. What are your views on the situation as regarding wild cards as a player, looking at the overall picture?
STEPHEN GALLACHER: I think you need some picks, but if it was me, I think I would be trying a bit harder to get an automatic place, you know. I think they've left Colin a hard situation now, the top guys not playing, but they are playing the FedExCup, and you can understand the reasons for and against. I don't envy his position on Sunday night, anyway.

Q. Do you feel then that the players that have really made an effort to come here this week, like Miguel, if he misses out, should be considered really strongly for a position?
STEPHEN GALLACHER: Well, if you're not in the top nine, that's the sort of -- that's the rule, isn't it. It's going to be hard for whoever finishes 10th, because sometimes 10, 11, 12, you've got to feel sorry if one of them don't get in. But, you know, it's not just this week. It's been the whole year, isn't it. It's all about the scheduling.
The guys who get in, the guys that are in just now, you can feel sorry for whoever is ninth and if they fall out, they must be strong candidates for picks. But there are so many guys that are on that sort of wild card list; that you could pick six guys, six brilliant players that have played before and are automatically in any ways. But you would feel sorry for the guy if someone jumps him now.

Q. Looking back at Whistling Straits, your thoughts on Martin Kaymer's win and what happened to Dustin Johnson?
STEPHEN GALLACHER: I played with Kaymer on Saturday and he played unbelievable, he just played brilliant. You wouldn't know if he had an eagle or a 12; he's just got that brilliant attitude and things like that. He's very efficient and he played lovely. I mean, I said to my caddie on Sunday, he had a chance of winning that, because he hits the ball so low and putting is good.
Dustin Johnson, there were signs everywhere on the course that some of the bunkers wouldn't be raked. It's a costly one, that, but it was just a mistake, wasn't it. It was an error by both of them, a shame, but there were notices everywhere, just a bad oversight really.

Q. Playing with a lot of the best players in the world this year, how has that helped you --
STEPHEN GALLACHER: Yeah, actually I played with Mickelson that day at The Open, and he had a 64-degree wedge in his bag, and I've been struggling a bit with my sort of wedge play. So I put a 64 degree wedge in, because I have kind of the same -- the way he goes through the ball, and it's made a huge difference. It helped me a lot at Whistling Straits, and it helped me a lot last week, as well. I struggled to -- I compressed it and delofted it, so the more loft helps me, didn't have to change my swing. Playing with him, seeing how he used it, I put it in the bag the next week after that, and it's made quite a big difference.
You pick up things like that all the time when you play with good players. Steve Stricker, as well, an absolute gentleman, played with him on the Sunday on his home course, he was brilliant. You see these guys hitting bad shots and it's just the way they react to it and how good their short games are. Their short games are unbelievable. They just seem to get everything out of the round all the time. He shot level par but he could easily have shot 5-over or something like that, and that's the difference.

Q. In your interview at Loch Lomond, we saw how enthusiastic your son Jack is for the game; is it hard to keep him in school this week?
STEPHEN GALLACHER: Well he has had some bad news this morning beause he was hoping I would be early, late, so he could finish his half-day on Friday and come and watch me, but I'm late early, so he'll be gutted, and he's playing football on Saturday morning, as well. So he's hoping I'm doing well on Saturday so he can play football then come and see me. No pressure, Dad. He's already studying the yardage chart this morning, the Gleneagles yardage chart, so he can help me get around the course.
It's great, I'm not going to be pushy at all. Just let him do what he wants. He's playing football and he's getting his handicap. He's going to play a medal and try to get a handicap. He loves it.

Q. You had a run at Celtic Manor after a run of tournaments, and you have had another wee run of tournaments; what's your kind of status?
STEPHEN GALLACHER: I've only played five holes today. I'm not playing the Pro-Am tomorrow. So I'll get a good rest at home this week. I've got the week off next week. So I feel all right. I was a bit jaded last week after coming back, and it was a hilly course. But no, I'm feeling good.
MICHAEL GIBBONS: Wish you all best for the week.

End of FastScripts

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