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DEUTSCHE BANK CHAMPIONSHIP

September 4, 2010

Stewart Cink

NORTON, MASSACHUSETTS

Q. 5-under 66. It's tough out there.
STEWART CINK: It got tough. We played about five holes before the wind picked up. As soon as the clouds blew away, it got windy. The golf course still had some moisture in it, but it was challenging hitting shots up into the wind.

Q. The last few holes were the greens starting to firm up? They're going to get a little bit of that fire that this course can get.
STEWART CINK: Yeah, this course can definitely get that way. I'm not seeing that yet, not the firmness, but the speed is up. The greens are faster today for sure, and I think through the afternoon they'll continue to firm up a little bit. Tomorrow I think is when we'll see to see the shine.

Q. What was working for you today to really get this round going?
STEWART CINK: It was pretty solid, but I had my moments. The first two days for me have been about putting. I've putted really well, and not a course I've putted well on at all in the past. I haven't struck the ball that well, especially yesterday, but I hung in there with my putter, and then today I hit a lot more good shots and converted a few birdies, so that's what it was about.

Q. Were the hole locations a little harder today?
STEWART CINK: A little bit, but I think the biggest difference today from yesterday is we played the ball down. We got some mud balls, and you can't just give yourself that pristine, perfect lie with a clean ball every time you hit a shot, and there's just that little extra bit of indecision that you have to fight.

Q. Looking at your scorecard, there's lots of birdies out there.
STEWART CINK: Yeah, definitely there are lots of birdies. There's some holes where the pin is on the direction of the green where the wind is blowing towards instead of the opposite, so that definitely makes things a little bit more friendly. You can work with the wind to get your ball close to the hole instead of trying to fight against it. And also the greens are in such perfect shape. If you have the ball on line here, it's going in the hole. There's no such thing as a ball bouncing off line or anything.

Q. You said there were mud balls. Were you surprised you were able to shoot as low as you were?
STEWART CINK: I don't know, I don't ever really think about what we can shoot before we tee off, I just go out there and try to play as good as I can and make a few putts. There was just a couple of times when mud led to some indecision and you had to play a little conservative, but that's just part of the deal. Everybody is going to even out.

Q. How about the Ryder Cup? You're obviously here in the hunt. Have you thought about that or don't you worry about that?
STEWART CINK: Yeah.

Q. What's your approach to that even before the week started?
STEWART CINK: Well, I run the risk of acting like I don't care because I'm going to sit here and say I'm not thinking about the Ryder Cup much, I'm more into what's going on with the FedExCup at the moment. The Ryder Cup I see as a reward. If I play really well and get Corey's attention, then he'll pick me and I'll be start of the decision. But if I play well at least I'll be part are it, and that would be great.
But that's what I consider to be a reward. I can't control that. All I can control is what I do with my tee balls, my irons, my short game and my putts.

Q. Was it in the back of your mind at all? You were, quote, one of the bubble guys, and I assume you'd love to be on the team.
STEWART CINK: I would love to be on the team, but I really can't -- again, I don't play golf to try to get rewards. That's like saying I'm going to tee it up on Thursday to try to win the tournament. All you're going to do is set yourself up for failure. I've been on the bubble a lot of times for the Ryder Cup, I've been on the bubble for The Presidents Cup, and I've been on the bubble for the TOUR Championship. The bubble is no fun to be on. But I learned a lot time ago -- in fact I learned about the first time I was on it when I failed that you're much better off just to focus on the task at hand that you can control and not on the goal thing.

Q. So you didn't feel like you had to play well this week?
STEWART CINK: No, no. I felt like I had to play well to qualify for the team for a long time, and I didn't do it. I didn't qualify for the team, so I'll have to rely on hopefully a pick. I put myself in that position, and now I'm busy just trying to claw my way out of the hole I've dug myself to try and get back into the TOUR Championship and the FedExCup and get the world back in the proper position.

End of FastScripts

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