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THE RYDER CUPOctober 2, 2010Ross FisherPeter HansonPadraig HarringtonMartin KaymerFrancesco MolinariEdoardo MolinariIan PoulterNEWPORT, WALES Q. Your thoughts on that great win? IAN POULTER: Great win, it was always going to be very tough, made a lot of up-and-downs. As solid as we were playing, there weren't any putts going in. But you know, we knew we had a chance. If you keep hitting fairways and greens and putting it in position, we were always going to have chance to win that match. You know, just a magnificent shot at 17 to finish the match off. It was always going to be a tough game. There's two long hitters in that group, and you know, we put it in position an awful lot, only missed a couple of greens, and when you do that, you're going to be tough to beat. Even when we went down on the back nine, if we could grab a couple of quick birdies, we could change that game around. We certainly did that. The board was changing a little more blue and that gave us a bit of confidence. Q. Heading straight out, are you feeling the pressure? IAN POULTER: It's all good. You know what, this is what we play golf for. It's an amazing adrenaline rush, and you know what, we have probably got six or seven holes to play this evening. We will do that, come and finish in the morning and hopefully we'll be victorious tomorrow afternoon. Q. Any thoughts on your playing partner, Martin Kaymer? IAN POULTER: It's going to be great, someone who is very, very solid, too, makes plenty of birdies. We can go out and be aggressive and have some fun. Q. How was the atmosphere? IAN POULTER: 40,000 very vocal fans, which is great. They have come out and cheered us on and they have got us going out there today. Q. Your thoughts? ROSS FISHER: It's amazing. Really, really delighted to get my first point for Europe. It was a it tough game. You know, I think Colin showed a lot of passion to putt Paddy with myself. There was a lot of responsibility for Paddy, carrying me around. His experience really helped me. You know, we both played really, really well as a team and delighted to take out Mickelson and DJ. Q. You played pretty well yourself. ROSS FISHER: I played well, but to get a guy that's won three majors reading my putts was massive. He is one of the world's best putters and it just gave me so much confidence to hit my putts knowing Paddy is reading my lines. He helped me out with the line, I'd hit the putt and I holed some good ones. Yeah, it's pretty intense, but you know, best players in the world are here. Best players that made the team from Europe and the best players that made the team from America, so I think it was a dream first pairing for me, you know, myself and Poults to take on Tiger and Stricker was great. A shame the result didn't go it our way. I felt a little bit disappointed with my performance, just didn't feel like I really backed Poults up with enough birdies. He played great. We just hung in there. We gave ourselves a chance. I was really eager and determined to get out there and really play solid and just make sure I could give Paddy enough looks at birdie, and I did. Q. Going back out this afternoon against Johnson and Furyk. ROSS FISHER: You know, they are all good matches. They are all tough games. I think Jim is Mr. Million Dollar Man after last week, and Zach is a very steady player. But I like our chances. We both played very, very solid today. I feel a lot more confident on the greens, especially knowing that I've got a guy like Pádraig reading my putts. I just leave him to it, because I know he's that good on his own and he'll chip in with a load of birdies. Hopefully we can get out there and whether we finish tonight or not is another thing but if we can get some blew up on the board before we leave this place tonight that would be great. Q. Are you enjoying this? ROSS FISHER: How can you not? The crowd are amazing and the atmosphere is electric. I love every minute of it and want to just get out there and playing golf, because we need this crowd behind us. It's tough out there, but this crowd has been absolutely phenomenal and hopefully they stick around for the next couple of days. Q. How weak were your knees on the first tee? PETER HANSON: Pretty weak. I was almost in tears. It was fantastic, to hit that shot and get all that adrenaline going was amazing, and to feel the crowd and get it behind you was fantastic. Q. What's good and what's bad in your mind about the change? PETER HANSON: I think it's going to be good for us now. We have to go straight out there again, and especially me and Miguel, we want to get back out there and try to get a point. Q. So you can have a cigar and a glass of red wine when you get the job done? PETER HANSON: Yeah, maybe not tonight. Maybe cigar is not the best for me but hopefully when this is over if we can get to 14 1/2 points, I'm going to have a cigar. Q. Another chance with Miguel this afternoon. PETER HANSON: Yeah, another chance. Of course we still don't know -- we are playing Overton and Watson. Overton played good this morning, I saw that, saw a few shots on the TV. So going to be a tough match again. I think we have to step it up a bit. We got beaten badly today by Tiger and Steve, but they played absolutely amazing. They were 5-under par through 15 holes. But if you are going to win matches here, you have to play really well. So we have to go out there and try to do better. It's tough, but it was always very inspiring to play Tiger in the first match for me. We all knew it was going to be tough. I think both Miguel and me, we knew we had to play really well to have a chance. Steve is a fantastic player, as well, especially foursome player. He hits it straight, middle of the fairway every time, and of course with the iron play like Tiger has today, they were putting inside ten, 15 feet on every hole. Q. How do you feel it went for you today? EDOARDO MOLINARI: We played not very good on the front nine and we played great on the back nine, and you know, it was a difficult match and unfortunately we didn't even get half a point which I think we deserved. Q. Is it harder than you anticipated? EDOARDO MOLINARI: We played well on the back nine, and it's unfortunate but we have another game today in the afternoon and hopefully we can get a point. Q. Do you think you can turn it around for this afternoon? EDOARDO MOLINARI: Absolutely. I think we have a very good team, and we just need to hole some more points and we'll turn this around. Q. You sound disappointed with your performance today. EDOARDO MOLINARI: A little bit, because we didn't play great on the front nine but as I said on the back nine, it was very good golf, and it's been difficult. But I'm sure we'll get some points. FRANCESCO MOLINARI: We didn't play great obviously the front nine but then we did really well to get back into the match and to win the couple of holes that we needed to win, and just disappointing to end like this, but, you know, we played well most of the day. So we just have to go out there and we would be a little bit more experienced after the first match this morning. So hopefully we can make a point in the next match. Q. How difficult was it after having to sit the whole day yesterday to come out and lead the field in the foursomes today? FRANCESCO MOLINARI: It was great honestly to go out first and lead the foursomes. We had amazing support from the crowds, and that was great. Definitely sitting all the day yesterday was not the idea for us, but we are professionals so we need to cope with that. Q. When you head to your next round, are you ready for that? Do you feel exhausted? FRANCESCO MOLINARI: No, we feel excited and we played really well from the 10th, 11th, on. So we are looking forward to go back out there and we will try to win a point for Europe. Q. When is the last time you played 2 1/2 rounds of golf in a day? MARTIN KAYMER: This is the tournament everybody is practising for and we want to come here. I don't think it matters how many holes you play, you are so motivated, and especially the fans, they are carrying you, especially the last few holes. So I don't mind it. Q. How much do you think it might have affected the captain's strategy, having to adjust things like this? MARTIN KAYMER: Well, I think you have to ask Colin Montgomerie that one. We have a strong team, fit team and so we can easily do it. PÃDRAIG HARRINGTON: You know, we gelled very well together. The golf course suited us foursomes-style, so we felt very comfortable. We made one or two things happen at the right time, and then when we got that three-up, we just closed it out nicely in the last couple of holes and it was nice that Ross got to hole the putt on 16 and got the glory of winning his first Ryder Cup point. Q. Seemed like you were struggling a little bit yesterday and this morning, but now you have the confidence back, what was the turning point? PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Yeah, we didn't make too many birdies, you know, in the first match. I think going out there in foursomes, I was put out there as a mini-captain to look after Ross, and to help him around the golf course. We all know the talent that Ross has, and, you know, I was there to guide him along. It certainly made me play better and it made him play better. Q. Would you agree with that, "struggling?" PADRAIG HARRINGTON: No, that's not the way it is. I would have liked to hole a few more putts, but -- no. You just play the game and you work away. It was nice to get some good results and to hole the putts at the right time. We did two or three things in that round that were crucial. So that was nice. It's nice to turn a match around like that. It was good for us, and we realise the hard work ahead, as well. It's always nice to win any points, but it's very important, you know, the only thing I'm focussed on is this Ryder Cup, and we need as many points as we can, and it looks like we are going to have to win a few more going forward. So plenty of work to be done yet this week. Q. How do you think the new schedule has affected the captain's strategy? PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Well, it worked well for me and Ross. It was his idea that I get out there and take Ross under my wing and gave me responsibility and I reacted well to that. Q. How do you feel about playing 2 1/2 rounds of golf in a day under this kind of pressure? PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Not thinking about it at all. Just going forward with it and we are ready to go. End of FastScripts |
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