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WGC ALGARVE WORLD CUPNovember 16, 2005Sergio GarciaMiguel Angel JimenezALGARVE, PORTUGAL MARIA ACACIA: We have the Spanish team with us. Sergio, Miguel Angel, did you play 18 holes today? SERGIO GARCIA: Yes, we did. SERGIO GARCIA: It was great. We had a nice practice session and got to know each other a little bit. (Laughter). No, it was good fun. Just a normal practice round, just nice and easy. MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ: Looking at which corner not to go. Q. Have you ever played as a team as you are doing this year, you two? SERGIO GARCIA: Last year. Q. No, have you ever played any tournament as a team? SERGIO GARCIA: Last year. (Laughter). Still last year. Q. Being the highest ranking player in the field, would you feel some kind of more pressure or something like that? SERGIO GARCIA: No, not at all. I think that I really don't look at that. I think that this week, we are a team here and we're both ranked the same to me. We're just going to go out there and play the best we can and hopefully give ourselves a chance like we did last year and see if we can finish a couple of shots better than we did. I'm looking forward to the week. I always enjoy playing with Miguel, he's a wonderful player, but better than that, he's a great guy and a fun guy to play with, so I'm looking forward to that. MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ: (Leaning in to kiss Sergio on the cheek.) SERGIO GARCIA: On the lips. (Laughter). Q. Did it hurt not winning last year? Did you really care about that afterwards? SERGIO GARCIA: Did it hurt? Well, of course it wasn't great. We would have loved to win and we felt like we played well enough to win. And being in Seville, in Spain, in our country and everything, it would have been a wonderful thing to do, with so many people following us. But, no disrespect to Luke and Paul; they played awesome, too. They just managed to make a couple more putts than we did and that's what we needed. Q. Have you played here before? SERGIO GARCIA: I haven't. MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ: First time playing this golf course. I've played in the area, but not on this golf course, the first time. Q. Did you expect this course to be as good as you've seen it? MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ: Well, the golf course looks in great shape, the conditions. The greens they are super, the ball rolls very good. It's in great condition, you know. It's not a very long golf course, but I think you have to play also with the fact of the wind, because I think it's quite a windy area. And the golf course is in great shape. We'll see how we do during the week. Q. What would it mean to the people of Spain for Spain to win the World Cup this week? Does it matter a great deal in Spain as far as this tournament? SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, well, of course it matters. I think that anything you can do for your country is great. Anything you can do; the people see you know, they know we're trying our hardest to give ourselves a good chance and try and win this event, and for Spain. I'm sure it will be great. So last year, as I said, it was amazing, and if we would have ended up winning, it would have been awesome to see the people even though we lost, the people were so happy about the way we played and the way we hung in there all week. So of course it does mean a lot. Q. When the call came for selection, was Miguel the second ranked player or was Jose Maria at the time? SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, he was. Q. And you were going to do it on that basis? SERGIO GARCIA: Well, I was looking, I was trying to see who was best for the team, who I played more comfortable with and who was playing the best at that moment. It was pretty close because they were both playing very well. But I thought Miguel was playing slightly better at that moment and also, we had a great tournament last year, so that helped, and I really enjoyed my time with Miguel last year. We had a great time, we really enjoyed it. We had a lot of laughs, a lot of fun. You know, that's huge for me, that's very important. It's probably even better than winning the tournament itself. So, you know, that was one of the things, and of course, as you said, he was the second ranked player. It's a shame, close call, they are both playing very well. Q. Are you flipped now in the rankings? MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ: I have no idea, I didn't see it. Probably yes, because he won in Mallorca and he played very well in the Volvo. Probably he's just somewhere around. . Q. Have you decided who is going to start hitting on hole No. 1? SERGIO GARCIA: Well, tomorrow, both of us. (Laughter). Hopefully. Q. After tomorrow, that's what I meant. Friday. SERGIO GARCIA: I'll probably hit first. I'll probably hit on the first hole. We're still looking at it, but that's a our first option. MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ: We'll see which one is less nervous. (Laughing.) Q. You seem to have such a great time that I imagine that took some part in your decision picking him? SERGIO GARCIA: Yes. Q. Because that takes some pressure off you somehow? SERGIO GARCIA: Well, I think that if you're comfortable with somebody and somebody you've played before with in this kind of format, I think this is our third World Cup together, so that definitely helps. You know, if you know that you can get along well with the player inside the course and you gel together nicely, that helps. That definitely was one part of my reasons for choosing Miguel. Unfortunately the only team event I played with Olazabal I think other than the Ryder Cup, we never played together, it was the Dunhill Cup that we never played together, either. So we never really played as a couple. Q. Are you going to get married as a couple? MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ: After this maybe. SERGIO GARCIA: You'll get the invitation, don't worry. Q. The last time you came to the Algarve, you won the Open, the National Open. MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ: Yes. Q. Does that bring good memories to you? Is it a place you like to come back to? MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ: Yeah, I like this place very much. Unfortunately I could not play this year because I have to play in the Masters. But this is a nice area, I always like to play here. I played last year in Penina and I won there, the second title of the year, and it was very nice to play here. Q. Next year's schedule was released yesterday; do you intend to come back next year? MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ: Well, I will see. I didn't see the schedule yet for next year, but I will try to. I like the area, I like the place, so it depends if it conflicts with the majors, that's the only thing. Q. How would you rank this course, is it for you a difficult course, is it an easy course? Will we see a lot of birdies? SERGIO GARCIA: It depends. If the weather is like it was today with not much wind, I think it's a fairly easy course. You're going to see a lot of birdies. Mainly because, as Miguel said, the course is in very good shape, the greens are very nice, and they are not firm at the moment, so you can hit quite a lot of good shots and hit it fairly close and roll some good putts in. But as he also commented, too, this is quite a windy area, so you can get some strong winds, and then the whole course changes around. As soon as you get those winds, some of the holes are going to be playing very long and it's going to be a bit of a different situation. So I guess it depends a bit on the wind, on the weather, but if the weather is good, just expect to see a lot of birdies out there. Q. From the 18 holes, is there one that you will say it's more difficult than the others? SERGIO GARCIA: 18, definitely. No question about it. Q. Your American commitments mean you don't play very much in Europe, what are the key reasons why you choose to put this event on your schedule? SERGIO GARCIA: Well, I think that as I said before, I really enjoyed it last year when I played with Miguel together. I was thinking about playing it or not and I was in a bit of doubt, but I thought it was a good opportunity for me. It's close from home, so it doesn't really take me much of an effort to get here. I thought that it would be a good opportunity to come back and play again with Miguel. So it's a wonderful event, and hopefully we get a bit of a bone stuck in our throat there, so we want to take it out of there. Q. Do you expect to have a Spanish crowd around since it's so close to very Seville? SERGIO GARCIA: We hope so. I don't know. I don't know who is coming, but we hope so. |
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