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CHEVRON WORLD CHALLENGE

December 4, 2010

Graeme McDowell

THOUSAND OAKS, CALIFORNIA

Q. Obviously you got it close there really quick, right out of box. Just talk about that.
GRAEME McDOWELL: Um, yeah, I got off to a nice start. I've got off to fast starts most days. Yeah, enjoyed that out there today. It was a lot of fun to play with Tiger. The guys were great, and the golf course is well set up this week.

Q. Different conditions today a little bit. Some of the guys got in trouble. Was it mostly the pin placements?
GRAEME McDOWELL: Yeah, pin placements were difficult today. A little cooler as well. The ball wasn't flying quite as far as it has been.
Yeah, you know, that's probably it. Just playing a fraction longer and the pins were tucked away. So, yeah, it was a good test out there today.

Q. Fun to grind with him out there all day along?
GRAEME McDOWELL: Yeah, for sure. I mean, you know, great to play alongside the best player that's ever played, you know.
Good to see him playing well. Of course, got to go out there tomorrow and try and do the job.

Q. What do you got to do on Sunday? Put a little pressure early, I would assume, right?
GRAEME McDOWELL: Yeah, I've got to get off to a fast start tomorrow. I've got to go low, of course. You know, this golf course allows birdies. You've got to hit it good, but if you can get it on the green, you'll be -- I'm enjoying the way these greens look and I'm putting well, so I've just got to hit it good tomorrow and get off to a fast start.

Q. You notice anything out of him that we haven't seen for most of this year?
GRAEME McDOWELL: You know, I haven't played with him enough to really know, but the short game of putting is (indiscernible), as always. He kept the ball under control today. He barely missed a fairway, I don't think. That's more like him really, of course.
When the long clubs start misbehaving, that's when he gets into trouble. Today he controlled the ball well and his short game is obviously good.

Q. It was said the other day the sound was back. I guess the sound of his shots. Does that resonate with you at all?
GRAEME McDOWELL: Again, he's a guy that maybe played a bit more golf with him than I do. So I'm not a 100% familiar, but he's one of the best strikers of the ball in the world. So, I mean, it sounds pretty good.
No, he's awesome. Like I said, I think he's the best player ever, so just great to be playing golf in the Tiger Woods era. Obviously a great event, very relaxed format here at the Chevron World Challenge. A lot of fun to play golf out there.

Q. How are you dealing with the miles? I heard it was 30,000 miles in the last six weeks you've flown. You look great. You look like, Hey, let's play another ten.
GRAEME McDOWELL: You know, I'm hanging in there. It helps that I've been at the business end of golf tournaments the last three or four weeks. The adrenaline kind of helps you continue.
If I had been struggling with my game perhaps it would have been a long journey. The fact that I've been on the sharp end of golf tournaments has really helped me.

Q. And are you playing in Naples, too?
GRAEME McDOWELL: I am playing in Naples next week, The Shark Shootout, yeah.

Q. Was there any thoughts to saying -- I know it's close to where you live.
GRAEME McDOWELL: Yeah it is. It's down the road from where I live. And, you know, Greg and Merrill Lynch have been good to me the last couple years and given me a start there.
So I purely just wanted to play just for them more than anything. Of course i cold do with a week off, but I'm looking forward to next week. I'm playing with my good friend, Darren Clarke. I'm sure we'll have a couple cold beers and it will be a pretty relaxed format.

Q. When do you get some vacation?
GRAEME McDOWELL: You know, I'm taking about four weeks after that having starting in Hawaii. I am actually having a pretty relaxed start to the season, so technically pretty easy earlier in the year.

Q. Are you coming to L.A.?
GRAEME McDOWELL: I'm playing Riviera.

Q. Good. What do you think of that place?
GRAEME McDOWELL: It's a golf course that suits my eye. I've played well there in the past. Be about my third or fourth time playing the tournament, so I'm looking forward to going back there.

Q. And you're going back to Northern Ireland?
GRAEME McDOWELL: Yeah, I'm home for about 10 days over Christmas.

Q. Are you going to play Kapalua?
GRAEME McDOWELL: Yes, I am.

Q. You've had great success with this tournament. Any particular reason, you know, the back-to-back years?
GRAEME McDOWELL: Golf course suits me. I can get up in all the par-s, which means I can compete with the long hitters, the longer hitters. I mean, this golf course requires a little bit of thought and accuracy and you've got to putt well.
Like I said, it just fits my eye well, this place. I've always liked it. I make a lot birdies around here. Like I said, I played well last year, and hoping to have a great day tomorrow.

Q. Last year this time I remember talking to you. You had a phenomenal tournament. Was that what got things started pretty much?
GRAEME McDOWELL: Well, I mean, it certainly was a kick start of something great. I mean, it's tough to say that things wouldn't have happened the way they did this year if I hadn't done what I did last year.
But it certainly helped. It solidified my season. I was barely inside the top 50 in the world when the US Open cutoff came. So it was events like this and just little things like that that helped me along the way.
I was talking to Tiger about it coming down the last. You know, it's just amazing obviously what happened to him last year and he didn't play, and obviously I slip in and great things happen to me. It was great.

End of FastScripts

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