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WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP

February 23, 2011

Matteo Manassero

MARANA, ARIZONA

PAUL SYMES: We had you in yesterday and said how much you were looking forward to playing today and you proved how much.
MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, yeah, exactly. I was looking forward to this match and I was trying to do my best. I actually have played well. I played really well. I achieved a victory against one of the best players in the world and defending champion -- no, past champion of this event. So it's just a big highlight for me.
PAUL SYMES: No. 8 in the world, that's a heck of a scalp you've taken there.
MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, as I said he's a great player, a great guy. We had a very good match. And I was capable to win it.
PAUL SYMES: And do you know who you're playing in the next round?
MATTEO MANASSERO: No, not yet. I don't think it's finished yet. But as I said, it's already a big achievement for me. I'm not expecting that much out of match play, because I'm not used to playing match play against such big players. So this is already very good for me, and we'll see what happens next round. But here everybody is very good.
PAUL SYMES: Was there a turning point at all in today's game where the tide turned in your favor?
MATTEO MANASSERO: I think it was a very tight match until the end because we never got more than 1-up or 1-down. The course is tough, so you don't make a lot of -- you don't make a lot of birdies out there. And probably I drove the ball a little bit better, and I managed to keep the ball, that was what I was trying to do, keep the ball on the fairway and the green. And I've done that job well and that's probably the main point.

Q. I was just wondering, they talked about you being the youngest player to ever play in match play, so I know it just ended, but what do you think, have you had a chance at all to being the youngest player not to win a round in match play?
MATTEO MANASSERO: No, I'm definitely not -- well, every tournament you go there and you try to win it. But I think this is -- this is a lot for me. This is a lot of matches and a lot going on. But as I was saying, I'm going round by round and seeing if I can play my best in every round. I've done it today and I'll try to do it tomorrow.

Q. You were at the Ryder Cup for a few days, correct? Did I not see you there this last year?
MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, I was there.

Q. What did you get out of there as far as soaking up the whole match play experience, and did any of that help today?
MATTEO MANASSERO: The Ryder Cup, when you're there, you actually get an idea of how good and how fantastic it would be to play. So that's what I had done, obviously watching the Ryder Cup you get something about match play. But I mostly was -- the idea of everything that goes on in the Ryder Cup.

Q. Given your relative in experience, were you surprised to win today, pleasantly surprised?
MATTEO MANASSERO: I was a little bit surprised but I -- you know, you approach your game -- you just think about your game as much as you can. It's not easy, but you go on the course, you try to do your best, and then as the day was going on, was going, I was thinking that I could have won because we were playing kind of a similar game. And then at the end I won.
I am surprised because I beat the 8th player in the world. So it's a big achievement for me. But I thought I could have win.

Q. Do you remember at what point in the round you went from not really sure, kind of being surprised, to like, gee, I actually have a chance to win this thing?
MATTEO MANASSERO: Right at the end. As I was saying, it was very tight. And I never thought about I could win this until he missed the putt on 17 and when the match was over. So it was right to the end. It was very, very tight.

Q. How difficult was it to judge the wind today? It looked like from the time you teed off until you finished that the wind completely flipped around and a lot of the mountains kind of would fool you with it, too?
MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, it does that here a lot. In every practice round, we practice with the wind swirling a lot. So it's not easy. It's not easy, because the greens are very tricky. And you can miss judge the wind just a little bit and finish in the spot where you don't have any shot and no chance to make par. So it's difficult. It's very difficult for the caddie, yeah. But obviously it swirls. You try to judge it well and sometimes you take conservative plays, which are important on these greens where wrong side is -- there's no chance to save par.

Q. You hit a beautiful shot on 16. What was your thinking -- what club did you hit and what kind of a shot were you trying to hit?
MATTEO MANASSERO: I was trying to -- I had all that green on the right, the wind coming a bit off the left, so it was tricky. Obviously the miss was left, because if the ball lands on the green the left is not going to stop. So I had a good number to the flag and hit a strong draw flier and so it came out well, it came out pretty well.

Q. Tell me about the fans following you. Was it mostly for you or for him, what do you make of the crowd?
MATTEO MANASSERO: It was -- well, it was Steve's birthday today, so they were cheering on him. But it was okay. They were good. I mean there were some things, some people cheering on me, mostly on him, but it's not -- I don't really mind it.

Q. What is your match play experience in the Amateur days? Did you play a good bit of it? Obviously it's not completely foreign to you, you did a lot of it when you played as a junior?
MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, I was saying yesterday we played a lot of match play as amateurs. But in the way of professional it's something different, that's why I don't have experience. I have experience in match play as an amateur, but not as a professional. So I played a lot junior golf match play but it's different. Everything is different.

Q. How is it different? Obviously they're better, but --
MATTEO MANASSERO: Exactly, they're better, they're more experienced and it's kind of different -- it's kind of a different approach that you have playing a professional match play tournament than an amateur one. But mostly they're better, exactly, yeah. You don't have a chance to play against Steve Stricker when you're an amateur, that's it.
PAUL SYMES: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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