|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIPFebruary 25, 2011Matt KucharMARANA, ARIZONA LAURA HILL: Just take us through maybe how things went out there for you today and we'll take some questions. MATT KUCHAR: It was fun playing Rickie. We had a great time today. He's an enjoyable mate, I guess. And he's a fantastic player. I think I'm lucky I didn't run into him yesterday. It sounded like yesterday he was on fire and would have cleaned me out yesterday. We got off to a good start, birdies on the 1st. I got a little momentum. And then he gave me a pretty good break, the 10th hole was the most amusing or entertaining. He hit it way right into the desert. I was looking like I was going to be in pretty good shape until I hit it left in the desert and I ended up winning the hole with a bogey after I think he had three balls in the desert and made double bogey. And from there I think he missed two other shortish putts, I think four- or five-footers on, I think they were on holes 12 and 13 and kind of gave me some good momentum and a good lead. And he then birdied the 15th to go -- birdied the 14th to go 2 down. We both birdied 15. 16, I made bogey to give him just a 1-down margin. And things were pretty tight and fortunately he hit it over the green on 17. I just had a two-putt to win and was able to make a 5-footer to win the match. It looked like it was pretty easily in my hands until I think he made a pretty good comeback on 14, 15 and 16. Q. You like match play? MATT KUCHAR: I enjoy it. It's fun. I try to treat it the same as stroke play. I try to play smart golf. I try to hit fairways, center of greens, you know, have birdie opportunities. It's the rare occasion -- I think like the 10th hole is the rare occasion I may have changed strategy, but it rarely happens that I change my strategy. I think you always expect the player to do something great. I think you've got to continue to play good golf. I think too often you change your strategy, play conservative, and end up making a conservative birdie and they make a miraculous par. I think the plan I maintain is very similar to stroke play. It feels like it may be a little bit more nerve wracking. Each hole feels like a tournament in itself. I think there are just a few more nerves than a regular stroke play event. Q. Rickie Fowler yesterday and other guys have said they like match play because each day you're playing for that day and you know what you have to do as opposed to what's going to happen three rounds from now. Do you like that idea? MATT KUCHAR: I don't know that you always know what you have to do. You can play great golf and get beaten. You don't always know what you have to do. I still try to play the golf course. And you can play it well and get beat. I don't think you really know what's going to happen with match play. The format is fun. I think it's good for golf just to change up from a four day, four rounds of stroke play event. And it's fun. It feels like other sports. It feels like a proper playoff. Q. Is the U.S. Amateur and all that so long ago that you can't draw from it or can you still hashing even back to the youngster days? MATT KUCHAR: I don't really know what you'd take from winning the Amateur in '97. Q. That was match play? MATT KUCHAR: It's match play but I guess maybe it's -- I have the mentality that may work that I treat it similar to stroke play. I don't treat match play a whole lot differently. I feel like I rarely change strategies. Like I said earlier, I just don't think it works to your advantage to be overly conservative. You're playing the best players in the world. And if a guy misses a green, their short games are so good, you've got to count on them getting up and down. And I think too often you find yourself changing your strategy to be more conservative. And I think that backfires. Q. What did you think of Rickie's outfit today? Were you disappointed he wasn't wearing something crazy like all chartreuse or turquois? MATT KUCHAR: No, it was good. I don't understand the unitone or what's -- solid, one color, head to toe. I don't understand those outfits. I thought he had a nice looking outfit today. A lot of San Diego Chargers were cheering for him today. LAURA HILL: Good luck this weekend. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|