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WGC CADILLAC CHAMPIONSHIP

March 9, 2011

Charl Schwartzel

MIAMI, FLORIDA

GORDON SIMPSON: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Charl Schwartzel to the WGC Cadillac Championship. Now you have some interesting memories last year, of course. You were Ernie's house guest, and you played with Ernie on the last day but he just got you didn't he; if you just cast your mind back 12 months ago.
CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Yeah, good morning, everyone. I've got good memories of last year. Obviously Ernie was looking for a win that he has not had for a really long time and I was trying to make sort of myself known in America, if you could say.
So you know, at the end of the day, I would have loved to have won last year. I thought I played good golf, but when anyone shots 66 in the last round, you know I think they are bound to win. Ernie played really well, and I think at the end of the day, for me, it still is a very good event. It's a World Golf event and it's my best finish. It sort of showed me that I'm more than capable of playing against the guys out here.
GORDON SIMPSON: And you've made a pretty sound start to 2011. You were never out of the top four in the events in South Africa, and you won again in Joburg. Do you feel good about going into the tournament this week?
CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Yeah, I've got off to a good start again this year. I played some really good golf down in South Africa and even in Abu Dhabi.
Last week, I felt like I played good golf. I made six up the last; if it was a four, it would have been another Top-10. But overall, I actually played really good golf again, and it feels good. This golf course, I have good memories and I see the wind is blowing again, which if I'm playing well, I like it when the wind blows.

Q. Because you start the season so early in South Africa, when do you get a break, because it must be almost a 52-week year for you playing?
CHARL SCHWARTZEL: We are hogwarts (ph); we don't have breaks (laughing).
We like to support the Sunshine Tour. Playing in South Africa, it's always nice, but obviously we don't have much of a break. So that's the reason why I didn't play the last three events in the Middle East. I only went to go play Abu Dhabi and then I took three weeks off after that. And in actual fact, I fell ill there last week, so I had four weeks off. We just have to sort of move it around, take a break somewhere else.

Q. You mentioned your support of the Sunshine Tour. Just wonder where you are in The Presidents Cup, where are you going to play this week?
CHARL SCHWARTZEL: The South African Open is a tournament I've never missed. I've played it for many years, every year since I was allowed to play. As a National Open, it will be very sad if I were to miss the South African Open.
But at the end it's going to maybe be my first Presidents Cup, so it will be a fairly big decision I would have to make.

Q. Have you made it yet? It's at your home course, isn't it?
CHARL SCHWARTZEL: They are still discussing. So if it's going to be at my home course, it's going to be a really big decision to make. (Laughter).

Q. So you haven't made your mind up?
CHARL SCHWARTZEL: I'm actually waiting to see where it's going to be at.

Q. It's going to be this week, isn't it?
CHARL SCHWARTZEL: I don't know.

Q. I was just wondering how your rookie season has been going over here so far, and where you see yourself playing over the rest of the year and balancing your time. Obviously as he was saying, it's a lot of tournaments around the world and a lot of different places, and you have to serve your 15 here, as well?
CHARL SCHWARTZEL: I made a decision last year that I wanted to join the PGA TOUR, and I'm really excited about it. I'm looking forward to this year. I'm going to see if I can play about 18 events out here, and maybe 15 or 16 in Europe.
What makes it easier is the majors and World events count for both sides and that makes life easier. All of the tournaments that I played in so you have and the Middle East, this will be my seventh European event. It won't be too difficult to get any numbers up there.
So I think from now on I'm going to play quite a lot of he events out here in America, see if I can go through all the way until after the FedExCup is finished.
So I'm really excited about it. It's a new sort of chapter in my golfing career, and I'm looking forward to it.

Q. I was wondering what you took from your Masters debut last year. You opened with a 69, I believe?
CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Yeah, I did. Obviously it's a tournament that I watched on TV for so long as a youngster and I remember standing on the first tee, I think that was when Tiger just came back, and I was just in front of him. I've never seen a fairway lined up with so many people.
It was an incredible memory. I thought I played fairly well. I must say, by the third or fourth round, the speed of the greens did get to me. They got quicker and quicker as it went on. But you know, I thought for a first appearance, I was very satisfied. I did like the golf course quite a lot.

Q. I guess you're not staying with Ernie this week. What's the situation; and if you're playing so many events out here in America, are you going to establish a U.S. base somewhere?
CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Yeah, I stayed with Ernie before the Match Play for a couple of days and so on. But moving over here, I think you want to start getting your own base and so on. So myself and Louis Oosthuizen, we are renting a place at Old Palm which is just down the road from Ernie. I think we are going to base ourselves down there for the remainder of the year. Seems like a fairly good spot.

Q. And you're kind of trying the area out, not sure about a final --
CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Because I stayed with Ernie for such a long time last year, you get familiarized with a place so that's what you know. So the reason we went back there is mainly that; you know the area and sort of know where you're going. Everything is new for me, for us, really. We thought, well, we'll rent a place and as we go along and play different tournaments, you'll see different places and maybe see what you like and decide what you want to buy and where you want to buy.

Q. Are you paired with Louis? Did I see that on the draw sheet?
CHARL SCHWARTZEL: It's the first time in our professional careers that we have been drawn together.

Q. Really?
CHARL SCHWARTZEL: We have played third and fourth rounds, but never been drawn together, so quite excited.

Q. With Ernie, is Ernie's house an open house? Do you go around there with your washing and things like that? (Laughter).
CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Ernie's house, he's very kind to us. He always says, "Whenever you guys want, just come in and help yourselves and make yourselves at home." I'm sure if I take my washing there, he's not going to do it, but his people will. (Laughter).
GORDON SIMPSON: Charl, thank you very much for coming in and have another great week.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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