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TRANSITIONS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 18, 2011

Sergio Garcia

PALM HARBOR, FLORIDA

SERGIO GARCÃA: It was great. It was the perfect start. Hit a nice drive down on the 10th hole, and beautiful 7-iron to three feet, always a nice way to start.
And made a nice putt on 11 from probably about 16 feet or so.
Then 13, I hit a really nice shot with a 6-iron, just tried to hit a smooth 6-iron and unfortunately just went over and chipped that in.
Then I had some chances, made a couple nice pars, and then on the first, I hit a good drive, I hit a good 3-wood to probably 25 feet for eagle and 2-putted.
And then I had a couple other chances, too, for birdie. Unfortunately I didn't make them, and then on 6, I hit a great drive, nice pitching wedge to about probably 18 feet or so. Rolled in a nice putt there.

Q. Every time I've seen you on TV, you're putting a nice roll on the ball with a claw.
SERGIO GARCÃA: Yeah, even a lot of the putts that are not going in, I'm still putting a good stroke, and some of them are burning the edges. Maybe a little bit, the speed is maybe a little off. That's the most important thing. That's probably why I went to it. It's not like I didn't putt well the other way, but I felt like I was a little bit inconsistent, hit a lot of good ones but some really bad ones. With this, it seems to be consistent. Obviously for me the most important thing is to hit the putt and know that it has a chance, and it depends on the speed and read.

Q. Not much of a learning curve, either. You can pick it up right away, not that dramatic a change from the --
SERGIO GARCÃA: No, it's not that much. I mean, I started in November last year, the end of November in Dubai. So it felt good. I've always been kind of fooling around with it but I've never had the guts of doing it.
And last year, at the end I decided, why not try it, and it felt good. And I've just been sticking with it.

Q. Do you think this is a sticker for good, or is this the next new thing, or you may try something else later?
SERGIO GARCÃA: It's feeling good and I'll stick with it and hopefully it lasts until I can't even walk. (Laughter). It feels good.

Q. What were you doing prior to this one? Was it the belly or conventional?
SERGIO GARCÃA: Normal.

Q. You've been fiddling with it for a long time; what stopped you from putting it into play?
SERGIO GARCÃA: Well, mainly a couple of things I guess. One of them I've had some really good putting rounds with just a conventional grip. On some others, just not knowing, not knowing what is going to happen. You go out there and you want to do well, and you didn't know if it's going to work or not. You may stay a little bit afraid of the outcome and it got to the point where, why not? And I tried it, and you know, it's been good.

Q. Do you think you've had enough good rounds this year, in Dubai, Qatar; this has to be a good feeling, feel like you're back sort of in the neighborhood where you were?
SERGIO GARCÃA: Definitely. I've seen a lot of good things throughout the three or four tournaments that I've played this year. That's very nice. Obviously still a working process. It's not done and it needs to get better but at least I'm seeing a lot of improvement and that's always very positive.

Q. Do you feel like that frees up the rest of your game, if you have a little bit more extra confidence in your putting; you're more relaxed with your putting does that kind of --
SERGIO GARCÃA: Not really. I think at the end of the day, if I'm playing well, I'm playing well. And if I'm putting nicely, obviously it helps. But like I said, it's not about making putts.
Obviously making putts helps, but it's about putting well and putting well doesn't mean that you are making everything. It's the feel you get when you are putting. That fortunately for me, it's a lot better now.

Q. How nice is it to have a chance going into the weekend, just test yourself, be in contention, and at least you're in the mix on the weekend.
SERGIO GARCÃA: It's nice definitely. That's one of the reasons why we are here. Like I said before, it's a working process and we are going to go one step at a time, and if we manage to keep playing well and we have a chance at winning, beautiful. But if not, we'll go next week and try again.

Q. Did you get stung by a bee?
SERGIO GARCÃA: I did. Early on on the 14th hole. I started on 10, so on the 14th. I hit my drive, I hit it a little left and I was just walking off the tee and I felt like there was something in the back of my head, the back of my head and hat and it was kind of -- I thought it was maybe a leaf or a little bug or something, so I kind of went like that (indicating swatting), and as soon as I touched it, it stung me on this finger right here.

Q. A little swollen?
SERGIO GARCÃA: Nah, it's fine. I took the stinger out and I kind of sucked it out. It was fine. I wasn't happy when it happened but it didn't last too long.

Q. You didn't have to call 911?
SERGIO GARCÃA: No. (Laughter) I tried to get the stinger out and I'm like, I need some tweezers or something to get this out and somebody is like, you want me to call the doctor? (Laughter).

Q. You haven't made any bogeys; right?
SERGIO GARCÃA: No.

Q. Obviously that's pretty good, too, especially around here.
SERGIO GARCÃA: Yeah, definitely.

Q. It's not like the worst thing in the world to make one, but what does that say about your game?
SERGIO GARCÃA: That I managed to do it. So it's positive. It's another positive, that's what I'm saying. The most important thing at the end of the day is to take the positives from all of the rounds and that's one of the biggest positives of these two days. So hopefully we can keep doing the same thing.

Q. How many languages do you Tweet in; two?
SERGIO GARCÃA: Two.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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