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MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 8, 2011

Alvaro Quiros

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA

CLAUDE NIELSEN: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Comments before we go to questions?
ALVARO QUIROS: Well, obviously I'm very happy. This is the first time that I'm going to make the cut in the Masters. So happy to be here again.

Q. Can you start by going through your birdies and tell us what clubs you hit on those holes?
ALVARO QUIROS: I'm sorry? I didn't hear you.
RONALD TOWNSEND: Repeat the questions.

Q. Your birdies today, can you describe what clubs you hit and the holes that you made birdie on?
ALVARO QUIROS: Let me think. The last one was the 18th. I hit a touch with a wedge, we were just between clubs, 52 full or the wedge. We hit it a good shot, a meter and a half, downhill putt and I hole it.
After that, let me think, when was the last time -- the 8th, if I'm not wrong, the par 5. I hit it, a good driver, a good 3-iron, but just I took the left side of the green so the ball didn't catch the green. I made a good chip. I touched the hole and I holed a putt of a meter and a half again, downhill left-to-right.
I can't remember what was --

Q. 7.
ALVARO QUIROS: Ah, the 7th, that's it. Great driver in middle of the fairway, great 52, 2 1/2 meters from the flag and a good putt right-to-left.

Q. How far were you on the second shot?
ALVARO QUIROS: I think it was 100 meters, something like that. The wind was coming across. So you know, it was a kind of hole, 52.

Q. That seemed like quite a long drive on 18. Just wondering about the driving in general, was it unusual for you to see two guys so close to you for a couple of days?
ALVARO QUIROS: Yes, I said before, it's the first time in a long time that I can check the clubs of the other colleagues to see if they can hit close to me or not. You know, on the par 3s, these kind of things -- but honestly, that doesn't make a bit of difference. In the end, everybody has to play with his tools, and they are long hitters like me, and that's all.

Q. Was 18 one of your better ones?
ALVARO QUIROS: I think if I'm not wrong, Gary Woodland hit the 3-wood. We had kind of left-to-right, helping wind from the tee, so obviously he wants to be a little bit more safe.
But, you know, I was hitting the driver more or less, but it doesn't matter. It was left-to-right. This is my natural fade.

Q. Your caddie told me that you get all of your yardages and meters and he's used to working in yards but they are about the same because of your distance. Describe the distance, the first days that you are and Gareth are having?
ALVARO QUIROS: Well, I didn't know that, but after that I'm going to pay more attention to the yardage. (Laughter).
Yeah, he used to work for Robert Karlsson, and he is used to yards. The yardage book that we have here, it marks you the sprinklers, but with the yards on, not the meters. So we have to move to the yardage, you know, what the sprinkler says, to have an idea if it's the proper sprinkler.
After that, I let him go. I check, you know, a little bit like that, but nothing important. We don't miss any yardage today or yesterday.

Q. Considering it's a first date, he said he would kiss you if you won. Would you kiss him back?
ALVARO QUIROS: I mean, I don't think my caddie is struggling with my distances. I mean, Robert Karlsson used to hit -- he is still hitting long. Obviously not as long as me but close enough. So it's not going to make a big difference for him.

Q. Can you talk about your thoughts during the night and when you went to bed, and the beginning of the day.
ALVARO QUIROS: Well, I want to see myself in the TV, first of all, but I couldn't do it. I don't know why GOLF CHANNEL was putting a different thing. I wanted to put myself on the TV. (Laughter) But no, nothing special. I was thinking obviously about my game. I was a little bit guessing about how is going to be my level of game, probably because the last few months, they have not been a big moment of confidence for me. Even when I play well, I wasn't believing it, I wasn't trusting myself enough.
There is always a constant question if tomorrow I'm going to still be hitting the ball well or not.

Q. Rory is still up there; what do you think of the chances of his game holding up around here?
ALVARO QUIROS: Well, if I'm not wrong, Rory is Top-10 of the world, if I'm not wrong. So what do you think about a Top-10 player of the world? All the chances.

Q. He's young.
ALVARO QUIROS: Yeah. And good. (Laughter) What's the problem with it? (Laughter).

Q. You guys took a total of 14 strokes on the 12th hole. Did anybody crack a joke on the 13th tee or anything?
ALVARO QUIROS: No, nobody said a word. But you can see Gary Woodland's face and my face, too; it wasn't the proper moment to say a joke.
No, but in his case, he broke a little bit his iron from the tee. He put it on to the water, so it's quite normal to make five.
But for me, it was just four yards, four meters more that we were thinking to make the ball land. And after that, the back bunker is always a tight shot. In my case, the ball was in a decent lie, probably a little bit down hill. I knew that I had to hit it perfect with my 58 sand wedge to just leave a chance to be two meters behind the hole.
So I may decelerate a little bit the shot and after that I was again the bunker; five.

Q. Where do you look for the wind, the tree on 12 tee?
ALVARO QUIROS: Well, there is a lot of trees on the left side of the 11th hole. We were looking for the highest point of these trees to have an idea about the wind, but as everybody knows, you know, the wind can switch easily in the 12th hole. It's a nightmare.

Q. What's your plan for tomorrow? Will you be attacking and taking risks? Or will you try and be -- to hold onto what you've got?
ALVARO QUIROS: I would like to see -- well, I would like to see how is my driving level. You know, it's going to depend on the shots from the tee. If you see today, from my point of view I've been unlucky because every time I miss a fairway, I make bogey.
I have to say, too, that if I'm going to be able to hit the fairways, it's common sense, too, but if I can hit fairways, I can shoot a decent under the par here, and that's what I'm going to look for, obviously, to make one, 2- or 3-under par on this golf course on the weekend is great, even par. So that's what I'm looking for.

Q. You said you planned to hit a lot more 3-woods and you went with the driver and you were feeling more comfortable with it yesterday; did you have the same effect today or were you thinking you were going to hit driver?
ALVARO QUIROS: Today, the holes that we play, and the length that we are playing, if you hit a good 3-wood, it doesn't matter, in my case. But just you hit the 3-wood eight and a half out of ten, you start to have too long clubs for the pin positions we are playing. What I mean is I can always come back to the 3-wood to be safe in the fairway, not 100 percent, but I'm going to be safer.
But for example, on the 14th hole today, the pin position was almost impossible with an 8-iron that I hit it. You really need to have 9 or a wedge. If you are playing with an 8-iron, 7,6, you really need to play with the shape of the greens. So you have to put another thing in the game, an issue, with the shape of the greens.
And at the same time, I cannot be in the Masters at Augusta trying to say, no, I'm going to play safe, because if you play every single time, every single day in this tournament safe, at the end, Augusta can hit you so bad. And this is the only thing that I don't want to do. I want to play, and if the things doesn't work, okay, unfortunately I have to wait for the next year. But you really have to play -- the attitude has to be good. It couldn't be that shy attitude.

Q. Do you think Gary Woodland learned some Spanish out there?
ALVARO QUIROS: No, because I have to speak in English with my caddie. So if he learns any Spanish, it's not recommended. (Laughter).

Q. If the fairways were firmer, would you be hitting 3-wood more? In other words, is the grass slow enough that it's important to hit driver?
ALVARO QUIROS: I think it's important to be on the fairway every single fairway. But if you pay attention, you know, first hole, for example, it's everything uphill. So once I hit the 3-wood, I have to reduce my distance easy, in 30 minutes, because with driver, I can hit in a flatter area and roll a little bit more.
In the second hole, again, if I hit 3-wood, and I don't hit it perfectly in the middle of the fairway or in the right side, then I have to shape the ball like that to a green which is difficult already from the middle of the fairway.
On the 5th, I mean, I wouldn't see the flag if I miss just a little bit the 3-wood.
What I said again is that I know I'm going to hit the 3-wood 100 percent, I will play it. I wouldn't mind. But this is not a fact. I mean, even playing more or less, I will be in trouble.

Q. How long was your driver on the fifth today?
ALVARO QUIROS: I hit it good. It was one of the few good ones of today. And it's always uncomfortable, but I hate this tee shot, because it turns left, big bunkers on the left side. It's easy to came out from the fairway if you go just a little bit of the run-out, you know.
It was good, but I couldn't say. I had like 140 meters to the flag into the wind, so it was a really good driver.

Q. There will be a lot of pressure this weekend; how do you think the younger guys will handle it?
ALVARO QUIROS: The experience here in Augusta, in all of the majors, but especially here, is a big thing. Everybody knows that.
But as I said before, you know, there is a point where the young people start to be more mature than his age, and Rory, he's been like this since he's on Tour. I mean, I don't know what you consider like young people? If you consider myself a young people, okay, having Matteo Manassero, Ishikawa, Rory in the field, I'm not considered young anymore. (Laughter).
There is a point; always there is a moment where the people grow up and take his attitude change and I think Rory's case, it could be easily this week.

Q. Now that you know your caddie is working in yards, were there any holes today where you hit the ball further than you intended to?
ALVARO QUIROS: As I said, no. He didn't give me any wrong yardage in two days; not yet. (Laughter).
And if he made it --

Q. Well, he's working in yards and you're thinking meters?
ALVARO QUIROS: Yeah, but I hope he make the change to meters. Otherwise he wouldn't be right on any of the shots.
But as I said, he's a person. He's a human being like me, and if he means -- well, I will say some good words to him, and that's all. (Laughter).
RONALD TOWNSEND: Alvaro, thank you very much and good luck this weekend.

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