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SAAB WALES OPENJune 1, 2011Rhys DaviesNEWPORT, WALES SCOTT CROCKETT: Thanks, Rhys, as always, for coming in and joining us and welcome to The Saab Wales Open. Give us your thoughts on this week, always a big week for home players. RHYS DAVIES: Yeah, of course. Been looking forward to it for quite a while to be honest. It's all good to come back to play your home national event, your home open. Yeah, I'm looking forward to hopefully getting stuck in and putting up some good scores. SCOTT CROCKETT: Which you certainly did last year, that was a fantastic final day last year and a fantastic event for you last year, apart from the final result, but it was pretty good otherwise. RHYS DAVIES: Yeah, I think I posted about -- it was 12-under in the end, and had a 62 involved, usually that would be good enough. Unfortunately Graeme played almost as well, slightly Bert than me on the week, and was a deserved winner. But I did what I could do and it just wasn't quite enough that particular week. But hopefully I can go a little bit better this week. SCOTT CROCKETT: There's pressure coming into every event, do you feel more pressure this week with the expectation of the crowds who will be here. RHYS DAVIES: I try and use it as a positive and see them on my side. Yes, sometimes it can be difficult, but no, I try and look at it as a -- like I said, as a positive, something that they are there on my side, they want me to do well, just like I want to do well. It got to be a good thing. Q. You must be -- every time we come in, everyone is talking about breaking the home hoodoo. It must be getting boring. Would you just like to get it and be done with it? RHYS DAVIES: I don't know, I don't see it that way I don't think. I think this is probably my third go at the tournament, if you like. My record's been pretty good. So from my personal point of view, I can't carry the weight of other players, as well. I just focus on what I'm doing and so far my results in this tournament have been very good and hopefully I can just continue with that. Q. Last time you were here, you were obviously involved with The Ryder Cup backroom staff, how much that's that given you a bit of an inspiration as well? RHYS DAVIES: It looks a lot different outside, that's for sure. It did look something else when it was here in October. No, it is inspirational, of course, but I'd like to say that I almost didn't need any extra inspiration, because I'm fully committed to what I'm doing. I didn't need -- well, I felt that I was always committed enough and had enough dedication to try and perform well and to push maybe for a Ryder Cup place one day. But right now, the focus is on The Saab Wales Open and obviously trying to play well here this week. Q. Since that 62, has it gone like would you have hoped it would gone? RHYS DAVIES: I didn't know how it was going to go. Q. But obviously you had had such a great start to the year, and just since then, what have been your thoughts on your form since then? RHYS DAVIES: Form's been okay actually. Hasn't been wonderful. I didn't play particularly well the end of last year. I would definitely say that. I think I struggled the last couple of months. I wasn't hitting the ball as well as I would have liked. My results probably did show that a little bit. But I thought I made some good head way this year, and I'm feeling like I'm playing some really good golf. In some respects, my results possibly have not been as good as my game has been. And I'm just waiting for that to change. You can't force this game. It can be very frustrating at times. But I feel I'm playing really well and I feel like my game is improving all the time. So if I stay faithful to those thoughts, then I'm sure good results will be ahead. Q. Bradley Dredge told us yesterday that for him, if he gets to them, it's the Majors and then The Wales Open, would that be the same, or is it ranking points and prize money more? RHYS DAVIES: I think you always -- to me, it's winning tournaments, and in some respects, it doesn't matter which ones they are. I think I've always had that attitude, and doesn't matter if I was playing on the Challenge Tour or the main tour in The Wales Open or in a major championship. I think the objective is the same. Yes, Majors and your home National Opens carry a greater weight. I wouldn't hide away from that. But the attitude and the approach to the event stays the same, and as a result, it should try and keep things a little easier when you're going into pressure situations. Q. When most players come in and say the results are not as good as they have played, it's mainly down to their putting, but you're known as a putter, so is that the story? RHYS DAVIES: I don't know. Sometimes I've been putting extremely well. Sometimes to my higher standards, not as well as I would like. But if I was satisfied with my putting every week, then I wouldn't, you know, I wouldn't be out there working hard at it. I think you've always got to try and improve all aspects of your game, and I'm no different. I try and get better all the time and I actually feel like my game's improving, and if I continue to improve, then like you said, I think good results should be around the corner hopefully very soon. Q. Do you look at the stats and see how you're stacking up against everybody else? RHYS DAVIES: No, because I don't look at them, because I feel I have -- I'm a very good self-evaluator, and I back my own thoughts, and how I know what I'm doing well at that particular moment in time. Q. Did you set yourself any specific targets for this year? RHYS DAVIES: To try and win the next tournament I play. It's quite a simple answer, I know, but I think that's how you approach it. I try not to look at too many rankings or Money Lists or anything like that. I really want to try and win the next event I play in. And right now, that's this week at the Celtic Manor. Q. Any particular part of your game need improving, from last year? RHYS DAVIES: Well, I guess I don't think my ball-striking was quite as strong as it could have been towards the end of last year. I hit the ball very nicely through the first half. Not quite as well in the second half. And just wanted to -- well, I feel I would make a few improvements in that area. I feel that I'm making a lot of headway in that respect, and I'm hitting the ball -- I'm hitting more greens, I'm hitting more solid iron shots which is encouraging and there for I'm giving myself more chances and if I give myself more chances, then hopefully I can convert some of those. Q. Your experience in the team room at The Ryder Cup, that's probably the closest you've been to such real intense sort of competition; would you take anything from that that would help you improve your game? RHYS DAVIES: I think it The Ryder Cup is so unique that it is quite amazing to see some of the so-called individual personalities of the golfing world coming together in such a team unit, and that goes right from the captain through all of the players and the vice captains, really, and including the backroom staff. It was quite amazing for me how much went on behind the scenes. Yes, the whole focus was on the captains and the players deservedly and rightly so, but there's a lot that goes into making that team a real effort and a winning effort. And that's what stood out a lot from my point of view and how much it meant to all of those people involved, both playing, watching and helping in any way they possibly could. Q. And the way somebody like say Lee Westwood or Luke Donald, basically how they prepare for such intense competition, did that surprise you in any way or did you learn anything from it? RHYS DAVIES: They looked pretty relaxed to be honest. I thought, well, you mentioned Lee Westwood and Luke Donald in particular, and they are probably two, if you like, they seemed to play some of the best golf that week. I know Luke was on a good bit of form and I think Lee at the time was a little bit in and out with injuries more than anything. So he probably had not played as much as he might have liked, but I did notice that both of them were very relaxed and very confident in what they were doing and I think that showed. They didn't have to tell everybody about it or shout about it in any way, but within themselves, they were very content with their own ability and were ready to perform. I think that showed. Q. The most relaxed of all the team, those two? RHYS DAVIES: I think so, yeah, possibly. I suppose you might have to ask them individually themselves. I guess from a watching point of view, yeah, I think they were very chilled out in what they were doing. Q. A few of us were shocked or surprised that you did not win Rookie of the Year because you won more money than Matteo; were you surprised yourself? RHYS DAVIES: To be honest, I didn't really know the whole way it was awarded, how the prize was given or what it was given for. But Matteo had a fantastic burst on to the scene. I think that was quite obvious to see. He won very young and like I said, he had a fantastic first few months as a professional. I think it's very difficult to comment or give an award when the criteria is not as clear-cut, and in that case, I wasn't really aware of how it was awarded. Q. Did you think you had won it? RHYS DAVIES: I had no idea. I didn't know anything it at all. So I wasn't told anything or aware of anything. So you knew as much as me. Q. Thoughts about America? Are you planning to try for a card there at any stage? RHYS DAVIES: No. I'm very content playing -- well, better than content, playing The European Tour. I think the Tour is going from strength-to-strength. The best players in the world are now playing in Europe. I've always wanted to play against the top competition, and right now, that seems to be in Europe most weeks. You only have to look at the strength of field last week at Wentworth and the amount of World Ranking points there was and the amount of attention that the golfing world seemed to present on Wentworth as opposed to any of the other tours around the world. I think that's great. I think that's a real standard to show and say how good of players we have here in Europe and how strong the Tour has become. Q. Is that a change from what you would have thought was going to happen when you turned pro, because you went to college -- RHYS DAVIES: Actually, I was in European Q-School after I turned professional. So I think to be fair, when I turned pro, the stronger tour probably was the PGA Tour. I do think that's starting to change a little bit. Even let's say you only have to look at the strength of the players at the top end, but you also have to look at the strength of players in depth and those coming through from the lesser ranks and the ones doing well quickly on Tour show that The European Tour is as strong as -- probably as strong as it ever has been. Q. When you turned pro, did you think in the back of your mind that at some stage, you're going to have to move to America and now sort of changed your mind about that? RHYS DAVIES: I don't know what I thought really. I was quite open-minded about things. What I did know is that when I turned professional, I didn't have a full card and I wanted to compete, and that was the most important thing for me was to compete in some competition in some professional tournaments, and when I didn't have the opportunity in either America or Europe, that's how I went to Asia and progressed that way. So I really wanted to compete, and I think that's what gave me the -- I guess that's how I progressed through Asia and on The Challenge Tour, and into the main tour on Europe now. So what's ahead, I don't know, but hopefully I'll keep improving. Q. Are you in The Open yet? RHYS DAVIES: Yeah. Q. Fred is over, your East Tennessee coach, has he spotted anything or are you working on anything differently? RHYS DAVIES: Yeah, I've done a little work with him for the last few months now, and I think it's helped a lot. Never been one for big changes or for big mechanical moves, because I'm very much a feel player and I try to feel the movement of my swing rather than mechanically move it. And he's definitely helped in that respect. So yeah, just little tweaks here and there but nothing major, no. SCOTT CROCKETT: Rice, thanks, as always. Good this week. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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