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ALFRED DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIPSeptember 27, 2011Charl SchwartzelST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND MICHAEL GIBBONS: Start us off, how is the game? CHARL SCHWARTZEL: It's nice to be back. I missed last year for the first time in quite a long time. I didn't know the format changed and you get to play with a different group every day. I'm lucky to play with my dad this week, which I'm really looking forward to. It's going to be a Dunhill that I'm actually quite excited about. My game is good. I've been playing well for the last couple of months but to the getting any momentum going. That's pretty much what I need, you just need something to sort golf your way. MICHAEL GIBBONS: Is your old man looking forward to the week? CHARL SCHWARTZEL: He's excited. I think he's been texting Chubby for about two weeks now, the way they are winding each other up and they go back a long way. My dad, his first time playing overseas out of South Africa. He played St. Andrews today and he was in his element. Q. Martin Kaymer was in earlier and he was talking about the first time he played St. Andrews; can you talk about your first memory, did you fall in love with the Old Course right away? CHARL SCHWARTZEL: I played St. Andrews as an amateur in the St. Andrews Links. Back then it was special. I had heard about St. Andrews -- and just to play it -- when I played it as a professional. I went for two or three years where I didn't like playing St. Andrews. It's only recently, the last sort of three, four years, that I've actually started enjoying it, and I think it's only because I started realising how to play it. There's a lot more to St. Andrews than just a big open field. I sort of started getting used to it and understanding how to play it and now I really, really enjoy playing the golf course. Q. Were you nervous the first time you teed off the first? CHARL SCHWARTZEL: No. 1, 17 and 18, those holes, if you don't feel something when you go down those three holes, I think there's something wrong with you. It's got that feel about it. Standing on that first tee at St. Andrews, it gives you goosebumps, just every single time you step up there. It's difficult to describe for someone who has never played it. No. 1, 17 and 18, there's something about it. Q. What advice for your dad? CHARL SCHWARTZEL: You just want to enjoy it. For an amateur to play, it's an experience. It's just going to come at you -- you just have to enjoy playing St. Andrews. Q. How do you rate Carnoustie and Kingsbarns, as opposed to the Old Course at St. Andrews; very different types of golf courses? CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Yeah, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie are way different to this golf course. This golf course, you can play it in the wind, and there's a way to play it around here in the wind. Carnoustie is really difficult if you get it on a bad day. And so is Kingsbarns. Kingsbarns, there's some demanding shots. But on the other hand, if you get Kingsbarns on a good day, that's probably where you can score the lowest. I enjoy playing St. Andrews the most and then Kingsbarns and then Carnoustie. Q. Is that because of the difficulty of Carnoustie? CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Yeah, I don't know, Carnoustie, I've struggled on before. I find it -- even in the Opens I've played, not just Dunhill -- I'll play it different it this year than I normally play it. I've played well on St. Andrews and Kingsbarns before, but Carnoustie -- just trying to play it a little different this year than I normally do. Q. Less aggressive or more aggressive? CHARL SCHWARTZEL: You know, I think I'm going to play it a little bit less aggressive on some of the holes. I've had a problem with finishing -- it's difficult to say what I'm going to do but I'm definitely going to find -- I'm going to see if I can't play with a little more care than I normally do. If it means playing aggressive on some of the holes, a little bit less than others, but see what the wind does. Q. This is your first time playing as the Masters Champion, is it difficult teeing off after such a high, and how do you feel things have gone since then? CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Yeah, it is my first time. Winning the Masters gives you a lot of confidence. It gives you a big boost. I think sometimes -- never mind what other people see. So you know, I think I've managed it pretty well, giving everything I need, giving my golf the attention it needs and everyone else around as much as I can. Like I said, I honestly feel like I've been playing well since then. I don't feel like my game has taken any sort of dip or anything else. It's just -- what can I say, I just the game of golf, it's up-and-down. Q. Seems upon you came upon an understanding of the Old Course four or five years back, was there something specific that happened, or was it just your experiences? CHARL SCHWARTZEL: I wouldn't say experience. My experience at St. Andrews, it's always hard. I went through a few years where everyone always used to say, hit it left, hit it left. It's all good and well to hit it left, but there's lots to do with these flag positions. You can't just hit it left, because you're fine off the tee but then you cannot get it close and you hit it to 80 feet and you're making bogey. It took me a while to realise actually how to play it. It's not just driver on every hole. There are some holes where you do just hit a 2-iron into a 100-metre fairway, and not just into it. I played it a few years where I felt like I would hit the ball good but walk off with a 74, you know, just understanding how to play it. Just took a while to get comfortable and an understanding and actually getting on the tee and knowing what's going on on the hole. Q. How is your dad's game? CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Been playing a lot more -- yeah, he plays like an amateur. He'll have a good few holes and then a couple bad ones and a good few ones. We'll see. Hopefully -- now for me, I just hope he enjoys it. Q. What's his handicap? CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Ten. Q. Is life still hectic after the Masters? CHARL SCHWARTZEL: I think it's quieted down a little bit. We now have four major champions this year, so the attention has moved around a bit, where the first few months before the U.S. Open, that's when it was the most hectic. It's good now. I enjoy it. I really do. But, you know, it's going to be great. Q. Looking forward to playing in the Presidents Cup? CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Quite a bit. Greg Norman had a meeting with the potential team at the PGA, and since then, I've really started looking forward to it. It sounds really like it's going to be a great event, and it's something different from what we play every day. You know, it's our version of The Ryder Cup, and I'm really looking forward to it, I really am. Q. Do you think Louis will get a pick? CHARL SCHWARTZEL: I don't know, I haven't spoken to Louis. I hope he gets one, but there's a few other guys that's been playing probably a little bit better than him. So I think he's just hoping. Q. What will it mean for you this week to win this event? CHARL SCHWARTZEL: I think if you can win any tournament -- obviously the British Open is the ultimate to win around St. Andrews in my mind, but winning any event at St. Andrews, the home of golf, will go very well on your C.V. and it's something that you will remember. It's a golf course that I think any golfer would be very proud of to win on. MICHAEL GIBBONS: Wishing you all the best in your quest. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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