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WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIPFebruary 23, 2012John SendenMARANA, ARIZONA JOHN SENDEN: Yeah, I had the pressure on him early. I had good putts on 1 and 3 and 4. And then I was 3‑up through 4. Then basically from there I wanted to keep focused and keep the quality of shots going on. And then I did that. And he sort of made the mistakes to force the match to go further and further my way. I didn't really feel‑‑ I didn't play very nasty. I'm happy. I think playing solid and then him making the errors kind of forced the match into sort of more like a (inaudible.) Q. Do you feel like that was a bit of a stretch he got going? We know Jason is a birdie machine. Do you feel like if you were fairways and greens he would make mistakes? JOHN SENDEN: I still knew today‑‑ I drove the ball yesterday. I knew if I drove the ball well again today I'm always in the hole. And I just would‑‑ some of Jason's drives today he was off line a bit and I put a lot of pressure on him. So coming up the fairways and putting solid early on the back nine, I was‑‑ I had the upper hand. Q. Your game is in remarkable shape for this early in the year, not that it wouldn't be normally. But there seems to be something different that's happened, or is there? JOHN SENDEN: Yeah, yeah. It's all about trying to get where you can feel like you can compete with the best in the world. And I think that it's taken me a while. But I'm kind of hopefully getting there. I have the belief system. And it's about being able to get up there and stay on stage and accept that and know that I can be hopefully a winning player, rather than someone who is consistent and solid. You sort of get to the end of a career thinking, well, I played well on the PGA TOUR, but I didn't have that many victories or even in Australia. I want to be able to change that. I've seen a lot of players, like some of my mates that have maybe taken‑‑ like Appleby and Allenby, and Adam Scott, Geoff Ogilvy, they're great players, and they've got the big ones. I'd love to be able to give myself a chance to do that and be a winning player. Q. So it's nothing physical, nothing special in the game, just sort of a mental adjustment? JOHN SENDEN: Absolutely. Absolutely. Mental adjustment. I said at the end of last year and this year, you know, it's about standing up there and really just looking out and just ripping it, letting it go and being a free player, freedom. Tiger Woods doesn't stand up there and just like try to steer it down the middle or Phil Mickelson, he doesn't steer it. He just gets up there with a rhythm. Mickelson, I've noticed, that he misses cuts, but he wins tournaments, as well, that same way. So I'm trying to get to that level. Q. You said in your television interview that you drove the ball really well, but do you think that's just the refocus of your mental aspects? JOHN SENDEN: Absolutely. The golf course makes you work. Some of the golf courses that we play are pretty sort of straight, tree lined, and it's straight out in front of you. Where here you know you have to drive it good. And because if it's off line here it's unplayable. It makes you work really well. It's perfect conditions and the golf course is in great shape. So it's nice to be able to play a golf course that has those conditions going for it. Q. One thing we sort of noticed in this match, most people wouldn't have expected it this way, but putting was the difference early and in your favor. Jason has been a top ten putter and you really haven't been. Are you feeling really good on these greens, is it something different? JOHN SENDEN: Well, yeah as I said to my caddie yesterday, Josh, I said to him, as the round got on further into the round yesterday, even though I was off in the round, I felt myself tightening up a little bit more. And that's maybe the reason for the three‑putt on 13 yesterday. And so from that point on I was really kind of working hard. Where today I really wanted to work hard on staying free on the greens. I know if I do that ‑‑ I step out here on the practice putting green and hole putts all day. You get out in the middle of the golf course, and it's the result of a little bit of tension, it doesn't quite have that same flow. So today I was better at that. And that's the reason I kept the pressure on Jason. And I sort of feel that I just sort of was thinking about that last night and this morning and making up my mind that I had a tough match today. He's the top‑10 player in the world. So I have to use‑‑ he's not going to be going away. Q. Your strategy into tomorrow, is it the same thing, you just want to put pressure on the guy to make mistakes? JOHN SENDEN: Yeah. I feel if I keep the freedom in my game, if I stand up there and hit shot after shot, and the good thing about match play, and I haven't had a lot of experience with it, hitting shots, and after one hole is done, you're done. It's done. As long as it's a double bogey, it stays on the scorecard the rest of the day. It's over, you're on the next one. You go from that‑‑ each single day, and you've got a new guy tomorrow. So I'll go out tomorrow and do my best. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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