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WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIPFebruary 23, 2012Matt KucharMARANA, ARIZONA COLIN MURRAY: Matt, thanks for joining us in the interview room. A 3 and 2 victory over Bubba Watson. You've had a nice run here the last two years. If you could talk about your match today with Bubba and then what it is about this golf course. MATT KUCHAR: I don't know if this golf course favors me. I would have said Bubba Watson certainly had the advantage. It seems a lot of holes with his length, it's a big advantage to be able to hit it as far as he does. There are a lot of bunkers that come into play off the tee that I have to avoid that he doesn't even see them, he flies right over them. I got off to a good start. I played strong, steady golf. I felt like I didn't miss a shot until maybe the 10th tee shot. And then Bubba made a big run. I got 3‑up through 10 holes and he birdied 11, 12 and eagled 13. I birdied two of those holes and still loss two of the three of them. It was a good run he put on. We got the match down to‑‑ I had a 1‑up advantage and was able to win 14, 15 and halve 16 to win the match, but it was‑‑ it's exciting. I was telling my wife how exhausting match play is. I only played 16 holes today, but I'm ready to go home and have a nap. Q. This on paper looked like overwhelming force against shorter and steadier. How do you go into something like that with some sense that you can actually pull this thing out? MATT KUCHAR: You look to last year, and look at Luke Donald, short and steady player, goes on to win it. It can work. I think length is always an advantage. And I think definitely an advantage around here. Bubba can just hit short irons into these greens and make them stop. I'm hitting longer irons and trying to land it on the front of the green and hope I catch the right hill or mound and hope it ends up in a good position. So a little more difficult, but you don't have to look very far to see what happened last year. Q. Just for the record, I said shorter, not short. Two parter. One, how much longer is he? Is it just on the tee shots or on all the shots. And also, how much more mentally wearing is match play? Are you thinking all the time about I've got to do this, I've got to do that, as opposed to stroke play? MATT KUCHAR: I'd say Bubba is probably 40 yards past me most of these holes. And then it was generally about a club different on par‑3s to two clubs on the 12th hole. He hit a 9‑iron. I hit a 7‑iron. They pitched in about the same place. His 9‑iron stopped, my 7‑iron released about 15 feet or so. So when he wants it move it, he can. And I think match play is much more taxing than stroke play. And I think it's‑‑ 3‑footers are somewhat casual in stroke play. In match play they seem like there's more riding on it.  It seems like you miss it, you never want to miss a 3‑, 4‑footer, it costs you a stroke. But losing a hole is a bigger deal. Q. You could be going home if you miss a 3‑footer in match play. Where you shoot 68 instead of 67? MATT KUCHAR: Right. Q. There was a yellow jacket and a bull dog, how much fun do you have with that. Is there any banter? MATT KUCHAR: I think in years past. This year no real Georgia‑Georgia Tech banter. We've gotten to be good friends, but on a couple of teams now together with the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup. I think both of us are really shooting to make this year's Ryder Cup. We've both played two away games. I think we'd both really like to make a home Ryder Cup, it would be a special day. So we've gotten to be friends and kind of cheered for each other outside of today. Q. You mentioned a couple of times now the taxing nature of match play. Do you like that? Do you like kind of the grind and how kind of taxing and stressful it can be? MATT KUCHAR: I feel like my mentality is similar to stroke play. I don't try to change my game very much. There will be the occasional situation where I may play a little more conservative or maybe a touch more aggressive. But for the most part I keep the same basic mentality. However, it still feels like match play just is more intense. I think it has to do with you can't recover from a stretch of bad holes because there's no tomorrow. Q. This is a little change of subject. I'm sure the players are aware of the extension and expansion of FedEx for a few more years with the FedExCup. I just wonder, is there any talk, and do you have any response to that? I assume everybody is pleased with it? MATT KUCHAR: Yeah, I think it's been great for the PGA TOUR. I think the system has really gained a lot of traction and made the final finish a lot more exciting. I think we're all understanding it pretty well now. And everybody guns for them. And that's a big pot of gold at the end and something exciting to shoot for. I've had two years now where I've been inside of top five with‑‑ top six‑‑ maybe it's top five, with a chance to win at the Tour Championship. That's a fun position to be in. That's kinds of the goal of mine was to make The TOUR Championship. And I want to continue that streak of having a real shot to win and be able to control your own destiny. It's a fun way to play The TOUR Championship. COLIN MURRAY: Thanks for your time. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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