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SEVE BALLESTEROS TROPHY

September 24, 2005

Seve Ballesteros

BILLINGHAM, ENGLAND

RODDY WILLIAMS: Seve, thanks very much for coming in and joining us halfway through the day. GB and Ireland are up in four and Europe have leveled one match. Can you give us your thoughts on the morning's play and the matches overall?

SEVE BALLESTEROS: Great Britain and Ireland are doing very well this morning. At one point they were in all four matches in front and now they are 3 up and one is all square. So it's very good to come back when they need it. Any time you go two or three points behind, it's always a danger because you cannot afford to make any more mistakes; the other team may run away. It's a great comeback and it will be great this afternoon I'm sure in the matches because it's very equal, I would say. So it great to see that.

RODDY WILLIAMS: And your thoughts overall on how the tournament has been progressing over last couple of days?

SEVE BALLESTEROS: Fantastic the first day. It was beautiful weather, great golf, great performance by the European Team. Yesterday was a little bit more equal. Today wasn't as good as the first day, but, you know, we still manage to finish the day without having any problems with the weather. It was 6 and 4, pretty good and this morning it's another great day. A lot of great matches out there, that seems to be like most of the players are playing fantastic and a great show for a great golf course and for a great place and for a great tournament.

Q. Have any particular players impressed you this week beyond what you would expect of them?

SEVE BALLESTEROS: No players really from this side of the Atlantic to be honest. There are a lot of players with great talent and great future ahead. But to impress, I don't get impressed that easy.

Q. Who was the last player to impress you?

SEVE BALLESTEROS: The last player to impress me? Tiger Woods a couple of years ago.

Q. What did he do to impress you?

SEVE BALLESTEROS: Well, it's not disappointing, golf is a difficult game and you have to you need a lot of things to put together to become something special. It's very hard.

Q. When you look at The European Tour

SEVE BALLESTEROS: They are all good players and they are all great champions but not many of them impress me.

Q. When you look at The European Tour now, do you think it's crying up for someone like you when you came along or like Tiger in America?

SEVE BALLESTEROS: Well, in Europe we have, I see many good players, like Montgomerie has been pretty good for a number of years. Olazabal is doing very good. Sergio Garcia perhaps is the one who really has flashes of something special, but he's not playing on The European Tour.

Q. Who do you see that has the best chance of winning a major?

SEVE BALLESTEROS: You know, not to get impressed by me from the players, that means that they can win a major, you know, somebody because every year there's four majors and someone has to win, you know what I mean. But, yeah, I think from the European side you mean? I think I like Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey is coming strong, Padraig Harrington, you know, and the rest.

Q. Apart from Tiger Woods, any of the Americans that impress you?

SEVE BALLESTEROS: Not really, no. Good swings, good players, but I thinking in that really keeps myself watching TV for a long time. It's true. Good players, good players. It's not easy to impress me, something special.

Q. Can you break that down a little?

SEVE BALLESTEROS: It would take a little long to explain that, we don't have time. Haven't even had lunch yet.

Q. Do you think that part of the reason is the ball that they play with and the equipment

SEVE BALLESTEROS: Yeah, I think it's a good point. You know, it's very hard because the newer equipment, with the metal woods, it's very hard to shape the shots because there's no grooves and it's difficult. The ball has dimples, they are designed with a specific dimple and they have a kind of trajectory. When I play on the course, it seems like they are turning to the right and it looks like they have radar and they come back to the fairway. It's true, it's more difficult to shape the ball on the course and equalize everybody with all of these new clubs, the putter, the 65 degrees loft in the club for certain players; with the grooves, the ball spins as good as ever. I said that a long time ago, and I'm going to say that again, that something has to be done with the rules now, otherwise golf will become more power than anything else.

Q. Inaudible?

SEVE BALLESTEROS: That's one of the reasons, yes. They play shots around the greens that, because of the equipment. But I understand, if they have the equipment available, they use it.

Q. How does it affect your game, the new equipment?

SEVE BALLESTEROS: I'm happy with the Callaway equipment. I think they will do very good. Good ball. I have a new set of irons and I'm happy with the driver. Again, with the driver, it's difficult to shape. It seems to me no matter how you hit it, you have to hit it hard, and it goes or less straight. If you have a good tempo on the swing, as before it was much easier.

Q. A number of Europeans have gone to play in America

SEVE BALLESTEROS: I don't know. I don't know how many there are playing in America.

Q. More are playing

SEVE BALLESTEROS: I really haven't been keeping an eye very much on The European Tour for the last year and a half or so. If they go to America, there must be a reason.

Q. In all of your times as a player against Tony Jacklin, being captain of the Ryder Cup and the Seve Trophy, have you ever had sort of big arguments with people during that time? Have you ever had had an argument with Tony Jacklin ask said, "I don't agree with you, Tony," or did you have to do that sort of thing as a captain?

SEVE BALLESTEROS: Well, when I was the captain at Valderrama, nobody was really happy with me, with my decisions. Maybe behind me, yes, but not in front. When I was playing on the team, I disagreed with certain decisions, but you have to take the decision of the captain at the moment.

Q. One of the players every now and then, Darren Clarke has said he would love to see golf go back to where they use persimmon drivers; probably not going to happen, but do you sort of look back at those days and wish you still had wooden drivers?

SEVE BALLESTEROS: I'm surprised that he says that. He never played with that equipment. He never played with that equipment. He always played with the new equipment. How he can say that, because he doesn't really have the experience competing with the woods like before. He's from a different generation.

Q. Do you think that one of the two captains from the Seve Trophy should be the existing Ryder Cup Captain, so that they could get practice, would you like to see that?

SEVE BALLESTEROS: I think that it would be a good idea to have in the future, you know, the captain for both teams be the one, either one to go to the Ryder Cup. It does help, yeah.

Q. You have said you want to be captain again of the Continental Team.

SEVE BALLESTEROS: Yeah.

Q. Would you be Ryder Cup Captain again?

SEVE BALLESTEROS: No. I say either one, either. We have two captains here.

Q. If Olazabal was named Ryder Cup Captain, would you stand down to let him be captain of this team?

SEVE BALLESTEROS: I don't know yet.

Q. Can you see Nick Faldo as captain of the British team in the Seve Trophy in the next in two years?

SEVE BALLESTEROS: I don't think my opinion on that really is going to do any effect.

Q. Do you think you could say to Colin, it would be good for the Seve Trophy if Nick Faldo captained the British team next year and you could help him?

SEVE BALLESTEROS: Yeah, I think Colin is very qualified to be the captain for the near future in the Ryder Cup, yeah. And sometimes in the future, somebody has to take his position in the Seve Trophy, there's no question. He's not going to be the captain forever, or me, you know. You have to allow somebody else to do it. He's been so great for the competition and a great captain, but, you know, I'm sure he has another plans.

Q. Have you been watching any of the Presidents Cup coverage this week?

SEVE BALLESTEROS: I'm not interested in the Presidents Cup.

Q. A couple of the Americans players interviewed, it seems to be that they enjoy that competition a little bit more than the Ryder Cup, Tiger Woods has said that is inaudible and Chris DiMarco has said this doesn't have hatred of the Ryder Cup. Is that a problem for the Americans or a problem for the Ryder Cup?

SEVE BALLESTEROS: Seems to me like the Presidents Cup in my opinion, the way from my point of view that I've seen, not this year because I haven't watched, but before, it looks like they are a bunch of friends playing for fun there and just, you know, they don't take it in my opinion as a real competition. It's more like a friendly game to be honest.

Q. Do you like the way the Ryder Cup is?

SEVE BALLESTEROS: Yes. Probably is because they don't like to face the pressure.

But I think one of the good things about the Ryder Cup is that the tension between both teams and both sides from the spectators point of view, so it's good. We don't want to have physical fights on the course, but it's good to have, you know

Q. Tension.

SEVE BALLESTEROS: Of course.

Q. Is it a problem for the Americans? Because they do seem to prefer the Presidents Cup to the Ryder Cup.

SEVE BALLESTEROS: Well, maybe it's because they get paid. (Laughter) Do they get paid?

Q. They get paid for the Ryder Cup, as well.

SEVE BALLESTEROS: For the Ryder Cup the money is for the players now.

Q. The players have to give it to charity.

SEVE BALLESTEROS: Yeah, that's good. So they all have their own charity, I don't know.

RODDY WILLIAMS: Seve, thanks very much.

End of FastScripts.

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