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MASTERS TOURNAMENTApril 6, 2012Louis OosthuizenAUGUSTA, GEORGIA GEORGE DAVIS: Pleased to welcome Louis Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open Champion who is currently the leader in the clubhouse after his second round at 4‑under. Louis, thanks for joining us. Q. Bit of a strange round. Can you go through the second hole, not one you think you're going to double‑bogey. LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: No, you know, it's a tough tee shot for me. I need to turn it off that bunker. I could reach that trap, and you know, I just started it too far left with the turn I actually wanted. So yeah, it was a tough start. Then even after I hit a good bunker shot on 4, missed the putt and just got the wind wrong on the 5th; and being 3‑over after five holes, I knew it was going to be a tough day. But you know, the course played so different the front nine than it did the second nine. Once the sun came out, the ball went a bit further. I mean, it was cold this morning; it was cold on the golf course; the wind was all over the place. It was tough. Looked at the scores and the guys made birdies starting the first five holes, some of them were 3‑under, and I was 3‑over. So I knew I just needed to hang on and try to‑‑ even if I just finished 1‑under or level for the tournament; but yeah, I started a bit better on the back nine, and my two good birdies were there on 16 and 17. Q. You've struggled a bit in this event. I think in three starts you've missed the cut but you seem to have figured it out over the last two days, particularly the chip shot on 18. Do you think you've learned this place? LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: I think you probably will never learn how to play this golf course to get great rounds. Yeah, I've never come into this tournament playing really well. This is probably the first one I came in feeling confident, the way I swing it and the way I'm hitting the ball. So it makes a huge difference. You know, it's a weird spot for me to be in to be third at the moment. I normally was busy changing tickets back home (laughter). It's a nice spot to be in. Q. A follow to that, your chip on 18, for lack of a better word, how much courage does it take to hit it that far left? When you hit it in the gallery, people were gasping, what is he doing; yet it just curled around nicely. LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Yeah, it's one of those that it looks like you can take it straight on, and I probably would have finished ten yards down the fairway if I took it straight on. That's why practice rounds are there for; you try all these different shots. I think a lot of people in the practice rounds think you're just messing around, but you're actually trying a shot you would try in the tournament. I think the more you play this golf course, the more you find yourself in spots where you get different little chip shots or little funny shots. You know, it's a lot to do with feel around the greens, and I felt that was the way to go on that hole. I could just see it coming down. I don't think it's going to come down that much. I thought it was going to finish 5 foot past the pin, but came back a bit more. Q. If you could, could you go through your clubs and distances? LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: I play meters, so I had 30 meters to the pin on 16. You know, it was at the stage, I had an 8‑iron in my hand, because I tried to pitch it about 135 meters level into the wind and the wind just changed on us. And as I stood there, changed to a 9‑iron and hit to four foot I think. Then 17 again, the wind switched a bit. I had about 140 meters to the pin into the breeze, and you know, thinking about a small 7‑iron, and as I stood over the ball, it just didn't feel like it was hurting that much. I hit an 8‑iron to about 5‑foot. Q. After last week, did you come out of that tournament feeling good about things or bad about things? Because you were the 54‑hole leader, and I think you sort of took your way out of it pretty early on Sunday. What happened and how did it feel? LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: I felt great coming out of the tournament. I hit it well all week. I could have had that round in the first round, so to me, I'm not going to take anything out of that front nine. I took a lot out of the back nine. Coming back strong, I knew it was important to finish strong that back nine just to give me a lot of confidence coming into this week. I felt the way I was swinging it, it was probably not a 41 on the scorecard. I felt like I still played well. But yeah, you know, it helped a lot, making a few birdies coming in. Q. How do you explain how a British Open Champion can struggle on the front nine in conditions that are more British Open‑like, and then make your move on the back nine when it's more benign? LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: I can't explain that. I don't know. (Laughter). Yeah, (shrugging shoulders) sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. This morning it didn't. I didn't really bother about the weather when I teed off. I thought it would be fine. Yeah, for some reason I just struggled. Q. When did you take off the beanie cap? At the turn? LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: I actually put it on on 7. It felt like it dropped quite a bit in temperature. I took it off on 11. Q. You and Charl are friends. Does that give you any added motivation, the fact that he won here last year, and I'm sure you know his game pretty well? LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Yeah, definitely. We played so much golf together as juniors, amateurs. It's great seeing someone you play all the time with win a big tournament like this. It just tells you that you can do the same, because, you know, we always have little games against each other. We play practice rounds, and I think it's great motivation for both of us. You know, if one plays good, the other one wants to rise up to the same level, which is nice. It's a healthy, healthy sport relationship, I feel. Q. How many different ways have you heard your last name pronounced, and could you please give us the correct pronunciation? LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: The correct one is Oosthuizen, and I've never heard anyone say that. (Laughter). So, yeah, quite a few. Quite a few wrong ones. Q. Do they get it right in South Africa? LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: I hope so. Yeah, no, they do. Q. Could be worse. Charl says he's heard Schwarzenegger. LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Yeah, you can expect a few different ones. GEORGE DAVIS: Louis, thanks very much for your time. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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