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DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC

March 4, 2004

Bradley Dredge

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

GORDON SIMPSON: Well played today. Nice birdie at the last, the ninth hole. You haven't been playing much golf over the winter I see. What's been happening?

BRADLEY DREDGE: Well, I never really play a great deal at this time of year. I always try to go to South Africa. I enjoy playing the courses there. It's a long way, but the time difference is only two hours. But then going to Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, I've been to each of the countries and I just think it's so much traveling, plus the time differences and the courses are different; I just don't think I'm going to be able to play my best golf. So I just spent some time at home and worked on my game there.

GORDON SIMPSON: Did you take a long break and concentrate hard on improving your game?

BRADLEY DREDGE: End of last year I worked quite a bit on it, on the game. I always go on quite a long break over Christmas, New Year's, 3, 3 1/2 weeks off and I come back, South Africa and I get practicing quite a bit and come home. So South Africa is a little bit more the practice event and hopefully build for a seasonal start for here on for me.

GORDON SIMPSON: It's working today, obviously.

Q. Do you stay at home; you don't go away to Florida or anything like that to practice? What's the winter been like?

BRADLEY DREDGE: Well, the winter has not been great. The golf courses back home at this time of year, the greens aren't very good.

So what I did last year, I got a golf green in the back garden and knew that I was preparing myself for the winter and this time of year. So when I get back home, I have a green that's like this, it's like a carpet, so I can work on my putting. I can always use a driving range or indoor teaching bays with cameras to work on my golf swing.

Q. Is it a covered area?

BRADLEY DREDGE: Yes, it's you mean no, it's not. If it snows, I have to go out with a shovel and clear it off.

GORDON SIMPSON: How big is the green?

BRADLEY DREDGE: It's not that big. It's only about 15 feet long and about 10 feet wide. The problem is I'm moving shortly, so I didn't want to have too big of a green.

GORDON SIMPSON: Take it with you.

BRADLEY DREDGE: I'm going to have another one built, 30 or 40 foot, a bit bigger.

Q. Did you surprise yourself with the skill?

BRADLEY DREDGE: I feel as though preparation has been pretty good, but there's a difference between hitting balls on the range and hitting putts on the practice putting green and actually getting out there and playing. To be honest, the biggest thing I was going to struggle with would be on the greens. I should be reading the greens and getting my feel. But I putted fantastic today. That part of my game was a bit of a surprise. Even though I have been working quite hard on the actual putting stroke itself, like I said, actually reading the greens is a different thing. I think generally you need to play your way into sort of getting the feel and the conditions.

Q. After what happened in South Africa, after a round like this, what sort of mind set do you now take into the next round?

BRADLEY DREDGE: Yeah, I think you're referring to the last round in South Africa? Like I said earlier, I haven't played a lot of golf coming into South Africa. So those two events, I didn't like doing it, but it was almost like a practice event this year, because I've been working quite hard on the swing over the winter, just trying to get a bit more line at the top of the swing.

So I went to those two events. I didn't know how I was going to play, to be honest and I was very surprised to be playing as well as I was, particularly in the second event.

Unfortunately, the last day, I just some feel shots, I was driving the ball well last day there. I had a lot of feel shots with wedges and 9 irons. Because of the swing changes, the club is coming down a different sort of way and the feel shots were a bit harder.

It doesn't really bother me. I was quite happy with my performance there, and I knew that I had a lot more practice with feel shots and just get used to the different sort of well, the new golf swing, and have confidence in that it was going to work.

Q. (Inaudible.)

BRADLEY DREDGE: Yes, 63.

Q. The eagle on the 18th, can you take us through that one?

BRADLEY DREDGE: Yeah, standing on the tee there, I know I can hit it over that last tree. The wind is off the left; so it's about 260 yards to carry on to the fairway. So I just teed it up and hit it really, really hard and just hope that it kicks through. And then I hit it perfect, the tee shot. I had 230 yards for my second shot to the flag.

So, I couldn't quite get my 4 wood there, so I hit my 3 wood, got it in the air a little bit, hit it really well and came down to about 30 feet. Because the greens are so good around here, it was almost like an easy putt, downhill, downgrain and just gradual turn at the left. If you hit a good putt around here, they are going to go in.

Q. Are you aware what Ernie decided to play today?

BRADLEY DREDGE: I was on the 17th tee. He played his second shot on 18 and we saw it and we thought, did he hook it down there or did mean to do it?

So when we got to the tee, we tried to work out how he got down there. He must have hit it over the trees about 40 yards. Hell of a shot.

Q. Two 3 irons; 3 iron, 3 iron into the green.

BRADLEY DREDGE: Amazing.

Q. Are you tempted to do it yourself?

BRADLEY DREDGE: No. (Laughter.) I think I'll stick to my way of playing it.

Q. Are you a goal setter? What do you want from this season?

BRADLEY DREDGE: I am a goal setter. I always set them very high. I think the main thing is, I'd love to play Ryder Cup. I think there's going to be a lot of guys up on the bubble for the Ryder Cup spots. And I've love to play well, particularly in the big events, because there's where you're going to get points, like Wentworth, then that's going to get the points to get yourself into the team.

GORDON SIMPSON: I'm sure you can see what it meant to Phil Price and to Wales to get into the Ryder Cup.

BRADLEY DREDGE: Yes, it would be nice to get myself with a chance to get in.

Q. You referred to your new golf swing, is it as thorough as that?

BRADLEY DREDGE: It's just sort of last year, the club was just getting a little bit off line at the top of the swing, so just going back on line. It was going to the left at the top of the swing. So just get it more on line slightly across. It's not a new golf swing, just got it back more on line. Just revised it, worked on it a little bit, as you always do, I think.

GORDON SIMPSON: Well, Bradley, great start. You'll obviously have to take more breaks, I think.

End of FastScripts.

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