VOLVO PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 27, 2001

Nick Faldo

NICK FALDO: Yeah. I got off to a -- I was 2-over after three. I made a lucky putt on 1 and then hit two really good putts on 2 and 3 and they both lipped out. But, you know, I really got into it. Made four more birdies on the back nine. I'm playing nice and solid. Hit a lot of good shots. Got one lucky break on -- well, I made a birdie on 8. I can't remember a birdie in the last 20 years on 8. Always gets me, that green. And then I got a nice kick, just sort of got over the left-hand side of that trap and it kicked down on 9 to about four feet. So that was a nice little break. Saved par on 10. Good up-and-down on 12. Then I pulled a 3-wood off 15 into the trap. That was that. Bogeyed that. I actually hit a good 3-iron off 16 and it kicked left into the trap and I just hit a wedge out and bogeyed that. I hit a great shot at the last, a five out of a divot. That was a hell of a shot. Would have been nice to make the putt. I've got a half a chance tomorrow. Should be great. Good position for me to come from, really. Just go out and play. Get that 66/65 mode, would be very useful to putt a score on the board and see what happens.

NICK FALDO: Today, well the golf course, there's a little more breeze out there. It's still rock hard. Yeah, it's just not -- it's a little bit of pressure. It's not quite as easy to get that -- get that good kick all the time. You can't just whack it out there and expect it to happen. You've got to try and play these little fancy bump-and-runs in; gets a bit tricky. The weekend -- it's going to be a tough golf course to play at the weekend.

NICK FALDO: I've practised hard the last month. I've came here with the intentions of having a good week. It's not a -- I'm pleased that I've got a chance. Going to do it, see what happens.

NICK FALDO: Well, our top end is very good, but America has probably just more depth and even some of the players who the names are not so obvious are darned good players. And, you know, you look at the scoring -- there aren't -- they are on better conditioned golf courses all the time, better weather. You've got to go for it. Everybody is going for it in America because that is the way it is set up. This is a good example where you have to really manufacture shots and steer it a little bit around the golf course, which makes golf a lot tougher.

NICK FALDO: It isn't what we're used to, isn't it. This is more of a -- I remember when I won Wobeurn, how hard that was, 7-iron 220 yards and run it in, that sort of thing. Playing about is difficult. When it doesn't come off, it makes you look -- like the right one.

NICK FALDO: A lot of very good scrambling, because you can hit really good shots and they are only going to land -- you are trying to land it just two yards on front of the green or just short of the green and it lands one yard too far, boing, off it goes. You're playing for little upslopes and if you miss them the ball is really shooting out. Like I said, if you are under control with your game, you'll either do it and if you can do it under pressure, well ...

NICK FALDO: I've been practising. I've worked hard on the swing. I'm feeling really good about the swing. I've really narrowed it down to a good few keys which seem to be working. All I do is just go do them. That's the big test is telling myself to do it and go and do it. So, I'm just picking the shot and going for it. I hit a slingy draw. It's all right and I've got nothing to lose. Just pick your shot and go for it. Simple as that.

NICK FALDO: I think it was 219 to the front, so that was stretching everything. So, it was really good.

NICK FALDO: That was the shot of the week.

NICK FALDO: Yeah, I can sense there's a good atmosphere going on out there. The people are talking to me and, you know, giving me -- you know a lot of enthusiastic little shouts: "Go on my son."

NICK FALDO: They shout at you all the time. (Laughter.)

NICK FALDO: It's just great to have -- she's so enthusiastic. I guess that's the bottom line. She really wants to help. That was the big discussion; she really just wanted to help. She didn't want to just come and carry the bag for me. She wanted to be a big part of it. So, I said: "All right then. You can tell me what to do."

NICK FALDO: It's actually a bit of both, because she said to me at the end of last year said, "You're stuck for an odd week and you haven't got anybody, here I am." So I said, sure. And actually, she came to me after Augusta week -- did it happen as soon as that? She then heard that Notah was injured again and was going to have to make another five-week break or something and she said to me, "What about going those two in America"? I did Hilton Head and Houston as sort of a trial, and I said: "Fine, yeah, sounds good." So, we did our two weeks and then we talked, obviously a lot and discussed our game plan for -- because we don't -- she doesn't want to play a full schedule, a full year. I'm similar. So, next year I'm already planning to do just a season of golf, probably from February through to August, the main golf will be the main priority in that period, and then I can then spend the rest of the year -- I'll still play other events, but it will be a little bit of business around it, as well. We thought that would be a great idea, so that was really it.

NICK FALDO: Bizarre, isn't it? Yeah, well, they picked it first. We changed our minds because we wanted to have it in England. Obviously, we're hoping for a bit of sunshine.

NICK FALDO: No. She spoke to him. He was fine with it, only because he's not sure of his year because of his injury. So, she's officially on the bag.

NICK FALDO: Yeah.

NICK FALDO: Yeah, I'm nice. (Laughter.)

NICK FALDO: No, I won't change anything. I've got my 15 booked.

NICK FALDO: I've still got that week free. (Laughter.)

NICK FALDO: Yeah, I can feel them flowing now, yeah. I have to sort of control it a bit more now. I haven't had that feeling as regularly as I used to. When you handle it like that, it was just get into the flow again. So now it's -- you know, I think it's just through hard work of just analysing the swing. That's the pressure for me. That's the confidence. You've just got to go out and trust that what you've got, the swing you're going to make is going to hit the shot you want. Simple as that. That's what I've been working on, just fine-tuning things. So, if I do what I intend to do, it's going to be good.

NICK FALDO: When did that go out the window? Four years ago? A little late on the old news, there.

NICK FALDO: How long has it been? Thank you. No, it's not. I did win in England, you know. (Laughter.) Very difficult, because, you know, it's starting all over again. The way the golf course is playing, that bounce could make a big difference. You can just hit a little off-shot and you get that bounce and ends up in the rough. It's a much easier course. It plays a lot wider this golf course, when it is softer, obviously, so you've got to play very well, all day. That's the secret to this golf course.

NICK FALDO: That was four years ago, as well.

Yeah, it was definitely windier today. Wentworth is always tough, because in the trees -- it funnels. That's always a bit of a professional guess.

NICK FALDO: Hit it harder.

NICK FALDO: I've been doing all my exercises. Trying to hit the blooming thing further like everybody else. I think the bottom line is you've got to say, "Hey, I can shoot 65 around this golf course. I've just got to do it a different way than Tiger." Obviously, the way the guy plays, he's got a better percentage chance he's going to do it. But, you know, you don't go out there with that attitude each day. You go out there, look after my own game and see what I can do.

NICK FALDO: Yeah. It's a different ballgame now, it really is.

NICK FALDO: Not bad. Feeling comfortable with the game. Just keep doing it. That's the bottom line.

NICK FALDO: It takes a lot of grinding. A crash gear box now. I haven't found my fifth gear for a while now. But, we'll see tomorrow. See if we can go out and work on it.