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BUICK INVITATIONAL

January 29, 2006

Jose Maria Olazabal

LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA

JOHN BUSH: We thank runner up Jose Maria Olazabal for sitting down with us at the 2006 Buick Invitational. Jose, a tough finish to a good tournament, but what a day for a lot of players out there today. It was quite a tight leaderboard for most of the day.

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: It was a tight leaderboard. That's what this golf course does. It doesn't give anything away. You really have to play good golf. It's very hard to make birdies, and that's why pretty much every year everything is pretty packed.

JOHN BUSH: You got off to a bad start with a bogey but came back on the front side to really put yourself into contention today. Give us a little run down on your day.

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: Well, I mean, the tournament was what I was thinking of. I thought I'd birdie the first hole, but I played very solid actually. There was only a couple of holes that I didn't play well like 14 and 15, and I made two great saves. But all day long I hit the ball solid. I believe I played good golf.

I struggled the first day and I struggled yesterday. When I came here I was feeling rusty after ten weeks off. I wasn't really very pleased with the way I was hitting the ball, and it ended up nice. It's nice to finish 2nd after losing in a playoff. It's been a good week. I would have loved to have made that putt and keep on playing the playoff, but I didn't hit it hard enough. It was a tricky putt, and as I said, it's been a good week.

Q. (Inaudible).

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: No, it was very close to the left edge. I knew I hit a good, solid shot with my second shot. I knew I was going to get it over there, over the water no problem. It was more down to the line. I mean, it was just a little left of the intended line, but I thought it could be close to going in the bunker. That's why the body language.

Q. Up until the last putt did you know right away that (inaudible).

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: It was a very tricky putt down the hill, very fast, and right to left break. You know, I had to make it, so I decided that I was going to put less break on it and just hit it a little firmer, but I didn't hit it firm enough.

Q. Are there any kind of memories from last year? Do you think about that kind of stuff?

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: No, not at all. I was just pleased to be in the playoff.

Q. (Inaudible).

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: No, if I had a good lie and if I was on the fairway, I would have gone for it. But the ball was sitting down a little bit in the first cut, and that's why I didn't go for it.

Q. (Inaudible).

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: Well, the pin positions were pretty tough. If you look at some of the pin positions like 2 and some like 3, 4, 5, you know, 7, even 9. I mean, 9, even though it's a par 5 it's one of the toughest pin positions you can have on that hole. 10, 12. Do you want me to keep going (laughter)?

Q. (Inaudible).

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: Well, I think it's a golf course where you have to play great golf. I mean, with those pin positions, the only way to attack them is if you have a short iron onto the green and if you are in the fairway. It's very difficult to attack those flags because there is virtually no room for error. If you miss the hole by three or four yards, you might end up not just missing the green, but holes like 14, for instance, 7, 4. There's a bunch of holes there where it doesn't allow you to go for the flag, so it's very difficult to make birdies.

Q. (Inaudible).

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: To be honest, it doesn't matter who beats you. I was pissed off (laughter). He's No. 1 obviously, but when you're playing head to head with him in a playoff, you know, just one hole obviously he's No. 1, but it pisses you off the same way (laughter).

Q. How much were you watching the leaderboard on the back nine?

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: I was keeping an eye on it, yeah. Whenever I had a chance, especially the last four or five holes, I had a look at it, yeah.

Q. (Inaudible).

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: No, I knew I had there are holes where you have to play really good. As I said, 14, 15, 16, those are not birdie holes, especially where the flag locations were today. I knew that parring those three holes was a good score. I was not going to lose ground by making par on those three holes. Then you had 17 and 18, which if you have a chance you have to go for it, so that's what I did.

I knew the leaderboard at that time was 10 under par and it was Nathan, and I knew he had to play three tough holes. It's not a matter of being conservative, just playing solid golf.

Q. (Inaudible).

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: Well, I don't know about the season. I know that you cannot predict the future. You might be playing great golf today or this week, and then the following week you may not hit any shot. Always I am trying to improve my game to make it more solid. I think it's been like that all through the years. I've been a streaky player. I've been able to play great golf for three or four weeks, and then for three or four weeks I couldn't hit the ball straight. I'm trying to be more consistent.

Last year was a good sign. This week I have to say that my iron play, I wasn't pleased with it overall. It's been a great week. There's a lot of weeks ahead, all I have to do is just prove that I'm on the right track by playing good golf.

Q. (Inaudible).

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: The last ten days at home, I couldn't hit a straight shot with my irons at all. When I came here, it was pretty much the same. The first day I played on the South, I really struggled. On the North because it's shorter, you know, I managed to hit fairways because you are not hitting such long iron shots onto the greens, and that's why I managed to score well. You're hitting like wedges and sand wedges more often.

Yesterday, again, I struggled with my iron play. I mean, I didn't hit any I think I hit like three, four good iron shots onto the green. Today was the best day with my irons and with my game overall.

Q. Talk about the playoff on 18; what you were thinking, where you were aiming?

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: Well, I was aiming for the flag. Actually the line was perfect. You know, I hit a 60 degree wedge and I should have hit a 56 to get rid of the spin, and I think that was the only mistake I made on that shot. Otherwise the shot was well executed.

Q. (Inaudible).

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: I hit a 3 iron there. Actually it was not very far from being a great shot. That same line maybe two or three yards to the left would have been a perfect shot.

Q. (Inaudible).

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: This is a long golf course. But Augusta, they are making it so long, that to be honest the longer the golf course is, the better for the long hitters. It doesn't matter if it's Augusta or if it's Torrey Pines. It doesn't matter what the golf course is.

You know, the longer the golf course, the better for the long hitters.

JOHN BUSH: Let's go through your card.

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: I three putted the first one.

Then the 2nd hole I hit a driver, wedge and holed it from 18 feet.

On 5, I hit a driver, 7 iron about a foot.

On 7, driver, 8 iron about three feet.

On 9, driver, 3 wood, sand wedge about two feet.

12, missed the driver left, short of the green with my second, chipped it and two putted from about 50 feet, something like that.

Then on 18, driver, 5 wood, two putted from 40 feet, something like that.

JOHN BUSH: And each of the playoff holes?

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: Driver, 7 iron, 60 degree wedge, chipped with a 9 iron.

Then 60 degree wedge from the bunker about three feet from the hole, missed it.

Q. Do you let go of these things pretty quickly?

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: I think with age you have a tendency to be able to forget these things easier. And I'm getting old (laughter).

End of FastScripts.

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