|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
MASTERS TOURNAMENTApril 11, 2013Gonzalo Fernandez CastanoAUGUSTA, GEORGIA THE MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, we are delighted to have Gonzalo Fernández‑Castaño with us from Madrid, Spain. He had a very fine 4‑under par 68 today and we are delighted to have him with us this afternoon. Gonzalo, would you like to just make an opening comment, and then we'll have some questions. GONZALO FERNANDEZ‑CASTAÑO: Well, it's been a great round. I truly enjoyed finally breaking par here at Augusta National. Even though this is my second Masters, last year I didn't get to break par in any of the four rounds I played. So that's a very positive thing and a great start of this year's Masters. So looking forward to the next three rounds. Q. Fantastic Spanish heritage here obviously at the Masters, just wondered what that's meant to you over the years and to be playing here. GONZALO FERNANDEZ‑CASTAÑO: Just being here and being able to play the Masters is a dream come true. When I played it for the first time last year, my only goal for the season was to play good enough to just be back in 2013. And I'm glad to be here because as you know, the Masters Tournament means a lot to Spanish golf. It all started with Ramon Sota was the first Spaniard to have played‑‑ was it Ramon Sota or Angel de Miguel? Angel de Miguel was the first. But it's always meant a lot for Spanish golf, and then we've got, what, four green jackets. I've got none, but Spanish golf has got four green jackets. And just being able to walk down these fairways during the practice rounds with a good friend and somebody who I consider a mentor like Olazábal, like he did in his days with Seve is pretty special. Just to get all of the knowledge of the course that he has and being able to take it out there and in a tournament, it's very, very special. Q. You know Olazábal is the last European and Spaniard who won the Masters; can be you the second one after Olazábal, or the first one after Olazábal? GONZALO FERNANDEZ‑CASTAÑO: Why not (smiling). It's only Thursday, still a long way to go. I'm hitting the ball probably as good as ever, but I do feel that I have to improve my putting a lot. I'm not confident at all when I'm standing on top of a 5‑footer, and that's something I need to work on. But if it's not me, maybe Sergio, who I can see he's doing well, or maybe Ollie, why not, it can be a third jacket for him. The most important thing, I'm pretty sure that we do need a major in Spain; if it's not the Masters, one of the other three. But it's important for Spanish golf to get a major, because as you know, there's less and less players now, and we need to motivate the younger generation to take up the game. As you said, unfortunately it's been a while now, and I think we've always had the talent with players like Olazábal, Seve, Jiménez, Sergio, but we still have to finish the job. So hopefully this is the one. Q. Six birdies today; have you looked at practice in the course and thought it can give you that many birdies to you? GONZALO FERNANDEZ‑CASTAÑO: Probably when you go out there, instead of thinking about making birdies, or at least I'm thinking how to avoid the bogeys (laughing). Probably the key factor when you play Augusta National is going low on par 5s, and that's exactly what I did today. I played the par 5s really good, and especially 13 and 15, I gave myself good eagle chances that unfortunately I didn't convert. But that's probably a key if you want to perform on this course. I was watching and reading some stats the other day from Tiger Woods, he was like plus‑34 on the par 4s, plus‑27 on the par3s and minus‑134 on this course, so that tells you pretty much everything about this course. Q. What was your experience to play with Tiger Woods? GONZALO FERNANDEZ‑CASTAÑO: It was good. I enjoyed it, and I played well. I played well, even though he played better, but 68 was a pretty good score considering the circumstances. It's never easy to play with Tiger Woods with everything that goes around, and pretty much playing with him is quite intimidating, as well. I played with him also at the Match Play last year, so I think I got that monkey off my back now. And, well, who knows, I would love to play on the weekend on a major, so why not this one. THE MODERATOR: Gonzalo, thank you very, very much, and we wish you the best of luck the rest of the week. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|