WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP

February 20, 2002

Peter O'Malley

SCOTT CROCKETT: Well, Peter, welcome. No. 64 seed beats No. 1 seed. It's a funny old game this match-play, isn't it?

PETER O'MALLEY: That's right. I'm just happy to be here. I had a no-lose situation, really. No one expected me to win, so I can just go out there and play my game and if I win, well, it's great and if I don't, it doesn't really matter.

Q. A lot of people assume you are going to be under immense pressure, but perhaps it's not so much because you have nothing to lose?

PETER O'MALLEY: We had a pretty good day out there. We were relaxed. I quite enjoyed playing with him. I played with him a couple of weeks ago in New Zealand and enjoyed it. So, I was actually relaxed all the way -- probably only bad tee shot I hit was 16 and then I played four really good shots at 17 and it felt really good.

Q. How long was that putt on 17?

PETER O'MALLEY: It had to be 30 feet.

Q. A tap-in.

PETER O'MALLEY: That's right.

Q. Were you playing it a little safe on that approach?

PETER O'MALLEY: I actually didn't hit -- I thought the wind would take a little right and it didn't, and I hit it a little bit further. It landed a bit further than I wanted it to, but I was actually aiming pretty much where it finished.

Q. When Tiger made the 25-foot birdie putt at 16, did you have a sense of, uh-oh, we've all seen that finish kick from him?

PETER O'MALLEY: Exactly. It really brought the real Tiger Woods out, I guess.

I think what I had to do was just not make any mistakes at the 17th and give myself a chance to win the match, and that's what I did. I was playing pretty much to the left center of the green at the last and hoping it would spin a bit closer. But, yeah, once I had the putt, it was one of those that always looked like it was going in.

Q. When did you arrive, and did you perhaps just think of a flight home? In other words, had you lost today or when you lose, are you going right home or are you staying around?

PETER O'MALLEY: I had a few things to do while I was here. I had a shopping list for my wife. I spent a lot of time with Titleist yesterday getting some new equipment, so I've used the week to do all that work. I certainly had a few things to do if I got knocked out today, yeah.

Q. When did you arrive in the country?

PETER O'MALLEY: Sunday.

Q. Tiger was pretty critical of the greens. Do you share that opinion?

PETER O'MALLEY: The greens are a little bumpy, yeah. Certainly, they are very soft and pretty hard to -- pretty hard to make short putts on. You can hit a lot of good putts and they can do the wrong thing. They are probably just a little bit too soft.

Q. So you had an unusual situation today. Did you have a game plan?

PETER O'MALLEY: I just wanted to hit fairways and greens, and that's pretty much what my game is all about, not make too many mistakes. And obviously, he's got -- that's my sort of game, and I just got to see what Tiger did and play along with that. He didn't make any birdies, so that sort of made my strategy a lot easier because I was not making too many mistakes.

Q. Was there any possibility of you not coming here, because you had the neck problem?

PETER O'MALLEY: No. I was always coming, and I've worked -- Dale Richardson has worked hard on me this week, so I knew he was going to be here. I was always coming, and I would have played even with one arm, probably.

Q. Did playing with him at the New Zealand Open make you feel like, hey, this guy is just a golfer and I can play with him?

PETER O'MALLEY: Yeah, I think so. Certainly, I played with him in the World Cup in Argentina, and that -- I felt quite relaxed playing with him. That was the first time I played with him since he was a pro. I played with him once when he was an amateur.

But playing with him in New Zealand, I saw the good side of him, and I quite admire the guy for the lifestyle he lives. He's a very good guy.

Q. You said yesterday, that Tiger is not as unbeatable as he was 12 months ago. Why?

PETER O'MALLEY: I guess probably going on his form in the last few weeks, more than anything.

In this format, too, if someone has a good day, anyone can beat anyone, really. It's just a matter of not making too many mistakes.

Q. The conditions, they are the same for both players, aren't they?

PETER O'MALLEY: Yeah, exactly.

Q. So even whether the greens are good, bad or indifferent, the putter who is putting better usually wins this week?

PETER O'MALLEY: And if the greens, if they are indifferent, you just have to minimize your mistakes, and it's not as easy to make birdies, so you've got to take the bogeys out of the equation and just hit fairways and hit it on the green and give yourself good chances all the time.

Q. You don't seem particularly excited. Tell us honestly, are you a little surprised you won or did you expect to be in here talking to us like this?

PETER O'MALLEY: I honestly can't say I was expecting it, no. I thought if I played well, I had a chance that I could do it, but no one really expected me to win. So I didn't have any pressure on me. So in a way, I just feel like, well, I've done it now, and it will take me a few minutes. Then I'll have to try to focus on the next guy. Every game is going to be a tough game out there this week.

Q. And you've got Nick Price tomorrow.

PETER O'MALLEY: Yeah, he was playing behind.

Q. Do you normally like match-play? Some guys love it and some guys despise it.

PETER O'MALLEY: Well, obviously, we played a lot of match-play golf when I was an amateur, but that was 17 years ago, so I haven't really done a lot since then.

Q. Did you enjoy it -- some people think it's quote unfair because the guy --?

PETER O'MALLEY: I quite enjoy playing. I quite enjoyed it out there today. You obviously enjoy it more when you win, but just the fact that I enjoyed Tiger's company out there, we had a pretty good day.

Q. Once you got up, were you kind of thinking to hold on, wait until the end?

PETER O'MALLEY: I got up early and then I made a couple of mistakes to drop back. Then some good birdies at 8 and 9 sort of got me back on track. Then I didn't really do much wrong. Tiger made a mistake at 13, I think, and I went 2-up.

I guess the crunch was at 15, where I made that good birdie putt there, and that sort of -- that could have gone the other way. If I miss, he makes, well then he's back in it. But that sort of put me dormie up, so that was pretty much the crucial put.

Q. Where were you when you found out you were going to be eligible for this event?

PETER O'MALLEY: I was at home in Sydney. I knew a couple of weeks ago, I knew I was right on the bubble, and if I had played well in Sydney, which was the last tournament, I was doing quite well going into the last day. And then had a problem with my shoulder and had a bad last day. Then I just had to wait and see what the rankings did. Then I found -- I stayed up and found out where I sat. I was at 66 and just had to wait to find out who was not playing.

Q. Could you tell us what time you found out and what happened to your shoulder or your neck in the tournament?

PETER O'MALLEY: Well, I sort of woke up on Sunday morning and just had a strain in my left shoulder, and I just thought that I had slept bad and it was something in my neck, but it was actually something that had been building up for a while and something just triggered it off. I don't know, it's just some tissue damage it in there and everything just balls up around it, puts a lot of strain on my backswing.

Last week, even coming over here until Monday it wasn't great, but then I had some good treatment when I was here and now it feels pretty good.

Q. You said you stayed up late --?

PETER O'MALLEY: When I found out I was -- actually, it wasn't until last Thursday that I officially found out. Thursday morning, Sydney time.

Q. When did you first notice Tiger's frustration today?

PETER O'MALLEY: He was a little bit frustrated his game, but I think he was still pretty relaxed until probably holed that putt at 15. I don't think he was -- he certainly was not on his game, but I don't think he was uncomfortable with things until about then.

Q. Did you guys talk much or did he pretty much keep to himself?

PETER O'MALLEY: We had a bit of a chance. I don't expect a lot on the course anyway, but we were all both very courteous all the way around. We were having quite a few chats out there. So I quite enjoyed it. We were both, I felt, really relaxed.

Q. The other players who have been in here today said things like they were always looking for an edge, a mental edge on their opponent. Were you thinking about anything like that against Tiger?

PETER O'MALLEY: Not really. I don't know, it's just -- coming out here today just wanting to go out there and play well and see what happens. I had no pressures on me whatsoever because no one expected me to win. So I just had to go out there and play solid.

And it probably wasn't until I holed that putt at 15 that I thought that I could win the tournament -- not win the tournament, but win the match.

Q. How long was that putt?

PETER O'MALLEY: It was probably about 15 feet.

Q. You said the one at 17 was about --?

PETER O'MALLEY: About 30, yeah. 30 feet.

Q. Because he had probably --?

PETER O'MALLEY: He had about six feet, yeah. It was about two yards, yeah.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Well done, Peter. Thank you very much.

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