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EURASIA CUP PRESENTED BY DRB-HICOMMarch 28, 2014Jamie DonaldsonGraeme McDowellKUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA MICHAEL GIBBONS: First of all, another valuable point for Europe leading into tomorrow. JAMIE DONALDSON: It was important to get that point on the board, at one point I looked up at the board and it was all red, so it was very important to turn that game around after being down early, so, yeah, happy with the point. MICHAEL GIBBONS: Thoughts on the match? GRAEME McDOWELL: Yeah, I think Asia played extremely well today. They have ten very good golfers on their team, as well. I think the alternate‑shot format, coming into the week, I thought yesterday would have been closer and I thought today, Europe would have had the upper edge and obviously the opposite happened. I think it really wasn't anything to do with complacency on the European side. I think it was a lot to do with the fact that the Asian Team came out and played very well today. It was hot out there. It was very difficult conditions. They handled it a lot better than we did, but like I say, it wasn't due to bad playing on the European side. It's down to very good play from the Asian side. Makes things a little more interesting going into the final day. Q. A bit of a surprise given you were 5‑nil today? GRAEME McDOWELL: I don't think we're surprised. We know all the Asian players. They are very good players. The two players we played today, Gaganjeet Bhullar was very impressive. Nicholas Funk we played against the last two days and he's a very solid little player. He chips and putts and hits a lot of fairways. This is a golf course that it's not about length; it's about accuracy and you have to keep the ball in play. We were very lucky to play some good golf yesterday. Jamie played extremely well on the back nine for us to come back and win our point, and today, we got a little lucky. We played solidly and the boys made a couple mistakes coming in, after playing some magnificent golf the first 12 holes or so, they were in good position and just didn't get the job done. But no, our point was big, of course. Jamie and I knew that our point was going to be very, very important to the team and thankfully we got the job done. It was an exciting day all around. There was a lot of red on the board and that's the great thing about team golf, momentum is everything. Thankfully the boys turned a few of those reds into halves, and in the end it was a big fight back for Europe today. Q. Could we say the Europeans are up for tomorrow? GRAEME McDOWELL: You could say that if you wanted to (laughter). Probably be less up than we were last night, put it that way. I wouldn't say it's between our legs, though. Any tiny amount‑‑ we are all professionals. There's no room in this game for complacency when you're out there playing against good players, there's no room for complacency. We have to go out and do the job tomorrow. We need four points to win, and they have got to come from somewhere. So there's no complacency in our team room, certainly not after today. We saw what theation team are capable of today. I think team Europe are going to be very motivated and very focused tomorrow to try and make sure we get this job done. Q. I happened to be at the Volvo Match Play when you won against Jaidee, it would be poetic if you had a rematch, tomorrow, wouldn't you say? GRAEME McDOWELL: Yeah, I think the captains might go first tomorrow, but Thongchai is a hell of a player. That was a great final at the Volvo World Match Play there, and I would certainly enjoy playing with Thongchai tomorrow. He's a great guy and he's been a great captain this week. It will be fun. Q. If you had your choice tomorrow who you would play against, is there anyone in particular that you would prefer to play against? JAMIE DONALDSON: No, not really. I don't think there will be‑‑ at this level, there's such an elite level playing on this golf course, and it's very important to hit fairways. I think after the guys played so well today, like Graeme said, you can't be complacent anywhere and have to be expecting what will be a very tough fight tomorrow. We have to dig deep and play well to make sure we get those points on the board early. It's going to be a tough day all around for everybody, really. Just got to play really good golf and finish the job off. Q. How much has the heat played a part in your performance today, and do you think it will affect you tomorrow? GRAEME McDOWELL: You know, yes, I think played a part today. You know, personally, I didn't handle the heat as well today as I did perhaps yesterday. Alternate‑shot is a very difficult format, anyway. To get some rhythm, you can go four or five holes without hitting a putt and you can go four or five holes without hitting an iron shot depending on how the golf course sets up. Out in the heat, with the heat index today, it was very, very difficult to maintain your focus. The front nine especially was very hot. Just take plenty of fluids on board and rest up tomorrow. I don't see how it will affect my performance tomorrow in any shape of form. We've experienced this type of heat before. I've played in Singapore many times; played in Malaysia many times, so we will be ready to go. Q. I heard you say it's not a long course, I heard you say you need to stay in the fairway, but I didn't see the rough being punitive‑‑ I know the fairways are very narrow in many areas, but would you say that this golf course has tough roughs, you don't want to go in them. GRAEME McDOWELL: The rough does not appear long but this type of bermudagrass, when you're in the rough, you cannot control your yardages at all. You get lots of jumpers and lots of flyers from the rough. The greens are very firm here, so you need to be in the fairway. You'd rather have 7‑iron from the fairway than wedge from the rough here. It's as simple as that. You can't control your spin and you can't control your distances at all from the rough. Yes, the ball does not sit down all the way, but believe me, it's extremely difficult to control your distance from the rough here. It's quite tough. Q. Could you explain your point on Tiger Woods? GRAEME McDOWELL: Yeah, on last night on Twitter, I stated my comments. There were a few‑‑ my press conference last week at Bay Hill, I had a tendency to talk a little too much (laughter) and sometimes I ‑‑ sometimes I like to make a slightly negative statement whilst trying to make a very positive one, and that's what I managed to do last week a few times. A few nice journalists there in the States managed to pull my negative sentences and put them together into one piece and it read very negatively, and I received a little bit of negative feedback on Twitter and some bits and pieces. So certainly all I was trying to say was that, you know, Tiger Woods has raised the bar, he's made everyone better. The fact that he has not won a major championship for a few years is not so much due to his bad play as it is due to the fact that everyone else has got better. So that's really all I was trying to say. Like I say, really shouldn't talk so much. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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