British Open Tuesday Quotes

Tiger talks on Media Day. (AFP/Glenn Campbell)

A selection of quotes from today’s press conference at Carnoustie, site of the 2007 British Open.

Tiger Woods talks about Carnoustie and preparing for this year’s Open,

Q. With respect to the international players here, we haven’t had a winner since 1999. Nick Faldo said one of the reasons we’re in the drought, is the players are too chummy, friendly to spend time together. When it comes to single-minded focus, you’re right up there. Could you explain your approach to your relationship with other players and how you think you’ve won through that approach?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I’ve had, and still have a lot of great friends out here. Some of my friends have moved on to the Senior Tour. I’ve got to know some of the younger kids coming out here and played practice rounds with all of them. I just think the game has changed. Obviously when Nick first came out I think he would be the one to attest that you had to win in order to get notoriety. You had to win in order to get money. Today you can just get top-10’s and make over a million dollars, throughout the entire year. That’s a great living. I think a lot of guys may fall into that. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but maybe. I think that overall I think that the talent pool is certainly deeper now than it has been, which also makes it more difficult to win and it’s more difficult to gain the experience that you need to have at the top to put yourself in contention time and time again. 30 years ago I’m sure it was a lot easier to get yourself in contention more often, the fields weren’t as deep.

Q. Having known what a great golf course Carnoustie was, when you came back in ‘99, and we all know what happened then, do you feel this year, what you’ve seen so far, the golf course is the way it should be and will be a fair test that will reflect well on Carnoustie?

TIGER WOODS: Yes, it’s extremely fair. It’s not like it was in ‘99. It’s probably a little more difficult than it was in the Scottish Opens I played. So it’s roughly right in between. And if we have wind like yesterday morning, conditions like that, or any kind of wind on this golf course, it just becomes a lot more difficult than you think. You really do have to hit the ball well here. The greens are extremely subtle, just like all links courses, they’re hard to read.

Q. Would you like to have more of this type of challenge over a year? When you’re playing great in the PGA, does it sometimes get representative and dull?

TIGER WOODS: I think that — yeah, do I wish we played more? Golf courses like this? Yes. Obviously we only play one. The only thing that’s different about probably playing the Tour would be week in and week out, maybe it’s the rough length and that’s probably it. The golf courses are virtually the same. There are differences going from the new, modern venues to the TPC golf courses, to the old-style golf courses like Oakmont. I think all the players can attest to this that they enjoy going back to the old-style golf courses now and then. I think it’s one of the reasons why the guys really enjoy playing Quail Hollow. A lot of guys enjoy playing Congressional, because we don’t get a chance to play venues like that much anymore.

Phil Mickelson on losing last week and working with Butch,

Q. I saw you out there with Dave and Butch today. I’m curious how your preparation for this championship differs from your preparation for The Masters or the U.S. Open, what other factors do you have to weight in here that you may not in the States?

PHIL MICKELSON: It doesn’t differ too much. I was able to come over early after missing the cut at Congressional, and come up with a game plan that I feel comfortable with. The difference here is that the game plan changes based on the wind. Each hole becomes — goes from a birdie hole to just trying to make a par, based on the wind. You don’t know exactly how you’re going to attack the course until you actually get on the course. And even then the wind often changes and the holes change. You have to come up with three or four different ways to play it based on the three or four different winds that we’ll see.

Q. I wonder how frustrated you felt as you departed Loch Lomond on Sunday evening and what you’ve done since then in terms of obviously getting over a disappointment, but also in terms of any technical adjustments you feel you may have needed to make?

PHIL MICKELSON: I love playing in the Scottish Open. I’ve played it a number of times and really enjoy going over to Loch Lomond. I’ve wanted to win that tournament ever since I started playing there and appreciated what a special event it is. It was certainly disappointing to finish the way I did, especially making the mistakes that I made coming down the stretch. I made some good putts for birdies on 15 and 17 but I gave them right back the very next hole. I had a good conversation last night with Butch and we talked about a couple of things that we wanted to do with clubs off the tee and shots and how to take certain places out of play. Then we had a good session this morning on the range as we went out and played. So I think it’s still a work-in-progress. It’s not going to be where I want it after just three months, but it’s coming and I think that in time I’ll continue to get better. The good thing for me was that last week was important to get in contention, because I hadn’t been in contention since THE PLAYERS Championship. I needed to feel what it feels like to be in the final group on Sunday with a chance to win. I think that betters my chances this week.

Ernie Els comments on his game heading into the Open,

Q. Your Open Championship record compares favorably with most, one win, a playoff and a couple of near misses. You must think your game is suited to links golf and Open Championships?

ERNIE ELS: Yeah, absolutely. For some reason ever since I came over here as an amateur, way back in ‘87, I’ve played the Links Trophy at St. Andrews and some amateur events, I just found a liking to links golf courses. I played the great one, Woodhall Spa, and as I said, St. Andrews, Lytham, I played a lot of great courses back then. I always enjoyed it, even watching The Open Championship on television. I always enjoyed the way you had to play these golf courses. I think it suits a strong hitter of the ball, especially when the wind starts blowing. You’ve got to make good contact with the golf ball, and I think good ball strikers have a good time around these courses.

Q. Can you talk about the imagination that you have when you play links golf? Is it something that you had before you started playing it? What’s the best links-type shot you’ve ever hit?

ERNIE ELS: Yeah, I think you’re either going to like it or not. Luckily for me I found a natural way to play links courses from a very early age. Now, whether that was watching it on television, I just found the natural way of hitting bump and runs, and hitting the ball low in the wind and taking more club and just kind of carving shots through some of these flat positions. But you play different shots. You play hooks and draws and fades more so than on parkland golf courses, where there’s not much wind most of the time. And if there is, the courses are quite soft and you fly the ball in the air. It’s a totally different type of golf, as you guys know. And if you don’t have it naturally you’ve got to really learn how to play some of these shots. And I think some of the guys have probably had some problems trying to change their games, so to speak. I also think playing around the world on different types of courses, different types of grass also helped me cope with links courses maybe better than some other players. My best links shot? That’s a tough one. I’d like to go back to Muirfield. It’s not quite a links shot, it was a bunker shot, I think it was on 13. I pulled it left and almost holed it. I don’t know how I got it out of the bunker. It was a good shot.

Justin Rose on Nick Faldo’s comments about British players,

Q. I understand you’ve been practicing with Nick Faldo today. Did you speak to him about the comments he made a couple of days ago about young Brits being in the comfort zone, not being hungry enough to win majors?

JUSTIN ROSE: No, actually I didn’t. I was too busy beating him three and two (laughter). No, I’m kidding. No, to be honest I didn’t. We didn’t really get into it too much out there.

Q. What are your feelings about what he said?

JUSTIN ROSE: Well, I think I’ve sort of heard a few comments around that same thing, whether it’s having to be single minded and ruthless enough to go ahead or I think Nick said that maybe him and Seve wouldn’t have sat next to one another and had lunch and really chatted away when they were at the peak of their /POERS. So I believe that you need to — everybody is different, to start with.
I certainly feel I play my best golf when I create a — when I play down as much as I can, and I create a relaxed frame of mind and enjoy myself to a certain extent. So I think you need to know what works for you, more than anything. I think everybody is different. But certainly you’ve got to look at what’s worked for a six-time Major champion and certainly other Major champions and there’s definitely that single-mindedness they have. And I think that is certainly something that — I don’t know whether I could be better at it, but it’s certainly something I can look at to try, and maybe, when the time is right, to make your game.

Q. Do you feel there are Europeans that are happy to be in the top 10 and become multi-millionaires, as he suggested?

JUSTIN ROSE: No, I don’t think so. I heard Luke Donald speak at the beginning of this year that he was to not let himself fall into that, and to try to push himself and not just finish top 10, because he’s obviously such a consistent performer. That’s using Luke as an example. All of our mindset — Paul at the U.S. Open was saying he would love to be the first Brit to win a Major, and so would I — first for a long time. I think we’re all pushing ourselves and we’re all aware of the fact that it’s due. No, I don’t think there’s a complacency at all.

British Open, Carnoustie, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Justin Rose

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