WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP

February 26, 2003

Phil Tataurangi

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you for joining us for a few minutes. Great match today with Ernie Els in 20 holes. Talk about your round and we'll go into some questions.

PHIL TATAURANGI: Well, I didn't play as well as I was hoping to, but I had a good putter with me today. So that was good. I'm sure Ernie didn't play as well as he would have liked to, either. But I was proud of myself the way I hung in there on the holes I didn't play very well. But I managed to hole putts to stay in the game, and holing a nice one on 18 to keep it going.

Q. Can you rehash the 18th hole? That was quite a finishing hole. It looked like Ernie had the advantage for a minute, and you had the advantage, and then you made the putt. It was pretty amazing.

PHIL TATAURANGI: Yeah, the whole golf course was like that. 18 is an easy par-5. But if you don't hit the ball in the fairway or if you've got to play any shot out of the rough, it isn't easy. And the way Ernie was with his third shot, I didn't take a close look, but I'm sure the grass was pretty thick. But as far as I was concerned, I needed to -- I couldn't reach the green in two. I had a good drive, but I still had 265 to the front, and that's too far for me into the breeze. So my thoughts were to see how I did and it ended up being a pretty hard four, but it was four nonetheless.

Q. Were you dissatisfied with your approach shot, you came up short?

PHIL TATAURANGI: Yeah, the greens are spinning so much, so even the wedge shots are difficult on this course, because the greens are so soft. So you've got to play shots in there to take the spin off the ball, and doing that, you feel -- your feel can be off a little bit, and it makes a big difference in the yardage. I felt I hit a pretty good shot, but it wasn't hard enough.

Q. Even more surprised that Ernie didn't get that approach on the green. You probably thought his bunker shot was going to get close.

PHIL TATAURANGI: Yeah, I was surprised, obviously it was a long pull over in the rough. I'm sure Ernie was thinking if I've got this on the green, I'm looking pretty good.

Q. Were you a bit surprised when he's 1-up and he pulls out the 3-wood to try to whack it on?

PHIL TATAURANGI: Not really. I had 265 to the front. He was 245 into the breeze, you know, a good 3-wood is on the green for him. But, no, I would have done the same thing, if I was Ernie Els and had that yardage.

Q. How much of a rush was it to make that putt? What can you compare it to in your career? When was the last time you got that much of a rush on a shot?

PHIL TATAURANGI: I don't know. The whole day was exciting. I went to the bathroom on one of the holes, and I was saying, this is fun playing match play again, because it really is. It makes you think, as much as you want to stay in your own game plan, playing shot for shot with the best player in the world this year, that's pretty cool fun, you know? And as I said, I didn't play and hit the shots I wanted to hit, but I putted well. And in match play, and from my experience playing match play, back when we were kids and amateurs, the guys that were getting the ball up-and-down and making the putts at the right time invariably were the guys that ended up winning matches.

Q. When did you know that putt was going in?

PHIL TATAURANGI: I was hoping it would go in straight off the bat. But, no, I mean the greens are bumpy, and nothing is in until it's in. It looked pretty good, but it could have quite easily have lipped out like it did on 16, as well.

Q. You've known since you were going to be in this field that you would probably get Tiger, and then it became Ernie, and you've known that for a few weeks. Have you been preparing for it?

PHIL TATAURANGI: Well, not really. I was trying the last few weeks, just trying to go about my business, trying to play well in those tournaments, not preparing to play a particular person. I wanted to try to get my game in shape to play well. It's not quite there just yet, but it's coming around. And so I didn't prepare to play a particular person. I figured I was going to play one of the top two or three players.

Q. You've got Peter Lonard tomorrow. Do you have any idea --

PHIL TATAURANGI: Pete's a real solid player, he's played well over the last 18 months or so. And the thing about Peter is that he never shoots himself out of the hole, even in stroke-play, he doesn't make any big numbers, just very steady, hits the ball in play, and it will be equally as difficult to beat.

Q. Talk about the clubs you hit on the second extra hole. And what did you hit?

PHIL TATAURANGI: Hit 6-iron, 207 yards to the hole, 6-iron in regulation today and pulled it left off the edge of the green. It was the right distance, so I pulled it again, and hit it and it was straighter this time.

Q. How long a shot did you have left?

PHIL TATAURANGI: How far is that (indicating)?

Q. It was close.

PHIL TATAURANGI: And I was surprised that Ernie gave it to me, to be honest, not that I would think that I would miss that putt, but he was in the trap, and I was surprised he didn't make me putt out to win.

Q. I got here a little bit late. Can you talk about the emotional swing from 16 where you were 1-up and you missed that putt, and then the final couple of holes there?

PHIL TATAURANGI: I was disappointed with missing that putt on 16, but I had a good putt, and I thought it was inside the right. And I hit it inside the right and it lipped out. I was disappointed I missed, but I could do everything I could do. I hit the putt inside, right, and it lipped out. I hit a poor tee shot off the next, which I was disappointed with, and that looked like five the whole way down that hole to me. Ernie was making three.

So, yeah, it was a little bit of a setback, but to be honest with you, I thought I've got to keep on playing, and keep on doing my thing. He hasn't made a whole lot of big mistakes yet today, and he could make one just like I just made one, just as easy. So that was my thinking going up the last.

Q. Were you surprised that he went for the green on 18 in two there?

PHIL TATAURANGI: No, not really. I don't know what yardage he had, but he was well within reach of either knocking it on the green or one of the green-side traps, and that's -- if you can get yourself that close and you're 1-up, and you look like making birdie, then it's going to the match, really.

Q. Not that you should care, but a lot of people wanted to see an Ernie Els/Tiger Woods final, and you dismissed that right off the bat, any feelings about that?

PHIL TATAURANGI: I'm feeling great about that (laughter.) I would have liked to see an Ernie Els/Tiger Woods finish, too, had I not been playing in the tournament. Yeah, I've got to go home and iron another shirt for tomorrow. I hadn't planned on playing tomorrow. What can you say? Match play -- 18-hole match play, as I've said to you guys up until today, it's an 18-hole sprint and whoever is on on the day -- as I say, I didn't play as well as I would have liked, Ernie didn't play as well as I would have liked, but when it came down to it I was maybe one shot better over 20 holes. That's match play.

Q. Can you just put in perspective how much of a thrill it is to win a match? You've got to win six here, anyway, so maybe in the grand scheme it isn't that big, but you beat the No. 2 player in the world, the hottest golfer this year, what does this one match mean to you at the moment?

PHIL TATAURANGI: I'm proud of myself the way I hung in there, because I didn't play very well. I would like to have played better. And my thought going in was he would have to play very well and I would have to play very well to beat him. So I was proud of the way that I hung in there when I didn't play well. We can all play -- we can all score well and do things great when we're on, but when you're not on, just having the mental toughness to hang in there and make par saves like I did the first handful of holes, and then to make that putt on 18, when the chips are on the table, I'm proud of myself for doing that.

Q. You're going to remember that putt for a while? Is that something you're going to hang on to?

PHIL TATAURANGI: Actually, I'll forget about it tonight, and we'll start fresh tomorrow.

Q. How long was the putt on 18?

PHIL TATAURANGI: I don't know.

Q. How about a Phil Tataurangi/Tiger Woods final?

PHIL TATAURANGI: That would be great. That would be awesome. I'll have to play very well and the breaks will have to go my way for that to happen, but I'd like that to be the case. I played with Tiger for the first time in a tournament in San Diego here a couple of weeks ago and didn't play well that Thursday and Friday either, but really enjoyed the experience playing with him. And I said afterwards that I'd love for that to happen again in competition. Maybe on Sunday.

Q. Do you think that the format for this would be maybe a little better, fairer, more indicative of what's really going on if it was 36 holes?

PHIL TATAURANGI: 18 is fine with me today (laughter.) 20 is fine for me today. It's difficult. If you cut the field down -- to do that you'd have to cut the field right down. I wouldn't be in the field in the first place. So I think it's good, healthy for the competition, and to show the depth in World Golf.

I'm 66th in the world, and Ernie is winning everything that he's looking at right now, yet over 18 holes, everyone can compete. I think that more than anything that's what it's saying about how strong the competition is at the top.

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