WGC AMERICAN EXPRESS CHAMPIONSHIP

November 9, 2000

Andrew Coltart

ANDREW COLTART: Yeah. Talk about horses for courses. I've never, ever been the horse for this course. But I've come to that last hole, 2-under and taken 6. I've come to 1 -under and taken 5. I had a few shots in hand today and fortunately managed to break that duck.

ANDREW COLTART: I think I got used to playing on greens that are that pace. Obviously, playing the course in the Volvo Masters in the past, knowing where to hit it in the greens, and obviously playing well. I played pretty good tee-to-green today and managed to hole some putts.

ANDREW COLTART: It might have been level, yeah.

ANDREW COLTART: Probably, what, three or four times? Impressive, eh?

ANDREW COLTART: Yeah, I know.

ANDREW COLTART: Well, he played in front of me. I was going to say something there, but I couldn't really say it. It was pretty special. This bum was up in the air most of the day, picking his ball out of the hole!

ANDREW COLTART: Ahh, you're putting words in my mouth. I have never played well round it.

ANDREW COLTART: I have never played well round it. (Laughter.) We'll leave it at that, shall we, mate? (Please note, Andrew Coltart shot 1-under par 70 in the third round of the 1996 Volvo Masters.)

ANDREW COLTART: Right.

ANDREW COLTART: I don't know, Sunday of last week I played terrible and holed some putts, especially some nice 5-, 6-footers to save par and things like that. That gave me better confidence. Today, I was swinging well, and the putts managed to go in. Just trying to be patient. I don't know what the hell I've done differently today as opposed to last week. Some of the putts went in. I will just continue working on my putting. Hopefully, some confidence will return.

ANDREW COLTART: I think it can. Because you know when you haven't -- you know the course hasn't suited you in the past, and you haven't played well round it. I think it's difficult to see yourself (doing well). In fact, some courses you play, it's impossible to see the scores some of the guys are shooting. But that's the idea of horses for courses. I was coming here with pretty few expectations. Like I said, I've never really played well round the course. Maybe from that point of view, there wasn't any pressure. I wasn't really expecting too much. I just managed to remain focused, and shot a good score. It can be a psychological battle, definitely.

ANDREW COLTART: Well, the ones that are wide open with the nice, fast greens.

ANDREW COLTART: Yeah, I think I was saying to some of the guys earlier, financially, my season's been all right. But I want to get my name engraved in trophies. From that point of view, I haven't managed to do that. I've only come close a couple of times. You really got to get your foot in the door more than a couple of times to give yourself a chance. I haven't managed that this year. So from that point of view, I'm a bit disappointed.

ANDREW COLTART: No, it didn't happen to me today. But that's definitely the case. Those areas out there where it's certainly, it's easier to save par from, say, 15 yards short left as opposed to 5 yards about right, or 15 yards or 10 yards about right. So you really got to play your way around the golf course with the approach shots to the greens. I mean, a lot of courses that you play, the hard part's over once you've got to the greens. Well, sometimes. Round here, that's definitely not the case. Sometimes, especially if a breeze gets up, the hard part's only just beginning, trying to figure out how the hell you're going to get the ball close to the hole.

ANDREW COLTART: What? My brother -in-law, and an Irishman? Yeah, I think we're all interested. I think, I hope -- you know, most of us that peg it up at the start of the season want to try to win the Order of Merit. It's still alive, and I think all eyes will be on the two guys. I hope it's that way. We want to try and generate as much interest for that as possible, and get the crowds out and get the people watching and supporting.

ANDREW COLTART: The round? 3rd hole, 5-iron to about three feet. I holed it. 5th hole, I pulled a 7-iron to the left-hand side of the green. Must have been about a 4- to 5-foot putt; managed to hole that. 7th hole, hit a drive 3-wood down the left-hand side in the rough, chipped it up to a foot; knocked it in. 9, a drive and a 6-iron to about 15 foot; knocked that one in. 10, pushed a 3-wood in the water. Took a drop and made five. 12, a 4-iron to about three feet, two and a half to three feet; managed to hole that. 13, a chip-in putt to save par. 15, another 2-iron on the front half of the green, managed to sneak in another big long one. I don't care; I enjoyed it. It must have been about a 35-footer, yeah? It was lovely. I think I had three of them in the par 3s today, yeah. Then just a regulation putt on the last. Missed the fairway by about 7 or 8 yards. Chopped it out, hit up to about 6 feet and tapped it in. Don't know how the hell you hit that fairway in the last. I don't know where the fairway is.

ANDREW COLTART: Yeah, definitely.

ANDREW COLTART: Just being in that kind of arena and still being able to play a reasonable game of golf up against the world's No. 1 and not being intimidated by either him or the arena. The fact that there will never, ever be another atmosphere like that one, and I was still able to play my golf. So whatever I encounter from now on, I should still be able to get on with it.

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