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WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP


February 21, 2006


Paul Broadhurst


CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA

SCOTT CROCKETT: Thanks for coming in, as always. Welcome to the World Golf Championships. Your opening match, not an easy start.

PAUL BROADHURST: No, they aren't easy, here. The top 64 in the world you have to expect a difficult game. But they don't come harder than Retief.

Q. It's not really gotten much easier, really?

PAUL BROADHURST: Not really. I'm more concerned with my game, to be honest, just trying to concentrate on my game.

SCOTT CROCKETT: You must be pleased with it; to get into the event shows you're playing well.

PAUL BROADHURST: Yeah, I've had a good run the last six or seven tournaments. I've finished 2nd a couple of times. The game is pretty good. It wasn't so good yesterday, but put that down to jet lag. And I hope I can find better form today.

Q. I believe you had an adventurous journey over here.

PAUL BROADHURST: Yeah, we supposedly got set up on Saturday to have an extra day's practice. We ended up sitting on the aircraft four hours, and then canceling the flight, and then went back home. Another delay on Sunday, and I ended up getting here about 4:00 Sunday afternoon. So it was an adventure.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Let's hope it's worth it.

Q. Where is home?

PAUL BROADHURST: A place called Addlestone in the middle of England.

Q. Do you watch in past years have you watched these events on television?

PAUL BROADHURST: When I can. Not sort of religiously, but I realize the weather has been pretty poor the last few years. I thought the course played really long yesterday.

Q. When you watched it in the past, did you imagine playing it?

PAUL BROADHURST: It probably passed me by. You live and hope, don't you? You play well enough then you can get into the top 64.

Q. Big huge weekend in terms of Ryder Cup?

PAUL BROADHURST: If you get through your round, absolutely. I'm not sure if you go out first round, it's not going to do that much, but you can get through perhaps to the quarters, then it will be good.

Q. Is this your first World Golf Championship?

PAUL BROADHURST: It is, yeah.

Q. How does it feel to be here?

PAUL BROADHURST: Great. You're mixing with the best. That's where you want to be. It's what you strive for on the European Tours.

Q. Do you feel your game is back where it was ten years ago? You've had a bit of a slump and then the confidence is back with you now?

PAUL BROADHURST: Yeah, I mean World Rankings, it's as high as I've ever been in World Rankings. In '97 I got to 67, World Ranking wise it's the highest I've been. Yeah, I still think there's room for improvement. Consistency levels have improved, but there's still a lot more to go.

Q. Was there a single moment where things just changed, turned around, you felt

PAUL BROADHURST: I don't know. Maybe Gleneagles in 2003 or '4, I finished 3rd at Gleneagles. And that was my first good result for four or five years, really. I was not playing well for a couple of years. That might have been the turning point.

Q. This is different schedules for you?

PAUL BROADHURST: I haven't got a schedule at the moment. After this I'll go to Bay Hill. I've got property over there, and if I don't get that, then I'll probably end up playing Singapore and TCL. But you set out a schedule in Europe and you play in these events, so you have to change it. So at the moment it's sort of up in arms at the moment.

Q. You've always been a European Tour player; do you consider straddling the Atlantic?

PAUL BROADHURST: I play the majors and the world events, but I still concentrate mainly in Europe. I've still got a young family, four children; I'm not prepared to come out here for three or four weeks on the Tour. I pace myself in Europe. I may be away a couple of weeks some events, but by and large I'll be home to see the family.

Q. Your son once said, in the supermarket, "My dad used to be a golfer."

PAUL BROADHURST: He used to be a good golfer.

Q. He now knows his dad is a good golfer?

PAUL BROADHURST: He wasn't even born the last time I won in '95. So, yeah, that was quite a good comment.

Q. How old is he?

PAUL BROADHURST: He's eight now. But now he's growing up and he sort of knows now. He expects me to win every week, so it's pressure.

Q. When did he say that, Paul?

PAUL BROADHURST: Probably two or three years ago, two and a half years ago, just in the local supermarket. Some guy was talking to me, and he just tapped him on the shoulder and said, "My dad used to be a really good golfer."

Q. In years past at this event we've seen the European Tour players come over and here and really make a name to themselves. Ian Poulter stands out as one and some others. Do you look at that as encouragement to maybe come over and do something special like that, make a name for yourself?

PAUL BROADHURST: Yeah, I spoke to TV yesterday, and that was the majority of American people probably never heard of me. They might have done in '91 at Ryder Cup. But it's my opportunity now to try to make a name for myself over here. Getting through starting off beating Retief will give me a fair amount of publicity, I imagine. So I'll take it one day at a time.

Q. You are going to Bay Hill in the hope that you'll be in THE PLAYERS?

PAUL BROADHURST: Possibly, yeah. I played Bay Hill this summer. I went over there and played Bay Hill, and enjoyed the course. Now I understand it's set up a lot different than when I played it. But with having a place over there, I thought it would be a nice place to play.

Q. The Ryder Cup over here is kind of slow to build this year. What's it been like in Europe with the players; are you gearing toward it?

PAUL BROADHURST: Not personally. There's a lot of talk about it, a lot of media talk about it. You get asked the question all the time, because I'm probably just about on the team at the moment, but it's another six months to go, seven months to go. And my feeling is that unless I play the majors and these world events, I'm probably not going to get in the Ryder Cup team. It's too big, giving the other guys too much of a head start. But I'm here this week, so I have to try to make the best of the opportunities that I've got.

Q. Well, Poulter made a nice run here and Darren won here. You haven't seen the type of dominance in this event that we've seen in the Ryder Cup certainly by the European team. Is there a theory of that, is there the camaraderie in the first two days of team competition that separates

PAUL BROADHURST: I don't think there's any straightforward answer. Match play is a strange game; some strange results can happen. It's difficult to say why we do so well at Ryder Cup and perhaps not do as well here. But perhaps we'll put that right this week.

End of FastScripts.

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