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HSBC CHAMPIONS


November 10, 2006


Retief Goosen


SHANGHAI, CHINA, Second Round

CHUAH CHOO CHIANG: Second round 67 for 9 under par total, Retief, closing with three birdies to put you near the top of the leaderboard, just talk about your day.

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yes, I got off to a good start today, 3 under through the first four holes, and a nice birdie on 10, as well. And then two bad mistakes, really, on 12 and 15. And then you know, after 15 I was it looked like, I think I was six or five shots off the lead, and then suddenly finishing, you know, with three birdies got me right back into the tournament.

CHUAH CHOO CHIANG: After making the two bogeys, what sparked the strong finish?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, 12, I 3 putted. I missed a short putt for par.

15, I probably hit the wrong club in for my second shot. I hit a poor chip shoot and was pretty cross.

But on 16, I didn't hit a good tee shot. I hit it in the bunker and hit a very good bunker shot from that left fairway bunker down to about two feet, and that sort of settled me a little bit. And then hit a very good 7 iron on No. 17 to a foot and a half. And 18, also, I didn't hit a good drive. I had to lay up and hit a good 9 iron in for my third to make four.

Q. Last time you were here in China, you won a tournament the last time; again you are in contention. But my question is, there are so many Asian players in contention this week and how do you feel about Asian golf in general after maybe experiencing the first two days over here?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yes, I obviously enjoy playing in China. I play well here. Yeah, there's a couple of guys up there, Asian guys that's playing really well obviously. You know, I always knew that there're a lot of good players out there in Asia. It's just a question of time and they will start showing their colours.

It's difficult to get on the tours in Europe and in America. Those guys are good enough players to play in Europe, as well as on the PGA Tour, but it's just difficult to get on the tours over there.

Q. Looking the other way, some good European players come here and really struggle. You love it here. What's the secret?

RETIEF GOOSEN: I don't know, maybe it's the food, I don't know. I don't know, maybe it's the people are so nice over here. I enjoy playing in front of them. They respect us coming here and playing and watching us. They really enjoy it. It's nice to see, and you sort of feel like you want to play well and perform well in front of them because you get so much reaction out of them for your shots you play.

Q. You probably noticed that Tiger is 7 or 8 under after starting at even par. So does that put any pressure on you for the last two days?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, obviously Tiger, you know, played right back into the tournament today, very good round at 8 under par. So we always knew he was going to be the guy to beat this week and you're going to have to play well to stay ahead of him.

It looks like tomorrow, the way it stands now, he'll be in the last group with myself and Jyoti Randhawa. So it's going to be an exciting weekend ahead tomorrow, and it's going to be hard to keep concentrating on what's going, on what you have to do and not what's going on outside the ropes.

It's going to be good fun on the weekend playing with him, if I play with him. So, I'm looking forward to it.

CHUAH CHOO CHIANG: Retief, thanks very much for coming in and all the best this weekend.
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