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RBC CANADIAN OPEN

July 22, 2008

OAKVILLE, ONTARIO

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, everybody, for your patience. Again joining us are our two amateurs in this week's RBC Canadian Open field, Mike Knight from Calgary, runner-up at last year's Canadian Men's Amateur Championship to earn an exemption, as well as our 2007 Canadian Men's Amateur Champion, Nick Taylor. I'll open it up to any questions for either one of our amateurs.

Q. Nick, this is your second national Open this year. I was just wondering if you could talk a little bit about the experience of going down to play at Torrey Pines for the U.S. Open.
NICK TAYLOR: Going there I didn't really know what to expect. It was my first huge event. I've played in big national events like juniors and amateurs, but with the crowds, I didn't really know what to expect. And when I got there, it was far greater than what I would have expected.
It was quite an experience to play in front of that many people and see the pros around and try not to get distracted really by them and in awe really pretty much.
I think by the tournament I was pretty much over all the awe and all the hype of all the pros, playing with them. But it really helped the first two days, the practice rounds and the third day, and when I got playing, it really -- playing with guys that weren't huge kind of calmed me down a little bit.
But I think that really helps just for this week. I'm not as nervous I guess you could say playing in front of huge crowds, and that week definitely helped me for this week.

Q. Since last year at this time you've had a lot of things obviously great happen with your performance at the NCAAs, winning the Canadian Amateur, qualifying for the U.S. Open. What's Nick Taylor like now that you weren't like last year? How would you compare yourself to this time last year just overall as far as experience goes?
NICK TAYLOR: Definitely a lot more experienced, I guess, tournaments-wise, in big tournaments in front of big crowds and TV cameras and kind of pressure situations like that. I've experienced a lot of it, like I said, got a little used to it and know how it feels.
Golf game-wise it's been nothing huge, change. The last, I guess, few months my putting got a lot better, a lot more consistent than it had been in the few months before that. Golf game-wise everything has kind of been the same. I've never been a far hitter, just kind of keep it in play and just kind of score well for the most part. So nothing golf game change. Just being myself with everybody else I know, nothing else has changed, either.

Q. When you look at the past year is it kind of a whirlwind for you and do you just kind of separate each event as they come? Or is it one big blur?
NICK TAYLOR: The last few months have been kind of a blur, just kind of traveling place to place, playing huge events that I had no idea what it was going to be about. Definitely the last few months, the U.S. Open, NCAAs and stuff like that, that's been a blur.
But the last two and a half weeks I've had a good break, kind of being at home, settling down and just getting a lot of rest, which will really help for this week, and I think I'm prepared and ready to go.

Q. What's the rest of your schedule like this summer?
NICK TAYLOR: I've got the Pacific Coast Amateur, Canadian Amateur and the U.S. Amateur.

Q. Mike, could you talk a little bit about coming on to the national team and dealing with people like Dana Sinclair, Greg Wells, things that you have probably in the past never dealt with? What kind of an adjustment was that for you?
MIKE KNIGHT: It was a big eye-opening experience, just kind of being informed of what you need to be doing off the golf course. I think being in that position of being selected for the National Team, you kind of know what you have to do on the golf course, but as all the pros know, it's what you do off the golf course that really makes you successful.
John Berardi helped with the nutrition aspect, and Greg Wells has obviously helped with making certain schedules for workouts and making sure you're working on the right things in the gym, and Dana Sinclair has been an impact in just making sure that you keep a level head and not get too high, not get too low, just kind of stay even-keeled. It's tough to do, but the better you get at it, the easier it is.

Q. (Inaudible.)
MIKE KNIGHT: It was good. I mean, I've never had that availability to me, so it was very -- I don't know how to say it, but I'm very thankful for being selected for the team because it's made me a better player in the last year, just kind of knowing what's expected and what needs to be done.

Q. What about this week? How do you see yourself shaping up for it? How do you see yourself doing and how does the course shape up for your game?
MIKE KNIGHT: I've only seen nine holes, but the nine holes I have seen I thoroughly enjoyed. It's a great golf course. It demands good golf shots, and the greens are running well. They're a little bit soft obviously because of the rain.
But this year has been a little bit of a struggle, but the last week I've had time to kind of just sit back and take some time to reflect on what I need to do. I've been hitting it a little bit better the last week. I'm looking forward to the week, and I look forward to hopefully making the cut and having a good finish.

Q. I wondered if I could get both your comments, the National Amateur is moving to stroke play this year. Mike, what effect do you think that might have and your opinion on whether it's a good or bad thing?
MIKE KNIGHT: Personally I really enjoy match play, but I truly believe stroke play brings out the better player. If you're playing well that week, it's towards your benefit if you're playing well because anything can happen in match play.
I think from a coach's perspective, choosing World Amateur selections in the future, I think you get kind of a better idea of who's playing their best golf through stroke play.
NICK TAYLOR: Same thing. When I heard it had been changed I was kind of shocked because I didn't hear anything about it, and it's been match play for quite some time. I don't know how many years, but it's been that for quite some time.
I think you can go either way with how it brings out the better player, but probably a large percent of the time stroke play will bring out the better player, so I think it's a good move. I prefer match play, but stroke play will be good, and for the World Amateur team it's definitely going to help for selection and make the decision probably a lot easier than it would be if a top prospect loses in an early round or something like that. So I think it's a good move.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, guys.

End of FastScripts

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