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HSBC CHAMPIONS

November 10, 2008

Sergio Garcia

SHANGHAI, CHINA

SCOTT CROCKETT: Sergio, it's been said many times already but let me say it again, many, many congratulations, a fantastic victory. Just give us your thoughts on being the HSBC Champion.
SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, it's been a long week, as you obviously all know. But at the same time, very satisfying. A lot of things for me to play for this week. Not only obviously the tournament, which is the most important one, but moving to No. 2 in the world, it's a great excitement for me, and I'm just very happy. It's been a very solid year.
I had some hard losses this year, but we came back strong and we're finishing the year very nicely, so I'm very happy with that.

SCOTT CROCKETT: You played well throughout the tournament but it must have pleased you to finish the way you last, to birdie the last in regulation, and then to win the second playoff hole, a great way to win the tournament.
SERGIO GARCIA: Yes, I was pushing hard all day, Glen and I, we thought -- I had 14 in my head all day. That was the number I wanted to get. I thought if I could get to at least 14, I should have a chance. And I had some good chances, and I had a great chance after birdieing 7,8 and 9, I had a great chance on 12, I had a great chance on 13. Had a good chance on 16 and 17, and unfortunately it didn't drop, and Oliver Wilson was fighting hard. He made a couple of nice birdies on 14 and 16, and got ahead of me, and we just tried to stay patient, stay positive.
I hit a great shot on 18 and a beautiful putt in to at least have a chance of getting to a playoff, and then, you know, play good and solid on the playoff. I hit a good putt on the first playoff hole and unfortunately didn't go in. Oliver hit a great putt on the second playoff hole and just missed high, and I made mine, so I was very excited.

Q. Just going to the second playoff hole, Oliver hit the ball very close, but it spun back, and you hit a shot that went past the pin --
SERGIO GARCIA: I had a very similar shot to the shot I hit in actual regulation. It was just a little longer, so I knew it was about five yards longer, five or six yards longer, so I knew I had to -- with that club, I needed to kind of bring the ball down a little bit, so it didn't happen what happened to Ollie, to spin it back and leave it probably 15 or 16 feet short.
So I just thinned it just slightly, and it came out a little lower than I wanted. So I was going to get down, because I knew it wasn't going to spin back, it was going to skip a little bit, and I really thought it had a chance of going in the water. But I guess it was a little tighter than I expected it, but the good thing about hitting that aggressive shot there was that I had an easy putt, and it proved to be right.

Q. You obviously got to know Oliver a bit during The Ryder Cup, but do you think after a second place, a win is just around the corner for him?
SERGIO GARCIA: Definitely. You know, it's just the way it is. His caddie was telling me before we went to the playoff, oh, this is the fourth playoff, and you know, it was also my fourth playoff this year.
So when you get in that position, the only thing you can do is try, do your best, and you need to get a little lucky. If his putt, instead of kind of going over the edge on that second playoff hole, if instead of that, it goes in, it makes my putt that much tougher.
So when you get into a sudden-death playoff, you have to hit the right shot at the right time, but you have to get lucky at the same time. It's happened to me a couple of times this year, where I thought I almost won the playoff and I ended up losing it. You know, I guess it's just a matter of keep doing it. But he's playing great. It's going to happen very soon.

Q. Earlier this week, you said you not quite as -- today you holed a few very crucial good putts.
SERGIO GARCIA: No, I just wasn't feeling as fluid as I felt in other weeks. But I just worked on it, I tried to get a nice rhythm on my stroke. Obviously trying to work on all of the things we've been working on this year, making sure that my setup is right and that my hands are a little bit forward.
So that was pretty much it, and then just work on some good, solid rhythm on it. And it felt good today. You know, I felt like I hit some good putts. I made some nice putts, and then there were two or three putts that were really nice that unfortunately didn't go in. That to me is the most important thing. Even if you don't make them, at least feel like as soon as they come off the face, they have a chance of going in. And then some of them are going to drop, and that's what happened, and we really, really are happy that I made that putt on 18. It was a very similar length to the one I made at THE PLAYERS to get into the playoff. So a lot of good thoughts were going through my mind.
Then I was just feeling very comfortable with the last putt to win.

Q. Could you talk about stepping into No. 2 on the Order of Merit?
SERGIO GARCIA: On the Order of Merit? The World Rankings. (Laughing).
To tell you the truth, right after I won THE PLAYERS, I thought I could get to No. 3. I thought No. 2 was still quite difficult, but it's awesome. It's great. I've never achieved that before.
So it's something extra for the year, and I'm looking forward to keep working as hard and trying to get better.

Q. What are your chances now of attacking Tiger and getting that No. 1 spot, and what does this victory and moving to No. 2 do for your confidence in terms of winning a major, that's the next?
SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, I think next goal is trying to win a major. Well, been trying for quite a while, but winning a major would be the next goal.
Attacking No. 1, probably depends a little bit on how much he takes off and if I keep playing well. It's possible, mainly because he's been injured, but we know that as soon as he comes out, he's going to play well and he's going to become quite tough and he seems to get away from us a little bit. But at least to -- I've never been this close to No. 1, and it's exciting to be there.

Q. This question is related to the previous one. For many years, people would say you've maybe haven't fulfilled your talent but you're only 28 and you've had your best year now and confidence is high; what do you think your -- where can your talent take you? Can you challenge and beat Tiger Woods and be No. 1, even if he's competing well? And majors, obviously you're looking at one, but you could be one of the great players.
SERGIO GARCIA: If I play the way I'm playing, I probably can. You've got to realise that when we talk about Tiger, we're looking at the kind of player that you don't see very often in history. There's very few like him, if there's ever been one like him.
So it's exciting. It's exciting to be close to him, to have the chance of being in the same era as he is, and you know, playing with him and beating him sometimes and most of the times get beat.
But at the same time, it's exciting. It's a very good learning experience. I think he's driven everybody else to a high level and only thing I can do is keep doing what I'm doing and hopefully that takes me the highest it can take me.

Q. Well done on a long and hard week's work. Going back to an earlier question on the subject of Oliver Wilson, he still doesn't know what it's like to go out and play a tournament as a winner. Looking back on the early stage of your own career, does it make a big difference, and what kind of a difference does it make and how much of a difference does it make to the way you feel about yourself once you've actually won a tournament?
SERGIO GARCIA: Obviously winning is what we practice for and we try to become the best players we can become, the best -- probably the best person we can become.
But I think Ollie, he's been playing great. It's just been unfortunate. And the only thing he can do -- you know, I've been on that side of the net before, and it's not a great feeling, but you can take a lot of positives out of it. The only thing he's got to do is think about the whole week, obviously think about the whole year. He's had a great year, and just take all of the positives out of it and make sure that that allows him to get better.
Like I said before, he's going to win soon. He's playing too good not to win. He'll be fine.

Q. Any plans for marriage? How to you plan to use the prize money, such a big money?
SERGIO GARCIA: I don't even have a girlfriend. How would I get married?

Q. What's your plan for the prize money?
SERGIO GARCIA: Well, first question, marriage is definitely something that I'm looking forward to in some future. So I'm very happy and very fortunate to be dating a great girl at the moment. I guess it's happy days for me.
But the prize money, I'm just going to try to put it in a bank that doesn't go bankrupt. (Laughter).
SCOTT CROCKETT: I can't speak for Richard York, Sergio, but I'm fairly certain HSBC might open an account for you. Congratulations and well done for you.

End of FastScripts

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