WGC EMC WORLD CUP

December 6, 2000

Carlos Franco

Esteban Isasi

CARLOS FRANCO: First of all, I want to say that it is a pleasure to be here with you and to have the possibility of playing with my partner. He is very young, but his golf is really good and we may expect a surprise. About the course, it looks easy, but whenever you have the card in your pocket, of course, it is easy. So we think there are going to be a lot of surprises throughout the week.

ESTEBAN ISASI: First of all, thank you for the welcome. It's a pleasure to be here. I am very happy being the partner of Carlos. He is a great player. About the course, I have already played here, and I thought the course could be more difficult; that the rough could be higher, but it is a difficult course, and we hope to play well.

ESTEBAN ISASI: About the dream, playing here, I wouldn't call it a dream, but it is my first experience playing with a world-wide, world-level players. So I think it is a great experience, and it is my first experience. About almost making the cut on the PGA TOUR, I didn't play -- I had two or three mistakes in the second or third round, but I was there and I played very well, so I did a good thing.

CARLOS FRANCO: First of all, I think Roberto knows what he says. So while I want to thank him for his comments, we are playing almost as local players here because we have been here many times playing in South American tournaments. I think we have many chances to win the tournament because it's not a stroke-play. It's a tournament that is played one stroke at a time, so it is better for us.

ESTEBAN ISASI: First of all, I think that the words of Roberto De Vicenzo are important, and he knows -- he's got international experience and knows what he's talking about. Regarding us as a team, playing as a partner of Carlos is very good. He is very consistent, and I think it is me who is going to make the difference. As Carlos said, this format of game benefits our style, because you don't pay us -- it's not as expensive to make a mistake. You don't make such a big mistake. And, well, that's it.

CARLOS FRANCO: Well, as you know I had a problem releasing, and I couldn't release completely at the shot because I had pain. So what I had to do was to stop playing for a while, and that was hard because I lost places in the ranking. But it finally paid off, because I started to hit it harder as I want, and now I can fully release my hands and I can play much better, but it was really hard to stop playing for a while.

CARLOS FRANCO: Well, that's what we were talking about today, with my partner. Today the course was easy because there was no wind. But if the wind starts to blow, without any trees, it is going to turn the course into something very difficult. So what benefits me is that I can hit the ball low, and I take the wind out of play. And that's what I will try to help my partner learn how to hit it low and keep it low if there is wind.

ESTEBAN ISASI: As regards the last five holes, you are almost always playing with the water on the left side, except on the par 3. So I think it is difficult. But on the other side, on the two par 5s, you can reach the green in three. So there are good things, too. As regards the course, I really don't know, because in the four-balls, generally 61, 62, 63 wins when the teams play well. But in this case, I don't know what will happen. In the case of the course, it is also very important the relationship that both players have and how their games match up. Because in the case of the United States, I think they are a very good team, they are very strong, but they match really well because Tiger will hit shots. But then Tiger is not used to playing from the places he is going to be. So it depends basically how the games of the two players match. As regards the 17th green, as I know the course, it didn't get attention too much. It's true that it has got a lot of movement and that's a high part, and there's a little stream, and then you have to be very careful on where to put the second shot. But today, for example, with downwind, it was easy to get it with two strokes into the green. So if you make three putts, they think maybe it is a par. The problem comes when you've got -- when you are hitting into the wind, and you might have to leave the third shot near the pin, and that's difficult to handle. But without wind or downwind, I don't think it is going to present any problem.

CARLOS FRANCO: I think there are basically two reasons. One because, as Jose Maria said, the dates. But the other one, this is a World Cup, and it is important to play there, and it is an honor to represent your country. And traveling here, even though I am very tired, this is my third time representing here. In my country, it is an honor to be here, and I am really happy doing this.

CARLOS FRANCO: I think that's a good question. I already had to play this format twice, at the Presidents Cup. I am familiar with it. But I think we are going to make up our minds an hour before the tournament. We are going to see how the wind blows. Because today we would be analyzing some holes and say, "Okay, it gives up this type of wind. It is good for you to play, but we need to be there." And we both are captains of our team. We are going to make up our minds an hour before.

CARLOS FRANCO: I understand the fans, because if I see Clinton, I would like to touch him. It's like natural; he's the President of the United States, and I want to be near him and I want to touch him. But here, I think it's something that Tiger should do to be with the public and to let them touch him and to be open to the Latin people so that they can get a relationship with him. But it's like the American players, they have got to be careful, because Tiger Woods doesn't like being touched and doesn't like being rubbed. But I think that he should try to sell his image and try to be more -- try to be better to the public, because as you know, he only signs like 20 autographs per day, and he doesn't like being photographed. And the public should also respect that.