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IRISH OPEN PRESENTED BY DISCOVER IRELAND

July 30, 2011

Richard Green

KILLARNEY, IRELAND

Q. Nice, tidy finish, isn't it.
RICHARD GREEN: It was a nice cap-off to a pretty solid round. I struggled a bit through the muddle but managed to make pars and grind through a little bit, and got the reward at the end, so I was very happy.

Q. And you said you were flat yesterday.
RICHARD GREEN: Yeah.

Q. I take it you weren't to start today.
RICHARD GREEN: No. Probably a little bit -- the flatness probably came from a bit of disappointment with my driving. My driver, I wasn't getting along very well with the driver at all, very short and not accurate; and it was worrying me, coming into the next two weeks, Firestone and the PGA, you want to be driving the ball good.
I made a couple little adjustments to my swing and found something on the range this morning, and it worked on the course. I found a little bit of distance again, and the accuracy came back. So confidence is high and right when I needed it.

Q. Today we felt the wind pick up that much more, and it's a bit colder and grimmer, so all the more important I guess.
RICHARD GREEN: Yeah, definitely. Classic case at the last hole. It played so much tougher into the wind and a little bit colder, and if it's going to be anything like this tomorrow, it will be a tough test.

Q. But you're in a terrific position.
RICHARD GREEN: Yeah, absolutely. It's a great position to be in, tied for the lead going into the last round and right in the mix. You know, I've paid nicely playing my game around this golf course the first three days, so I'll just continue to do that tomorrow and see how we go.

Q. And having been in that position countless times, you'll draw on all that knowledge but has not happened for a little while.
RICHARD GREEN: Not for a while. Portugal I guess last year. I have a bit of a reputation of firing it up in the last round, so hopefully it happens tomorrow.

Q. What is it about Ireland and Richard Green?
RICHARD GREEN: Over the years I've played very nicely here and I've enjoyed coming here, I've enjoyed the people and the support you get on the golf course, and the golf course -- we haven't played a bad Irish Open golf course over the course of my career anyways. So it's been one of those tournaments I've always looked forward to.

Q. How long have you been coming?
RICHARD GREEN: Oh, geez, I've been on the Tour since '96 I guess, so every year since then. Don't think I've missed one.
Had a little bit of a spell through the late 90s, early 2000s, where I didn't play well in this tournament at all, but there's been some times where I've played very well over here definitely.

Q. Guinness man?
RICHARD GREEN: I don't mind them. I don't mind them from time to time. Got to be a proper one, too.

Q. Wouldn't mind one tomorrow night in celebration?
RICHARD GREEN: Oh, I'll have plenty definitely; if I won tomorrow, I'd be a very, very happy boy.

Q. Nice way to finish your round with a birdie at 18, a long club going in for your second, it's playing long today?
RICHARD GREEN: Absolutely. The play all week for me was to lay up short of bunkers and on the right and play it from there. The 3-wood was still 20 yards short of the first trap on the right, and 15, 16 yards to the flag.
With the wind, nudged my 5-wood in there and went well. Hit a really good shot. But still left myself a difficult uphill putt. But yeah, tough finishing hole and good to finish with a three.

Q. You were feeling a bit flat and not driving the ball quite as well; was it a lot better today?
RICHARD GREEN: Yeah, absolutely. I did a bit of work on it yesterday and changed a couple of things and it came out better today. I've definitely driven the ball a lot more better and gained a bit of confidence, too. Carry that through to tomorrow, I'll be happy.

Q. Other than the putt on 16, you looked very comfortable on the greens; is that the way it feels?
RICHARD GREEN: Absolutely. Just talking to Simon, my caddie about that. It was a bit of a sloppy one. Probably lost a bit of focus waiting for Ollie to play. But would have been nice to have rolled it up there tight and birdied that hole. But it was a good round of golf. I'm not too disappointed.

Q. Irish Open has a fabulous role of honour, how much would it mean to join that tomorrow?
RICHARD GREEN: It would mean everything to me, definitely. I've played well in this tournament over the years, and my career, and always loved coming to Ireland to play.
Hopefully I can put in another good round tomorrow.

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