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THE BARCLAYS


August 26, 2012


Sergio Garcia


FARMINGDALE, NEW YORK

CHRIS REIMER:  We want to welcome Sergio Garcia here to the interview room.  Sergio, is it as simple as some days you feel good and some days it doesn't quite go your way.
SERGIO GARCIA:  Yeah, don't get me wrong, obviously I didn't play the way I know I can play, or I was playing.  I hit some good shots, but you know, I hit a couple bad shots at the wrong moments.  And unfortunately I just wasn't feeling comfortable.
I struggled a little bit with, you know, some of the shots, and you know, it's kind of simple as that.  I obviously struggled with the speed of the greens.  They were much slower today.  Even though they still looked very brown, you know, they put a bit of water on them to not lose them, and you know, you could tell the difference, and I just struggled to get the speed of the greens early on when I had three or four good chances for birdies.
And then, you know, I was just trying to hold on at the end, and give myself a couple of chances, and, you know, unfortunately it didn't rap.
CHRIS REIMER:  The last two weeks, being in contention and getting a victory, you have to like where you are now.
SERGIO GARCIA:  No doubt about it.  It's been two weeks‑‑ it's been two very good weeks.  Obviously I would loved to finish in a different way.  But to me, to be able to win last week and put myself in contention here again this week, I had a good shot at winning this tournament on this golf course, which is really, really tough and is testing you all the time.  It was good.  I would have loved to do a little bit better, but you know, there's always things that you can improve on, and you know, that's what I want to try to do.

Q.  Talk about the way Nick played today.  Obviously you were neck and neck with him, and how he performed.
SERGIO GARCIA:  He played great.  I mean, I'm not, obviously, the U.S. Ryder Cup Captain, but I think both Nick and Brandt, they played great.  They have been playing very nicely, obviously Nick has had a little bit of a slower year this year, but you know, as a player, I hope they make the team, and then we'll see what happens there.
But Nick played very nicely.  He played very nicely yesterday.  He probably deserved to be probably tied for the lead with me instead of two back.  He played nicely again today, made a couple of bogeys and 3‑putts on 11 and 12 and didn't let it bother him.  He kept going at it and came back with a couple of birdies in the last four, so I was happy to see him win.  He's not only a great player but a very nice guy.

Q.  Did you talk Ryder Cup at all during the round?
SERGIO GARCIA:  No, not really.  At the end of the round on 18, I did obviously congratulate him and wish that he made the team.  But I guess we will soon see if that happens.

Q.  You mentioned that Nick has had sort of a slow year up until this point.  It sort of parallels your year up until last week.  Can you, even though you're disappointed not winning, can you sympathize with what he's gone through this year and sort of feel good for him?
SERGIO GARCIA:  Oh, definitely, definitely.  Like I said before, he not only is a great player, but he's a wonderful guy.  We get along great and you know, I had two great days with I am had.  Even though I didn't play great today and I struggled a little bit, he made me feel comfortable; I tried to make him feel comfortable, even though we were both trying to win, but obviously with the right weapons, not trying to make the other guy feel uncomfortable.  Just trying to play better than the other guy.
It was nice to see him do as well as he did.  I would have loved to give him a better fight than I did.  But you know, at the end of the day, I can't really be disappointed with the way the week has been.

Q.  At any point did you two talk about sort of the struggles that you've gone through and now sort of being back on top?
SERGIO GARCIA:  No, no, not really.  When you're out on the course, you're not really thinking about that.  If you think about that, then you're obviously not thinking the right things.
We just tried to enjoy each other's company, tried to enjoy each other's games, and tried to do the best we could.  So I that was pretty much about it.

Q.  You had a couple putts that just missed; when you were ahead, 4 and 7, do you think about what might have happened if one or both of those go in, maybe you get a little momentum ask this might be a different outcome?
SERGIO GARCIA:  It could be, but, you know, obviously MetLife is the only one that has the ifs in life; we don't go with ifs here:  If this would have gone in; if I would have hit a better shot on 8, you never know.  It's still 10‑under there.  There's so many ifs that you could say about.
But it happened, what happened, for a reason.  I was trying my hardest.  I was trying to play the best I could.  But you know, I'm not going to lie to you.  I just didn't feel as good as I did the last three days or the last week, and I didn't feel quite as comfortable.
Yesterday, I felt really, really at ease.  I felt really, really calm.  I didn't feel nervous at all.  Today I was a little bit jumpy.  I could feel that, you know, I wasn't quite there.  So that doesn't mean that I didn't try as hard as I could, and you know, at the end of the day, there can only be one winner, and Nick obviously deserved the win more than I did.

Q.  All told, what did these last six days do for your outlook and for your confidence?
SERGIO GARCIA:  I think it's great.  I think it's been a great way to kind of start finishing the year here in the U.S., it obviously gives me a lot of confidence.  I still have a couple more weeks hopefully with Indianapolis and TOUR Championship.
So hopefully I'll be able to play well there, too, and then have a strong Ryder Cup for my team, for The European Team, and then I'll take a nice rest that I'll need.  I'll try to get back in shape and try to finish the year, probably play in the Middle East and a couple around Thailand and stuff, and just kind of get ready for the new season.

Q.  How would you describe the gallery atmosphere, and were you put off any big anyone?
SERGIO GARCIA:  There was only one thing on the 10th hole where a guy took a picture and I was standing over the shot, and a couple little noises that probably put Nick off a little bit and we had to back away.
Other than that, no, they were great.  I know the New York crowds are rowdy, but I like them.  I feel like I have a good connection with them.  When there's so many guys out there and so many good players, you're always going to get a couple of guys that they are going to try to put you off here and there.
But it's fine.  It's the way it is, and we know that it's going to be like that here.  But at the same time, you know, they are very respectful.  Even the cheering on 18 after I finished, they knew I didn't have my best day and they felt for me and they gave me a nice cheer to make me feel better.  That was great to see.

Q.  What happened on 17?
SERGIO GARCIA:  I knew I had to hit a really strong 7‑iron off the tee and the wind seemed to‑‑ it is supposed to be helping but it seemed to kind of move left‑to‑right and I was like‑‑ it was a long carry over the bunker.  So I was trying to take my time to make sure that the wind was the way it's supposed to be for me to reach with a 7‑iron.  And then when it started blowing back downwind, then you know, I decided to go and hit it.  Obviously there were a couple guys that shouted:  "Come on!  Hit it!  Hit it!  Go!  Go!  Waiting, waiting," whatever.
I'm like:  Don't worry, I'm going to hit it, I'm just taking my time.  (Laughter).  I want it to be the way it has to be.  Because it felt like 6‑iron was going to go over the green and I just wanted the wind to blow the way I needed it.

Q.  Did you feel like there was a turning point out there at any one hole that changed the momentum between you and Nick?
SERGIO GARCIA:  8, probably.  I missed a putt on 7 and I missed a putt on 4,5, obviously and made a great putt on 6, missed one on 7.  That would have been nice to make a birdie putt.  I think 8 was huge.  You know, he makes birdie, I hit a bad shot, and he didn't get the best of breaks.  You know, if it lands in the bunker, it's probably not that difficult of a bunker shot.  It's not an easy par but I have a chance; when it hit the bank and went on the other side of the bunker, I pretty much had no chance of making par.
So that was big.  And then, you know, just got a little bit too aggressive on 10.  Then another two‑shot swing there.  So it was unfortunate.
You know, I still tried.  I gave it my best shot.  Unfortunately my best wasn't that great today.

Q.  This putt at 17 looked like it was a lot slower than you had anticipated.  Were there any other putts like that?
SERGIO GARCIA:  Yeah, definitely.  It was funny because every time I thought, you know, okay, be a bit more aggressive on this one, thinking that I left two or 3‑putts short; other than 6, you know, like 7, I ran it by quite a bit; 10 I ran it by quite a bit.
But then, if I didn't think about it too much, then I kept leaving it three feet short or two feet short.  So for some reason, it was hard to get used to it after what we saw yesterday and how quick the greens really were.  Today even though they watered the greens a little bit, the color was still pretty much the same, they were not as fast.  Somehow I struggled to get that in my head and that's just the way it is I guess.

Q.  So that actually made it harder than yesterday to putt these greens?
SERGIO GARCIA:  I don't know if it's harder or not.  It's definitely different, when the greens are slower, they don't break as much.  I missed a lot of putts on the high side.  The speed seems to be a little bit different.  But, I don't know, obviously it was hard for me, but obviously it was easier than yesterday.  But I just couldn't kind of click on it.

Q.  When you made that putt at 6, you gave a pretty firm fist‑pump.  Did you feel at that point that you had the tournament under control; that you felt it was yours?
SERGIO GARCIA:  No, no, no.  Like I said, I wasn't feeling quite myself.  I wasn't feeling quite as comfortable as I wanted to be.  I always had in mind, trying to shoot a couple under if I could.  And I thought, you know, when I made that putt, I thought, okay, we have seven, hopefully we can make birdie there.  If I get a little bit of momentum, maybe I can get to that 2‑under that I want for the day, and see if I can hold that all the way and it's good enough.
Unfortunately I could never get‑‑ I could never really get to it.  And you know, then you know, it was just a little bit of a struggle coming in.
CHRIS REIMER:  Thank you, Sergio, appreciate it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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