THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 21, 2013

Stephen Gallacher

STEPHEN GALLACHER: Last night I was a bit disappointed. Played lovely yesterday. And then today even I three-putted 5 and I three-putted 9 for par. So for my last 15 holes I've had 60 putts. Just so hard to get the pace. Early on they're really slow and then they quicken up in the afternoon, just when they dry out. And the wind gets up a bit more. You've got to adapt really a lot.

Q. (Inaudible.)
STEPHEN GALLACHER: I putted lovely the first two days. It was just sort of the last nine, the last six holes. I didn't hit the ball close enough, to be honest. A couple of times, but it was tough to get it dead. That east wind is a killer for the course. Plays so tough in the east wind. All the par-3s, all of a sudden you're hitting 4-irons. You're not going to hit 4-irons to 10 foot, 5 foot very often. I putted nice, it was nice to get a few in today.

Q. (Inaudible.)
STEPHEN GALLACHER: Anytime you break par on an Open, on a Major here you've done well.

Q. (Inaudible.)
STEPHEN GALLACHER: I holed one about 15, 20-foot on 16 just from the side of the green. And then hit it just short of the green on 2 on 17, was a nice birdie. Chipped it up to about eight foot. I holed a decent putt for par on the 11th. From then on I never missed a shot, really.

Q. Surprised that you might finish (inaudible).
STEPHEN GALLACHER: That's the thing yesterday, you know, guys are 5-putting, 4-putting, if you play well, it's right in front of you, but if you start to spray a bit. You can hit it sideways out of that. It looks fine then just wraps over and goes deeper in. Branden, today, he had two shots. You know how strong and how hard he hits the ball. And he moved it about a foot. So there's trouble everywhere.

Q. (Inaudible.)
STEPHEN GALLACHER: Yeah, I played well all week, really. Barring a couple of loose shots. There was never any -- I was only in the thick stuff a couple of times, which is what you've got to try and do. It's easy on my eye. But the more you play on these, the more you're used to playing -- my next two events are Firestone and the PGA, so it's not a bad run.

Q. (Inaudible.)
STEPHEN GALLACHER: Well, no, I had a week off. I had a month off, there, to prepare for these. I didn't play Austria or -- I didn't play from PGA until Ireland. I took BMW and everything off, just to try to get ready for these four. Stayed at home, fresh as a daisy, may go for a run later, actually, down to the pub (laughter).

Q. (Inaudible.)
STEPHEN GALLACHER: Oh, massive. These two in America and then the Ryder Cup points and then the last four, and then the Champions one next year, it's nonstop. It's a good time to try and peak and put in some good results, especially in these big events. You go up the rankings and plenty of points and stuff.