WGC AMERICAN EXPRESS CHAMPIONSHIP

November 6, 1999

Jose Maria Olazabal

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: I hit the first with driver, 8-iron, one-and-a-half-meters putt. Bogeyed the 7th, driver, 1-iron, sand iron, 10 meters for two-putt. 8, birdie, one iron, wedge, 15-meters putt. On the 10th, I went into the water with a 3-wood and then I holed an 8-meter putt to save par. Birdied 12 with 7-iron and 2-meters putt. I'm obviously happy with the round, 2-under par. And it's a pretty good score taking into consideration the weather conditions with the wind and the direction of the wind was just completely the opposite to the previous days. But I'm a little disappointed with the way I drove the ball. I missed like four or five drives, and it cost me a couple of shots and but it could have been a couple more. That might affect the chances for my week towards winning. I played here quite a few times and even in the best of my physical condition I've been able to score much worse than 2-over par, so that didn't affect that much. Obviously tomorrow, depending on how the leaders finish today, there is a chance of winning the tournament if there is like two or three shots, no more, because it's a golf course that's very difficult to score more, and that's the reason why it's very difficult to really give up more than two or three shots on this golf course. As far as Miguel, Miguel's chances are really good. He is really playing well, especially the second part of the season, he's playing very, very steady. He knows the golf course really well. And I think it is a golf course that suits his game, because he's very straight off the tee, and that is something you really need around here. And obviously he lives close by, and every time we play a tournament near where he lives he does well, so we better watch out. As far as the birdie chances, I had one on the 5th, from 9 feet. 12, I missed from four or five feet -- sorry, on 11, I missed from four or five feet. On 13, about 15 feet. On 15, from 9 feet, those are the birdie chances that didn't make it.

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: I played with Monte also last week, and he's playing really well. He's striking the ball well, let's put it that way. He's starting to score -- he didn't make one putt until 15 today. And the other one, it was 18. So with that kind of average there is no way you're going to score low. But he's really striking the ball very, very well.

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: I think it was those two or three long putts that I made. The long putt I made on No. 8 and the long putt I made on No. 10. I think that putt I made on 10 I kept the momentum going. I think those two putts were the key today.

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: I was asked about -- he thought I was upset with the round today. But I said that that was not the situation. I was serious, but I was never upset. I even joked before hitting my tee shot on the first, because I was playing with Monte, obviously, and one of the cork trees near the tee, one branch fall down, I don't know how, but it fall down, and I said to Monte, Monte, even before I tee off the trees are scared of me. So it might have looked like I was upset, but I wasn't.

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: She asked who I think is going to win the tournament, and I said before the round is finished it's very difficult to say or to guess who might be the players that are going to be in contention tomorrow. But obviously, as I said before, Miguel has a good chance, if he doesn't make any mistakes at the end of the round, I think he has a great chance of winning tomorrow. And I believe they will have to score well tomorrow to win.

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: No, he wasn't.

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: I think Monte -- we don't smile a lot, let's put it that way. I don't think he was upset. It's just something that develops during the round. You start playing well, striking the ball well, he had his birdie chances, never made one. You see the holes are going by, you know you need a pretty good round to have a chance the following day. That's what happened today. I didn't see Monte upset at the start of the round, at all. But that's my point of view, obviously. You might be right, I don't know.

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: Well, he hasn't done bad, has he? Difficult to say, when you win seven times in a row. But obviously I think sometimes he's a little bit tough on himself, like some of us are. But nobody is perfect. We know that accuracy on the golf course is very important, to help to go through the round in a way that might help our score a little more. But Monte is the way he is. He has done really very, very well. I would love to see him do better, but it's not happening at the moment.

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: I think it's very difficult to -- a tournament to consider it one of the most important tournaments. You need to have some history. It's very difficult when a tournament is starting, when it's born, anyway, it's very difficult to say it's a great tournament. But obviously when you look at the field, to me it's one of the most important tournaments we play in the year, without a doubt. What would it mean to me to win it? I would be thrilled. I would love to win, especially because we have a strong field. I would love to win it.