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BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIPMay 20, 2014Matteo ManasseroVIRGINIA WATER, ENGLAND PAUL SYMES: Many thanks for joining us. Welcome back. Obviously this week is very special anyway but coming back as the defending champion, that really adds to the excitement. MATTEO MANASSERO: Yes, it adds a lot, actually, to the excitement. As you said, and I've kept on saying it; it has been a special week every year I came here, but obviously this year, it's more special just because of what happened last year for sure. The memories that you have every time you come back to a tournament, you get memories, and when memories are as good as this time for last year, all of a sudden, the week becomes even more special, and that's the way‑‑ that's the way I feel right now. I feel like I am in a special place but I always felt that. But I feel like this year, there is something‑‑ there is something extra to it. But I would say there would always be, because in the end, you know, it's going to stay with me for my life. So if I come back here in ten years, I will still remember that. Hopefully I will remember a few more, but I will remember the first one, and I will remember last year's win. So it will always be something really, really special. PAUL SYMES: How many times have you watched the video of last year's playoff. MATTEO MANASSERO: I watched it quite a lot of times. I've got it recorded in my TV, so I have it, yeah, but I remember everything. I've got it in my mind; that I don't need to really see it but I did watch it quite a few times. Q. How would you sum up your form for the rest of the year after you won here? Was it everything you hoped for? Were you a little disappointed with maybe not kicking on and winning more titles? MATTEO MANASSERO: The week right after was great. I played really well. I played probably even better than here in Sweden. It was one hole that threw me off the tournament there, otherwise, I would have had a really good shot of winning the Swedish Open last year. So that was‑‑ right after it was really good, but I was definitely a little bit disappointed. The scores weren't that good but especially throughout the summer and towards the end of the year, I was struggling with my swing. I changed a few things that now are starting to work, and I did some work‑‑ I didn't get influenced by the swing so much in my mind. In fact, I tried to keep developing my game and keep I will proving and that's probably why I ended up not scoring that well for the last period after that, and I think that's the reason. The win had nothing to do with the bad scores of summer and after summer and during‑‑ yeah, during autumn and in the winter. It had nothing to do with that. It was more about the changes that I wanted to do in order to start striking the ball a little better. But it's always difficult. Yeah, to answer your question, I was, of course, a little disappointed with the end of last year. It was more than disappointing; frustrating, let's put it that way. Q. How much is Ryder Cup in your mind now for this year, and how disappointed would you be if you didn't make it, and are you ready for the team? Do you feel ready to make that rise? MATTEO MANASSERO: I would not be disappointed if I won't make Ryder Cup. The reason why is because the team is really competitive. So the 12 guys that are going to make that team deserve to be on that team. It's not something that I will have thrown away. It's only something that I didn't‑‑ I just wasn't quite good to do to be able to get in. The guys are playing so well. Some spots are already done, given to those guys, because they played so well till this point. You know, most probably they are going to keep on playing well. But apart from that, maybe that's the reason why I won't be disappointed. But it's there and you know, it would be an amazing achievement; I would think it's an amazing achievement if I would make The Ryder Cup Team, especially because it's such a hard team to make, and because I didn't start so well in the beginning. The beginning is always really important. If you can start a little‑‑ if you can start well, then right there, you only need one step to get in. Now it's almost if I need two steps to get in. It's a little bit harder, so at this point, if I will make it, it's going to be a great achievement and I will be extremely happy about it. It's hard to answer the question whether I'll be ready or not. I feel that I can be ready to play match play in that situation, but I've never played The Ryder Cup, and so what everybody describes is something so different and so incredible, that it's hard to tell you‑‑ I don't know, will I be ready so I will win matches, it might be yes; it might be no. But I will be ready to give 110 per cent to the team, that's for sure. I can assure you that; I can promise you that. But I don't know, I mean, the team, the other team is so good, as well. So if I will get in that position, we'll see. You just have to play for your match. But I will be so happy and so proud to be there that I think I will be ready. Q. You've spoken to Francesco about it? MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, yeah. Q. What's he said? MATTEO MANASSERO: It's hard to describe. He also says it's really hard to describe what you feel but in the end, you know, it comes down to golf, and it comes down to the same things you do every time, and under a very different circumstance and very different atmosphere for sure to what we face every week. That's basically what he says. But he also says, you have to witness it, you have to be there, and be able to, and stand on the shot before you can actually understand how hard it is; but also how good and how nice the position you're in is. So, there is two faces. One, it's hard to handle. The other one is it's extremely nice. Q. Obviously it's great to win a tournament, but was there a certain amount of disappointment that you maybe didn't win a tournament as big as this this year in a Ryder Cup year, obviously would be ideal? MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, if you catch the right year, it's helpful in that sense. But I have a lot of tournaments ahead of me still, and that's why, you know, if you start winning, if you start in November you and win one of The Final Series tournaments, for example, you already have a big boost and you're right up there. And even if you stop playing well, you're still going to be there in September around there somewhere. So it's a bit‑‑ I mean, you can't choose when you win. It just happens. But that's why, also, you know, obviously winning in a Ryder Cup year makes a huge difference to that. But it's not disappointing. I mean, I would take‑‑ I would take this win any year. But obviously if you're fortunate enough to have it in a Ryder Cup year, you put yourself in a great position. But this tournament is still yet to start, so I definitely have a shot at it, and many more from now to September. I think there is a lot of opportunities still that are out there, and if I'll be able to catch one, then I'll be fortunate to have won in a Ryder Cup year. Q. Deciding to play The Irish Open this year, was The Ryder Cup in your mind as one of those possible victories? MATTEO MANASSERO: Well, yes, The Ryder Cup is in my mind, preparing, scheduling the year, for sure. And in that period, there is a lot of tournaments, but there is also Majors. So Majors is where the focus goes. You cannot get to a Major really tired or really stressed because you've played a lot of tournaments in a row. That's the reason behind playing The Irish Open, because I wanted to have‑‑ I didn't want to play a lot before the U.S. Open‑‑ the British Open, but I wanted to play those two tournaments that I always play, in France and Scotland. But I also didn't want to miss out for those four tournaments there, because they are good tournaments and there's a lot of good players and they count a lot in that sense, Ryder Cup. So that's the reason why I choose that, why I choose to play The Irish Open. And I also think, you know, I played it in Portrush and I played it the year before Portrush. There is always a very good atmosphere there. I've never played that course, but my caddie is Irish and I asked him about it and he says it's a really good course. So, you know, I think it's going to be a great week. Obviously, as we all know, it's a great tournament. I didn't think many times to put it in my schedule. It was a pretty easy yes. Q. Just wondering what your overriding recollections are from your win here last year, was there maybe something earlier in the week where your game suddenly clicked into gear or maybe something on the Sunday? MATTEO MANASSERO: I think the most important day was Friday. Friday was a really‑‑ I don't know if you can remember, it was a really, really bad weather day. It was raining. It was very cold, and it was very windy in the afternoon. All the guys that played in the afternoon, couldn't play well. They kind of either just made the cut or missed the cut. I was able to hang in there. I think I probably shot level par or maybe 1‑under, but I think I shot level par. So I managed to stay around there. You know, all the guys from the morning, from afternoon/morning, so Friday morning, they were up there, and I was around there. I mean, I wasn't far from them. So I think that was the most important day for me. After that, after passing through, going through such a tough day, your confidence building up. You know that you're able to do something good. You're going to be strong on the weekend, and that's what I felt. In general, the game was not perfect. I didn't feel like I was playing extremely well. But I certainly could feel that I wasn't missing many shots and I was‑‑ maybe a miss‑hit just on the green. I wasn't hitting it well, at all. The driver was not 100 per cent, but I never hit a really bad drive, and you know, when I needed to hit a good shot, I was doing it. So it was just the right game for Wentworth. Not incredible, nothing extremely special, but it was sharp and it was very good around the greens and on the greens. PAUL SYMES: Thanks very much, Matteo, have a great week. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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