Your coach Nick Bradley predicts you will win more
majors than Nick Faldo, who won six. Does that embarrass
you or heap more pressure on?
Well, Nick [Bradley] said I was going to be the best player in
England. And people laughed. But we proved him right. He
has a lot of confidence in himself and with what he can do
with me. But, as far as the majors are concerned, let’s win
one first. They are not easy to come by. But six is a great
target, though. You have to dream big.
Is winning majors is your ultimate goal now?
Yeah, I still have that dream. That’s really what drives me. I
geared 2007 around the majors and treated the Volvo
Masters a lot more like a major, too. I want my career to
include a major championship, or more than one, hopefully.
I’ve won the Open Championship a thousand times on the
putting green back home, so it’s something I’ve always
dreamed about as a kid, and hopefully I will go onto do win
it one day. The problem is Tiger is taking up about 50% of
our opportunities in the majors [smiles].
You had the second best record in the 2007 majors,
behind Tiger. Do you expect to be doing better than just
making cuts in majors now?
One of my goals for 2007 was to play in all four majors,
which wasn’t guaranteed at the start of the year, and to have
two top-10s with one chance to win. I had that chance at
Augusta, being one shot behind with two holes to play. I had
two top-10s and two top-12s. In some ways I am happy. But
I feel I let chances slip. At the Masters, I should have finished
second. And, at the US Open, I should have had a top
three or four. But I was in the hunt to win two majors and I
felt comfortable. That was a big learning curve. It is all very
well to say I am ready to win a major but you don’t know
until you come close and get a taste of one. That’s when you
learn how you react. And I felt there was more in me.
Was the 2007 Masters a major that got away?
It was the first year I have been a proper contender in the
majors. I felt excited. Not because I finished fifth but because I
was on the leaderboard and I learned a lot about myself. I
made a little charge on the back nine at Augusta and it wasawesome. I was gutted to make bogey at 17 but there you go.
In five years, if I have contended in many more majors but
haven’t won, then maybe you look at things differently.
Was that wayward tee shot at 17 caused by pressure? That is such a hard tee shot. I was enjoying the moment,
lapping it up. I hit it maybe 20 yards right. It wasn’t an
awful tee shot. I don’t know how my ball ended up down the
15th fairway. I couldn’t believe it. I had a 3-wood into that
green, which was impossible. I was just trying to hit a career
Seve shot. But it didn’t come off.
What needs to improve for you to win a major?
I need to get fitter. But it’s hard graft in the gym. I hate it.
And that’s part of the problem. Tiger loves it; he can’t get
enough of it. And I’ve got to get like that. I’m really only
looking for that last 1%. I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel.
My biggest improvement has been mentally. Your patience is
tested so much in the majors, particularly. A year or two ago,
I struggled with that.
You had quite some year winning the 2007 European
Order of Merit and making it to No .6 in the world.
What’s the secret of your success?
Consistency. I’ve had a lot of top-10s and three seconds and
all that was missing was a win. And that’s why the Volvo
Masters was so important. Winning the European Order of
Merit has been an amazing achievement and it wasn’t even a
goal at the start of 2007. But it became one.
That was a great way to finish ’07 – and a spur for ’08.
It’s the pinnacle of my career so far. It means you are top dog
in Europe and that’s a huge honour. Players |
have fought hard for that in
the past. Obviously Monty protected it and guarded it for seven
years in a row. And it was Lee Westwood that broke that
run in 2000. And Padraig Harrington has talked so much
about what it meant to him to win it in 2006.
Are you ready to be
a big-time player now?
I am but I realise I have some stepping-stones along the way,
too. I think I can win a major at any time. I have proved in
2007 that my game stacks up. I believe winning a few more
times would help me get over the finish line when that situation
arrives soon. The more times you win, the easier it
becomes, and the more comfortable you feel.
What drives you?
It’s not the money. It’s winning. When I win I feel such a sense
of relief that this feels right, this is when I’m happy. There is no
greater feeling than the elation of that 18th-green ceremony
when you get your hands on the silverware. As an amateur, I
had that feeling a lot. Then when I turned pro, I didn’t win for
four years. And then when I won in 2002, I couldn’t believe
how good it felt. I had forgotten what it felt like to win. And
then I went bang, bang, bang, and won three more times. And
now, I had freakin’ forgotten all about it again [smiles]. Until
the Volvo Masters in November.
When your father (and coach), Ken, died in 2002, that
was obviously a huge loss.
It was 21 years of quality rather than 50 years of quantity. I do
have regrets that he hasn’t seen the fruits of all the hard work
he put in with me. It would have been nice for him to be have
been sharing the success I am beginning to have. I don’t
believe I would be where I am today without the grounding
and emotional support that he and my family have always
given me. That’s one reason why I was able to come through
such a tough start to my career.
What was key to his teaching?
He kept the game simple and interesting during my formative
years and allowed my talent to come through. He deserves
a lot of praise. He was the first one who drew criticism
when I turned pro with people saying he needed to back off.
But I felt it was the right thing. I felt I needed him around
at that early stage of my career. When I turned pro, I was
just 18 years old, and the next youngest guy was Steve Webster
at 23. I didn’t
have anybody out there who could relate to me.
What lessons from him do you carry with you today?
When you are a kid, you are a sponge. So I guess the person
I am is largely down to my upbringing. And I have obviously
also picked up lessons from David Leadbetter and Nick
Bradley and Jim Loehr. I have good memories of having fun
with him during my amateur days. He was the reason I enjoyed
the game. I regret that when I turned pro, we didn’t play
much golf together. The game became a little serious.
Talking
of those amateur days, it has been 10 years since you came
to everyone’s attention by holing
a wedge at the last at Royal Birkdale to finish fourth
as a 17-yearold amateur. What memories do you have of 1998?
Birkdale was a fairytale. It just happened to me. I didn’t
really know much about it. It was like, wow, where did that
come from? I managed to have fun. I remember walking from
greens to tees and high-fiving everyone. It was awesome.
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