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February 25, 2007
Transcript by ASASP Sports
THE MODERATOR: Jose, welcome today. You had to go to a playoff, you finished in second place, you finished in the Top-10, is this a good beginning?
JOSE COCERES: How are you everybody, good afternoon.
I'm very happy to have finished in the Top-10, and that was one of the goals I had in coming here to take advantage of everything possible because I was not in the top 125. I was aiming to be the winner. I ended up in second place but I still finished in the Top-10, so that's quite an achievement.
I was recently talking to my manager, I think I needed to play a little bit more before we came here. It's only my second tournament this year, and I needed to have more tournament practice, more tournaments in which I should be playing. And that put a lot of pressure on me, because I have only two opportunities to play, and it made me a little bit tight. The pressure caught up with me, especially on 18.
Q. Precisely that, the last three holes in regulation, and then on the playoff holes, I think you would have liked to be a little bit more aggressive on your putts.
JOSE COCERES: Yes, that is correct. Not having had a chance to be active in other tournaments, not have enough practice, didn't give me the confidence to play and my respect for the other players who finished at 13-under.
But as I say, my lack of playing in other tournaments before this one is what really gave me a lot of pressure.
Q. Can you tell us something about the 15th hole?
JOSE COCERES: Yes, the other player who was with me hit a 7-iron, and he went long. So I hit an 8-iron and I even went further than he did with an 8-iron. So I guess I was under a lot of pressure and that made me hit the ball a little further. But anyway, I managed to make a par out of that hole.
Q. What iron did you hit on the second playoff hole?
JOSE COCERES: I hit a 4-iron and I was about 15 meters away. I hit the slope on the front end of the green and then stopped the ball from drifting down towards the hole. I was about 45 feet away from the hole, but I tried my best. But my playing partner on the playoff hole played better than I did, and he deserves to win.
I was speaking to my manager and we had a 50/50 chance whether to go play a tournament in Argentina or to come here and play, and we decided we'd better come here. I wish I had played in Argentina to win for my country and I wish I had played here to also win for my country, but it didn't happen that way.
Q. Did you have your tickets already purchased for your return flight home?
JOSE COCERES: I don't know. I'll have to talk to my manager about that.
Q. Is this your first PGA Tour tournament that you have played outside the USA?
JOSE COCERES: Well, this is the first time that I've come to play in a tournament, any kind of tournament. And the way it has been organized has been fabulous. It's been a great organization. The players in México have had a lot of fun. The Mexican fans and the foreign fans have all treated me very nicely. I'm sure that we will all be very happy to come back again in the following years because everybody enjoyed the organization, the golf course and the tournament.
México is a great country and it's been a great host and we all enjoyed it. We have to wait and see how the sponsors react to this tournament, but I'm sure that they will all be very happy and continue with this tournament and will be inviting us again, and we will be very happy to come back. I myself will be very happy to come back. Now that I've almost won the tournament, I certainly look forward to coming back for the next one.
Q. The tournament that you played in Argentina, do you feel that you've reached the point where you can start climbing in the World Rankings?
JOSE COCERES: Yes, I still play soccer in Argentina, and that has taken some time away from my golf, but I'm going to concentrate more on the game of golf, and I hope to have better results in the remainder of this year.
Thank you very much and thank you to all of México and the organization.
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