What He Said: Andres Romero

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DOUG MILNE: We'd like to welcome the 2008 Zurich Classic of New Orleans champion, Andres Romero. Congratulations. You pick up 4,500 FedExCup points and you become the fourth consecutive first-time PGA TOUR winner of this event. Just thoughts on the day. You had to wait a while, and just some general thoughts.

ROMERO: I'm very, very happy. This is incredible. I played great golf in the last two rounds. I only made one bogey in the last 36 holes, and that's very strange in my game. But it's great.

Q. How did you spend the time after your round?

ROMERO: I was very relaxed. I was at the players' lounge having some lunch and chatting with my friends. I called home, I called my mom. I was very relaxed. I just waited.

Q. You told NBC that 13 you thought was a good score. Did you think it would hold up all afternoon?

ROMERO: It was very important to put that score two hours and a half before the end. It was great because they had to reach that score. I was very quiet and relaxed, waiting. They had to do the job. I had already done my job.

Q. Have you played with Tiger, and how many times have you played with him? What do you think of Tiger?

ROMERO: Yes, I admire him. He's one of my idols. I played with him the first two rounds at the Bridgestone Invitational last year, and I followed him for many years. It's a miracle the way he wins. We have to learn those kind of things from him because he is such a great player.

Q. What kind of start did you get in golf? Tell us about your early days.

ROMERO: I started very young, at five years old. I lived just in front of the club in Tucuman. It was my place there. Especially when the Open of Tucuman was played there, I spent the whole week at the course. I missed school that week. That's the way I started.

Q. You came back this morning with birdie-birdie to finish your third round. How much confidence did that give you?

ROMERO: My idea was to make par-par, but I hit a great 3-iron to 30 yards, and I hit it perfectly. I had the chance to make a birdie, and it was great, and on 18, also. And that gave me a lot of confidence to start the fourth round, and it was great.

Q. How did your final round in the British Open -- it seemed to propel you. You didn't let your finish get you down and you went on and won the next week. How important was the fourth round of the British Open and then moving on to win the next week?

ROMERO: I learned a lot there, especially it helped me to try to finish par-par, and I finished double bogey-bogey there. I hope to go back to the British Open and try to finish like that if I have the chance again. But it helped me a lot. It was a very good experience. It was not good, but the experience was OK.

Q. Did you ever reflect during the wait when you had that penalty stroke back on Friday about the one shot that you had to give up?

ROMERO: I didn't think about that during my wait. It was a weird situation last Friday. The ball was near the rack and I went to mark it, and I don't know why I grabbed the ball. I knew the rule, but I don't know, it was something -- I didn't think about that during my wait.

Q. Was there a pivotal hole or shot today that you felt that could make you become the champion here?

ROMERO: I think that the birdie on 16 was the key. I played a great round today. Maybe on the green I didn't putt that well, but the birdie at 16, it was key, because I had 13-under with that birdie. And after that I tried to finish par-par and I thought that that was a good score.

Q. You said it's unusual for you to have one bogey over 36 holes. What was the difference or the key today to doing that?

ROMERO: I played great these two rounds, especially with my tee shots. I've missed many fairways. I was bad in the statistical fairways hit. But these two rounds I hit plenty of fairways. I think I missed two or three in these two rounds, and that was very important.

Q. Tell us about that 16th. Take us back through the 16th since that was a key hole.

ROMERO: I had a lot of confidence in my 3-wood. I never thought about playing my driver there. I think I hit a great shot.I birdied that hole all four days, so it was something great. And then I made a great approach and one-putted.

Q. How many tournaments will you play in the United States this year?

ROMERO: I will play around 18, 20 tournaments here in America. I have to play some tournaments in Europe, but I will stay here playing on the PGA TOUR. I will play here until the FedExCup and I will stay here in America.

Q. Where did you develop your sort of go-for-broke, try-to-birdie-every-hole approach? And just as a follow-up to that, do you think you'll have a parade in Argentina like Cabrera?

ROMERO: I've been always very aggressive since I was young, and that's the way I got here. Why do I have to change if I had so many good results? I don't know, it's my way of playing.

Last year there was a big parade when I arrived after winning in Hamburg, and I suppose that there will be a great party back home when I arrive.

Q. Are you going to come back here next year?

ROMERO: Yeah, sure.

Q. What kind of time did you have in New Orleans, some of the things you did?

ROMERO: I liked the city very much. We went to have dinner at different places. We went through Bourbon Street. We went to the casino. It's a great city and I hope to come back next year.

Q. How did you do at the casino?

ROMERO: Better here (laughter).

Q. What was your favorite food?

ROMERO: I went to an Italian restaurant. I ate some pasta with seafood that was good.

Q. What will you do with your winnings, the million dollars?

ROMERO: I don't know, I will see. It's too early. I am doing something at home, like rebuilding my home. But I don't know, it's too early to think about it.

Q. Any thoughts on playing your first Masters, and have you talked to any other players and asked them about the course?

ROMERO: Yeah, I talked a little bit with some guys, and they recommend me to especially practice the greens, and that's the most important thing there. As soon as I get to Augusta I will practice on the greens and the different slopes and everything. They told me that that was the most important.

Q. Do you have a practice round with anybody set up yet, anybody in particular there?

ROMERO: I guess I will practice with Cabrera, but nothing set up.

MILNE: If you would just talk about the clubs you hit on your birdie holes.

ROMERO: No. 2, driver, 3-wood into the bunker and sand wedge and a good putt.
• 7, driver, 3-wood, 60-degree, good putt.
• 11, driver, 3-wood, and I reached the green in two. Then a great putt for the third shot. That was a very important birdie.
• 12, driver, and I think one of the greatest shots of the round, a 6-iron, almost a gimme.
• 16, 3-wood and 60-degree and a putt.

DOUG MILNE: Congratulations on your first PGA TOUR win. Thanks for coming in.

Immediately after round

Q. 13-under, that was a very fine day. Did you think that would be good enough?

ANDRES ROMERO: I don't know if it will be enough, but I'm very, very happy for those two rounds on Saturday and Sunday. They were really great, and it made me very happy, these two rounds.

Q. It must have been a great help to you playing with James Driscoll today because he was playing so well and you were seeing a lot of good shots at the flags. Was that helpful?

ANDRES ROMERO: He played a great round today. He played a great round today. We shared two great rounds, and it was great because I could see some good shots.

Q. What was the strength of your game this week?

ANDRES ROMERO: I think that one of the keys was my putter. I made an excellent putt on 15 on Friday; I was like 1-over par before that hole, and that was a key putt, and after that I had a lot of confidence.

Q. And finally, what's the plan for the next two hours?

ANDRES ROMERO: I'm going to go to the players' lounge to eat something and just see some TV, so we'll just see what happens.

I don't know if I'm going to win, but I finished and that's the most important thing because the score is there and they have to match the score. I played great these last 36 holes. I made just one bogey in 36 holes, and it's not very common of me to make one bogey in two rounds. But that was the key to being here in contention at this tournament.

Q. What positive lessons have you taken from your British Open experience where you made an 8? How have you turned those to your advantage?

ANDRES ROMERO: I learned a lot that week. It was really -- I was really sad after that. It was a matter of experience. The following week I won in Hamburg and it was great. That gave me a lot of experience that I can use here.