Sponsored by:
I didn't have any options. Either I played golf, or I'd have to work in people's gardens or become a handyman. If golf didn't pan out, I'd have nothing.
When are you happiest?
When I'm on the course playing, obviously — otherwise, when I'm spending
time with my sons and my wife, because
I have very little time to be with them.
So happiness for you is chilling at
home in Cordoba, firing up your massive red-brick grilling station
and preparing an asado?
There's nothing better.
You must have been pretty happy
when you reached a 603-yard hole
with driver and an 8-iron in South
Africa in 2005. Are you as long now
as then? Have you made any
concessions to age, at 38?
I'm getting older, yes — thank you for
noticing. That's a question for the statisticians.
I don't measure the distance of
my shots. Look, I'm never going to change
or adjust my game. It's always going to
be the same game to me. I may be a bit
shorter or longer, but nothing is really
going to change.
Last year in Cordoba you told me
that you felt more comfortable
playing in Europe than in the
United States because of the coterie
of Argentine ex-pats you hung out
with there who helped you combat
your homesickness. Have you
started to adapt better to life on
the PGA Tour this year?
Nothing has really changed. I'm playing
here now because it's almost an obligation
to play here. But the truth is, I felt
much more comfortable playing in
Europe than here. Here, I'm alone. I go
out alone. I play alone. Over there, people
were generally friendlier, warmer.
And I had seven or eight Argentinean
friends on the tour to hang out with. But
I made the decision at the beginning of
the year to play more on the PGA Tour.
I'm trying it for a year. At the end of the
year I'll see if I continue or leave. I'll stay
if I can adapt and feel comfortable. If not
I'll go back to Europe.
What's the biggest misconception
about you?
People will think what they want. That
stuff doesn't matter to me. Whether they
think well about me or not, I'm trying to
do things as best I can. I can't change the
way people think.
What's the one thing you like least
about yourself?
I don't know. What's not to like? I love
myself. I think everything I do I do well,
although I make mistakes sometimes.
Order these items in terms of
priority: Sex, money, golf, friends,
Argentina.
I don't answer those kinds of questions.
That kind of b.s. doesn't interest me. Ask
me about golf, and I'll answer any question
you have.
You were left to live with your
grandmother when you were 3,
and you've never talked with either
of your parents as an adult. Has
there been any movement in your
relationship with them? What
would it take to finally make peace?
No. No. No. I have my kids, my wife and
no one else. They are my only family.
What's your greatest strength?
Playing golf.
How would you like to be remembered
after you're gone?
People will remember me the way they
want to no matter what I do or how I am.
Like I said, I don't really care what other
people think of me.
){kind=link}