Ross Fisher: 'I learnt so much just from watching Tiger play'

Last Sunday in Dubai you played in the final round with Tiger Woods. Was there any piece of advice he gave to you that has stuck in your mind? He didn't give me any specific advice, but he did say, "Keep plugging away", which doesn't really sound much, but that's exactly what you have to do. He was very encouraging about my game when we finished. It's nice to hear other people, particularly pros, say that they think I could improve a lot more. But, of course, it's a lot more satisfying when it comes from him.

What most impressed you about Tiger? His attitude and mental toughness. He wasn't at his best, but he was still in the mix on Sunday and he was trying to save every single shot. It's so easy to get frustrated when you're not on your game, and there's a big difference between trying to make the best of what you have to work with and actually doing it. He did it and does it every week, which is one reason why he's the best. I learnt so much from just watching him. Golfers improve by competing with players who are of a higher standard and they don't come any better than Tiger. I hope we'll get another chance to play before too long.

What was it like being ranked 294th in the world and outdriving the world No 1, as you did on a couple of occasions? Honestly, I didn't think much about it. I was simply trying to outscore him.

Do you look back on Dubai now as a successful week or a missed opportunity? Definitely both. There's no doubt that a fifth-place finish in a field as strong as that was a great result. I've had better finishes, but it was the fact that Tiger, Ernie (Els) and a host of the world's best players were there, which made it special. On the other hand, I can't help but feel slightly disappointed that I didn't win, because I felt really good all week and was in or tied for the lead most of the time.

What has been the reaction to your brush with fame? There's obviously been a great reaction from my family and friends. My phone has been jammed with texts and messages, mostly from people I see and talk to all the time, but there have been one or two that I haven't heard from in a while. With the public, I don't get recognised a great deal, but a few people did come up to me at Gatwick when I got back and asked me to sign a few things.

Has your agent's phone been busy? Yeah, Mark (Booker, from IMG) has had a busier week than usual. But I would expect that. The European Tour, just like any professional sport, is a performance-driven environment. If you perform well, things happen and opportunity comes your way. For now, though, I have to keep improving and working my way up the rankings. If I do that, everything else will fit in around it.

Someone in the press said that you trying to beat Tiger was like Jamie Delgado fronting up to Roger Federer. Is that true? That sort of comparison between tennis and golf is a bit of a myth. The obvious difference between the two sports is that golfers play everybody else in the field at once, not just the person on the other side of the net, and this makes it much harder for guys like Tiger to win as often as he does. Even during the last round in Dubai, there were at least five players who could have won - Tiger, Ernie, Henrik Stenson, Niclas Fasth and me. There is strength in depth in Europe and any player out there is capable of low scores on a given day and can cause an upset. The top players are still better over a period of time, but there are a lot of factors which can affect golfers that do not apply in other sports.

Your stepfather has been a big influence on your career. Was he gutted he wasn't there to see you play against Tiger? Of course, but he can't travel every week as he is often going around the country with his work. There will be bigger weeks in the future when he, and the rest of my family, will be there. I said in Dubai that when I go home to Ascot I pop around to see my mum as much as I can, as she's often on her own and I do feel sorry for her. I'd love to help them out somehow, to maybe cut down on my stepdad's travelling or something, because they tried to give me every opportunity to succeed and they still do. If I can help them I will, but I need a few more weeks like Dubai first.

What are your goals for the rest of the season? My goal is the same as it will always be; carry on improving. My goals are not based on prize-money or rankings because both of those things will take care of themselves if and when I become a better player. Saying that, I would like to finish in the Top 50 on the Order of Merit, and winning a tournament is another aim. But I've been in position to win a few times and it hasn't happened yet. It will happen when I'm good enough. What happened in Dubai was great, but it isn't going to make my season so I'm off to California to do some club testing with Titleist at the end of this week and then I'll be stopping off in Florida on the way back to get in some quality practice before my next event, in Thailand.

You're 26 and only turned pro at 24. Do you wish you'd made the leap earlier? Not really. I had a good amateur record, but it wasn't that special. When I turned pro I was ready, which is the most important thing. I was in the English Golf Union's Elite Squad, which provided me with valuable coaching and other support and there was no reason to leave that system too early. Only the individual knows when they are ready to play professionally.

If you carry on at the same rate of improvement, you're going to be very famous and very rich. Are you ready for all that? They both sound like very nice problems to have. Financial security would be great, but that's still a long way off. I'm pretty sure that fame and money have their drawbacks.

When you were 13 you qualified for a sponsorship at Wentworth. Is it hard for a young player from an unprivileged background to become a pro? It's certainly more difficult, as golf club fees can be expensive. I was really lucky to get picked for the Foundation Scheme at Wentworth and their support has been invaluable. The courses and facilities are great and the tournaments there showed me what I was working towards and were inspirational. If I didn't have that opportunity, who knows what would have happened? Equally, I've seen people with the talent and opportunity to succeed who have achieved relatively little. The crucial element to success is hard work.

In Dubai, you told a delicious story about how the nearest you had ever been to Tiger before was when working on the driving range at Wentworth in 1998. Do you still know any of the other ball boys who worked with you, and what are they doing now? I think the guy who I worked with that week was Matt Wilcox, who also turned pro. I'm not certain what Matt's up to, but I think he might be into building things.

Have you still got the Jaguar you won last year as a "nearest-the-pin" prize at the British Masters? No, I haven't. I sold it and now have a BMW instead. It was a nice car, but I wouldn't have bought it myself.