ASAHI RYOKUKEN INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

May 16, 2002

Janice Moodie

LAURA NEAL: Thanks for coming in. Let's see your score card and get comments on your round.

JANICE MOODIE: You wanted the birdies? Birdie on No. 4, which was -- 9-iron into the -- what No. is 4? I'm getting confused here because I played the back 9 first.

The back, No. 12, on the green to about ten feet; holed it.

No. 14 was where I hit it a 3-wood and 9-iron into 6 feet and holed that.

4, I hit up the hill, 3-wood off the tee, 7-wood -- 3-wood off the tee, 7-iron into three feet; holed it.

No. 6, on the green in two, 2-putt.

And I missed the short putt on 7.

I bogeyed 11. Par-3, down the hill, I hit a shot great, and then off over the hill.

LAURA NEAL: Let's get comments on how things went out there today.

JANICE MOODIE: Some real tough pin placements. My playing partners hit good shots you thought were going to end up real close, and the greens are getting really, really hard. And by the time Sunday rolls around, I'm sure they'll be really crispy.

Q. I heard after you finished about one hole, you hit a 7-iron really high to try to get it -- the pin was on the front, I guess. Is that how you handle these hard greens?

JANICE MOODIE: Yeah, especially if the greens are rolling away from you. You just want to get it on the front edge and just kind of let the ball do the rest, almost like gravity do the rest.

Q. It seemed out there that everybody was just kind of battling today; nobody has gone really low. Is it the course, the hills on the course? Is it the firmness of the greens? What do you think the reason is out there?

JANICE MOODIE: I mean, yeah, there's a lot of tough pin placements out there, especially for Thursday. You expect it on Sunday. But the slopes of the greens are just really, really tough to read, and if you get on the wrong side of a hole out there, it's a good par you're going to make.

I had a 12-foot putt on No. 7, and it had about 6 feet of break on it, if not more.

Q. How do you keep yourself mentally strong in situations like that, because it would seem if you think you hit a good shot, and all of a sudden you wind up on the wrong side. It seems like it would take its toll on you.

JANICE MOODIE: Yeah, I think it could do. But obviously with it being the first day, I'm okay right now. But ask that question after maybe Saturday or something.

Q. How much firmer are the greens compared to the practice round?

JANICE MOODIE: They've cut them down a little bit, so they're a little bit faster to putt on. But I think it's just the fact that there's been very little rain. When we came here on Monday, there was that storm that came through, and they got more moisture, and now they're just starting to firm up a little bit.

Q. Did you play here last year?

JANICE MOODIE: Yeah.

Q. Is it an advantage? Like somebody just playing the first time this year doesn't know those slopes as well?

JANICE MOODIE: Yeah, I mean I would say so. I think sometimes you come on to holes and you get bad memories of the hole, too, so I don't know if that's an advantage or disadvantage as well. So I just think that it's a really challenging golf course with great tee shots. It's not always driver off the tee, and I think it's a fun test of golf.

Q. At what point did you realize that there weren't going to be any really low scores today?

JANICE MOODIE: You know what, there might still be because the afternoon is still to play. I'm last off in the morning, so it wouldn't surprise me if there's going to be lower scores than me.

Q. I think last year the first round the leading score was 67. Do you remember how the course played compared to today?

JANICE MOODIE: No. A year is a long time for a blonde.

Q. Only eight months?

JANICE MOODIE: That's right, only eight months. It's still a long time.

Q. How did you play last year?

JANICE MOODIE: I think I finished 17th. I think I had a really good day on the last day.

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