U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 2, 1998

Annika Sorenstam

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I am very pleased at the way I played. I think I played really good golf on 17 holes, and I think today was probably the easiest pin placements you could have out there. I am sure the pins are going to get tougher and tougher and really hard on Sunday, so that was kind of thankful for me, I think. Just I hit a lot of good drives, a lot of good shots into the greens. Really solid. I am very pleased the way I played and putted pretty consistent also. Just one hole that I had some trouble on. Other than that, I am happy with the first round.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Of course I see how they are doing. It is always nice to play with somebody who is playing well and hopefully will rub off a little bit - especially get the momentum going. She played some good pars, hit great shots. When somebody is always in the middle of the fairway, it is good rhythm to the group, so I think that helps.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Okay, I birdied the 4th hole. I hit a sand wedge to about a foot. Then I triple bogeyed the fifth hole. Hit 7-iron in the water to the right and I dropped and chipped it over the green, chipped again and 2-putted. Then bogey on No. 7. I hit a 5-iron just short of the green and putted from there, but unfortunately I 3-putted. Then birdied No. 8. 8-iron to about twelve feet. Birdied No. 11. Pitching wedge to about 16 feet. Bogeyed No. 12. Hit a 7-iron in the bunker to the right, hit it up, 2-putted. Birdied No. 16. Sand wedge to 30 feet. And then also birdied 18. 7-wood to about 18 feet.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, they are very long,; especially the 7th hole. And, the greens are a little tricky and the pin placements, they are in the front, so it is easy to -- you want to make sure the ball lands in the front and then -- but there you have the trouble. You either have a bunker or water or thick rough. So, when the greens are so big and so undulated, you can't just hit it on the green because then you are going to have a really tricky putt. So you still want to make sure you hit it close to the pin and that is what I found the trouble when the pins are really close to the edges, a little miss to the right-left, you are in trouble.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, for a few seconds I did. But I told myself: It is only Thursday; let's play, try and get this behind you; go from here. There are a lot of good holes to come up. Just hit one shot at a time. That is all I could do. That is what I promised myself to do this week. I think I managed, even though it was a big score on that hole, kind of hurt me, but I promised myself I won't give up and I won't. I am going to keep grinding and grinding. That was the lesson that I learned last year.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, you know, we waited a lot up in the fairway and I only had a 7-iron in my hand and hit a little fat, quick swing and hit it in the water to the right. When you drop it there, you don't have a lot of choices. It is just thick rough and it is hard to chip out of this rough and fast greens.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, it is a long hole and the wind is coming left-to-right today and it is just a quick green. Like I said, you want to stay closer, a lot of undulations on the greens. It is also not so easy to hit it close; especially when you hit long irons.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I am sorry if I didn't answer the question.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I think Laura's score is going to be one of the lowest, maybe 1 less, but that is about it, I think. Like I said, it is the easiest you can find, but it doesn't mean they are easy. This is a really tricky golf course and even though the pins are in the front, it is a long golf course too. So 3-under, I -- that is probably one of the lowest all day, I think. For the whole tournament, that is a super round.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I think Laura played really good golf today. She played very sensible out there. She uses her driving iron, I think, hit a lot of fairways, she just hits some really solid shots. She has been talking a little bit about her putting. You cannot even trace that she has been putting very bad all year. Very consistent. She even made some long putts for birdie. So a lot of confidence, it looked like to me, very controlled, so it was nice to see.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I do. I am very pleased with the way I finished. And when you make a bad score out here for a moment it feels like, all right, I lost this tournament, but I think you just got to remember that we have many holes to play and it is a really tough golf course and the scores are going to be high. Like I said earlier, I am not going to give up, just keep grinding and trying to forget all about the bad shots and remember the good ones, and there is a lot of holes out there that you really could birdie them all if you are lucky. So if you are not that lucky, maybe birdie a few, that is kind of what I think about when I am out there.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, I grind a lot.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yes, it is.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: It is very impressive. Laura is a strong player. Obviously she is a little taller than me, too, but she does hit it very straight also. And, like I said, she is playing smart golf. She doesn't need to use her driver because she hits it so far. If she can place it the way she has done it, that is going to be the key this week.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, she is very strong. She has strong arms, legs, she uses all the big muscles in her swing. She has a lot of feel and when her timing is right, all the muscles are there. I assume, that is why she hits it is so far. To me, doesn't like she holds back anything. She just -- everything she has, she puts behind the ball.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: That was a long putt. I wrote down 30, 32 feet.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, 13 -- 14 I had maybe seven feet. On 15, six feet.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I want to just say I don't think the pins are easy, but they are the easiest that they can get here. You know, of course, I knew that I have lot of holes to play and I could make birdies on them, but you can't take anything for granted here. It is not like you make a bogey and say, hey, well, I have a lot of easy holes left. There is no such thing out here. Of course the holes are shorter when the pins are in the front. I think that was kind of the best thing today. I didn't really have to use long woods in.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I think it is probably one of the most difficult greens I have ever seen. They are very big and sometimes it feels like, oh, I hit the green; that is great, but you could be 50 feet and maybe 40 yards away from a pin, so, then they are very undulated - a few putts that I had today, it was two to three different breaks. First it is left-to-right; then right-to-left; then downhill. You have got to be careful. I find that it is not a course where you can go for putts. Lag putting is probably going to be something you need to be able to do this week.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yes, I do. Like I said, the greens are big. There is a lot of different places that they can put them, and I am sure they found some good ones out there. I think they even put out some dots already and we kind of looked at them already and they looked a little trickier.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I think if you par 18 everyday, that is a good score. Just because it is long, but like you said, there is a lot water on the left from the tee and also by the green. The more they are going to move the pin further back and further left, that water really comes in play. When you are hitting woods in, it is not easy to control and especially when the greens are firm too, so, I personally think I am going to shoot more for the middle of the green and go from there.

RHONDA GLENN: Thank you so much for being with us. Good luck tomorrow.