U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 23, 2005

Angela Stanford

Q. Angela, what is it about the U.S. Open that brings out the best in you?

ANGELA STANFORD: I am not sure every year is the best. I struggled here, but then I have also done really well. Maybe just a lot of it is how I feel about the golf course. I love Pumpkin Ridge. I love this golf course, so I like the layout. Maybe it's just I am more level-headed this week (laughs).

Q. You really elevated your game for this championship, haven't you?

ANGELA STANFORD: This year has been a bumpy ride so far, and I think everything that I have been learning along the way I am using this week. A lot of that has been being patient on the golf course; that really came in handy today.

Q. You only missed two fairways obviously the key to playing well here.

ANGELA STANFORD: Definitely. The fairway that I missed - I missed 9 - that was the only one I had to chip out. I think I missed a total of -- I don't remember. But 9 is the only one I remember that I had to really just chip out.

That's the key here. You got to be in the short stuff. You got to give yourself a chance into the green.

Q. How many times did you hit driver today?

ANGELA STANFORD: Only twice on the front, I think. The back I hit more. I think it's about two or three on the back, outside of the par 3s.

Q. Let's go over your card, please. Birdie on 1.

ANGELA STANFORD: Probably 12, 13 feet maybe, pin-high. I hit a sand wedge

Q. No. 4 how did you manage to make a birdie there?

ANGELA STANFORD: It was actually just in the first cut, so I got lucky there and just hit a low-hooking 4-iron. It ran all the way up. It must have been running for at least 75 yards, so that first cut kind of came in handy there.

Q. How long?

ANGELA STANFORD: The putt was definitely 25, 30 feet.

Q. Birdie on 5.

ANGELA STANFORD: Actually hit 5-iron off the tee, then 7-wood to lay up and hit a gap-wedge into about five feet above the hole. So just hit that one off the toe and it went straight in.

Q. Bogey on 6.

ANGELA STANFORD: Got quick on the swing. My tempo. I tried to think about my tempo today, that was a quick swing just into the bunker left.

Q. 8, bogey.

ANGELA STANFORD: I can't remember. Actually hit a good shot off the tee. It was a 7-wood and sometimes my 7-woods aren't as high as others, so this was more -- I told my caddie it was my bullet shot and I knew -- everybody was clapping, I thought that didn't stay on the green, so I didn't get up-and-down.

Q. 9, bogey.

ANGELA STANFORD: 9 was the missed fairway right. Chipped out, actually hit a great wedge in for my third shot, barely missed the par-putt from like 15 feet.

Q. Birdie on 15.

ANGELA STANFORD: That par 3, actually, I lucked out here. Just kind of fits my eye, and hit a 5-iron and that putt must have been 10, 15 feet, somewhere in there.

Q. 17.

ANGELA STANFORD: 17, just hit a sand wedge in there and actually felt like I hit it too far, and that putt was a good 20 feet.

Q. You get off to the fast start then how big was it to get it back going?

ANGELA STANFORD: A lot of that was what I am learning about being patient. I told my caddie, "Easy come easy go out here."

This year at the McDonald's Championship I kind -- I blew up on one hole. When I made the turn, got it back to even, I thought, I am not going to lose my head, I am just going to keep playing, I am going to keep doing what I am supposed to do, one shot at time and let's just see what happens.

The putting, I think you have to be a great putter at U.S. Opens. I feel like I am rolling it very well. I feel like I have been putting well all year, it just hadn't gone in the hole. Every time I got over it today, I thought I am a great putter and at some point they are going to go in.

Q. Talk a bit about the greens, how do you think they are playing now, if you hope they stay the same way throughout or how much more difficult do you think they might get by Sunday?

ANGELA STANFORD: The scary part is they could probably speed them up. That's the scary part. I noticed towards the end there they were getting a little bumpy, but I think that's just the type of grass. They were very smooth our first, you know, 14, 15 holes. Just started to notice it at the end. I am scared they will speed them up. That's a good possibility.

Q. Any correlation the way you feel about your game right now and 2003?

ANGELA STANFORD: Pretty similar in that I am playing I feel like I am really in the moment. I think in 2003, each shot I hit I was really in the moment. I felt like that today. So that was a good feeling (laughs).

Q. Talk about the par save on 18.

ANGELA STANFORD: 18 is probably one of the toughest finishing holes that I have seen in a while. Second shot is tough for me because I hit -- my ball flight is just a little bit lower, so visually that's tough for me. I was actually happy it made it to the bunker. I just tried to hit a good bunker shot, keep it below the hole.

Again that putting, some par putts today. I thought, you know, at some point I am going to make one of these par putts, I am just due and I am rolling it so well. That one I felt good because it was just straight up.

Q. What clubs did you hit that hole?

ANGELA STANFORD: Driver, 4-iron.

Q. How long was the putt?

ANGELA STANFORD: Say, seven feet. I am bad with my feet.

Q. Did you feel beaten up by the end of the day?

ANGELA STANFORD: Yeah. It is an emotional roller coaster. I started out really high, then came back. Even made a couple of birdies coming in. I did feel good to get off to a good start and just, I mean, you do get beat up out there.

Q. Is it a course where you have to get it early because it gets tougher early?

ANGELA STANFORD: I am expecting that this course is just going to get tougher. Then you factor in the nerves on the weekend. It's just going to get tougher. So I was hoping to get out with a good round today.

Q. Everything set up fairly? It is a good test of golf?

ANGELA STANFORD: I think so. I think it's one of the best and I have only played in. I think this is my fifth Open maybe. I love the setup. You don't hit driver all the time. You have to put your ball in a certain spot and a lot of times that's hard at U.S. Opens because the fairways roll out so much. So there's really a lot of strategy that goes into this golf course and a lot of planning, and I think that's why I like it because you really have to think your way around this golf course.

Q. Did you ever find yourself looking at the leaderboard to see if some player from Sweden was --

ANGELA STANFORD: (Laughs) I think it's human nature and golfer nature to look at the leaderboard. I have been told not to (laughs).

But, yeah, you always want to know what the field is doing and I am sure I will be told many times between now and tomorrow to stop looking at the leaderboard. We have a lot of golf left, so I need to stop looking.

End of FastScripts.