CHICK-FIL-A CHARITY CHAMPIONSHIP

April 27, 2003

Shani Waugh

Q. Well, great play. I know you're disappointed, but first a couple of housekeeping things. This is the longest playoff since the 1999 Japan Airlines Big Apple Classic. That was a five-hole playoff that Sherri Steinhauer won over Lorie Kane. This is Shani's career-best finish on the LPGA Tour. Her previous best was third in the U.S. Women's Open last year. This is the longest playoff in tournament history.

SHANI WAUGH: That's something to be proud of.

Q. Yeah, you gutted it out there with Se Ri, tough match there. What do you think sitting here now?

SHANI WAUGH: I knew I was going to have a good day because when you get two great players together like that and both of them fold, and early on I dropped a couple shots, and normally I think I would have said, You're okay, you're doing all right, just hang in there, but then I realized that I really thought, well, I'm playing well enough, and there is loads of birdies out here when you're playing well, and I've been playing so well this week, so I said to myself, you know, don't spend your life in the LPGA being happy to finish in the top 10.

And today I really, really wanted it, and I'm disappointed, yeah, but the way I played I should be very, very happy, and I am in that respect.

Q. Did you kind of have an idea you were going to have a crazy day when you didn't have a par until number 8?

SHANI WAUGH: I started out birdie, birdie, bogey, bogey, and I said to Adam, my caddie, it would be nice to make a par, and he said -- I can't tell you exactly what he said, but he said forget the par, just make birdies, and I did that for a while, but it was just a mundane par on the eighth.

Q. Talk about the tee shot on 10 on the fourth playoff hole.

SHANI WAUGH: Yeah, a bad swing, and I don't think I was tired, I think I was still pretty pumped up after that tee shot on the left edge down there, and for some reason because I had such a good angle to the pin the previous playoff hole on the 10th, so really that put me off and, I don't know, I think it was just a fast swing and normally when I hit it left they don't go very far, and I actually went in the water.

Q. She gave you a second chance when she missed the green on 10 with her approach though.

SHANI WAUGH: Well, you know I thought she hit it on the green, and when she did that I thought, it's not over yet, so I really worked hard on my bunker shots trying to get pretty close, if not make it, and she played great today, and to go with playing great she putted incredible, and I wasn't surprised that she made that putt.

Q. What kind of town is Bunbury, Australia?

SHANI WAUGH: Yeah, 35,000 people. It's on the coast, and it's a pretty laid back little town.

Q. Is that where you learned how to play golf?

SHANI WAUGH: Yes, we only had one golf course there, and luckily for me it was a pretty good golf course, and started when I was about 13 or 14, and it wasn't until a schoolteacher gave me Nancy Lopez's book when I was about 16 that I actually realized that I really wanted to be a golfer, and it's sort of ironic that I should play well at Nancy's tournament because I don't have many hero's in life, but when I read her book I thought, yeah, I think I want to be a golfer just like her.

Q. How old were you then?

SHANI WAUGH: 16.

Q. Is this the most exciting day you've ever been involved with on a golf course?

SHANI WAUGH: Yeah, this and the US Open, I think this is a bigger achievement because for most of the last round I never really had a chance to win unless Juli or Annika fell away, so I achieved hanging in there at the US Open but this is a bigger achievement because I actually tried to win the golf tournament and that, for me, is a huge step.

Q. You said you had the wrong attitude in the past and were happy with finishing in the top 10?

SHANI WAUGH: Yeah, you know you finish fourth, fifth, sixth, you don't get too much attention, and you just pick up a nice paycheck and go to the next tournament, and I think I would be really disappointed if I left the LPGA without a win, and I had a great chance to make that step today, but what I've gained in self-relief already from today should give me other chances to win tournaments. Whether I take them or not, I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Q. How'd you birdie 17?

SHANI WAUGH: Hit a good drive and hit the 8-iron. I think I had 146 to the pin, and hit it to about, I guess, 10 feet, short right of the hole and made it.

Q. What'd you think when you saw Suzanne Pettersen playing so well early?

SHANI WAUGH: Yeah, I think it was good in a way because I think it took the attention off our group, which was good for me, but I said to myself to be going against (inaudible) so I thought she's -- I was hoping she was going to stop at someplace, and thankfully for Se Ri and I she managed to do that, but she probably went out there with the attitude that she had to go low, and she did, and think thankfully for her Se Ri and I sort of stepped it up a bit which was nice.

Q. Are you surprised that Karrie Webb had an off day?

SHANI WAUGH: Yes, the little bit this year already that I've played with her, as well as a few times in Australia, and I don't know, I watched her today to see if there was anything different to how she normally plays and I couldn't really see anything, so it's maybe just a little bit of a change in attitude, or I'm not sure. I hate to speculate.

Q. Is this about as good a feeling as you can have without winning?

SHANI WAUGH: Absolutely, yes. I mean, I had no idea I shot 10-under until I finished. I just knew that we made lots of birdies between us. She was 8-under and I was seven under. To make birdies like we did in the playoff holes also was great.

Q. To do this playing in such a good pairing, does that help your confidence?

SHANI WAUGH: Yeah, definitely. I've been lucky. The few times I've been in contention in the LPGA I've been playing in the last group or second to last group with great players. I played with Annika Sorenstam a few times going down the stretch and Juli Inkster at the US Open last year, and that's a huge thing to learn is that I can play with them and not be too nervous to sort of function. And again, today just reinforced that because they are such great players.

Q. Does it make it any easier to accept this since she won by making two great up-and-downs?

SHANI WAUGH: I don't know. I'll tell you tomorrow. I certainly expected her to make both putts because she's been putting so beautifully, and I think both of them went right in the middle of the hole, and I was disappointed that I gave it to her with a bogey, and that is what I'm disappointed about, but she was amazing.

Q. How did you feel after she hit it on 18 on the third playoff hole there?

SHANI WAUGH: For a split second I thought, here's my chance, and I thought she's just incredible, and I wasn't surprised to see her hit a great shot. She couldn't have landed it any better than what she did, but your great shots are only as good as the putt you follow it up with, and the putt was incredible but, yeah, I think the thing I can take away from the playoffs, except the last hole, was that if I want to compete with Se Ri Pak, I actually probably played a little better than she did, especially on 18. There's a lot to gain from this experience, and that's one of them, I didn't let myself down, except on the 10th hole the second time around.

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