MCDONALD'S LPGA CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY AIG

June 7, 2002

Karrie Webb

Q. Karrie, thanks for coming in. It's only 1:30. I know it's been a long day already. Tell us about how it was coming out this early and playing in the rain.

KARRIE WEBB: Obviously, I had a lot of momentum going yesterday afternoon, and I probably might have finished my round off a little bit better than I did this morning.

I had a double bogey on the 17th but managed to finish at 3, which, I guess if you told me yesterday before I teed off that I would finish at 3 under, I would have taken it. So I looked at it that way, really. And then I knew it was going to be a grind the second 18, and it was.

I mean, it took a long time before I could trust that the greens were a little bit softer and that the fairways were softer, so the course played extremely long, but a lot longer than it did yesterday.

And, you know, so because you had longer clubs in, that's why it was harder to trust that you could actually land it on the green and stop it, because if you were hitting those clubs in yesterday, you wouldn't have been able to hold it on the green.

So it's tricky out there because the fringes are really soft, whereas yesterday you could land it a yard or two short of the green and it would bounce up, today you have to land it on the green.

And as windy as it is, I think the greens will dry out a lot more this afternoon, and that will, I think, be a little bit more of a challenge for the afternoon players because I don't think the fringes will dry out as quickly as the greens will, so you are going to have to still land it on the green and, hopefully, be able to hold it.

Q. How long did it take you to learn to trust it, trust that it would not bounce over the moon?

KARRIE WEBB: Well, I mean, I did hit some really good shots early, but it just surprised me that when it landed, it would stop. You know, there was a couple swings where I felt like I had too much club in my hand.

You know, even as late as the 5th hole, par 3, you know, I just felt like I had too much club in my hand and didn't make a good swing at it, and hit it a little fat, and it didn't even get up to the front, so, you know, it was just -- because you -- you know, you have seen it release as much as you have.

I mean, practice rounds, if you landed just over the front on that 5th green, you were lucky to hold the green, so it definitely is a lot different.

You know, and then, you know, 17 -- not 17 -- 8, I landed a 6-iron probably five yards on, and that would have been, you know, over the back and down the hill yesterday, and today it held the green easily.

Q. Tell us about the double on 17, Karrie.

KARRIE WEBB: Well, I think it was a combination of being 7:30 in the morning and 30 degrees colder than it was yesterday, and windy. I just put a poor swing on it into the front green side bunker on the right, and then didn't hit a very good bunker shot, had about a 40-footer for par, and 3-putted.

Q. What did you hit?

KARRIE WEBB: 8-iron.

Q. How long did you have in between finishing and starting again?

KARRIE WEBB: About 50 minutes, probably.

Q. What did you do in that time?

KARRIE WEBB: I quickly ate, and then I just went over to the range and just hit some balls before I went back out.

Q. You said you had a lot of momentum yesterday, five birdies through 15 holes. Is it possible to have momentum going into the weekend after a 71 because of the way the course is playing?

KARRIE WEBB: Yeah, I think so. I don't feel like I will be too far out of the lead come the end of the day. I mean, you could still see a few people shooting under par, definitely, but, you know, I don't see being more than, I don't know, two shots out of the lead; maybe if Beth went low today, but unless she goes low, I don't think I will be too far out of the lead.

Q. You wouldn't be altogether shocked if you were still in the lead, either, would you?

KARRIE WEBB: No, I wouldn't be shocked if I was in the lead.

Q. Karrie, could you talk about the wind and how many clubs difference in the wind today from yesterday?

KARRIE WEBB: Well, just with the wind, mine -- it's hard to say because it's a combination of the lot, you know, where you were getting a lot of roll off your drives, it was maybe you were getting, you know, 4 or 5 yards release, and on the greens you were -- you know, instead of a wedge or a 9-iron releasing 12 yards, it was only releasing about 5, if you were lucky.

And in the wind, it was -- I don't know, I think it was playing a bit over a club of wind.

Q. Was it a swirly wind, was it pretty much something you could kind of judge, or was it gusts or --

KARRIE WEBB: It was a little gusty, but it pretty much stayed out of the same direction most of the day, just some of the holes with the big trees sometimes it swirls a little bit, and actually up at the green sometimes because it's swirling around the trees, it actually is coming back into you.

You know, it just depends on what time -- you know, the second that you hit your shot, sometimes it won't be gusting back into you, or swirling back into you, and it will still be downwind, but that's a bit luck of the draw with the wind.

Q. Did number 7 play as tough as yesterday, or --

KARRIE WEBB: Did it -- I mean, I think it's playing tougher today than yesterday.

Q. Tougher today?

KARRIE WEBB: I mean, I hit -- well, actually, I did play into the wind yesterday, too, but it's playing longer today just because your drives aren't going nearly as far.

Q. What did you hit there?

KARRIE WEBB: I was in the rough. I didn't hit a very good drive, either, but I had -- I don't know, I had 160 front, I know that. I don't know what the pin was on.

Q. Do you know of any examples, without thinking too hard, clubs you may have hit yesterday as opposed to today to show how much longer it was?

KARRIE WEBB: I don't know. I hit -- just because some places where I hit 3-wood yesterday, I hit a driver today and still had similar clubs in. 15 is a great example. Yesterday I had, I think, 135 to the front, and today I had one -- and I didn't hit a great drive yesterday, and today I had 150, 155. So it was playing, definitely, a lot -- you know, and I hit a 5-iron in there and I hit an 8-iron yesterday.

Q. Playing the ninth hole, did you try to go for that in two?

KARRIE WEBB: I hit it too far left off the tee, but you can reach it in two.

Q. Where did you hit left?

KARRIE WEBB: 245 front.

Q. If the conditions remain the same, what would going low be?

KARRIE WEBB: This afternoon?

Q. Yes.

KARRIE WEBB: Well, you know, I wouldn't put it past anyone to shoot, you know, at 3 or 4 under, but that's a pretty well-played round. I mean, you would be doing everything right. So, I mean, I wouldn't be surprised to see rounds like that.

I think if you are playing well enough, you know, the greens are rolling really well, so I felt like I putted really well the last two days, and I think if you are giving yourself chances, the scores are definitely out there to be shot if you are doing everything right.

Q. How different are the greens from last year, even considering the rain last night?

KARRIE WEBB: Well, I think, you know, even after the rain last night, the greens are still faster than they were last year, quite a bit, I think.

But -- and, you know, I think as hard as they were yesterday, today they are probably about where they were on Sunday last year, so we got enough rain to soften them up that much. They were as hard as I have ever seen them yesterday.

Q. If they were hardwood floors yesterday, what were they today?

KARRIE WEBB: I don't know. You can write something in.

Q. That's my job.

Q. Did you do anything special to prepare for this tournament, because everybody has been saying, "Well, Webb has not been playing well, but wait until the majors come around"?

KARRIE WEBB: Is that what they have been saying? Well, you know, I think I would like for my game to peak through the summer -- through the next couple of months, and, you know, as much as I would like to play well whenever I play, you know, my focus has been, you know, starting June through probably the -- well, end of the first week of August, so I don't know, but, you know, I do definitely get, you know, more of a buzz when the majors are around.

And I just think -- I don't know, I think I haven't really played courses well this year where there have been a birdie barrage.

I don't know why, because I know I am capable of playing and shooting long courses like that, but I think I just like the challenge of the grind.

And, you know, earlier in the week you could say that three-quarters of the field were eliminated because they couldn't believe how long the rough was and how hard the greens were, and I was -- that, to me, is an advantage to me because I think that's great, because three-quarters of the field are gone before they tee it up because they think, you know, it's too hard, whereas I look forward to the challenge and hope that my game is good enough to break par on the golf course.

Q. You sound like Nicklaus.

Q. What's it like playing with JoAnne?

KARRIE WEBB: It was the first time.

Q. Really?

KARRIE WEBB: Actually, you don't know how many years JoAnne is going to play, so I actually was going to get around to asking the officials if, you know, one tournament when we weren't -- early in the week when we weren't on TV, if I could get paired with her, and it just so happened that it worked out, I didn't even have to ask, but it was great. I had a lot of fun playing with her. She definitely kept me entertained. It was good.

Q. Let's do your score card, please.

KARRIE WEBB: Okay. Do you want me to just start on number 10? All right. I hit my 53-degree wedge there, and spun it off the front, and chipped up to about -- didn't hit a very good chip, had about 25-footer for par and missed the putt.

13, I hit a 5-iron to about 6 feet.

14, I hit a wedge to about 12 feet.

2, I missed the green left with an 8-iron, and in the left green side bunker and hit it just through the green and chipped it to about 2 feet, made the putt for bogey.

7, missed the fairway right, hit a 5-iron, short left in the rough, and chipped it to about 15 feet, and missed the putt.

8, I hit a 6-iron to about 20 feet and made the putt.

Q. Two quickies: Was 10 any kind of an example of the difference in the greens? In other words, had you hit that 53 in there on yesterday, would it have popped better? You can say no, I was just curious.

KARRIE WEBB: No, I didn't pitch it as far up the green as I wanted to, but it was a shot where Kate Golden hit before me and she didn't hit the green so I didn't even get to see the reaction of her ball on the green, so I didn't know if it was going to spin a lot, or I could see myself -- the worst place to be on that green is long, and I could see myself pitching it up there and bounding over the green and you would be lucky to make bogey, so it was just -- it was a tentative swing because I was not sure how the green was going to react.

Q. Secondly, what kind of lie did you have in the rough -- or if it was the rough -- on 18 this morning, and how important was it coming off 17 to end that round with a save?

KARRIE WEBB: My third -- my chip shot?

Q. Yeah.

KARRIE WEBB: It was right in the cusp between the long stuff and the first cut of rough.

Q. Kind of straddling?

KARRIE WEBB: Yeah, sort of right on the line of it, but it actually wasn't too long, and like Kate Golden was in that shorter cut and her ball checked, so I don't mind having the lie -- I didn't mind having the lie I had because I knew I could make it release a little more out of the rough.

Q. On 2 was your ball -- was it pretty much embedded into the sand or --

KARRIE WEBB: No, I just didn't have a very comfortable stance. It was just not a very good shot.

Q. It seemed like you were kind of straddling?

KARRIE WEBB: Yeah.

Q. Karrie, thank you.

KARRIE WEBB: Thank you.

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