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MCDONALD'S LPGA CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY COCA-COLA

June 10, 2005

Laura Davies

HAVRE DE GRACE, MARYLAND

Q. Laura, looked like an up and down day today, you tried to drive 16 and chipped in for eagle, but you're still at the top of the leaderboard.

LAURA DAVIES: The bogeys were a disappointed, but yeah, three of the four bogeys were three putts. That's the only disappointing part of the day, really.

Q. But you're still at the top.

LAURA DAVIES: I played well. Annika just got to about 6, and probably will be around 10 by the end of the day, but at least I can still see her.

Q. Take us through your scorecard.

(Scorecard done.)

Q. We'll take questions.

On the three putt on 11, was that part of the problem in the last couple

LAURA DAVIES: These greens are so quick it's very difficult to leave anything short.

Q. A little disappointed the one on 9 didn't go down?

LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, that was a lovely shot. I had 70 yards and it looked like I damned near holed it. It was an even putt.

Q. Are you starting to think you will win this thing or are you

LAURA DAVIES: There's no turning up any week if you don't think you can win. This is no difference from the last weeks. I always come trying to win.

Q. You can also feel like

LAURA DAVIES: You still feel like you're going to win. You can always do something to change it and get in a position to have a win.

Q. How frustrating is the last four years been without a win?

LAURA DAVIES: I haven't won over here. I've one over in Europe and Australia and Norway. It's not like I haven't been winning, but, it is not frustrating that I'm not winning, it's just I'm not doing better overall, not contending enough.

That's the thing, the more chances you have, that's the biggest thing.

Q. Laura, it seems like the scores aren't quite as low from the overall field from yesterday; is the course drying up?

LAURA DAVIES: They put some pins in the evil spots today. Also, played with Grace for three holes and she 3 putted as well. It got really difficult.

Q. When did you become a twosome?

LAURA DAVIES: From the 4th.

Q. Did you have to tell Paula to keep up with you?

LAURA DAVIES: No, she's a quick player.

Q. What are your impressions of her game?

LAURA DAVIES: She's very steady. She's obviously very good. She's really young. You can't do as well as she's done. She 20 spots ahead of me on the money list so I can't really comment.

Q. Did Grace say anything to you?

LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, she said good bye.

Q. Did she say anything about her back?

LAURA DAVIES: No, she didn't say anything.

Q. Laura, you almost drove that number 16, obviously the 330 yards. Looking ahead to Denver, US Open, number one hole is 346 yards, will you pull up the driver?

LAURA DAVIES: If the air is like we played there before. It would just depend what's around there. If it was real trouble left and rights, probably not.

Q. What's the farthest drive you ever hit?

LAURA DAVIES: In Austria a couple weeks ago, 380 yards.

Q. Was there anything aiding it?

LAURA DAVIES: A little bit of wind behind. It was dead flat, the fairways were dry out there. It was a long par 5. There was a fairway on the side, I was actually hitting on. Off the tee, I always get it a bit further.

Q. Did you eagle it?

LAURA DAVIES: I hit a 9 iron to about 20 feet and 3 putted from there. Theme again.

Q. Are you a little disappointed that you couldn't hit driver driver on 11 again?

LAURA DAVIES: I actually hit a really good drive today, but the wind was left and right, I hit a big, high draw. It was really unlucky, but pitched in the bunker and right up the face. Same on 8, I hit it in the fairway bunker there, too.

Q. Do you feel this course is kind of good for the way you play your game?

LAURA DAVIES: Yes. The minute I saw it in the Pro Am the other day I didn't know I was going to do well, but I figured if ever I was going to do well, this is the sort of course. It's built for a long hitter. Number 15, which is playing really long, I can get up there in two. There's a few risks that you can take that aren't that risky that the others can't go for. Annika can and Grace and Gustafson. For most of the players they certainly won't be going for two of them, we're not in Austria now.

Q. More on the fact that you haven't won in a while. Has the thought of the Hall of Fame gone away or is it always there?

LAURA DAVIES: I really want to do it. If I don't, it would mean I played the last sort of 8 to 10 years of my career without winning two tournaments. The thought of that is horrifying. It's not something that worries me, but maybe in five or six years' time, then I'll be worried, I'll be panicking, but at this point it's no panic.

Q. Did you play Mexico City?

LAURA DAVIES: Yes.

Q. What percentage did you account for?

LAURA DAVIES: We took 15 percent off here and 10 percent off Maurelia.

Q. What do you expect it will be in a few weeks?

LAURA DAVIES: I think it was 10 percent at Broadmoor, I seem to remember. What I do, I don't get my caddy gets me the percentage minus the percentage, so we'll have to work that out. Say it's 100 yards, I won't hear anything about the 100, I'll hear 90. I don't like to get confused with the two numbers.

Q. Is it taxing when you're working through it?

LAURA DAVIES: That's why I like it to be done like that, then I don't have to think about it, it's down to my caddy to give me one number.

Q. For some that might make for a tougher week than the Women's Open already is.

LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, that's the Open. We'll probably have bad weather and rain delays and altitude and everything, so as always the same.

Q. Is your caddy pretty good at numbers?

LAURA DAVIES: I hope so. Yeah, I mean, those two weeks he does. My clubbing was perfect, so it works out low, I didn't do that well in either one.

Q. Did the early start help you?

LAURA DAVIES: After the first three days, it really doesn't matter as long as you keep knocking out decent scores to keep yourself on the leaderboard. Tomorrow I'll be relatively late, depending on what happens with the scores this afternoon. Tomorrow all you can really do is ruin your chances. You can't win it tomorrow, but you can certainly put yourself out of it. It's another day to try for 2, 3 under for the day and ending with a chance.

Q. In the last few weeks, what seems to have turned it around for you? Is it just the putting?

LAURA DAVIES: Just the putting. People don't believe me. I ring home and tell my family I'm playing really well, and they see I finished 28 or 60th. I know no one believes me. The caddy knows. Putting is everything, no question, not that I'm obsessed with putting.

Q. You lined them up again, right?

LAURA DAVIES: Oh, yeah.

Q. Does that go back months and years or just a few weeks as far as you have been playing well?

LAURA DAVIES: This year, and certainly the second half of last year, I played really well without getting anything really. My last actual win was in the Australian Open in February of last year. I haven't played bad golf.

Q. Is there a putting thought, or somebody give you a tip, or something that turned the putting thing around?

LAURA DAVIES: No, because the putts have been good, they haven't been going in. Again, none of you believe me so it's pointless me telling you, but it's true.

Q. When you have the caddy line them up, what does that do for you?

LAURA DAVIES: I find as soon as he's happy, the putt is on line, all I'm thinking about is the pace now. I'm not thinking, am I on line with the putter? Pace is everything with putting, and that's where I have been. The last few weeks I have been getting the ball to the hole more rather than leaving it short.

Q. Perhaps that's the price to pay.

LAURA DAVIES: Atlantic City, I think I only had one three putt on really hard greens. This week it's unusual because the greens are so difficult, and they're really quick, everyone will 3 putt.

Q. You made, I think, a joke that Annika will probably be 10 under at the end of the day.

LAURA DAVIES: That's not a joke, that's a fact. I think she will. I'll be more surprised if she's not 9, 10 under. She hasn't had a bogey yet this week. She's already at 6. She's getting on my nerves.

Q. What are the dynamics of her being in front by one or two?

LAURA DAVIES: As long as she's only that, and she's not like she was in Atlanta where no one could get to her. If you're within 5, you can still feel like you've got a chance.

Q. Is your thinking she's only 1 or 2 ahead, or look at me, I might be doing some things right?

LAURA DAVIES: I'm worried about having a good round tomorrow, that's it. If someone goes berserk, there is not a lot I can do about that. I'm playing really well.

Q. Would you rather be paired with her tomorrow?

LAURA DAVIES: Not necessarily tomorrow. I would like to on Sunday. If I can't win it myself, I would like to see the winner.

Q. (Inaudible)?

LAURA DAVIES: It drives me wild because I love to win. That's what people keep saying, you play for a long time, why? I love to win, I love getting the trophy. There's no other feeling like this. It's very frustrating when you don't win.

Q. Do you panic less when your game is better because you feel like you're getting closer?

LAURA DAVIES: I had a really good chance in Austria and let it slip by, and it is more irritating. Certainly the last couple of weeks I could have gotten very close to the winning score.

Q. In the course of the few years when the putts haven't been holed, have you ever done anything gimmicky?

LAURA DAVIES: No, it's time to give up when you've got to do that. I know it helps a lot of people, but for one thing, you would have to practice a hell of a lot to get good with one of them. I'm not doing that.

Q. Laura, talking about the distractions or going to Atlantic City and that helping you relax, Havre de Grace is not quite the same

LAURA DAVIES: It's not happening, is it? We're struggling to find it's a lovely place, and there's a nice mall down the street. We actually went racing at Pimlico, which was nice with the horses.

Q. Laura, you talked about your length advantage earlier. Do you have a strategy set up for every hole or do you watch on Sunday maybe where you are?

LAURA DAVIES: I think the only hole that will change all week will be 16. If it's not downwind, we'll hit a 4 or 5 iron off the tee, and if it is, we'll hit driver because we can get on. That's about as hard as I can hit, and it was still short today.

Q. When you were missing putts before your caddy was lining them up, were you consistently missing on one side?

LAURA DAVIES: No, I was all over the place.

Q. Just one more. Given that you played on the Solheim Cup together and come from Europe, when did you know Annika was really good?

LAURA DAVIES: She beat me in Australia, I think the first time, and she won the Open in Denver in 1996. I thought I had that one in the bag. I seem to remember she had a really good finish and she beat me there. It was just the way the tournament finished. It was pretty useful, and a few months later she won the Open. It wasn't obvious this was going to happen. She's the best golfer that ever played man, woman.

Q. Are you friends with her?

LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, I know her. I don't proclaim to know her really well, but when we're together we always have a laugh. She's a really nice girl.

Q. Have you ever paired with here at Solheim?

LAURA DAVIES: No, I'll try to get the captain to give me a free ride one of these days. I'm not saying she's as good as Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer. Let's face it, there's some good players on this Tour and virtually every week she's winning, and not even Tiger did that. For who she's up against, she's the best.

Q. Do you ever say anything to her like you said to us like you're getting on my nerves?

LAURA DAVIES: No, you can't really say that to her, can you? I'll just punch her or something.

Q. Everybody all set? Thank you, Laura.

End of FastScripts.

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