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MCDONALD'S LPGA CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY COCA-COLAJune 7, 2007Kim Saiki-MaloneyHAVRE DE GRACE, MARYLAND DANA GROSS-RHODE: Hello everyone, thank you all for coming in. Kim, congratulations on your season-low 67, and right now you are leading the field at 5-under. Being in a major and being in this position, how does that feel right now. KIM SAIKI-MALONEY: It feels really good. It's been a struggle this year. I've missed I think six out of nine cuts, and after coming off last year's season, I had been in 35 events -- I played 35 events without missing a cut. So it's been tough this year. In March, I had put a new set of irons in my bag, and I just couldn't -- didn't realize that the specs weren't right on where they should have been. So I was having a tough time controlling my irons. But a couple of weeks ago, I put a brand new set of Callaway irons in my bag, and I'm back feeling comfortable again over the ball. DANA GROSS-RHODE: Before we take questions, let's go over your scorecard. You had six birdies on the day. KIM SAIKI-MALONEY: No. 2, I had 108 yards and hit a little pitching wedge. Did you want to know how close it was? It was about ten feet. No. 3 I birdied. It was 166 yards and hit a 6-iron, I can't remember how close that was, about ten feet. I had a bogey on 5. I hit my drive into the fairway bunker. I hit it through the fairway and I had a 5-iron from about -- I think it was 170 yards. I hit it a little heavy, went into the front bunker, hit on and 2-putted for bogey. The putt was probably about 20 feet. No. 9, I had 167 yards. Then I hit a 6-iron, probably about twenty feet. No. 10, I had 128 yards. I hit a little knock-down 9-iron probably five feet, made that putt. 14, I had 121 yards, hit a pitching wedge, probably like about -- that was another 10-footer. 16, I had 98 yards and I hit a sand wedge to about three feet. Q. Is that Vtech? KIM SAIKI-MALONEY: Vtec, they make household cordless phones and educational toys for kids. Q. I seem to recall you playing well at another major. Was it this one when it was at Du Pont or what? KIM SAIKI-MALONEY: It's been a while since I've played well at a major. It might have been Du Pont. My last great tournament was in 2004 where I won in Rochester, wire-to-wire. That was my first win. Then I followed up playing in the U.S. Open. I played well there but didn't play -- I finished in the top 20. Q. Anything been holding you back? KIM SAIKI-MALONEY: You know, my life has changed. I'm very content at home. I've been married for about sixteen months now, so I've had to learn how to balance that. Q. You've given us one extra word to write, your last name. KIM SAIKI-MALONEY: Yeah. So I'm very content at home. I would have to say that I've made some poor choices in changing equipment. In my off-season, I wanted my irons to get better and I put a new set of irons in my bag in March, and I think it was a very poor decision. I put them in the bag because my old set were a little too up right, and I ended up putting the new set of irons in my bag and I flattened them a little bit too much. Then the shaft actually was not comparable to what I was hitting before, and I didn't find that out until like a month later. As a result, I'm typically a pretty straight ball hitter, and I notice that I didn't have control over the shape of my shots. And it wasn't until a couple of weeks ago, I couldn't play with the irons anymore and the Callaway rep built a set of irons for me and I'm extremely comfortable with those. So I think that my confidence will be back, definitely. Q. When did you discover -- when did you finally get your game back after putting these new irons in your bag? KIM SAIKI-MALONEY: It was just recently, probably a couple of weeks ago. It was just extremely frustrating. Like I said, normally, typically I hit it pretty straight, and I noticed that with my iron play, I couldn't control my irons. A lot of it had to do with the flex on the shaft down closer to the impact area. Q. Are you surprised by how well you played, or were you expecting this? KIM SAIKI-MALONEY: No, every day I step out there, I know I have the ability to have four to seven birdies a round, or even more. It was just a matter of me being patient. It's been extremely frustrating this year, because I have missed a lot of cuts. But on any given week, I think a lot of these players out here this week. You just have to be patient and keep believing in your game. DANA GROSS-RHODE: Thank you all for coming in. Kim, great round good. Luck tomorrow. End of FastScripts |
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