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GRAND CHINA AIR LPGA

October 25, 2008

Karen Stupples

HAINAN ISLAND, CHINA

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations, Karen, wonderful round, lots of birdies, and especially the last hole, it must have felt good.
KAREN STUPPLES: It did. I've been close to chipping in all day, and finally I get rewarded for a good chip. So I was very happy with that, excited to do it. I knew that would put me at least in the lead and that's kind of exciting. I haven't been in the lead going into the final round for a while.
THE MODERATOR: Can you talk a little about the weather today?
KAREN STUPPLES: The first weather delay was fine, but we held our positions on the course, so you really didn't have time to get out of your rhythm or struggle with that.
But the second weather delay, we waited around for a while waiting for a ride to come back in, and then the rain stopped when our ride arrived. I knew that we would get all the way back to the clubhouse and then have to come all the way out again.
So I felt that that really took me out of my rhythm a bit, and it was a struggle, really, to hit good quality golf shots from that point on. But I felt like I hit some good chips, got out of some trouble, but also made two bogeys coming in, which I would like not to have done, but you can't help that sometimes.

Q. You said this is the first time you've been in the lead in quite a while. Do you know when was the last time you led going into the final round? And what's kept you from winning, do you think, since you won the Women's British Open?
KAREN STUPPLES: I think 2004 may have been the last time I was in the lead going into the final round. I had a tough time in '05 and '06. Can't really put my finger on it. I think because I had such a successful year in 2004, my expectations were very high and I was really trying hard and pushing too much. So I think that hurt.
And then I had a baby in 2007. I had a little boy called Logan, and I think actually since having him, I've managed to refocus and enjoy my golf a little bit more than I was before. I think I almost needed a break. I took seven months off and I think it really helped.
So I came back a lot stronger and a lot more ready to play and I really love my golf now and I can't say that I felt that before, I really enjoy playing, and I love it.

Q. Two 67s in a row, 33 on the back nine, 34 on the front; what do you think of the golf course and what's the key to playing well here?
KAREN STUPPLES: Keep it out of the rough. The few times that I was in the rough today really hurt. I drive the ball pretty well; so I hit a long ball, and I think that going into the green with some shorter clubs gives me some good scoring opportunities. There's a couple of par 5s that I can get to in two, and you really have to take advantage.
But for me, the real key to my game so far this week has been my putting. I feel like I've putted really solidly, and I've made the putts that counted, the 10-footers for birdie and the odd longer one will go in, too, and that's been good, because I've been working really hard on that, and it's nice to see the practice is paying off. It feels good.

Q. What's the difference between you finishing with a chip-in and Laura finishing with a bogey heading into tomorrow?
KAREN STUPPLES: I don't honestly think it's going to make that much difference because tomorrow is a completely different day. I knew coming into the tournament that whoever was going to win this week has to basically bring it every day. You have to play your best game every day, because it's only a three-day tournament, so it's more of a sprint. So you have to make as many birdies and be as aggressive as you can all the time.
I was four shots behind Laura at the start of the day. So that goes to show you just how quickly with one round of golf it can change. I have to keep my head down and focus for tomorrow, and I'm sure Laura is going to come out and attack the course, as will everybody else. I don't think I can sit back and enjoy my two-shot lead. I don't think that's going to be anything really to be jumping around about. I think that I have it really knuckle down and play hard if I want to take the trophy home.

Q. Can you tell us roughly how far was your chip-in on the last hole and what club were you using?
KAREN STUPPLES: I was using a 60-degree wedge and it was 25 foot, but no more than that -- about 35 foot.

Q. Very different conditions from day one to day two, for tomorrow, what would you prefer and why?
KAREN STUPPLES: I think I would probably prefer it somewhere in between. I would like cooler and cloudy but no rain. That would be my preference.

Q. Almost links golf?
KAREN STUPPLES: Absolutely.

Q. Most of the players went to play in Hawaii and then came over here but you skipped last week and then you took your own journey over to China; you just decided to not play Hawaii and come straight to China?
KAREN STUPPLES: I did. I was going to play two events away from my son either way. I really like coming over to Asia, and coming to China would be a great opportunity for me to come and experience something I haven't experienced yesterday. I have always enjoyed going to Korea, too.
So I only wanted to have two weeks away from my son, and taking him to Hawaii would have been very difficult and my husband would have had to travel and made the long journey back with him on his own. It was just going to be difficult. So I knew I had to choose two events, so I chose China and Korea.

Q. And do you call your little boy every night?
KAREN STUPPLES: I do. I talk to him on the computer and we have the picture with the Web camera, so he can look at me and I can look at him. But he doesn't care. He doesn't miss his mom much. He just wants to play. I think he finds it very strange; he looks and it's like, oh, I'm playing. But I like to see him play, so it's kind of nice. And it's nice because I see my husband and we talk. So it's good, too.

Q. Any favorite Chinese food that you've tried?
KAREN STUPPLES: I've tried everything and I really like it. I just enjoy it. Any different spicy food or anything slightly different is good. I mean, coming from the U.K., we have a lot of curry food and lots of Chinese food, but it's not really.

Q. The authentic Chinese food is better?
KAREN STUPPLES: It's good and it's very tasty.

Q. So what are you going to bring back to your little boy from here?
KAREN STUPPLES: I don't know. I haven't been shopping yet. I've been so busy and focused on my golf, but maybe tomorrow after play I'll go back, and at least I have the nice dress. I'm excited, it looks very beautiful, so I'm excited to pick that up.

Q. Have you found anything very unusual from Hainan Island?
KAREN STUPPLES: No, it's very modern. Everybody is very nice. I feel very comfortable. It's really not what I was expecting. I'm very comfortable. The food is good. Everything is, as you can tell from my golf, I feel very comfortable here.
If you can think of something that would be very traditional that I could take home as a present, I would be open to suggestions.

Q. You obviously enjoy China; where else have you played in Asia?
KAREN STUPPLES: I've played in Singapore. I played in the first Lexus Cup in Singapore. I played in Korea and Japan. I think next year I will go and play in high land for the LPGA event, so I'll very much look forward to that.
I do enjoy travelling over here. The weather is always nice, apart from today. It's good. I always feel comfortable.
This is the first year that I have come over here really looking to try and play well. I've always come over just to enjoy being over here in the culture and just to meet new people and do new things, but this year, I really wanted to knuckle down. If I was going to spend time away from my family, I really wanted to make it worthwhile.

Q. After having your little boy, is it a big change to play on the Tour?
KAREN STUPPLES: It is, more physically than anything else. Mentally I'm genuinely happier and more content and I feel much more fulfilled as a person now that I have a family.
Physically it can be very tough, especially when he was younger, no sleep and that was very difficult. Normally my husband caddies, so we do it as a team. And so if we're both not sleeping it can be quite stressful sometimes on the golf course when neither one of us have had any sleep.
But otherwise, it's brilliant, because at the end of the day, I come home and Logan is always happy to see me. He's all smiley, and it adds purpose to my life. I am very happy to do that. It has really made me complete as a person.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much, Karen, hope to see you tomorrow. Have a good round tomorrow.

End of FastScripts

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