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SYBASE CLASSIC PRESENTED BY SHOPRITE


May 14, 2009


Helen Alfredsson


CLIFTON, NEW JERSEY

MIKE SCANLAN: Eagle on 11.
HELEN ALFREDSSON: I had 68 yards, I think, and I hit a 58 and spun it back into the hole.
Birdie, 12, 9-iron in to about four feet.
13, chipped it in. I was just on the edge of the green and I chipped it in. Well, I hit a 7-iron for the second shot and it didn't get there.
14, I had a wedge in to about eight feet.
Bogey 15, three-putt, hit a 6-iron on the green, three-putted.
16, I had about 100 yards. I hit a 54 to about one foot.
17, I hit a 4-iron to about five feet.
MIKE SCANLAN: 18, I know you missed a short one.
HELEN ALFREDSSON: I missed a three-footer on 18.
1, birdie, I had an 8-iron in to about six feet, maybe.
5, birdie, I two-putted. I was on the green in two and I two-putted.
7, I hit it to about five feet from the bunker.
8, I hit a 6-iron to about six feet.
MIKE SCANLAN: Helen, unbelievable round, 10-under par 62, which I believe is your career low. I believe 63 was your previous career low. If you would just talk about an unbelievable day out there, and obviously even a couple of missed chances and it could have been even lower.
HELEN ALFREDSSON: Yeah, I had two putts that could have gone in actually, on 18, and then I three-putted, obviously.
You know, it's funny, I hit a good drive on 1 and felt pretty good. I had to make like a five-footer for par, then I knocked that in. You don't think so much about it. I hit a very good drive on my third hole and knocked that close, knocked that putt in, a little slider. And then I chipped in again, and I'm like, what is going on? But obviously I didn't make a lot of long putts. I was actually pretty close to the pin all day. I hit some good shots, kept myself out of trouble, which is nice for a change.

Q. When you perform that way, could you say specifically what is going so well for you?
HELEN ALFREDSSON: You know, it's funny, I felt really comfortable all day. I had a very sort of good game plan. It was very clear in my head, and I ended up hitting the shots the way I wanted. A few were not perfect, but that's how it goes. It's nice to get a little bit of a break. I started chipping in for eagle and then I chipped in two holes later. You know, those are days where -- and I was lucky enough just to continue that all day. I was a little nervous on my last putt because I never shot 62 before. But otherwise I wasn't too nervous, either, which is kind of nice.

Q. Is it tough to stay in the moment and not in your head, boy, I'm going to shoot really low? Is it tough to stay there?
HELEN ALFREDSSON: Well, you know, I think that sort of signifies a day like today, that you really are staying in the moment. You're just looking at the shot that's right ahead of you. You don't think about -- I thought a little bit about it on the tee on 18, my 18. Obviously it's a pretty tough driving hole. We were lucky it was downwind, so I could take it off a little bit on the right side. But it is the typical thing when you have a day like today that you really do stay in the moment.
I don't know why, everybody that has a good day or plays well, you're like, why can't I bottle this? Why is it so hard sometimes to stay in the moment? I felt that it was really not hard work to do that today.

Q. Lorena just said she was stunned that a 62 was shot out there in terms of conditions, weather, et cetera. I mean, did you think it was easy, tough? Was it tough playing out there?
HELEN ALFREDSSON: You know, anybody, when we play good, you wonder why you don't do this all the time because it's so easy. It's not strenuous, your head is not going crazy, your body doesn't hurt. At my age all that stuff usually comes along with it. So you don't know why.
I just felt that -- you have the right yardage it seems like all the time and it fits with the shot that you want to hit, and it's just one of those days. Some days are like, you can't even get the right yardage no matter how you try.

Q. So it didn't matter that it was spitting and windy and cold?
HELEN ALFREDSSON: No, it didn't. You don't really think about it, but that's like in the moment. You're just so concentrated on what you're trying to do.

Q. Did you see this round coming? I was looking at last week I think you missed the cut and you've missed a couple of cuts this year. Is this something you've worked on all week and you started seeing things come together, or what?
HELEN ALFREDSSON: No, I mean, I didn't know that I was going to have a year like last year, either. You never know. After my injury was healed in 2007, you know, I felt so much more comfortable. Every time I worked on something, I could continue doing that, which has not been the case. You know, it's about confidence, too. You get a little bit -- yeah, I missed the cut, I felt really horrible the first day. I played all right the second day and missed it by one. But it wasn't like I had to go home and go, geez, what is this, like I had to do before, starting from scratch again. You're starting to just -- you keep working on something that feels good.
I don't know, I guess today it all came together.

Q. Can you talk about, you were a Solheim Cup captain in 2007. Typically Solheim Cup captains don't come back and have the year that you had in '08 and then shoot a 62. What's been the difference for you?
HELEN ALFREDSSON: No, but I took 2007 off pretty much because this was my last tournament in 2007, and I was injured. I said, I just wanted to give it two more years. I felt as good as I've done since I started playing, and it was just fun to get another chance at it. It would be nice to do it again, start all over.

Q. What was the injury?
HELEN ALFREDSSON: I had a herniated disk, but it had gone so far that I couldn't feel my right hand pretty much.

Q. Would you call this a "Peak" performance?
HELEN ALFREDSSON: I think my sponsor would be very happy if I called it that, yes, you're right.

Q. (Inaudible.)
HELEN ALFREDSSON: I still do.

Q. That's what I was going to ask you. Do you say the same types of things? Are they negative things?
HELEN ALFREDSSON: I never say negative things. I'm not the type of person that says, like, "get your shit together," or "what the hell are you--" It's not like you walk around and you tell yourself, "You're a piece of shit, dirt, trash, cow."
I talk to everybody that listens actually.

Q. Did you talk to the ball today?
HELEN ALFREDSSON: Today? I talked to the ball today, of course I did. But it's not like I think about it. It's not like, oh, I'm going to talk to him now.

Q. But in the old days a bad shot (indiscernible.)
HELEN ALFREDSSON: It's just part of who I am, I think. I still do it when I practice, when I'm out playing with my hubby.
It's a mixture. I wish I would do it when it's fitted, even with my little Spanish.

Q. How much of an advantage is length on this course?
HELEN ALFREDSSON: Well, I think today, like especially on, what is it, 5? Is 5 a par-5? That is a pretty long hole today. It's into. So it helps to hit it longer to get on in two. You know, yeah, I didn't get on in two. I was almost on 7 today. There is another one, 11. It was early in the morning and it was cold and wet. So it does help to hit it a little bit further, as long as you're staying on the fairway. Otherwise you don't have much use for it.
MIKE SCANLAN: Thanks, Helen.

End of FastScripts




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