U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 18, 2000

Juli Inkster

JULI INKSTER: I made room this week to come and play. (Laughter.) It's great to be here. I'm looking forward to trying to defend my title. You know, Merit Club has made all of us feel very welcome. It's a great to be here. So, I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be a tough golf course. The fairways are starting to roll out. The rough is extremely tough. And the greens are firming up; so, it's going to be quite a test, I think, especially depending on which way the wind blows, because it will blow. I don't know, it's an interesting course. There's a lot of ways to play it, depending on how you want to play it. The par 5's, you can be aggressive or, you know, you can make them three-shot holes. You definitely need to play it a few times to get a feel of where you want to be.

JULI INKSTER: Well, I feel that last week, I really didn't hit the ball that good. It was kind of a struggle. My teacher is out here this week, and the swing is starting to feel better. So, I think when I'm on and I'm playing well, I hit good iron shots, and I think it's definitely an iron course. I really don't think you need driver on every hole. I think the key to playing this golf course is getting your first shot in the fairway and then going from there. Greens, they are big, they are undulating. So, you know, you definitely have to hit the ball in the fairway I think you can have a little better chance to place your shots on the green.

JULI INKSTER: I've played very well this year. I've played very consistent. I'm not playing as many. I'm playing a lot this summer, and the spring I didn't I didn't play a lot, in fall I didn't, but you know what, I feel like I really didn't have to have an encore. I feel like I played, just kept doing the things that got me to where I wanted to get, maybe not have the year that I had last year, but I still felt that I could compete for some tournaments.

JULI INKSTER: Really?

JULI INKSTER: I'm honored. I'm honored. I didn't even know he knew who I was. You know, I am putting good. I think when you get on the green, you can make some putts. You know with an open course you're going to have to get a few breaks and things are going to have to go your way, but I feel like I do well when I'm defending my titles, and, you know, I feel like I have a good shot this week. But, you know there's a lot of players playing well, but if I'm on my game, I feel like I have a good shot.

JULI INKSTER: I kind of feel sorry for the PGA because we're going to take a lot of their press. (Laughter.) Maybe we'll throw them a few bones. It's hard. I wish it wasn't up against the British Open, but you know, this is our tournament. This is our National Championship. This is our biggest tournament of the year, and we're just going to have to go out there and play some good golf and bring the media to us.

JULI INKSTER: You know, I think those are things that you kind of look back on, maybe down the road, and say, "Wow." I know when I won three U.S. Amateurs in a row. It really didn't hit me until maybe 10, 15 years later, and now I probably say that's one of my greatest feats that I've done is winning three Amateurs in a row. I think it's something more you look back on in history and say, "God, how did I do that," and you know, cherish it.

JULI INKSTER: I agree wholeheartedly. It makes a statement for women's golf and for the USGA that they think, you know, we deserve to be playing for maybe not as much as the men, but the most we're playing for on TOUR. You know, winning the National Championship is what it's all about. The money is secondary. But I'm glad to see that they believed in us, and hopefully, we'll go out there and give them a good show.

JULI INKSTER: You mean the same week? Well, I think we would still be out there trying to finish. I mean it was hot Thursday and Friday. You know, I can't really answer that as far as --

JULI INKSTER: I think the strength of our tour is with the younger players coming out. You know, Karrie is playing great, Annika has really picked her game up. You know, Se Ri is playing well. I just think there's a lot of good, young players that are not only good players, but great ball-strikers. If you were to go out and watch those three play, you would be very impressed with their ball-striking. Laura is playing well. You know, I think this golf course, I think it's going to be a good test, but I think it's going to be -- I tell you who I think could play well here is like a Rosie Jones. She hits the ball in the fairway all the time. She's a great putter. She's playing well right now. Meg Mallon right now, same thing; keeps the ball in the fairway and is a good putter. And Annika is, of course, riding a little wave right now and Karrie can burst out. So, there's some good players that can contend.

JULI INKSTER: She's a lot more veteran than I am. (Laughter.)

JULI INKSTER: I think, Nancy, I mean she made women's golf, and she's got a charisma about her that's just keeps going. Her smile lights up a room and she's very courteous to everybody. She realizes that she's a big part of tournament and still puts her heart into it. Myself, maybe people can relate to being maybe a working mom and trying to juggle both aspects of their life. You know, maybe I wasn't playing as well, and the last few years I've had good years that, you know, people realize that it took a lot of hard work to get back to where I am. I think another thing, you know, I would like to see maybe a good young American come up and start playing well. I think people like to see Americans playing, and I think that's maybe why they follow me a little bit.

JULI INKSTER: I think it would be great. Everybody would root for Lopez to win the Open. She's not playing as much now, because of her family, but I think if you'd ask her, this is the one tournament she'd love to win. I think everybody in the locker room would be there right by her side rooting for her.

JULI INKSTER: It's easier for me to play when they are here, just because, you know, when I get done with golf, they really take my mind off golf. They always fight; so I kind of break them up. But a lot of stuff we get to do as a family that's fun, and, you know, I missed them last year at the Open, but they were in school finishing up their year, and Brian was there with me. But they were here this year at the LPGA Championship, and it makes it special, you know, whether you win or lose and you walk off that 18th green and they are there. You know, they are the biggest part of my life; so it makes it easier.

JULI INKSTER: I just think that in my mind, I think we have a great market. I think we have a great group that =can really play the game of golf, but I think a lot of it is the media. You know, you guys do a great job, but we could use more support. We could use more TV coverage, you know, so people can know these people are coming up that are good players. The bottom line is exposure, and if we play in a smaller market and draw 40,000, it's better for us than playing in a bigger market and drawing 10,000. You know, the more people we draw, the better it is. And if we have to start in smaller markets to gain that media exposure and gain that knowledge of people knowing who the players are, then let's start there and move up. You know, to play in New York and to play in Chicago, we need you guys to get it out in the paper that we're here, and this is a great group of women that can really play golf. You know, I think most of the -- a lot of people out there still think we hit it 210 yards off the tee. So I think the more the word gets out that they are great ball-strikers, they are good players, I think the better off we are.

JULI INKSTER: I think every week is important. But, you know, U.S. Open, you've got your NBC, you've got the best crew in golf. You know, that helps us. They know the players. They put on a show, and that's what it is. I mean, that's what we're trying to sell is the show. You know, the bottom line is if we shoot 15-under par, the course is too easy; and if we shoot 6-over par, the course is too tough. But if the men shoot 15-under par, they are playing great golf and if they shoot 6-over par, the course is too tough. I feel like sometimes we're kind of that no-win situation. You know, no one really gives us the credit that I think we deserve.

JULI INKSTER: Well, I think it's very important, not just -- not just for them to turn professional or whatever. I think golf is a great character-builder. It teaches them honesty, teaches them how to work for goals, teaches them how to dedicate yourself to something. In business, if you played golf with three other business people, you can learn more about them in four hours than you can sitting down with them for 20 meetings. If you play with someone that's fudging the ball on the golf course, you're not going to want to do business with them. I think you can learn a lot about people in a round of golf, and I think you can start them young, give them the opportunity to go out there and play and let them take it from there.

JULI INKSTER: Well, you know, I think last year, I think they got a bad, you know, stake in it. It rained, poured Wednesday night. The Bermuda did not grow the way they wanted it to because of the hot weather before. I think Sunday, the course dried out, the wind was up, and I think only like four or five players broke par. So I think coming into there, I think the course played easier, because of the wet greens and no rough. I mean, the rough did not grow like they wanted it to. You know, I think that's a great golf course, and I think if we went there another time and the weather was a little different, I think it would be an extremely tough golf course. It was just perfect conditions to play in. And this golf course, it's not going to be perfect, because the wind is going to be blowing every day, depending on which way. The rough is up because they had a really wet spring. So that's conducive to growing great rough. The greens are probably just where they want them right now. So I think Mother Nature helped them out, and I think the course is going to play extremely tough. I think, you know, as the week wears on, the fairways are going to get harder and harder, and you're just going to have to really pick that club off the tee and get it in the fairway.

JULI INKSTER: Well, they should make fun of my dancing ability because it's not very good. You know, I thought it was great. I thought it was a great commercial, fun, light-hearted. I think we need more of those. I think it was good for golf and I do stink at dancing, I admit it, but it's fun to do.

JULI INKSTER: Well, I agree. I mean, you really have to focus in on what you want to do with the ball and what club you want to take. And, you know, I think the whole key to playing in the wind is hitting solid shots. And you know, I feel like I've left, after playing in the wind, really, when you get done you really feel like you've put in a good day's work.