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KRAFT NABISCO CHAMPIONSHIP

April 3, 2010

Karen Stupples

RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIFORNIA

THE MODERATOR: Karen, another great round. Congratulations here at the Kraft Nabisco Championship. The last 45 minutes was amazing theater watching several rounds of players. Did you feel it out there yourself?
KAREN STUPPLES: I did. I mean for the front nine, I think I got off to a bit of a great start on the front nine and I had a good lead, and the next time I look up, I'm like, oh, wow, Yani and Suzann and a few others are all trying to make a move. And I was really excited, I mean why not? Anyone could go out and bring it that day.
THE MODERATOR: How did you feel coming into the round today and coming out of it? Was it two different feelings or the same?
KAREN STUPPLES: You know, I was pretty nervous. I mean it was -- I mean -- I don't want to say pretty. I would say very nervous.
I mean if you're not nervous, I mean surely that's why we all play golf. I mean it's a good buzz to be that nervous, because you know that you're doing well. You know, if you're in that position and you're up there near the top of the lead, you should be nervous because that's what you work for really. You work to be in that position, and to be honest, it's a lot of fun. If you can pull off good golf shots feeling that tense, it's good.
THE MODERATOR: Questions for the press?

Q. Did your caddie say something to you on the first hole?
KAREN STUPPLES: Yeah, he did. He really kind of got in my face and got at me and let me have it. He said, I know you're nervous. You're supposed to be nervous. This is what we're here for. You're playing great. Let's go and do it, take it to the course, rip the drive down the fairway. So it was pretty cool. I needed it, though. I needed that good kick.

Q. You were playing in front of many, many fans, you were playing with Lorena Ochoa. How was that feeling being surrounded by so many people?
KAREN STUPPLES: You know, the fans were fantastic. And Lorena is such a classy player that I had fun playing with her anyway.
So no matter what goes on outside the ropes, we're still within our little world within the ropes. So it's a lot of fun just being with Lorena. I mean she's the world's No. 1, so for me it's very good to play with her.
As I said yesterday, I had to stay in my own little zone a little bit to make sure I kept playing my game. But I thought the fans were fantastic out there.
Yes, there was a lot of fans for Lorena, but I felt like I had my own group going on out there, too, and it was just a really good atmosphere to play golf in. And standing on that first tee, I'm looking around and I said to Woody, there's a lot of people here today. It was cool. Very cool.

Q. Karen, you were talking yesterday about how much you love this place and how much you love this event, and now you're going into the final round in the lead.
KAREN STUPPLES: Yes.

Q. And your nerves are probably going to be worse tomorrow than they were today. What are you going to do to keep your cool?
KAREN STUPPLES: Honestly, I don't think they could be any worse than they were this morning. So in a way, I'm excited about that fact because I know that I was able to play this morning.
And so all that it will do is make me get out there and enjoy it. I mean look who I've got chasing me. I mean how could I not enjoy that? I mean that's the bottom line. I mean that's just fantastic. I'm more excited than I can tell you. I'm really excited by it.

Q. So what are you going to do tonight?
KAREN STUPPLES: I'm probably going to play with my son. That's -- I've got a bit of putting to do, and then I'll revert to being a mother again till tomorrow morning when I tee off.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about your putting today? It was sort of up-and-down.
KAREN STUPPLES: Yeah. I struggled with reading them for some reason, especially toward the end there when the shadows were falling on the greens, and I was very frustrated with it, because I was hitting really good quality shots in there, but really never set up on the green. It was very hit or miss. I made some good putts and I made some bad putts, but it was one of those days.
I think part of that is being in the position that I'm in, you know, within the tournament itself. And I think that tomorrow, you know, it's a full day, I'm still going to have to go out and play aggressive and play my game. And I'm going to work on my putting a little bit now, and I think it's more of a rhythm thing. If I can work on a good rhythm and take that to the course tomorrow, I think that'll be my plan.

Q. Karen, going back to what you said earlier about the finish today a lot of people were birdieing 17. Is that the way the course is set up?
KAREN STUPPLES: I don't really know. I think 17, 17 wasn't -- I didn't think 17 was an easy pin to get to. So that's a good birdie on any day.
And 18, 18 it's a good birdie chance. You should really have a good crack at birdie there. So 18 didn't surprise me at all. But 17 was not that easy.
I think what it shows is this is a major championship. Everybody wants to win. So they're going to try to pull out all stops to do it. And they should. This is what it's all about.

Q. Does reverting back to the role of mother help you tonight to take your mind off the golf tonight and tomorrow morning for that matter?
KAREN STUPPLES: I think so. I have no choice but to. So you know, honestly, yes. And I think what it does is, you know, there are a couple of times out there where I hit a bad shot and I'm like you know what, really, it's no big deal. I've got another golf hole. And then I go home and I get a big cuddle from my son.
And what is really cool is that he had made a little good luck four-leaf clover and my husband brought it out for me this morning, so that was kind of nice to put that in the bag, and it makes it really special. It makes what I do more special because I am a mother, because I am -- you know, he's everything. It just makes it more special.

Q. Karen, earlier in the week we talked with another player about how it took her about a year or two to really figure out how to balance motherhood and golf. Even some ways mentally it was tougher than physically. Can you speak to your experience?
KAREN STUPPLES: I mean, yes, for sure. The year that I had Logan it was kind of a bit of a throw-away year for me. I was learning to travel with a baby and stuff that that comes with, and then a year after I played really well. Very consistent, had some good many finishes. Last year, not so good.
I think part of that was with my husband and he wasn't sleeping, so we weren't getting any rest, and it was just a very tough year. And I think what we've learned here is that we can't do everything. My husband can't do everything. I can't do everything. It's impossible. We were both trying to.
So what we've done this year is now I have another caddie on the bag, and that has helped immensely. Logan is now in daycare at home in Orlando. Everybody is taken care of. We're all getting our time doing what we need to do for each other. And I think we're much happier for it.
Last year was a tough year for us. When neither one of you are getting any sleep, it's difficult.

Q. When you talk about the nervousness that you felt, how does it manifest itself? Is it shaky hands, unsettled stomach? What are the ways?
KAREN STUPPLES: Just feeling unsettled, like you've got to tee-tee, just feeling a little sick.

Q. Tee-tee?
KAREN STUPPLES: It's an English thing, I suppose. Just feeling a little bit yuck, and just a bit sort of cotton mouth. I gotta drink some water, anything just in my mouth. I used to chew a lot of chewing gum, but I'm trying not to. It's not good.

Q. Can Logan swim and does he know --
KAREN STUPPLES: He can't swim, no. I don't think he'd even know what it is. I think if he saw his mom going in there, he'd want to be there as well.
So then you kind of have to think if I win, do I take him in or do I not take him in? Would he be the first kid in there? That little? Oh, dear. Let's not think about that till it happens. Let's just focus on job at hand, play good golf tomorrow, then we'll talk about it later.

Q. Can you remind us again of the two things that you went through physically last year that were part of the problem with your play?
KAREN STUPPLES: Yeah. Well, actually it was very upsetting to me that I had to miss this tournament last year. I had emergency surgery to remove my appendix. I fell ill with it at the Phoenix tournament.
It was very upsetting, because I love being here. I love the whole environment that this tournament gives.

Q. When did it actually happen? When you were at the tournament in Phoenix?
KAREN STUPPLES: I was in Phoenix, yes. On Friday I started to feel ill and really didn't think anything of it. I thought I had eaten something bad, and Saturday morning I went to the emergency room because it hadn't gone away. And they sent me away, said, oh, it's a stomach ache, you'll be fine.
Well, Sunday morning about 3 a.m., I couldn't bear it any longer and it was just a bit of a mess, so I went to a different hospital, and they said, oh, yes, that's your appendix. We're going to take it out. So that's how it happened. I mean I was lucky that it didn't burst on that Sunday.
So actually my husband, myself and Logan, we all came here to Palm Springs, we had rented a house. So I sat here in the house in Palm Springs and watched it on the TV, very sad that I wasn't playing.
And then I've been having some work done on my legs. That's been an ongoing process. Having a baby took its toll on my body, and I've got some bad veins, so I've been having them worked out. And it's been a process, but I feel so much better for it.
THE MODERATOR: Any other questions? All right, thanks. Good luck tomorrow, Karen.
KAREN STUPPLES: Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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