MICHELOB ULTRA OPEN AT KINGSMILL

May 4, 2003

Lorena Ochoa

NEAL REID: Okay. Let's go over your scorecard last. I wonder if you could talk about your day, you finished tied for second. I'm sure you wanted to finish one place better but a real good tournament.

LORENA OCHOA: Thank you. I played pretty good today. I played pretty good the front 9. I made three birdies and bogey which was a very hard hole. I think the 8 was playing very hard. The back nine, I don't know, I had an opportunity for birdie and I lipped out a couple of times really bad and I was trying very hard, trying, trying. I made one really bad mistake that cost me the par-5. The 15 I didn't make a birdie there.

NEAL REID: Questions?

Q. What was the bad shot there on the par-5, what happened?

LORENA OCHOA: I hit a good drive, and then I hit a good 3-wood a little bit left of the green. It was perfect. It was a good opportunity for me to make birdie, a nice chip, fairly easy, and I missed my chip. I didn't check. I missed the putt on the way back.

NEAL REID: You still felt good about the tournament otherwise?

LORENA OCHOA: Yes, it was a very, very special week for me. I had a lot of fun. I enjoyed it very much. I proved to myself how far I can go and it's very close. Hopefully it will come soon.

Q. Did it seem like it was a hard day to score today because Grace won by shooting even par?

LORENA OCHOA: I think I was playing hard, the wind picked up, it was cold and it was hot. Especially the last 5 or 6 holes the wind picked up a lot. It's always hard. The last day is always hard being in the last group. I thought 10-under would do it.

Q. Tell me about your tee shot on 17, did it hit the tree?

LORENA OCHOA: It did.

Q. Obviously it was a miss hit, were you aiming left?

LORENA OCHOA: I was aiming a little left to the pin trying to go left to right. I hit a 4-iron and I missed it. I feel a lot of wind at that time. It went a little bit inside, outside, and I hit it to the left, but, you know, at that point I was just trying to get there, trying to get there, and I made a great par, and I left very happy after that hole. And I thought give yourself one more chance. 18 I did not play really good. I hit an unbelievable second shot. I just hit it right uphill and didn't make it to the top, probably 10 centimeters left, and it would be right in the pin. It was a little bit of bad luck there. But I'm extremely happy and congratulations to Grace. She is a great player and we come back next year.

NEAL REID: We have Cristie waiting and Karr on the way up.

Q. You talked about this week about experience and being here, how much do you get out about being in contention again?

LORENA OCHOA: How much experience do I get?

Q. How good is it even though you didn't win?

LORENA OCHOA: Great. I'm certainly getting to know my body, how it reacts much better under pressure. I put myself together today. Especially yesterday I played very good and my level -- I am on the same level. If I make bogey, if I made birdie, I'm very stable and I think that's a good sign. So I lead a lot, I leave very happy, good memories about this weekend and hopefully I can play good next week.

Q. Is this as upset you have been after an event though?

LORENA OCHOA: No, no. It feels a little bit nod bad. I'm a little bit sad because it was really, really close and this could be my tournament. I had many chances on the back nine but they didn't drop in. I am okay. Second place is great. I'm right there with a lot of good players and hopefully it comes home I win.

Q. Did you see Grace's putt?

LORENA OCHOA: I did.

Q. What was your emotion when you saw it go in?

LORENA OCHOA: Good for her, I thought inside me. Whatever happened, thank you, God, for giving me the opportunity to be here. She made a great putt, very good.

Q. Any of those pars on the back nine stick out as an opportunity (Inaudible)?

LORENA OCHOA: On the 10th I was in the bunker and I hit the pin. It lipped out. I'm pretty close. On the 11th, I had seven feet for birdie, lipped out all the way, and then I didn't make par on the par-5. I didn't make it.

Q. You 2-putted on the par-5?

LORENA OCHOA: No, I was left of the green and chipped in, 2 putts.

Q. How far away was the birdie putt on 15 that you missed?

LORENA OCHOA: Probably about the same, maybe 12 feet.

Q. How proud of you were you of the save at 17? That was terrific.

LORENA OCHOA: That was good. I'm very happy. I asked one more chance to win the tournament, just make par and we will see what happened, and I did it. So that was a really good feeling.

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