U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 3, 1999

Meg Mallon

MEG MALLON: Well, first of all, just a little sideline: I made three on the 1st hole, and it was six shots better than the 1st hole I had last year; so, I was very proud of that starting off. It was obviously nice to get off with a birdie the 1st hole. I just played very solid today. I hit a lot of greens -- even though it says I hit 13 greens, I putted off the fringe probably three or four times. You know, I'll take today every day this week. I hit the ball well; put myself in good position. I really felt like I only made two key mistakes out there on 15 and 16, and I think I was just getting a little tired, because it just was incredibly hot out there today. So kind of messed with my thinking coming down the stretch a little bit. But I was very happy to get in with a 2-under.

MEG MALLON: I felt like I was going to get sick last week, and showed up on Monday and woke up on Monday morning with bronchitis. Fortunately, I got a doctor right away, and he got me on antibiotics right away. I feel fine. Problem is I can't sleep at night, because when I lay down I start coughing. That's the most frustrating part. I'm trying to pace myself this week, because I know that I'm tired. And to fight the heat out there is just another battle. You know, I just have to be aware of that as I'm coming down the stretch the next few rounds, but I am going to be a little tired.

MEG MALLON: Monday of this week.

MEG MALLON: Only to see for me, it was a relief. I didn't care about anybody else. (Laughs.) I really think there is a hot round out there, and, you know, it may happen this afternoon. I just feel like the course is a little more accepting today. Although, there are very difficult pin placements. So maybe that's why the scores didn't go so low this morning, and the wind was a little tricky, too. It was great to get in an under-par round any time in an Open. And I know how Opens go; that things tighten up as the week goes on. So I'm just going to keep trying to play solid golf like this and see what happens.

MEG MALLON: Yeah, in a way, although, you never know. When you start out, I think the way our whole group started out, you just try to feel it out a little bit because we knew the greens were going to get a little faster. We didn't know how much the rain had affected them. You could see the first three or four holes that they were very accepting. You could hit shots right in there and they were not going to run away from you. Yeah, definitely today is the day to attack it, and you just kind of had to feel your way out there and figure that out.

MEG MALLON: Well, it's hard to say. Because like Oakmont had a ton of rain a couple of days; so, you could go after it. Yeah, it will feel like an Open. Just because today may have been more accepting, you know that the USGA is going to adjust; so, it almost makes you more nervous about a day like today because of what they are going to do tomorrow.

MEG MALLON: Well, the only thing that I'm disappointed about, and this is just for my game, is there's not more rough. But from what I understand, the weather conditions did not allow for the growth of the rough. For me, it's more to my benefit if there's more rough out there. I tend to keep it in the fairway a little bit more. But there's not much you can do when Mother Nature doesn't allow to do grow. Believe me, they will make up for it in other ways.

MEG MALLON: I've hit every club in the bag today, which is a good test of golf. It's always good to see that. So, yeah I hit some long irons; hit some short irons, it just really was a variety out there, at least today.

MEG MALLON: Every single one of them. (Laughter.) Never take it for granted.

MEG MALLON: Thanks.