U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 3, 2004

Rachel Teske

CRAIG SMITH: Rachel Teske, minus 1 today, minus 3 for the championship.

RHONDA GLENN: Great round. You really put yourself in position with that eagle on 13. How did you do that?

RACHEL TESKE: I hit a great drive off the tee, and I hit a 7-wood into the green. I had a bit of a sliding lie. I was really comfortable starting left of the green and letting it come into the hole. It was 6 foot behind the hole.

RHONDA GLENN: You've been hitting the ball well, but your putting hasn't been quite up to speed. You had a 3-putt.

RACHEL TESKE: Right. I've been pretty happy with the way I've been striking the ball and controlling the distances into the greens really well. I'd like to make a few more putts, so I really need to get the speed better.

Today the lines are much better. But I need to get the speed. I'm giving myself a lot of chances, hitting a lot of greens, and that's what I want to do this week.

RHONDA GLENN: Forgive me for not knowing this, is this the first time you've been in contention in Women's Open?

RACHEL TESKE: Yeah, I believe it would be.

RHONDA GLENN: How does it feel?

RACHEL TESKE: Good, good. This is the way you want to play in an Open. So I'm very happy.

Q. What do you mean by that?

RACHEL TESKE: Mean by what?

Q. "This is the way I want to play a U.S. Open"?

RACHEL TESKE: Well, I always feel like I can hit the ball well enough and I have the game to play well in the Opens, in any Major, really. And so I'm really, really happy. I'm very comfortable with the way I'm hitting it and thinking my way around the golf course.

This is the way I want to play every Major, every tournament, but every Major especially. But this week it's working.

Q. What do you think you'll have to do to tomorrow to win?

RACHEL TESKE: Probably continue to hit the ball solid and control the distance on my irons into the greens and have a good feel for the shots I want to play and just roll a few more putts in the hole.

Q. Will you set yourself a target score?

RACHEL TESKE: No, I don't feel comfortable doing that on this golf course, because you've got to think so much about every shot you play. And there's so many different shots you can play.

So I'm not really score-oriented at the best of times. I'd like to get play some good quality shots out there.

Q. You've had experience in playoffs before, did it cross your mind that that scenario might occur again?

RACHEL TESKE: No. No, I believe it's an 18 hole playoff, here, so I'd like to try and -- I'd like to win it without having to go over in a playoff.

Q. Was the course different today than it was yesterday?

RACHEL TESKE: The ball was running a little bit more on the fairways, but the greens were still holding quite well, which was nice.

The first few holes it was kind of hard to judge whether the ball would run or stop on the greens. And they still held pretty well.

Q. What do you make of the mix of the names that are up on the leaderboard and how do you think that makes tomorrow set up?

RACHEL TESKE: Well, I think it happens a lot on our Tour now. We have such a good depth and so many good quality players from a lot of different countries and cultures.

So I think that's becoming the norm on the LPGA and it's a great thing, it's exciting to look up there and see a bunch of different players and different styles.

End of FastScripts.