ADT CHAMPIONSHIP

November 22, 2002

Rachel Teske

NEAL REID: Let's go over your score card. There is a lot to go over.

RACHEL TESKE: No. 3, I had a chip from the front right of the green. It was probably 5 yards short of the green to about four feet and made the putt for birdie.

No. 10, I hit a 6-iron to 30 feet and made the putt for birdie.

No. 11, I hit a 5-iron to eight feet, made the birdie.

No. 12, hit an eight iron to eight feet, again, and made the putt.

No. 13, I missed the green short. I had a pretty bad putt there and had two putts from about 30 feet.

Q. How far was the putt there?

RACHEL TESKE: About 30 feet. My birdie put was about 15 feet.

Then 15, hit a 4-wood on the green there to about 15 feet and 2-puttd for a birdie.

16, hit a 7-iron to about six feet, made the birdie.

Then 18, I hit a 7-iron again to about 15 feet, made the birdie.

Q. You had a lot of birdies on the back nine.

RACHEL TESKE: Yes, I did. I struggled with my putting a lot yesterday and today I just kind of tried to get more of a feel for the grain of the green. It changes a little bit. Sometimes you get the grain running straight left to right on the green, but out here sometimes it changes a little bit. So I just tried to get a bit more of a feel for the grain and the speed.

And to make the putt on ten was nice because that was the longest putt I had made in a while. We did a good job of picking the line. And then I got on a bit of a run. One thing I noticed out here is the pin positions -- I mean, they're great pin positions, but the greens and what's around the greens, it can get a little scary, so I kind of feel like there's no place for that. You can't be scared. And I kind of felt like I got up and trusted it and let it rip really. I kind of enjoy that. I enjoy having the challenge there and where you really don't have any option other than to trust it and let it go. That's what I did on the back nine.

Obviously, I hit a couple of bad shots, but it kind of helped me to keep my feet on the ground too. Even though I was having a good day, making it up the leaderboard, it still made me concentrate real hard on every shot.

Like the one on 13 kind of came out of nowhere. It was a pretty poor shot. I wasn't very impressed with myself. After that I really just tried to play each shot as it came, work a little harder.

Q. (Inaudible.)

RACHEL TESKE: No, not really. I was pretty happy with the way I played on the front nine, and I gave myself a lot of birdie chances and didn't really -- I didn't make them, obviously, but I rolled the ball really well, and that always gives me confidence, knowing that you're rolling the ball well, because you can't always read every green perfect. But when you can put a good stroke on the ball or kind of feel that you're rolling it, that gives me confidence hole after hole, I feel like I get a little bit closer every hole.

So the birdie on 10 was really what kick-started it, I would say.

Q. (Inaudible.)

RACHEL TESKE: I think it can be, you know, you can kind of let yourself get into -- you can let yourself get into that, you know, like the shot on 16. I mean, the 7-iron, you have waterway left and you have bunkers right, and the wind is left to right. And, you know, you can let yourself get scared if you think about all that, about all the trouble around. And there are a lot of holes like that. So you really just have to kind of -- when you're hitting it solid and playing well, you just have to trust yourself to hit the shots. When you do, they end up being great shots, which is exciting as well, because you're going for those pin positions and it makes the game a little bit easier, when it works.

Q. (Inaudible.)

RACHEL TESKE: It's really -- like I just tried to see, if you look at the putting greens or the greens out there, you can see different shades of green, there will be a dark green and a bit of a light green color. And the dark green, you know, it's into the grain. When it's light green you know it's going to be down grain, a little bit faster. I tried to get a feel for that. Yesterday I didn't take much notice of that, which is disappointing. And I rolled the ball pretty bad yesterday, too. So I just tried to do that. I kind of get an idea, little contours on the green and the different shades, it shows you the grain a little bit.

Q. (Inaudible.)

RACHEL TESKE: Yeah, we get bermuda and cooch greens. I think the cooch is a little bit grainier than the bermuda. I feel it's a different kind of bermuda as well. It's seems to be thatchier, more difficult to chip out of over here than the bermuda I grew up at home.

Q. Were you watching the leaderboard?

RACHEL TESKE: Not really. I kind of saw -- I don't tend to look at any names, I just try to get a number up there. I saw 7 under up on the leaderboard, I think probably mid round. I can't remember what hole it was. So you could kind of tell that nobody was -- none of the leaders were making a big move. So I just kept plodding along.

Q. (Inaudible.)

RACHEL TESKE: Actually Laura Davies. And her caddie last night, because it's like a house, so myself and my husband and Laura and her caddie, Terry, and he cooked up roast chicken, roast dinner last night. It's not very often you get home-cooked meals so it's kind of fun to do that, have that opportunity this week.

Q. (Inaudible.)

RACHEL TESKE: Not yet.

Q. (Inaudible.)

RACHEL TESKE: I live in Lakeland, Florida.

Q. (Inaudible.)

RACHEL TESKE: We do, yeah. Obviously, we spend more of the year over here than we do in Australia. We're over here probably March through about now and we'll head back to Australia for Christmas and see the family. Because my husband Dana is Australian is well, so all our family is back there.

Q. When you go back home, do they comment on how Americanized you've become?

RACHEL TESKE: Yes, I get in big trouble. I don't think I've picked up the American accent up, but I do, because Australians hate that. I know growing up, you would watch like Greg Norman do an interview and you hear a little bit of a twang and everybody just hates it, criticizes it, and when I get home, my mom is likes, "Oh, you're picking up a bit of an accent." And I'm like, "I can't help it."

Dana doesn't seem to pick it up. He has a thicker Australian accent. I think I just try to make it a little bit easier, because some words are definitely different, and I find a lot of people have a hard time understanding what you're saying if you stick to the Australian version. So sometimes I just tend to sound a little bit more American and make it easier.

Q. (Inaudible.)

RACHEL TESKE: No, not really. I haven't gotten hooked on the NFL, because I was brought up with the Rugby league, and those guys don't wear padding or helmets. So the NFL guys are wooses. I kind of watch it.

I like the hockey, but I don't understand it. I see who is charging who and knocking who out and whatever. I like watching the basketball too. We have basketball in Australia, too, so I've met one of the Ausie basketballers, and I just enjoy watching it.

Q. (Inaudible) less intimidated than other players might be?

RACHEL TESKE: I don't know. I can't really speak for the other players, especially on this golf course, anything can happen. I guess that's why I really don't take much notice who is in the lead or who is up there, while I'm out on the golf course. You kind of just keep playing and you know the number you sort of have to get to, and you try and plan the course around that. I feel I'm playing well enough that I'm not intimidated by anybody. Obviously Annika has had an awesome year and it's fantastic to watch and be a part of the PGA while she's achieving all that. But if I'm playing well too, I have a good chance to hit the shots, and play well.

Q. (Inaudible.)

RACHEL TESKE: We're taking over Lakeland. There is an a player on tour, Sherrin Smyers. When I first came out on tour, she was still on Tour. She knew Wendy Doolan, she is an LPGA player, and I knew Wendy through amateur golf and junior golf. And so when I got my card over here, the first time I came to the U.S. was for qualifying school so I didn't know anything, and Wendy said I know a reasonable place to rent and it's safe and good people. I said, well that sounds good. So we just went to Lakeland and we met some great people, and we couldn't leave now because it's kind of like our family, so we enjoy it there.

Q. Does Wendy live there?

RACHEL TESKE: Wendy lives there, Sherrin lives there; Michelle. I can't think of any other Aussies in the area. There are a few in Orlando. We're all pretty close.

Q. (Inaudible.)

RACHEL TESKE: Yeah, I did. That was shocking. I've played Victoria Golf Club, and I kind of remember the greens -- it's in Melbourne, so all the greens are usually pretty hard and fast and firm. I kind of remember the greens at Victoria Golf Club just being a little bit raised or upside down saucer kind of thing. And I know in past years the Australian Open has always tried to get the greens really hard and fast. And I think Melbourne is in a drought at the moment, too, so I don't know if the water supply had anything to do with it. But you know when the guys have trouble on the greens there's something wrong. It's a shame they cut it to 54 holes, really, or they had to. It's unfortunate.

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