U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 2, 1996

Kris Tschetter

KRIS TSCHETTER: Well, I felt good before I teed off. I knew that if I had a good round, I maybe had a chance. I knew that Annika needed to falter. That was the only way that I was going to win. And that's just not something that Annika does very often. So it was a long shot. But I knew that second place was a definite possibility, and I just was just going out and trying to go as low as I could.

KRIS TSCHETTER: No. I was obviously hoping for first place, but I think when I made the turn, I saw that Annika was at 8 under, and so she was obviously off to a great start. And at that point, yeah, I was thinking second place all by myself would be a nice accomplishment.

KRIS TSCHETTER: Just playing the course. I'd say maybe -- you just can never get real aggressive on a U.S. Open golf course. I was -- I wouldn't say I ever went for a pin with the chance of going over one of those greens. That's just something that you don't do at this golf course. I played the same game that I've played the last three days.

KRIS TSCHETTER: I feel good and yet a little disappointed. You dream about winning the Open, and it was nice to get close. It would have been nice to win it, but hopefully I'll have a few more chances.

KRIS TSCHETTER: Can you tell me which holes they were on?

KRIS TSCHETTER: Okay. I birdied 3. I hit a 9-iron up 4 feet and made it. Then I bogeyed 4. I hit it in the rough. And just, once again, if you hit it in the rough, it is really hard to hit these greens. And I missed the green. I hit a decent sand shot about 10 feet and didn't make it.

KRIS TSCHETTER: I birdied 8. I hit a 3-wood off that tee, hit a wedge up about 14 feet and made that. And then on 9 I hit a good drive and had a 9-iron in from 130, and again, 14 feet and made that.

KRIS TSCHETTER: I hit a good drive there and came off of the 3-iron a little bit, left it in the bunker, hit a sand shot up a couple of feet and made it.

KRIS TSCHETTER: We should maybe talk about 15.

KRIS TSCHETTER: Well, I hit my drive right and fortunately wasn't out of bounds, and had to hit a little 3-iron kind of under the tree and curve it right and didn't hit a very good wedge shot and made about a 18-footer to save par. On 16 I hit a 6-iron up about 15 feet to the left of the pin and made that.

KRIS TSCHETTER: I made a good par on 17. I hit a good drive there, but my line was just a little bit to the right, and I went through the fairway into the rough and just didn't hit the green. Hit a tree and kicked even further right and Kirk, my caddy, significant other, all that stuff, teacher, he suggested that I blast it like a sand shot; just take a full shot and blast it, which I did, and rolled it up about two feet. So that was a little scary.

KRIS TSCHETTER: It was just a couple of feet; I think three feet.

KRIS TSCHETTER: Well, she's just -- she's a really, really nice girl. Her success has not seemed to change her at all. She's just kind of into her own game, and she's just a great player. We were watching the telecast yesterday and saying she's hit 26 of 28 fairways or something like that, and I started thinking how many have I hit? And believe me, it wasn't that many. So she's just a solid player and she's a great putter. Like I said, you don't want to wish bad on anyone, but you can think, well, maybe she's going to have that one so-so round. But she's just a solid player and I really was not expecting her to falter today.

KRIS TSCHETTER: No. I knew it was a matter of time before one of those showed up. No, I don't know him, and he was just in the gallery today, but I did notice him.

KRIS TSCHETTER: I don't think so.

KRIS TSCHETTER: Really?

KRIS TSCHETTER: I signed the "Cheese Head" hat.

KRIS TSCHETTER: Well, almost. You kind of -- I kept thinking to myself, what golf course is she playing, because it doesn't feel like that to me. But she played great, and I give her a lot of credit. She hung in there, and it's hard to be up at the top. She's defending champion, and then she's right in there every day, and that's a lot of pressure. And she just hung in there and played great.

KRIS TSCHETTER: I think it was on eight or nine. I looked at the board, I saw she was at eight, and I saw a bunch of 1's and a bunch of evens. I turned to Kirk and said Annika is at 8, but if we could get a couple under, that would be big. And you never know what can happen coming down the stretch. I don't know what I want to say. I totally gave up on it, but I knew it was a long shot.

KRIS TSCHETTER: Not really. I just -- I can't say enough, she's such a great player. She doesn't make a lot of bogeys. I was just trying to do the best that I could; make some birdies and make sure that I did get second all by myself and just get in the clubhouse and see what happens.

KRIS TSCHETTER: Like, on the last hole I was kind of in between clubs. I knew I couldn't get the 8-iron all the way back there, but we kind of talked and it was -- the worst thing you can do is hit over that green, so let's hit the 8-iron up there and make the par. I did want to make a bogey at that point.

KRIS TSCHETTER: I'm driving home tonight and then going to Lancing on Tuesday.

KRIS TSCHETTER: Just outside Washington, D.C.

KRIS TSCHETTER: Yes, definitely. I played in it the last couple of years, since they allowed the U.S. tour to go over there, and I've really enjoyed it.

KRIS TSCHETTER: Is it?

KRIS TSCHETTER: I like the majors. I think I seem to get a little more up for them. Have a little more adrenaline flowing through my body, which is good for me. I need to get that adrenaline flowing for all the other tournaments.

KRIS TSCHETTER: Yes, sometimes. I love playing on tour. I absolutely love it. I love the competition and everything about it, but I also love being home. So I'm trying to pace myself a little bit better. When I'm playing in tournaments, really being into it. But sometimes that's hard. But it's not real difficult when you're playing in the U.S. Open.

KRIS TSCHETTER: Oh, I'll probably give him a call one of these days coming up.