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MICHELOB ULTRA OPEN AT KINGSMILL

May 6, 2004

Helen Alfredsson

WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA

DANA VONLOUDA: Thank you for joining us. Very good opening round, 8 birdies, 3 bogies 5-under par, 66. You are currently the clubhouse leader one shot over Kim Saiki, tell us about the day.

HELEN ALFREDSSON: It was a lot of fun today actually. I hit the fairways, as you need to do around here. I hit eight greens, made some putts. Nothing spectacular, just put myself in good places and missed a couple of putts on the beginning, but made a few coming in which was is the key to the round.

DANA VONLOUDA: Questions.

Q. Can you go through your card for us.

HELEN ALFREDSSON: Birdie on 1. I had I think it was 8-iron to about five feet. Then I had a 4-iron on the 2nd hole, to about eight feet.

Bogey on 3. Missed like a 4-footer.

DANA VONLOUDA: What club did you hit in?

HELEN ALFREDSSON: I can't even remember what I hit. What is going on here? Oh, yes. I hit a wedge in and 3-putted. I 3-putted on the par 3. I hit 7-iron and I 3-putted. Missed a four, five-footer.

DANA VONLOUDA: How long was the first putt?

HELEN ALFREDSSON: No more than 15 feet maybe.

Birdie on 7, I hit it to about four feet with a wedge.

11, I can't believe I can't remember where I am. Oh, yeah, 6-iron in to about four feet and then the next hole I made a birdie too, right? Then I had four feet with an 8-iron. Then I bogeyed the next hole.

DANA VONLOUDA: Birdied 13.

HELEN ALFREDSSON: Yeah, but I bogeyed 12, right?

DANA VONLOUDA: Birdie 11, birdie 12, birdie 13, three birdies in a row.

HELEN ALFREDSSON: I did?

DANA VONLOUDA: Yes.

HELEN ALFREDSSON: I had a bogey somewhere.

DANA VONLOUDA: 14.

HELEN ALFREDSSON: Birdie on the par 3. Then I hit an 8-iron there.

DANA VONLOUDA: How close?

HELEN ALFREDSSON: Oh, no, okay. That was four feet. Then on the par 4, the other one I had 6-iron to about five feet. Then on the hole before that, it was probably ten feet. I hit a 9-iron.

DANA VONLOUDA: On the par 3.

HELEN ALFREDSSON: No, on the 11th. Now we come to the bogey.

On 14 I had a bogey. I hit it in the rough. The rough here is killing, so I couldn't get up in the green, the bunker and couldn't get it up-and-down.

DANA VONLOUDA: Birdie on 15.

HELEN ALFREDSSON: I chipped it up to about five feet. I was right next to the green with a 3-wood.

17, birdie, then I hit that probably about nine feet with a 7-iron. Geez, that was a drag. I can't even remember.

Q. Can you go through your card again?

HELEN ALFREDSSON: Don't push your luck. (Laughter).

Q. Where is your career at the moment? Are you still motivated as --

HELEN ALFREDSSON: After taking time off last year, I enjoy it better, you know, I -- I look forward, I feel like I have the energy to fight, to make it better. Last year I didn't -- I didn't really care. I cared, but not enough to fight it. So with the competition all these young ones you kind of step up, you can't go. It's either one or the other, you can't go half-assed around here.

Q. What forced you to take sometime off or did you just decide --

HELEN ALFREDSSON: I don't know why but I picked the ball up twice without marking it on the green and I think that was a sign that I was a little burned out or spaced out or something.

Q. Where was that?

HELEN ALFREDSSON: One at McDonald's and one at Rochester.

Q. What did you do when you weren't playing? What did you do to recharge?

HELEN ALFREDSSON: I was home a lot with Kent. We were just -- I was playing wife, I think. I said that last year I said when vacuum cleaning, which is like the biggest drag in the whole world, becomes more fun than golf then you need to take a break.

Q. When did the juices start flowing again?

HELEN ALFREDSSON: I don't know. I think, I came back to Portland and I really was so far down on the money list that I didn't know if I was going to be able to keep the card or not. I didn't even consider myself to go from Sweden to California, it's such a long ways. It's one of those things, you don't know. I felt pretty good in Portland, didn't get anything going and then I won in Sacramento. I had this calm and all of a sudden it's like you are hitting the shots that you want and you remember how fun it could be. I really don't know what it was. If it was just to take the time off and accepting that because sometimes you know, like the saying "A winner never quits, a quitter never wins," but where do you quit or take time off and to stay sane?

Q. Start this year by missing two cuts. Where is your confidence level?

HELEN ALFREDSSON: You know what, I started with a new coach and for the first time I think I was just trying to, you know, build something and not trying to have a fix for everyday, because that becomes so tiring. You try to work a little bit more long-term and I really like him and he's close where I live in Orlando. And I had fun going there. I had fun because I felt like it was getting better.

Q. Did you play no golf whatsoever while you were off?

HELEN ALFREDSSON: I played a little bit in Europe. But otherwise, no, and I didn't miss it whatsoever.

Q. How long was that?

HELEN ALFREDSSON: I took time off from the U.S. Open I didn't come back until Portland.

Q. Did you think giving it up altogether?

HELEN ALFREDSSON: Well, I mean, you are contemplating because you don't enjoy it and why being out there when you don't enjoy it. But then I know you know, I don't -- I think I had never taken that time off really and then it was so good that we have -- I didn't play the Tournament of Champions so I had even more time off. I think you need to do that. I never did. I guess I am just too stubborn, feel like I should play myself into the shape I should be in.

Q. Was that the first time in your career that you had ever taken an extended period of time off say even way back to your amateur career?

HELEN ALFREDSSON: Yeah, it was. I had to take sometime off when I had my surgery when they had to reattach my hamstring, but that wasn't really a break where -- you were just recuperating and your goal was to come out here again. I don't know, if I didn't -- if I wouldn't have felt like it, I wouldn't have come back out because I didn't want to push myself and just have to do it. Find something else to do.

Q. You were always kind of famous when you were first on the Tour for what you did off the course. I mean, like modeling and flying fighter planes that kind of stuff. Do you still do those kinds of activity? Do you still make time for it?

HELEN ALFREDSSON: Well, nobody has asked me to go in a fighter jet. If they did, yeah, I would do it in a heart beat. That was a time when I felt okay but now I think I am growing up, I do a lot of other things. I was hosting a program when I was home in Sweden every Saturday.

Q. Golf oriented thing?

HELEN ALFREDSSON: No, just like a game show thing.

Q. Like what?

HELEN ALFREDSSON: For two hours.

Q. People answer questions and win money?

HELEN ALFREDSSON: Yeah. They would call in and you would have to do all this for two hours every Saturday night.

Q. What is it called?

HELEN ALFREDSSON: Bingo Lotto. It is like they buy tickets and then they watch the show and they can call in and get to the studio. It was fun.

Q. Do you tell jokes? Were you loosening up the crowd?

HELEN ALFREDSSON: No, I was co-hosting with another guy that I know. We had a lot of fun actually to do it. It was my five best hair days in my life, every Saturday. I never had it that poofed up before.

Q. Did you say anything cool like you were the weakest link?

HELEN ALFREDSSON: No, I didn't have to say anything. I was -- I would run after to get the winners that won the cars and stuff and give them a hug and you know, some of them you couldn't get off you, I was like: "Stop it."

Q. When was this, last summer?

HELEN ALFREDSSON: No, this winter.

Q. You are going to do it again or one-time thing?

HELEN ALFREDSSON: I don't know. I mean, well, I don't think that show, and then -- but I did other things too. Hosted a show called the golf hour. So we went to do that in Dubai, do all the programs. I mean, something different. It's a little calmer than flying the fighter jets and what else did I do? I did some things.

Q. Do you walk around the locker room as the biggest proponent of taking sometime off and saying so and so, you could use a few months in the cooler?

HELEN ALFREDSSON: It's their problem, I used to play 35. I used to love to play. I think I probably played the most except Laura. We used to play -- I've always been in pretty good shape, and then it was hard. But I think you should take time off when you really feel like it but it's hard sometimes because it's peoples' living and with the schedule starting late and finishing early you know you feel like you really need to play. But the young ones should be out here suffering. (Laughs). Like we had to do.

Q. Playing much in Europe this year?

HELEN ALFREDSSON: Play the usual ones. Thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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