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KRAFT NABISCO CHAMPIONSHIP

March 24, 2005

Michelle Wie West

RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIFORNIA

JOEL LAMP: Michelle Wie, a 2-under par 70, a nice first round here for you starting this week.

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, it was okay. I mean, it's better than the first round last week but I felt I could have done a lot more under par. I missed 3-putts inside four feet. Hopefully I'll do better tomorrow.

JOEL LAMP: Let's go over your score card. On No. 2 you had a birdie.

MICHELLE WIE: I hit my driver in the fairway. I hit a 3-iron and I was so sure of the hole and I chipped on to the green and made a nice little putt for birdie.

JOEL LAMP: On No. 9, you had a birdie, as well.

MICHELLE WIE: I hit a great 4-wood draw, and I hit a 4-wood, my second shot. I was just short of the bunker left and I hit it on to the green and had about a 3-foot putt for birdie.

JOEL LAMP: And you followed that up with a birdie on the 10.

MICHELLE WIE: I hit a 3-wood off the tee there. I hit an 8-iron for my second shot and had about four feet for birdie.

JOEL LAMP: And a bogey on 17 yeah,.

MICHELLE WIE: I had a 7 there and I kind of pulled it a little bit left. I had a tricky lie. You know, I missed a 4-footer. I actually hit the putt -- I had a par putt from four feet, and I just left it short about six inches, that was pretty bad.

Q. Mentioned one of the putts inside four feet. What were the other two? And was the problem speed of the greens?

MICHELLE WIE: No. 11, about four feet for birdie -- oh, yeah, the par 3. I had about a 5-foot putt, 4-foot putt.

I just think that -- I just have to get it started on-line better.

Q. You had a couple up-and-downs on the front, can you just take me through those?

MICHELLE WIE: All I remember, I had an up-and-down on 8. And 7, 7 I had an up-and-down. I was just short of the green on 7. Actually my chip shot landed on like a ball mark and it kicked left. I made like an eight-foot putt for par.

On 8 I was in that little ditch and I had a 5-foot putt for par.

Q. How much for confidence do you have in your short game now, as opposed to, say, two years ago?

MICHELLE WIE: I mean, a lot more. Like two years ago, if I missed the green I would be like, "uh-oh." I was a little bit uncomfortable, but now I feel a lot more comfortable with it. I'm still working really hard on my short game.

Q. Looking back at the first couple of years here, it doesn't seem like you've been in trouble very much. You hit a lot of greens, things like that. When you look back on your chances the last two years, is it putting that made the difference, and how much better a putter are you and how much are you working on it now?

MICHELLE WIE: Definitely it was mostly because of my putting. But I also think that I just made a couple mistakes here and there, and hopefully I won't make those this week. I think I made one today.

My putting feels a lot better, I feel more confident. I work really hard on it. But I have to get better.

Q. How is it to work with your caddie?

MICHELLE WIE: It's great. We get along really well. For some reason we kept bumping into each other. We couldn't walk straight today. (Laughing). We were abusive to each other, but it's really great. We're working out really good.

Q. Can you talk about you had good momentum going birdieing 9 and 10 and had a very makeable putt on 11. You missed that one, can you talk about how that maybe halted a little momentum you had?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, definitely. It was my third-in-a-row birdie, and then if I made that putt, I think I would have shot a lot better. But after I made that putt, it was par-par-par. I made a great save on 16, but 17 I made a bad putt.

Q. What is it about your caddie that makes you work so well together?

MICHELLE WIE: I think like reading the greens we pretty much talk the same language and we just work together really well and she walks really fast; I had to point that out.

Q. The putt on 11, how far was that?

MICHELLE WIE: Like four feet.

Q. And how about the Japanese lessons, have you started doing that playing with Ai Miyazato today?

MICHELLE WIE: I was quite surprised today. She speaks great English. I didn't get a chance to speak Japanese to her, probably embarrass myself, but she speaks great English. We had a lot of fun today.

Q. How close do you think you are to winning an event? How much is that gap narrowing?

MICHELLE WIE: I think that it's getting narrower and narrower. I just have to again move that one step ahead. I think that I'm getting there. I just have to work on it a little bit harder.

Q. The one mistake you made, was that on 17?

MICHELLE WIE: Yes.

Q. And how did you solve No. 9?

MICHELLE WIE: I hit a 4-wood this time off the tee.

Q. You mentioned the 4-wood, do you find yourself laying back more and resisting the urge to hit driver?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, definitely. I'm hitting the ball a lot softer. On the holes that I can I do, but I have more course management now and that that's -- I can improve but I feel like it's gotten a lot better the last couple of years.

Q. Is that something you fought over time? A lot of people want to hit driver and show how long they can hit it, or is it something that people said, listen, you don't need to do it every time?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, a lot of people like David, all my other caddies and my parents -- well, not actually my parents. But even myself like in the practice rounds where I know I can't hit driver, I'll hit a couple of drivers just to tell myself that it's not the right club. I'm fighting the urge a lot better.

Q. When you walked off the 18th green, how would you characterize your emotions, 2-under 70, solid; but considering that you were 3-under through 10, is there a level of disappointment? How would you characterize after you putted out on 18?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, definitely, but I still had a tricky 4-foot putt for par, so it felt good. I could have actually shot a lot better today, but there's room for improvement the next few days.

Q. How often did you hit driver today and when you didn't, you hit 4-wood or 3-wood?

MICHELLE WIE: 4-wood I hit driver on No. 1, No. 2, No.3.

Q. Can you talk about playing with Ai Miyazato today and how she plays?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I had a lot of fun playing with her today. I didn't really get -- I only played one day with her but she seems pretty good, and like I said, her English is really good, better than my Japanese.

Q. Do you sense any difference from the gallery? Obviously you're still only 15, but this is your third time here; just walking around today, how they responded to you?

MICHELLE WIE: I didn't really sense any difference. But I felt more comfortable coming here since it's my third year, and it felt like coming back home.

JOEL LAMP: Thank you, Michelle. Have a good week.

End of FastScripts.

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