U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 1, 2004

Michelle Wie West

Q. Michelle Wie even par, 71, eagle on the last hole. How was it having your dad on the bag?

MICHELLE WIE: It was nice, it was nice having him on the bag.

Q. Tell us about the eagle on No. 9,?

MICHELLE WIE: My goal was to shoot 1 under, I thought that was pretty impossible. But I wanted to shoot under par, and I really wanted that. I thought I did good.

Q. Tell us about your drive on your second shot.

MICHELLE WIE: My driver, I really had nothing to lose. I was hitting the driver pretty bad all day. I felt that one coming. I felt that was in me, and I had to get it out, and I did. I had about 220. I hit a 5-wood in, it was really good, I guess.

Q. How long was your putt?

MICHELLE WIE: It was about 9 feet, but it was a breaking putt, and it was a little bit tough.

Q. Talk about the disaster hole, No. 5, what happened there?

MICHELLE WIE: Well, I don't know, I was just -- I just went left, and it was unplayable. I didn't really care on my second shot over there. It was pretty impossible, that shot. And then I just kind of leaked my 8-iron. And I made it up-and-down from there. It could have been worse.

Q. How long was that putt?

MICHELLE WIE: It was about 9 feet.

Q. What did you hit off the tee the first time and the second time?

MICHELLE WIE: The first time I tried to hit a 7-iron, but I don't know, I tried to get too pretty with it and it went left. And my 8-iron, I just had to hit that one hard and I didn't hit it good.

Q. In the woods, there, could you see your ball?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I can --

Q. (Inaudible).

MICHELLE WIE: I didn't want to play it, there would be no benefit to me playing it.

Q. You talked about having your dad back on the bag, what was it like having your mom outside the ropes?

MICHELLE WIE: It was something I never experienced before, I didn't see her inside the ropes, and it was really good. My dad was good on my bag, and it was all fun today.

Q. You couldn't see your mom, could you hear her?

MICHELLE WIE: She was yelling pretty loud.

Q. You were talking to yourself a little bit?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I thought, well, I just had to hit that driver hard, I mean, I just took a lot of stress out. I felt really good after I hit that shot. It was better than punching your bag.

Q. That hole made up for your day?

MICHELLE WIE: You feel great. You feel better after playing that bad and having that eagle. I think I'll eat lunch better (laughter.)

Q. What are you playing with, what's in your bag?

MICHELLE WIE: Well, I have a Nike driver. I have Titleist irons, Scotty Cameron putter, Vokey wedges and a Titleist Pro V 1 X.

Q. Were you nervous at the start of the round this morning?

MICHELLE WIE: No, I was more excited than nervous. I was really looking forward to this round. It's the U.S. Open, come on. It's really great playing here, I was really excited.

Q. Tell us the clubs you hit into the green on No. 11, and then on No. 3, and how long the putts were?

MICHELLE WIE: No. 11 I think I hit a 9-iron. It was about 125 yards. I hit a little fade in there. It was quite perfect, it was nice. I made that putt. And the putt was about nine -- no, it was six feet.

Q. (Inaudible).

MICHELLE WIE: What is No. 3? Oh, well, I hit it over the hill today and I tried to go for it. But it didn't quite fade, so I got in the bunker, I hit it quite a horrible bunker shot and it went 5 yards, but I drained a 45 footer.

Q. What's your week been like?

MICHELLE WIE: It's been great. All the players are nice to me, the course is fabulous. And I've been having a lot of fun. It's been really great.

Q. Talk a little bit more about having your dad on the bag, what difference does he bring to your game?

MICHELLE WIE: He knows my game a lot, he knows my temper. He knows everything about me, he's my dad. He knows a lot about me. And I think that -- I feel a lot more comfortable with him out there and it's been really great.

Q. (Inaudible).

MICHELLE WIE: No, not really. We've got to get an eagle on this hole.

Q. (Inaudible).

MICHELLE WIE: 220.

Q. (Inaudible).

MICHELLE WIE: I have no idea, it was such a long time ago.

Q. You're reading your own putts. Did he help read any putts today?

MICHELLE WIE: No, not really. He has this device thing that tells the slopes of the greens and he writes it on the yardage book. But mostly I just read my own greens and I think I feel more comfortable that way. And I have more better rhythm and I think it's been working out really well.

Q. (Inaudible).

MICHELLE WIE: Well, I don't know, I mean I think that if I shot 4-under, it really would have kicked him in the butt, but I think even par is pretty good. It could have been a lot worse today and that eagle really got me on the right foot for tomorrow.

Q. (Inaudible).

MICHELLE WIE: Well, I haven't really thought about the cut this year. If you think about the cut you're just thinking about over par. But this year I'm trying to be like 1-under every day, that was my goal. But I'm one off, I just have to shoot 2-under tomorrow.

Q. Talk about how different coming in this year was versus last year?

MICHELLE WIE: Last year I was more nervous, because it was my first U.S. Open, I didn't know what to expect. I think my goal was ridiculous last year, I was trying to shoot 4-under every day. I know in the U.S. Open-type courses there are going to be birdies, there's going to be a lot of pars, and I think there are going to be a lot of bogeys. I think par is a really good score out of here. Fortunately I made a lot of birdies, and unfortunately I made a lot of bogeys and doubles.

Q. (Inaudible.)

MICHELLE WIE: Like the first nine, until that double bogey I was playing pretty well. I only missed like a green before that. But I only missed three greens today, I think that's pretty good out here, since the greens are pretty small. I didn't really quite play my A game, I think I played B plus, it could get better.

Q. (Inaudible).

MICHELLE WIE: I don't know. I believe like Kraft Nabisco and the U.S. Open, they're both majors, but they're different. U.S. Open par is a good score, and Kraft Nabisco the score is lower, you have more wedges in your hand. And they're both really nice courses, Dinah Shore is really great. You have more birdie opportunities there than here.

Q. You show your emotions, and frustration can be the undoing of any golfer.

MICHELLE WIE: I guess I was a little bit frustrated after I had a double. But I think it can always get worse. And I still wasn't really far away from my goal today. I was shooting 1-under, and I still felt that last hole, par-5, I had a chance to birdie or eagle and it was really good.

Q. All the other players have been great to you, and there has been the talk about some grumbling about the exemption, has there been anything here where someone hasn't been great to you?

MICHELLE WIE: No, they've all been nice, they're all really cool players, and I got to know them better playing this year. I've been playing on most of the LPGA events for three years now.

End of FastScripts.