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MICHELOB ULTRA OPEN AT KINGSMILL

May 6, 2004

Michelle Wie West

WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA

PAUL ROVNAK: Thanks for joining us. 37, 35, plus 1. It's a pretty tricky golf course out here. You came on strong with your two birdies on 15 and 16 at the end. Go ahead and tell us about your day and we'll go from there.

MICHELLE WIE: Well, I wasn't playing that good and I was really proud of myself because I kind of hung in there. It's been kind of a long time since I played in a tournament so I kind of lost like what it feels like, just like the whole touch about a tournament. I just -- I didn't play in a tournament in so long that I didn't know like what to do. I didn't know when to concentrate, stuff like that. I started to get the hang of it by like the 13th hole somewhere around there.

PAUL ROVNAK: Okay. Questions.

Q. Talk a little bit about just your back nine and the two birdies, if you would.

MICHELLE WIE: The back nine everything was going more smoothly. The two birdies I made were really, I think, they were really -- it was really -- it was important to make those two birdies because the -- it was like kind of like the turn and if I didn't make those two birdies I don't know what would have happened. I think it was really important to make those two putts and I did.

Q. Did you feel like you played better as the round went along or did you just get more comfortable out there?

MICHELLE WIE: I think I played okay from the start, but I think I was getting more comfortable in the tournament mode and I think I was -- I was concentrating more and I was getting used to more playing in a tournament. I think I was just playing better overall.

Q. What do you tell yourself when putts are just skating by right, skating by left and you can't get one just to find the hole?

MICHELLE WIE: I don't know, I was really unlucky today. I just didn't have the feel for them. I mean, I was really good, but I just didn't -- I couldn't go like one step further and make the putt. I had the feel for it, but it -- when you have to get the right line and the right speed to make it just drop in, I just didn't have that today.

PAUL ROVNAK: Tell us about your score card.

MICHELLE WIE: The first hole, well, I had a great drive. I don't know, I just hit my 7-iron kind of leaked to the right and that -- it was just a really hard third shot and I think I made a good a good 5 there but it could have been a 4.

4, unlucky on my tee shot. Bounced on the cart path and went way right. Then I hit my second shot, was pretty good, but it just went a little bit left than I wanted to, then it bounced left into the rough. It would have been better if it was in the bunker but it was in the rough. I just hit it long and I didn't make that putt.

PAUL ROVNAK: Birdie on 7.

Q. Almost chipped in?

MICHELLE WIE: Oh, yeah. Good drive. That was when I was starting to warm up. That was when I really felt like I was playing a lot better. I hit a great drive there. It was in between clubs, between a 5-wood and a 4-iron. So I just choked on a 5-wood, but I hit it way too solid than I thought it would. I just went a little bit over and I hit a good chip and then, yeah, it was supposed to go in, but it didn't. So that was another unlucky thing there.

PAUL ROVNAK: How far was the putt?

MICHELLE WIE: Two inches.

Q. Chip was about 30, 35 feet?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I think so.

PAUL ROVNAK: Bogey on 12.

MICHELLE WIE: That one I really feel like I should have made a 4 because I hit a good drive. I just like -- I just pulled my second shot into the left, but I had a pretty good lie. I hit a really good chip. I was only about four feet, but I don't know, it just didn't go in.

PAUL ROVNAK: Birdie on 15.

MICHELLE WIE: That's the par 5. I hit a good drive. It was the first time in all my practice rounds that I actually hit the fairway there, which is quite surprising, and I hit my 4-iron and I was a little bit long, but I chipped it pretty close and I had about four feet, made that.

The next hole I hit a 5-wood off the tee. I think I hit like a 7-iron into the green and that was one hole that I was kind of -- the ball bounced the way I wanted it to. It bounced left towards the hole. I made a nine-footer for birdie.

PAUL ROVNAK: Then 17.

MICHELLE WIE: 17 I hit a good shot, but it just -- I don't know, I just hit it left a little bit. I don't know what happened there. But I kind of -- that one felt like a 3-putt to me because I knew I should have made 3 because I made a birdie on the last hole; I should have kept the momentum going, but I hit my putt a little bit too hard and then the putt coming back for par, I mean, I hit it perfect but there was no way where it could miss right because it was a right-to-left putt and it's not like I pushed it or anything, I just hit it her perfectly. It kind of just slid to the right a little bit.

PAUL ROVNAK: What did you hit off the tee on 17?

MICHELLE WIE: 7-iron.

Q. How did you play? How do you feel you played?

MICHELLE WIE: I think I played okay. It was one of those rounds where you just, it wasn't a great round. It wasn't a terrible round. It was just an okay round. Just kind of hacked your way through 18 holes. It was kind of that feeling. When I first started off today I didn't really feel any adrenaline like when I go into tournaments when I am in that tournament mode. I just feel like something's inside is, pumping inside of me. But today, I don't know, it has been a long time since I played in a tournament so I didn't have that, but as the round went on, I kind of got into that mode.

Q. Does that usually happen when you have taken a break from competition, do you need half of a nine to get going?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I think so. I don't have that availability to play week after week like all the players do here, so sometimes I think I need some nine holes to like warm up and I think it was good today because I didn't make any big numbers.

Q. What was the last tournament you played?

MICHELLE WIE: Nabisco.

Q. What do you think, this course doesn't match well with your game or not? When the men's Tour was here it was a course where really good control players tended to do well and long hitters not. I don't know how it sets up for women. What do you think?

MICHELLE WIE: I think it sets up pretty good. I mean, it's not perfect for me, but it will do. It's a really beautiful course and it's just when you are playing you just look at the river and it's just really beautiful. I think it sets up pretty good. There's a lot of holes that are wide, some of the holes are narrow, but I think long hitters have an advantage because they can use a 5-wood which is more consistent than your driver. It feels pretty comfortable for me out here.

Q. Do you like early tee times or late tee times like tomorrow?

MICHELLE WIE: I like early tee times.

Q. Did you hit 3-wood and 5-wood off the tee today?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah.

Q. About how many times?

MICHELLE WIE: 5-wood, two times today. I hit my 3-wood about nine times, somewhere around there.

Q. Only about three drivers?

MICHELLE WIE: Four, three, somewhere around there.

Q. Is it difficult sometimes because expectations, maybe even your own expectations are so high and then when you don't play a tournament you are not ready mentally or whatever, that it's just more difficult to meet your expectations?

MICHELLE WIE: I mean, well, it's only the first round and I think I played pretty good today. I didn't exactly meet my expectations, but I didn't do really bad of my expectations. I didn't fall really short of it. So I think I am in the hunt.

Q. Huge groups of people following you. Is that okay?

MICHELLE WIE: I love it when the crowd is following me like that, it is really flattering to see them all come out and watch me play and it makes the game a whole lot more exciting.

Q. Were you getting many comments from people along the ropes?

MICHELLE WIE: No. Not really that stands out.

PAUL ROVNAK: Thank you.

MICHELLE WIE: Thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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