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MCDONALD'S LPGA CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY COCA-COLA

June 12, 2004

Reilley Rankin

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE

Q. Good playing today, Reilley, nice little 67 there. 5 under after two rounds. I'm wondering if you could just talk about your day and what was working for you out there.

REILLEY RANKIN: I tried to stay patient and remember par is your friend this week, and just prepare. I took advantage of yesterday to prepare myself.

Q. Any part of your game that was on today in particular or just solid all around?

REILLEY RANKIN: I hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens, a few putts fell, so that was good.

Q. How did the course play after all the rain?

REILLEY RANKIN: It's pretty wet. It should dry up a little this afternoon, but greens were holding. I'm sure it's not quite how they anticipated, but it's playing a little longer.

Q. Can you talk about what you did yesterday in preparing for today?

REILLEY RANKIN: Actually, I just mentally prepared and did a lot of visualization and tried to turn my brain off, went shopping.

Q. Okay. Questions?

You got 4 under in the first round and you kind of struggled coming in. You said yesterday may have helped you. What was the difference today.

REILLEY RANKIN: I just learned from the first day. I put it behind me after that round was over, but I just made my mind up that I was going to close like a champion, and I just focused on opening my round strong today and closing it up strong and break it up to three six holes.

Q. Can you talk about your play on the last par 5s in the last couple rounds?

REILLEY RANKIN: The first day I on 16, I guess I tried to cut too much off and hit the trees and just had to take my medicine and made bogey there and eagled 9 the first day. I hit a 5 wood in. When you miss the fairway out here you've got to take your medicine and go to the next shot.

Q. The birdie today, can you talk a little bit about that chip? It seemed like a lot of players were struggling a little bit with the dampness of the greens on the chips leaving quite a few short. Did you just misjudge that there?

REILLEY RANKIN: On 9, yeah, I did I misjudge it. The greens are wet, so no matter what club you hit, it's hard to bump and run it, let the ball run out. I just misjudged it, but didn't think about it after it happened.

Q. Reilley, I know you've done this before, could you take us through your recovery from that terrible accident and what lingering effects, if any, there still are?

REILLEY RANKIN: I don't have any effects anymore. Only my body knows my mind doesn't know I was ever hurt. I just the recovery was long, but overall, the way I look at it, it's the best thing I've ever gone through. I know it's not a good it seems backwards, but I grew a lot from it, and just I just never looked back and the first day in rehab I couldn't lift my arms above my head without anything in them. That was probably four or five months after the accident. It was fun to see the progress. And I had a beach ball and went medicine balls and stuff. It was testing, I guess.

Q. Was there a time you thought you could never do this again? Not real early, but at any time during rehab?

REILLEY RANKIN: No, and a doctor did tell me you probably first they said I might not walk and probably won't ever play golf. When I got out of the hospital and went to a doctor at home, he said you'll probably never play golf again, and then I kind of looked at him. He said, "If you do, you're going to have to add 6, 7 or 8 shots to your game."

I couldn't walk, but I almost ran out of that doctor's office, and it made me really mad, because the doctors know what they know. Obviously, they can help us, but I don't think they can ever predict somebody's ability or determination to I mean, with any situation. I mean, they don't know somebody's mind or mind set. He never saw me play golf to begin with. It doesn't matter what level you're on, so no, I just I never even really it felt like I was still working on like if I was still playing, kind of, you know, it was just part of it all.

Q. Reilley, some of the visualization that you do now, does that help you now, having gotten through that accident, some of the visualizations like you did yesterday?

REILLEY RANKIN: I did a lot of visualizations during rehab. I had to walk on a treadmill in a pool, and that was really boring, so I pretended I was playing golf. It took me about a month to play 18 holes because I had made myself feel my bag, so I did a lot of visualizations that made me a better player overall.

Q. One quick follow up to what you earlier said. On 16 today, you birdied that today. Did you attack that hole any differently today than what you did yesterday?

REILLEY RANKIN: I told my caddy, I saw a different shot today. I think he wanted me to hit 3 wood, I still hit driver. I hit through the fairway and rough. It was kind of iffy. I could have tried to do something out of the rough, but I said, "Let's just make birdie with a wedge." So I just took my medicine and laid up, and better to have opportunities.

Q. Reilley, can 16 be a hole that changes the round for somebody? Is that a spot where players approach that hole very differently and take some chances if they want to?

REILLEY RANKIN: Yeah, it's I mean, if you don't hit a perfect drive, you're not going to be in the fairway, and everybody can approach it different.

Q. Reilley, have you read about Ben Hogan, have you read many of his books? Did you take some inspiration while you were doing this yourself?

REILLEY RANKIN: Yes, I know that story.

Q. When did people remind you of him when you were recovering?

REILLEY RANKIN: Yeah, I had a lot I definitely took inspiration. I don't know. It's kind of a deep thing. I don't think you want me to start trying to explain it.

Q. You read the books, though?

REILLEY RANKIN: Yes, I did, I know I believe things.

Q. You took us through the rehab and everything like that. Does this consummate anything for you, being in a major now and competing? Is this part of that process?

REILLEY RANKIN: I always I mean, yes, I always my goals were always to be here, and it's my first major and it's fun, and I'm very grateful to be here. I didn't hear the beginning of your question, actually.

Q. Does this validate anything for you? Is this another step in the comeback?

REILLEY RANKIN: Definitely, definitely, and every step means a lot to me, no matter what tournament it is, and every or if I'm walking somewhere besides on the golf course, it's definitely I'm grateful for it.

Q. Reilley, when you were doing your visualizations yesterday, is there a certain set up that you put yourself in a certain situation to do that, whether it was in your hotel room or wherever you did that, and how long did you do that? Was it for a couple minutes or for an hour?

REILLEY RANKIN: I did it more than once, by right when I wake up by the time I found out we were cancelled, I had already gone through the whole course twice in my head, and I did it more. I do it in my hotel room.

Q. Do you turn the lights of off or anything or is it just something that snaps in your head?

REILLEY RANKIN: I can just start doing it, but yesterday I turned the TV off.

Q. Reilley, this is your rookie year. Could you share your goals for the year coming up, and how would you rate your play on the tour up until this point?

REILLEY RANKIN: I've done my best every tournament. I mean, I have had a few good finishes. I haven't quite closed things out the way I would like, but I've just learned. One of the last week, the last day, I probably learned more that day than I had all year, and it was one of the worst rounds I shot. It was worth shooting 76 to learn what I learned. I probably took more away from that.

My goals are just to put myself in contention to win and just absorb everything I can to make me a better player.

Q. What was your first event that you played in after the accident, and do you remember your emotions on the first tee? What was going through your mind on the first tee, I should ask.

REILLEY RANKIN: Yes, I remember the first event, because the doctor said I wasn't going to be ready by then. It was on Hilton Head where I'm from, where I grew up. My goal was to play. My whole family was there.

Q. This year or any event?

REILLEY RANKIN: After my accident?

Q. That was the Future's Tour?

REILLEY RANKIN: No, I was still in college.

Q. Okay.

REILLEY RANKIN: Are you talking about

Q. No, the first event.

REILLEY RANKIN: It was, I had a lot of emotions, and I had to use a pull cart. I didn't like that too much.

Q. As opposed to carrying?

REILLEY RANKIN: Yeah, but it was like a dream come true. I mean, and then I played two events and they said, no no more, and I had to go back to rehab. They had let me go a little too soon, but it was very I won't ever forget it.

Q. Family and friends around?

REILLEY RANKIN: Yeah, I have a huge family. I have 27 cousins on my mom's side and 24 of them live on

Hilton Head. There was a lot of people.

Q. What did you shoot?

REILLEY RANKIN: I think I shot 73 or 6. My first 9 holes I shot 1 under. That was neat.

Q. When will you start thinking about tomorrow and how will you visualize it closing with 36 holes in a major?

REILLEY RANKIN: I look forward to tomorrow. I think it's going to be a lot of fun. It will be definitely different. You've got to pace yourself, and I'll visualize it tonight before I go to bed, just briefly, and tomorrow morning. I just try to, when I leave the golf course, I leave the golf course. I kind of try and get prepared right before I go to sleep.

Q. Can I ask one more dumb question? When you say "visualize," are you talking about taking yourself shot for shot through a round of golf? What are you considering visualizing?

REILLEY RANKIN: Yeah, there are a lot of different ways you can visualize. I'm big with the mind. I mean, that's probably been my most powerful the best part of my game since I started playing golf. I don't know, so different there is different techniques, I guess, but yeah, I do go through every hole.

Q. Reilley, did you have to adopt your swing at all after the injury?

REILLEY RANKIN: No, my swing has probably gotten a little better. It's easier on the back.

Q. So if you're playing twice the number of holes tomorrow, do you have to visualize twice the number of holes?

REILLEY RANKIN: That's a good question. I'll have to think about that. I'll probably play the first round in my head and then play the second round.

Q. Reilley, I was curious, what sparked your interest in baseball cards and sports memorabilia collecting?

REILLEY RANKIN: When I was little I wanted to be a professional baseball player, and I always collected baseball cards. Then when the boys went through puberty, I was done. When the golf cards came out, I guess it was in 2000 or 2001, I saw them at a gas station and bought a couple packs, and it kind of got ridiculous after that. I'm addicted to it.

Q. How many do you have?

REILLEY RANKIN: I have I don't even know, but my mom wants to burn them. There is a whole closet in our house that I took all the clothes out of and put them in the other closet, and it's completely full.

Q. Do you have all the upper deck LPGA cards?

REILLEY RANKIN: Yeah. My dad gave me his old cards from when he was young and that kind of that was a few years ago, too, so that was kind of what sparked a little interest.

Q. What's your best card?

REILLEY RANKIN: I have like 13 Mickey Mantle, like the same Mickey Mantle and Brooks Robinson rookie. My great uncle, my favorite thing I also have a Ben Hogan, one with an insert of a check stub in upper deck, and it was 1 out of 11. That's pretty cool. He gave me a baseball signed by the 1959 Red Sox and 1959 Yankees, and that probably has Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle.

Q. Is there a card of you?

REILLEY RANKIN: Yes.

Q. Do you have a bunch of those?

REILLEY RANKIN: Yeah.

Q. It might be worth something someday.

REILLEY RANKIN: That was probably more exciting than my first tournament, getting that.

Q. You want to go over your scorecard.

(Scorecard read.)

Q. Any more questions? Just kind of give us the dates when you had the accident?

REILLEY RANKIN: June 4th, 1999.

Q. What about your first tournament back, what month, year?

REILLEY RANKIN: It was in November, I think.

Q. Of 2000?

Was that Palmetto Dunes?

REILLEY RANKIN: Yeah, I don't really remember all the dates. I remember the day it happened, but is November 13 months after? I can't remember.

Q. We can look it up.

REILLEY RANKIN: I think that's right. Is that 18 months after, because I hit a whiffle ball after 13 months.

Q. Is this the first time you have been in a media room in a tournament?

REILLEY RANKIN: Yeah.

Q. You're doing fine. It's a good thing.

All right. Thank you very much.

End of FastScripts.

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