U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 7, 2003

Kelly Robbins

KELLY ROBBINS: I didn't have a bad lie, I have no sand where my feet were, and about 10 inches where my ball was. You try and judge the best you can. I hit a poor shot. Probably what put me in first position was the first few holes out. I just wasn't hitting the fairway. And that's a tough place to play from on a golf course like this, rough-wise, anyway. But got back into it after that, and then again hit the one shot, wedge in your hand, and it was probably one of the poorest shots under any type of circumstances that I hit this week. And whether it was the turning point or not, it obviously didn't help. But I would still have had to do some work it looked like coming in, anyway.

Q. Did you think after 6 or 7 you really had a chance to win the thing after you got rolling?

KELLY ROBBINS: It's so unpredictable what is going to happen. You cannot fall asleep at any point in time. And I was just so thrilled to be there. And then to pull back into it, after 7. I thought, well, I'm going to at least give myself a chance. After the first few holes I thought, holy cow, I've got to concentrate, it's going to be a long day. And then hitting the one poor shot. I was trying to press a little bit, obviously. To make three birdies with five to go, tough place to do it. But I was trying to give myself chances.

Q. Did you feel you could be aggressive coming in on 14, 15, 16?

KELLY ROBBINS: It's so hard to be aggressive out here. No. 1, you have to hit fairways. And then hopefully you've got a good number to the front of the green, so you can stop the ball before it gets to the back, that's how you have to play. Fortunately I might spin it a little better than some, so it was a little bit easier. But as far as pressing, that's the most I can press, probably. There's a soft spot on 17 up the left that you cannot drive it, on the left half of that fairway the ball will stop; if you hit it right, it goes 40 yards. I hit it left and had 190 to the pin or something like that. Certain things like that that you hope go your way at the right time.

Q. Can you talk about being on the 18th green, just obviously by then your situation was known, but watching what was happening?

KELLY ROBBINS: It was pretty cool. Those girls played some golf today, I tell you what. Anyone would have had a tough time playing better than both of them did. For Angela to make the putt and then for Hilary to do the same -- I was clapping for Angela, and then I was clapping for Hilary, and I didn't know if I needed to play anymore. I thought it was done, it was over. So it was pretty thrilling. I'm sure the people just loved it. That's kind of why they come.

Q. After playing 18 with her, what can you say about Hilary's ability today, to win the U.S. Open championship?

KELLY ROBBINS: She's probably not the longest hitter of the golf ball, but she's probably one of the straightest. On a firm U.S. Open golf course that's what you need and that's what she had. She hit the shots when she needed to. As far as her short game, very, very impressive. You can tell she enjoys doing it, and does it very well. They both did -- especially Hilary, just did everything right when she needed to today. I was very impressed.

Q. How much did it feel like match play out there?

KELLY ROBBINS: Well, it really didn't, not for me, anyway. I was just trying to stay afloat there for a while, especially my first five holes or so. So you just know what's going on, which is fine. It's kind of tough when you're playing on such a course that can cause a high hole immediately to go into a match play situation. So I think if there's two of you, it might be different. But when it's not match play -- match play is a completely different game. You can make a double bogey and still be in it. So out here, it's tough to make a double bogey and still be in it.

Q. Does this energize you, this whole finish, here?

KELLY ROBBINS: Not really right now (laughter.) I'm not very energetic.

Yes, I was thrilled just to have the opportunity to win this week. If you would have told me earlier in the week I would have been doing this on Monday, I'd say let's go right now. Things have been fairly slow for me. I'm disappointed, but I accomplished a lot this week, so look at the good.

Q. What do you foresee for Hilary down the road, what type of career do you foresee for her?

KELLY ROBBINS: Well, it's tough to say. She's -- how old is she? Does anybody know? Young. She's so young. It's tough to say. Obviously you've got a lot of great players that win the Open and are very successful in their career, and some that win and aren't. I think, like I said, she does hit it very straight and has an excellent short game. And with our courses on Tour not getting any longer any time soon, she may -- she could possibly do very well.

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