SPRINT TITLEHOLDERS CHAMPIONSHIP

May 2, 1997

Patty Sheehan

PATTY SHEEHAN: Let us start on 10. Good drive. Pitching wedge to about a foot and a half and made that for birdie. 2-putt par on 11 and 12. 13, hit pitching wedge to about twelve feet. Made that for birdie. 2-putt pars on 14 and 15. 16, I pulled my shot to the green and hit it just over the green. Chipped it to about ten feet, made that for par. 17, I hit 6-iron to about 18 feet and made that for birdie. 2-putt par on 18. First hole, I hit my tee shot in the water, had to retee it. And made 6, double bogey. 2, I hit a decent drive. Hit 4-iron into the bunker. Hit my bunker shot out about eight feet and made that for par. 2-putt par on 3. 4, I just hit the fringe, 2-putted from the fringe for par. 5, hit sand wedge to ten feet, made that for birdie. 6, I hit 8-iron to twelve feet, made that for birdie. 2-putt par on 7. 8, I hit a little 6-iron over the green a little bit, putted -- not a very good putt to about eight feet, and missed it, and I made bogey on 8. 9, I hit sand wedge to about eight feet and made that for a birdie. So all and all, I was playing pretty well on my front side and kind of ran into trouble on - I don't know - first four holes of the front 9 felt a little bit uncomfortable. And then started getting back into the groove again and hit good shots and making some birdies again. So, it was a good round except for really one bad swing.

PATTY SHEEHAN: Yeah, pulled it. Really kind of pulled it dead left. A little quick, maybe.

PATTY SHEEHAN: Yeah, I hit some good short irons today which probably has been the best part of my game throughout my career. So I like that, you know, short iron range; feel pretty comfortable with them. And, I am starting to hit the ball a little bit better. I have not hit the ball well for most of the year. I really started playing, you know, having some decent rounds in South Carolina, feeling a little bit more comfortable. Then I took last week off and worked a little bit with my pros more, and came in here feeling, you know, a little bit better about my game. And, I had a good practice round with Dottie. She was struggling with her game early in the week and she started to hit the ball real well in the practice round. So, the two of us, were kind of out there in the practice round hitting the ball a lot better than we have and feeling better about ourselves at the same time.

PATTY SHEEHAN: I missed last year.

PATTY SHEEHAN: I was in Japan.

PATTY SHEEHAN: Right.

PATTY SHEEHAN: I never saw much of the golf course in 1995. I was always in the rough. So, I noticed the big difference, you know, fairways are nice here. I can't compare really. I was hitting the ball so poorly that year.

PATTY SHEEHAN: I guess. I haven't really thought about it too much. I think the way I hit the ball probably matters more than the golf course.

PATTY SHEEHAN: I think confidence has a lot to do with being able to hit the ball where you want it to -- where you want it to land. And, Dottie feeds off confidence I think a great deal. And, confidence, with me, comes a little bit slower, I think, than with Dottie. She is a little bit more emotional than probably I am. So, confidence comes a little bit slower for me. But, it certainly makes a big difference when you are out there playing to have some confidence and to be able to think correctly and to picture the golf shots correctly and then to execute.

PATTY SHEEHAN: Yeah, May -- of course, I come from kind of cold country where I don't play any golf in the winter, so it takes me a little while to get warmed up. And, fortunately, the big tournaments come just about the time that I start getting warmed up. And, it is a nice timing for me. It is a big month. May has got two huge tournaments in it. It is always nice to be able to play for over a million dollars, and I think people get pretty keyed up, you know, when that happens. And, I think that -- this is certainly a prime example.

PATTY SHEEHAN: Well, I think that - at least for me - it is getting a little bit more difficult to be motivated week-in and week-out. But we do get motivated, I think, the big tournaments motivate us a lot more than perhaps some of the others. It is great to see Betsy King win a Major. It is great to see Nancy win last week. Everybody talks about the young kids, and it is just nice to see the established veterans, Hall of Famers play well. It gives me great help (Laughs). Big pride factor, a lot of pride involved out here in the game of golf. And, it only comes from within. So, we like to play well. We don't like to be embarrassed and -- so, it is pretty important.

PATTY SHEEHAN: It is harder for me now than it is right after the Hall of Fame because I was playing well and I went on to win a major that same year after I got in the Hall of Fame. And, it just seemed to -- I didn't lose motivation. And now, it is starting to get harder and harder every week.

PATTY SHEEHAN: Probably because I am doing some other things in my life. I am working on golf courses and construction and design consulting and doing some of that. That seems to be very interesting work for me, and it keeps me in the game, and yet it is a different facet of the game. So, you know, it is perhaps what I will do when I grow up (laughs).

PATTY SHEEHAN: Yeah, there is one that is being built about an hour outside of Reno. It is in California. And, I have also been asked to design a practice hole at one of the local golf courses being built right now by Nicklaus. So you know, there is some diversion in my life and it is not all practice and play anymore. There is other things happening, which is really fun for me. It is stimulating and it gets me thinking and it gets me to be a little bit more creative than I have been probably in the last ten years.

PATTY SHEEHAN: I would like that tremendously. It is very interesting, very technical field and I certainly need to kind of get hooked up with an architect that is willing to work with me. Hopefully I have found somebody that is willing to do that.

PATTY SHEEHAN: What player I would have in mind?

PATTY SHEEHAN: Well, it depends on what the client wants, you know, if it is a champion course or resort course or daily fee type course, just depends on what they want.

PATTY SHEEHAN: I think it would be tough. But, you know, every golf course, hopefully that I work on, will be different. So, I don't know, just take one at a time.

PATTY SHEEHAN: I haven't really been paying attention.

PATTY SHEEHAN: Since the Dinah Shore she has been playing very confidently and Betsy is back.

PATTY SHEEHAN: I don't think it is really that much of a handicap. The caddie that I have on the bag this week has been a lot of fun. We have been having a lot of laughs and she has been keeping me pretty loose and, you know, that is what Carol does with me a lot. We joke around and play together. Teresa has been really good this week and she has been out here for quite a while. She knows what she is doing and we have been having a good time.

PATTY SHEEHAN: Teresa, Durand. I talked with Carl last night. He wanted to say hi to everybody. He is doing all right. Hopefully he will be back in McDonalds.

PATTY SHEEHAN: He had knee surgery. Gave me a bad yardage, I kicked him in the knee. (Audience laughter.)

PATTY SHEEHAN: Yeah, I wore him out, yeah. He refuses to listen to me when I say he is getting old.

PATTY SHEEHAN: Yeah, I am excited. I will probably be very nervous because I haven't really been in that position in quite a while. Was sort of in that position in South Carolina, but, you know, totally different feel. I wasn't very confident about anything then. So I am going to be excited and pretty nervous. Hopefully I can slow down a little bit.

PATTY SHEEHAN: No, I enjoy being in contention. It does make me nervous and it does make me react a little bit differently than obviously not being in contention. But, I have a lot more fun when I am in contention. That is where I want to be week-in and week-out. And it just hasn't been that way for the first eight or nine tournaments this year for me. So I am looking forward to it.

PATTY SHEEHAN: Thank you.