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MCDONALD'S LPGA CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY COCA-COLA

June 10, 2004

Jennifer Rosales

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE

Q. Thanks, Jennifer, for coming in today. Very good opening round. Let's see, five birdies today, bogey free, you must be very happy about the start of the tournament.

JENNIFER ROSALES: Yeah, it's a pretty good start for me. I think I've never led the first round, it's the first time.

Q. In a major?

JENNIFER ROSALES: I think in all the tournaments. I think, I don't remember. The first day doesn't matter. It's just the first round.

Q. Can you talk about the round?

JENNIFER ROSALES: Oh, yeah, my round was pretty smooth today. Hit a lot of fairways today, that was the key, making birdies. I missed a lot of putts out there. Kept putting and putting until I made some and kept going.

Q. Let's do your scorecard.

(Scorecard read.)

Q. Questions? Can I ask, Jennifer from the win, you feel quite comfortable being in the lead?

JENNIFER ROSALES: I'm happy the way I played. We'll just take one day at a time and see where I end up on the weekend.

Q. Jennifer, have you ever have you ever had a 66 in a major tournament before, and did you have any saves today?

JENNIFER ROSALES: I had a 65 in the British Open which I was tied for the lead going into the last day. That, I remember.

Q. Did you have any par saves?

JENNIFER ROSALES: I had just one on the 5th hole, the par 3, chipped it for about a 2 foot putt and made my par. That's it.

Q. Jennifer, after you won, I read that back in the Philippines you were a bit of a national hero, the president wanted to meet you. What happened post tournament there?

JENNIFER ROSALES: Well, it's crazy right now. They wanted they were upset because I didn't go home, but they were going to have this big parade for me or something. I got to stay here and do what I want to do. It's too tiring for me to come back and forth.

Q. So you missed a parade in your honor?

JENNIFER ROSALES: Yeah, I did, but, well, things happen. When I get back there, I hope they're going to make another one for me. I have to win again, actually, but

Q. Do you actually talk to the president on the phone?

JENNIFER ROSALES: Actually, she was talking to my coach and my coach was telling me. Probably she was embarrassed to talk to me and ask me to go home.

Q. What's your status in the Philippines? Do people closely follow your career?

JENNIFER ROSALES: Yeah, right now their eyes are right on me right now, everybody. Sometimes it's just too much to handle, some days, but it's what we do and what can I say.

Q. Is this tournament on in the Philippines on television?

JENNIFER ROSALES: I'm not sure. The one I won it was on live in the middle of the night, yeah.

Q. Does the Manila or the Philippines media come over here when you're close?

JENNIFER ROSALES: No, they just call me in the middle of the night. Now, I've learned to turn off my phone.

Q. Did you have golf heros growing up from your country?

JENNIFER ROSALES: Actually my brother. He plays in the Asian tour and I always looked up to him. Every time I'm in trouble I call him.

Q. What's his name?

JENNIFER ROSALES: Gerald. He's going to come out in a few weeks.

Q. Have there been players from your country that have been famous?

JENNIFER ROSALES: We have a famous golfer, Frankie Minoza, he's pretty big in Japan.

Q. Are there little girls in the Philippines who match their headbands to their shirts?

JENNIFER ROSALES: They're getting there. They're asking for my bandanas all the time. I remember this one girl, I was on the phone with her. I was close to her actually, and I was crying and she taped it and was crying, trying to copy me. I was like, "Oh, it's so cute." I'm pretty happy when little kids look up to me. I try to set good examples for them.

Q. Are there a lot of golf courses there, and where does the sport rank nationally in terms of sports?

JENNIFER ROSALES: Golf, actually right now, basketball is pretty good always. Golf is getting there. It's just because to play golf back home, you have to have money, and there is just high and low class, so it's hard to. But we have a few talents coming up.

Q. How many golf courses?

JENNIFER ROSALES: I think it's over 100. It's quite a few. Not a whole lot of public courses, though. Just four, those are military courses, I think.

Q. Do you want to be big? Do you want to be a star in the Philippines?

JENNIFER ROSALES: If I want to be good at what I do, it's part of it, of course. I don't know. I'm just happy where I am right now. It goes along with it, you know.

Q. Did you play those military courses?

JENNIFER ROSALES: Actually, I grew up in one. My dad he's a retired general and, yep.

Q. Is that about the only way for a young player to come out if you have a benefit like that?

JENNIFER ROSALES: Well, yeah, of course, especially, we don't have a lot of tournaments in the Philippines, you have to go and play. You have to have money. It will help a little bit, a whole lot, actually.

Q. What was behind your decision to attend Southern California? Did you come before that?

JENNIFER ROSALES: I started competing here since I was 12 with Grace Park, you know. Every since we played amateur golf, college golf, and here we are.

Q. Are you friends? Are you rivals?

JENNIFER ROSALES: We're friends. There is always rivalry going on, but, you know, it's part of the game.

Q. When did the headbands, when did you start doing that?

JENNIFER ROSALES: Actually, I started out as a bandana, the whole thing, three or four years ago, then I cut it out a little bit, it got too hot.

Q. Any reason, just to fit your style?

JENNIFER ROSALES: I just don't like wearing hats for some reason. My head sweats a lot and that's it.

Q. How many different colors do you have?

JENNIFER ROSALES: A lot.

Q. The whole rainbow, from white all the way to the black? I can imagine you in your hotel each tournament trying to pick it out.

JENNIFER ROSALES: Last year it was amazing. My wardrobe was crazy, really extreme. Now I signed with Bally. They're trying to get my style, and actually they're doing a lot better now. Every month my clothes get better, so I'm pretty happy with that.

Q. How is your game right now, and what would it feel like to compete on Sunday for the championship?

JENNIFER ROSALES: If I keep hitting the way I was hitting today, I could get up there. Just, I want to keep playing, keep myself give myself chances for the weekend. We'll see what happens. I'm excited, actually.

Q. You mentioned you missed some putts early. Did you find the greens difficult today and different from last year?

JENNIFER ROSALES: The greens has a lot of things going on there. It's a little bumpy. If you hit a good putt it bounces up. I just kept telling myself it's the green, it's the green. I made my first birdie putt and just, you know, it went smooth after that.

Q. Are you surprised there's so many red numbers? There is quite a few out there today.

JENNIFER ROSALES: It's quite a lot. I'm not surprised, actually. It didn't blow like I thought it was going to. The fairways are reasonable, fairly soft, the greens are holding. It's going to be low scores out there.

Q. Any other questions. Thank you, Jennifer.

JENNIFER ROSALES: Thanks you guys.

End of FastScripts.

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