Q. With the focus on length so much, your numbers are on the bottom end of the driving stats. Do you feel a disadvantage at all with that?
HILARY LUNKE: Normally I do. In a U.S. Open not necessarily, especially with the fairways running as firmly as they are. It's all about accuracy in a U.S. Open and I really don't feel disadvantaged by that at all. Maybe a couple of times if some pins are tucked and I can't hit the real high, soft wedge and fly it over. But I'll play my game and play out to the right and 2-putt. And when I do have a "go" pin, I can play to that. I play to my strengths. Would I love to be longer? Yes, absolutely. But I just try to play my game as best as I can and as I said, a U.S. Open tends to be well suited to my game. I don't really feel I am disadvantaged out here. Any advantage I give up in my length I gain back with my accuracy, I think.
Q. What's more surprising do you think, 14 teenagers in the field or someone with a Master's Degree?
HILARY LUNKE: 14 teenagers in the field.
Q. Why did you spend so much time at Stanford? Most people when they have a great amateur career, they go to the pros?
HILARY LUNKE: I didn't start playing golf until I was 13. When I started I just loved it, I was obsessed with it, I wanted to get as good as I could as fast as I could. And I wanted to be a pro, that's all I wanted to do. When I finished high school and went to Stanford my game was still good, I was still excited about golf and still wanted to be a pro. But as I got part way through college, my goals and motivations changed a little. I didn't know if I wanted necessarily to turn pro. I loved playing amateur golf. I loved being on the Curtis Cup and World Amateur teams, and that was something I wanted to do again. At that point I was questioning whether I wanted to turn pro or be a lifelong amateur. And pretty much had decided that I was leaning towards being an amateur. And my senior year in college I knew I was going to finish early and I had the option of not taking classes my last quarter and just strictly playing golf or taking some classes. And I decided, well, I've never just really done only golf. So I don't know how that would be. So I want to take a couple of classes. Once I decided to do that I thought maybe I should apply for this Masters program, to give me something to do rather than just taking any kind of courses. I applied to that and got accepted. And I decided to do the first quarter of that Masters program while I was playing. Subsequently, that summer, when the USGA changed the rules of amateur status to go to Tour school without having to forego your amateur status, where if you made it you could turn pro and if you didn't you got your amateur status back. I thought that's just a free swing in the batter's box, if I make it I can turn pro and if not I'll go back to the original plan to be an amateur. When I made it through Tour school the season didn't start until March and I was going to be done with my degree at the end of March. So I thought, well, this is fine, I'm always used to practicing and playing golf at the same time, I might as well keep doing it. I stuck with it, finished out my degree. It was very tough at the end. I was taking finals in Tucson last year, trying to Monday qualify, and running home and getting faxes and trying to finish my exams. It was a little hectic, but I'm glad that I did it.
Q. You had a birdie run into the front 9 there to take the lead. Can you describe what that was like and what was your best shot?
HILARY LUNKE: What was my best shot? My best shot was my drive on 9. That's just like threading a needle out there pretty much. And that was my best shot I think in that three hole stretch. It felt great. I was just trying to play short of the hole, have uphill putts. And I was watching Juli ahead of me, and I thought she was making all kinds of putts for birdie and I just was trying to match her. And when I got to the score board at 10 I think I realized that maybe a couple of hers had been for par or something. So then I thought, gee, I'm leading, I didn't even know. But it felt great. That's the kind of feeling you want to have out there when you just look at the target and hit it right at it.
Q. If things keep going the way they are, are you going to tell Tylar he can't go out to school?
HILARY LUNKE: I'm thinking about it. I've got to think of a way for him to defer a year, so he can keep caddying for me. He's been the ticket for me this last month.
Q. What is it about having him on the bag that helps you play better?
HILARY LUNKE: He's a player, himself. He knows a lot about the game. He's very good at reading the greens. I think I'm generally pretty good at reading the greens, but sometimes if you and your caddy aren't in sync, it's difficult. We tend to agree most of the time, and that gives me more confidence with my putting. And he's just a tremendous calming influence for me. We have a lot of fun and try to joke around. All he keeps saying to me this last month is just fairways and greens, fairways and greens. It sounds so simple, but that's what I've been trying to do. Play my game, keep getting it in the fairway, get it up on the greens, and hope the putts go in.
Q. Mhairi was the leader the first two rounds, and we talked a lot about Stanford. She said she's staying with Stanford friends, Coach O'Connor was here. Have you been doing the Stanford Mafia thing? Are you hanging out with Caroline and Mhairi and friends?
HILARY LUNKE: Yeah, we had a little reunion on Monday night. I don't know if Mhairi talked about it. One of our former teammates, Jenny Pippin lives in the area, and her family invited us all over. We had a great barbecue and had a lot of fun. It's a ton of fun to see your teammates up on the leaderboard with you. Yeah, I got on the bottom of my bag it says, "Go Cardinal". And I'm just happy for all the Stanford girls.
Q. I didn't realize you went so far back with Michelle Wie so I have a question for you. What do you make of her as far as her potential? I know the reporters are using all the superlatives, saying she could be the woman equivalent of Tiger Woods, do you think she has that potential?
HILARY LUNKE: I think she has that potential. When I played with her when she was 11 I was impressed as I possibly could have been playing with her. She literally played flawless golf. And even when she would hit a bad shot she would recover solidly, she had tremendous course management. She has tremendous ability, just her fundamentals in her game, and mentally she seems to be sound, as well. I think she has incredible potential. Someone asked me when I played with her, what's the one thing she needs to work on, and I said she just needs to be able to last 7 years until she even has the chance to go to college. I mean just -- she's just got so much time, and I just hope she doesn't get burned out. I think that's the only thing that could possibly hold her back, otherwise I think her potential is limit also.
Q. Do you have a suggestion where she might go to college?
HILARY LUNKE: I would tell her to go to Stanford. When I played with her in that match she was asking me all about Stanford. I think her uncle might be a professor there, she's got some kind of a tie there. We played a practice round together this week, and I said, "Do you still want to go to Stanford?" And she said yes. Yeah, that would be great.
RHONDA GLENN: As I recall, Hilary, you did something when you played in that same championship with Michelle, which was very unusual. You and your father came out to gallery her after you were eliminated in the championship.
HILARY LUNKE: Yeah, I was just -- I was pretty much stunned after I had played her and I just thought, this girl is going to win, and she's just going to kill everybody. And I wanted to go out and witness it firsthand. I wanted to say I was there when she did it. And unfortunately she got beat either the following round or one after that. But I wanted to have a firsthand witness of her game. And I think she went all the way to the 18th hole in that match and she was buried in the bunker, and we had just waved the white flag, it's over, and she's got to surrender. And she nearly holed out the shot. I walked away, "What happened? How did you get beat by an 11 year old?" I said, "You've got to see it, you just wait, you're going to hear more about this girl", and luckily I was right.
RHONDA GLENN: Thank you so much for being so gracious, Hilary. Good luck tomorrow.
End of FastScripts....
