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JOHN Q. HAMMONS HOTEL CLASSIC

September 17, 2005

Maria Hjorth

TULSA, OKLAHOMA

PAUL ROVNAK: Maria, thanks for coming in and speaking with us. You had a terrific round today, 7 under par; it's a new course record out here at Cedar Ridge. You're also up by three shots right now. A lot of birdies today, an eagle in there, just talk about your round and then we'll take some questions.

MARIA HJORTH: Yeah, it was a great round. I played really solid and had a lot of birdie chances. Some went in and some didn't. You know, a couple of bogeys in there, but I birdied 10. I birdied 12; I made about a 15 footer there.

Then 13, I 3 putted that one from about 25 feet.

Then on the next, the par 5, I went to the green in two and was just in the green side bunker holed the bunker shot.

Then 16, that was from four feet.

PAUL ROVNAK: What did you hit in there?

MARIA HJORTH: I hit a wedge.

PAUL ROVNAK: Then 17, as well.

MARIA HJORTH: 17, I hit a 5 iron for my second shot to six feet.

PAUL ROVNAK: No. 1, the par 5.

MARIA HJORTH: I hit a little gap wedge for my third to about eight feet.

PAUL ROVNAK: No. 3, the par 4.

MARIA HJORTH: No. 3, I made a birdie putt there from about 15 feet.

PAUL ROVNAK: Do you remember what you hit in?

MARIA HJORTH: Yeah, I hit 2 iron off the tee and kind of went through the fairway. So I was in the rough a little bit and then I hit a wedge for my second.

PAUL ROVNAK: Then bogey on 4.

MARIA HJORTH: Bogey on 4, I pulled my drive a little bit left and I was in the rough, and I hit a pretty good second shot, but I just came out a little bit hot from the rough. So it kind of rolled over the back of the green and I hit a little pitch to about eight feet and then missed the putt.

PAUL ROVNAK: Birdie on six, the par 3.

MARIA HJORTH: Yeah, I hit a 7 iron to about eight feet.

PAUL ROVNAK: Then closed out with the birdie on 7.

MARIA HJORTH: 7, I hit 3 wood off the tee and then I hit an 8 iron to about 20 feet.

Q. Did you have a number in mind this morning with the conditions with all of the rain we've had the last couple of days that you thought was realistic to go out and shoot?

MARIA HJORTH: I didn't, actually, and I think that helped me quite a lot. Because if you don't have a number out there, you can just go out there and try to makes as many birdies as you can. Of course I saw the scores before I teed off, and 3 , 4 under was the best rounds. I knew it was possible to shoot a decent round but it's still tough out there. It's pretty wet. The ball doesn't roll at all, it just stops where you carry it. But I had like I said, I had a lot of chances and played really solid, so very happy.

Q. How much did playing lift, clean and place help your round today?

MARIA HJORTH: I think it definitely helped quite a bit because you get a lot of mud on the ball. So I think it's definitely fair for everybody to have lift, clean and place. I don't know whether it did any shots or whatever, but at least it's fair and you have a decent chance for every shot you hit.

Q. You mentioned you kind of looked at some of the scores before you teed off today, now you know you're going to have a three shot lead; if no one else comes in higher than that tomorrow when you tee off, do you change your mind set at all?

MARIA HJORTH: No, I don't think I will. I'll definitely try not to. I'll go out there and try to shoot the same score again tomorrow and try to stretch my lead even more for Sunday. That would be the best scenario for me.

But I know that Annika is chasing. She had a great comeback out there. She's out there and she can go low and there's a lot of other players, too. I'm really going to try to shoot another 6 , 7 under and see where I stand.

Q. Is that just the way golf is, you have one of those days today where I'm sure the hole looked rather large, and I'm sure you were thinking, this is my kind of day at this point, is that the way golf is, some days you've got it and some days you don't?

MARIA HJORTH: Yeah, you do. The greens are soft there, so sometimes when the greens are so soft, it's a little bit more difficult to play in the afternoon because the greens are just a little bit bumpier than they are in the morning, and so that always makes it difficult. It's great when you are rolling the ball well on the greens and all of the sudden, you know, you make your putts. I hit a lot of shots close and I took advantage of that, too.

Q. Did last week's loss at the Solheim Cup influence at all how you played today?

MARIA HJORTH: I don't know. I played really well last week. It just didn't really kind of felt like it didn't really go our way. We didn't really have the breaks that we needed to. I've been playing really well last couple of months, which I'm still on the wave, which is great to have that feeling when you go out there that you know it's going to do really well. Of course, it inspires you, you go out there and you really want to perform even better because of the loss last week. You still have to go out and do what's required.

Q. Talk about No. 3, it's an interesting shaped hole where you've got to be precise where you put your tee shot. You said you put yours us through some fairway I guess on some pine straw by a tree, were you pleased with the approach shot and just talk about the execution of the shot into the green there at 3?

MARIA HJORTH: Yeah, it is a very difficult shot because you still have to hit it at least 190 yards to make sure you're past the trees. But you can't go more than 210, it's a difficult tee shot. My ball kind of released a little bit to go through the fairway, and I thought it was going to stop there.

Yeah, it was a very actually a pretty decent lie, it was kind of the thinner rough and not the really thick one where you can hardly see the ball. I was kind of fortunate that way to have a decent lie. And good that the yardage in there, it was not more than a wedge, because of course the longer club you hit from the rough, it makes it more difficult. It made it easier when I only needed to hit a wedge in there. Being a strong pin, you want to make sure to at least carry it on the green because you have a little back stop with the reach there, so you want to make sure you execute your shot and not be scared of hitting it too far.

End of FastScripts.

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