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JOHN Q. HAMMONS HOTEL CLASSIC

September 16, 2005

Annika Sorenstam

TULSA, OKLAHOMA

PAUL ROVNAK: Annika, thanks for coming in. We appreciate your time. Another great start to another tournament, 3 under today. It was kind of an interesting round with you playing the first nine holes at 1 over and then having only one par on the back nine. Before I take questions, Annika is going to take us over her score card, just because it is so interesting.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: So it is interesting, it is. (Laughter). Well, the back nine was interesting for me. Let's see, I bogeyed the 14th hole, the par 5, I hit a sand wedge to about 15 feet and 3 putted. My par putt was four feet.

Then I bogeyed No. 1. I had a 5 iron just to the right of the green and chipped it up and 2 putted from seven feet.

No. 2 I birdied. I hit a 6 iron to two feet.

No. 3, I hit a 9 iron to seven feet.

No. 4, I hit a 7 iron to 15 feet.

No. 6, 7 iron to 25 feet.

And then No. 7, 6 iron right of the green, chipped it up and 2 putted about six feet.

Then 8, I hit a 4 iron to six feet.

And then the last hole, I hit pitching wedge to 14 feet.

PAUL ROVNAK: Can you talk about the day in general, how it was up and down, and how you're still right there in contention?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, let's put it this way. Obviously I'm very glad to finish 3 under, especially after I was 2 over after ten holes. But I thought I was playing really good and I couldn't believe I was 2 over par. I thought I hit some good drives that went in the rough that many times. I was hitting greens. I just get it going on the front, my front which was my back, I had 18 putts. And then all of a sudden I just started hitting it a little closer, making some putts and then I made six birdies in eight holes. So quite a change.

Q. Was it a mental or physical adjustment to make that five shot swing on the last eight holes?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I think really what it is is patience. I was striking the ball well the first few holes and just couldn't get it doing. You know, I've done I've been there before, and you've just got to keep on grinding. Like today, I proved it again to myself that you just can never give up. You know, the first shot I hit on the second hole, the par 3, I mean, I was very, very close; that kind of got me going. And to birdie the third which I think is a difficult hole was a key, as well.

Just one of those days where it was close, but really wasn't, and then all of a sudden, it just happened.

Q. Last year in the first round you teed off No. 1, you were even par through 11 holes and then came in 5 under. Kind of a similar finish today for your opening round here, even though you went off 10 to start the day?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, it seems like it. I guess it takes me a while to get going in this city, but better late than ever.

I think the course is very different than last year. I mean, obviously, with all of the rain that you've had, it's wet out there. It has dried out I must say quite tremendously from the rain, but still the fairways are wet; you can fire at the pins. It's not going to release too much. I think some of the holes where we have short irons, you're going to see some birdies.

Q. How beneficial was it playing lift, clean and place today?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I think it was totally necessary. I had not just me, but everybody in my group had a lot of mud. If you'd been out there, it's just very, very wet. I don't think they have had a chance to mow the fairways either, to be honest so I think it was totally fair.

Q. When you left the course yesterday were you anticipating that preferred lies was going to be a probability this morning?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Oh, to be honest I was expecting it. First of all for us to be able to play yesterday I thought was incredible, so today was just I think that was the right thing to do.

Q. Rumor has it you got into a fight last night with some furniture. Did your shin affect you on the front nine at all?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: No, it didn't affect me, but it was a total silly mistake. I was trying to be quiet in my housing and I turned off the lights and I walked straight into a chair and I broke something and then I screamed. So then I woke up everyone and I was hurting at the same time. So a little boo boo for my side, but luckily, I mean, I thought I needed stitches last night and it's healed and I'm fine now, thank you.

Q. Did you scream in Swedish or English?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I don't know, probably a little bit of both.

Q. We interviewed three of your youngest fans today, three sisters all under the age of seven, two of them want to be princesses when they grow up and one of them wants to be a golfer; your career advice for all of them?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I don't really know what it's like to be a princess, but I do know what it's like to be a golfer, and I love what I do. Obviously I highly recommend that, and I feel so fortunate what I do. It's a wonderful game and you meet so many great people, so I wish her all the best.

Q. Can you take us through that last hole that you were on on 9, I think you birdied that one, take us through that putt because it seemed like that was a great finish to a first day.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, I mean, I had about 1 feet, a little downhill, was breaking left to right, I aimed about a cup and a half and went over a ridge and then just trickled down the hole, so it feels good to finish with a birdie.

Q. Are you a fan favorite everywhere you go and in Tulsa, as well? Do you feel like the fans are always behind you wherever you go?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, last year a lot of support really wherever I golf a lot of people are very supportive and I mean it's not necessarily just on the golf course. I feel like if I go to the grocery store, if I go in a restaurant or something, you know, a lot of people have nice things to say. They always come up and say, either "I admire you for what you do" or "love watching you play" or "I have a little daughter that has picked up the game because of you." When you hear those things, it's really nice. I mean, I feel the support everywhere really.

Q. You won with 9 under last year, is that a good target number for this week?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I think so, yeah. I mean, assuming we're going to get no more rain, the course will dry out, they might move the tees back a little bit.

But still, I think the greens will be receptive to good shots. So I'm pretty happy with my score today, I think around 9 maybe someone gets really low you can get 10, 11, but when you have a three day tournament like this, you're kind of running out of holes really fast.

Q. Anybody talk about how golf comes and goes from week to week, day to day, but today it also comes and goes hole to hole sometimes; right?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Oh, yeah, I mean, it is really a crazy game. And I think something that you learn when you're out here, that you have to have patience. I mean, especially on a course like this, the rough is very tough and you can miss a fairway by a foot or two and you can have, you know, a really tough shot. You've got to just stay patient, keep on hitting good shots, trying to make good putts and you can never give up.

I think last week is a really good test of that in some of the matches, at least one of the matches that I was in, I was 4 down and like six or seven to go and we turned it around and won. That's what makes this game so great, you have to continue to play; it's never finished until the last hole.

Q. Talk about No. 3 how you played it from tee to green, because that is an interesting hole the way it shapes, sharp dog leg back to the left?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: On No. 3, yeah, it's a tough hole. I mean, today I hit 7 wood off the tee. There's a bunker straight ahead that today was 205 to the edge, but you want to carry it at least 195 to have a look at the green. So we're talking ten to 15 yards to work with, makes it very difficult.

Then you have a tough green as well, quite undulated, you've got a creek just covering the water. I mean, there's a lot of things that you don't really look at but you see once you stand there, it's tough. Today I just played it left, let the slope bring it back to the hole.

Q. How far were you on your approach shot?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I had 127.

Q. How different was No. 17 this year for you, because they moved that tee over to the left?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, that's a loyal bit of a change for me. I'm totally between driver and 4 wood off that tee. Today I decided to cut a driver and it turned out good. I had a 6 iron in and it was quite long actually that hole. It's a tough hole. I think a lot of the finishing holes are tough here, 18 is a tough hole up the hill all the way. This course just has a lot of great holes. You've got to drive it well, but then you know you've got to hit some good approach shots, as well.

PAUL ROVNAK: Thank you, Annika.

End of FastScripts.

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