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JOHN Q. HAMMONS HOTEL CLASSIC

September 15, 2005

Annika Sorenstam

TULSA, OKLAHOMA

PAUL ROVNAK: Thanks for coming in and speaking with us, appreciate your time. You're defending champion this week, you've won the tournament twice and this is your fourth title defense out of eight. You played nine holes today, just talk about the course conditions and with all of the rain and everything?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: First of all, it's great to be back. I have some great memories. I have some great memories in Tulsa. Outside of that, the course is very different than last year. I love the golf course. Just today, as you all know, it's very, very wet. You don't get a lot of roll off the drivers. You can fire straight at the pins. So the course is playing very, very differently than last year.

But you just have to adjust to that and hopefully by the weekend it will play a little drier and play a little differently.

Q. Is the way the course is playing because it's so wet, does that favor your game or is it a disadvantage?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I don't think longer courses is a disadvantage for me; on the contrary. But I think it's just going to come down to, you know, obviously a putting contest, if they move the tees up, I don't know if I can reach the par 5s in two now, which is one of my strengths.

Still, it's a really tough golf course. This is one of the tougher ones we play all year I think. It's narrow; it's difficult greens, but having said that, it's a very fair golf course. It's one of the better ones we play all year, so we'll see what kind of conditions we'll get. I don't know if we'll get more rain or more wind. I don't think the scoring is going to be that low, I don't think.

Q. Every year you come in with high expectations, and this year is no different, you won the first two majors of the year. Can you talk about how your season has gone since the Women's Open at Cherry Hills, not being able to fulfill the Grand Slam?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, obviously it was a disappointment at the U.S. Open. But I had two weeks off, I went home and I recharged my batteries and started thinking about the season.

You know, I'm still very happy the way I played this year. I got off to a very hot start and my goal is to finish the way I started. I played really well this Sweden. I won the event over there. I thought I played good at Wendy's just a few weeks ago, and I thought I played well last week. So I think things are turning around, and hopefully I'll be ready for this week and I'll play really good.

You know, I have a busy fall. I'm heading over to Asia. I've got some great tournaments coming up. Like I said, I'm looking forward to playing the way I started.

Q. Coming in as the defending champion and having won on this course already one, what does that mean to you and how do you prepare this year for this?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Obviously it's great to come back as the defending champion. I have wonderful memories from last year. I love the golf course. I'm playing well. I'm just looking forward to a great week. It's going to be different, though, the way the course is. It's good to have positive feelings when you come to a place. I mean, I feel very welcome here. I stay with some great friends. I know some good restaurants in there. It's just a good week. Put all of that together, you play well.

Q. LPGA has a new Commissioner, Carolyn Bivens, wonder if you can talk about her, your impressions of her and also as she enters this job, what do you see as her challenges as she takes over the Tour?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I've met her a few times, I haven't spent too much quality time one on one, but I think her resume speaks for herself. I think she comes from a good background; we're talking about media; we're talking about things I think that are very important for the LPGA.

I am excited about her being part of the Tour. I think she's good for us. She has a lot of great ideas. She works really hard. She's just full of energy. It doesn't mean that Ty didn't have that, but sometimes it's nice to get some new, fresh blood. I think she's ready to take over and put us in a great spot the next few years.

I wish her all the best. It's not an easy job. First of all, you work with 200 women that have 200 opinions, so it will be a challenge for her, there's no doubt. I do hope that she works a lot on TV. It would be great to get on national TV every week and so forth.

Like I said, I think she has a lot of challenges ahead, but also right now, there's a lot of buzz around the LPGA. So Ty left her with the Tour in good hands, so we'll see what happens.

Q. Not to get too far off the subject and the course and how it looks, playing in the Pro Am today, do you ever get tired of going out and playing with guys who are nervous the first couple of holes, shanking shots, do you have to suffer along for these things?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I don't know if I would use the word "suffer." I played with some great guys today. They were thrilled that we were able to go play at least nine holes.

You know, this is our way of saying thank you for having this event, so this is a very important day. We had a good time. I thought we played well. We shot 7 under and gave them some pointers out there. We laughed a little bit. We were all trying to stay dry and we had a good time, and I think that's what this day is all about.

Q. Last year after you won this tournament, you went on to finish pretty strongly. Is this a springboard for you or do you hope it to be the same way as last year?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Of course I hope to be the same as last year. Seems like I get my second wind the end of the year. I've had a nice little break after a trip to Europe and I played one event and then I saw my coach the next week. So I feel like I'm ready to finish strong, I really do.

I love this event. I love the golf course. It's a tournament that I like. You know, there's a lot at stake. We're talking Player of the Year; we're talking Money List. You want to play well this part of the year.

Q. On the men's side, Tiger Woods obviously has a goal of 18 major championships that he wants to win. For you, what's your goal, and do you have a sense of when you might want to leave this game and can you talk a little about that?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I must be honest, I have achieved a lot more than I ever thought I would. Right now the only goal that I have is to win the Grand Slam. It's probably the toughest goal of any goals, really, but that's really what drives me today. Like I said, I feel I've achieved a lot more than I've expected, I've won a lot more tournaments. I've been inducted into the Hall of Fame. So right now this is the last thing that I want to achieve.

And who knows how long I will continue to play. I love what I do and I've always said that if I wake up in the morning and I feel motivated to practice, if I feel excited to go to a golf tournament, then I will do that. We'll just see. I haven't set a time line or anything like that. I know my limits. I know I can win the Grand Slam. I'm just going to try and figure out how to do it, and that's going to be my next few months, that's what's going to be on my mind, see how I can prepare for 2006.

Q. There's so many young, up and coming talents, some already on Tour, some getting ready to join the Tour, what's your opinion of that new group of players getting ready to come on Tour to carry the Tour for the next 15, 20 years?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I think it's obviously a very exciting time for the LPGA. I think we're seeing a new generation, a good generation, strong players with great attitudes with a lot of fire. It's fun to see that women's golf is in good hands. I'm looking forward to see everybody come out and see where this Tour is going, but it's also great to be a part of it. And for me, obviously I like to stay where I'm at, I love being at the top and a challenge is what I need to continue to get motivated. There's so many great players out here, you've got to work hard all the time to stay on top, and I love the challenge.

Q. Can you comment about the play of Paula Creamer this year and what she's been able to do, graduate high school in spring and already won a few times on Tour?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: She's obviously a talented player, impressive, coming off strong her rookie year and she's had great success early on. She's one of great players we're going to see for the next ten years.

Q. The Solheim Cup was last weekend, how difficult is it to putt the competition behind and you get ready for a tournament again?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: It was a lot of high last week, a lot of golf I should say, and in three days, I've played so much golf. It's good to have a face off and get ready for this week. Nice to be the defending champion and puts my mind on something else right away. It was a lot of fun last week. It came to an end, it's time to move on, more fun tournaments ahead, and there's always something else to look forward to, the next tournament. It's always nice to have something to look forward to.

Q. What keeps you coming back to this tournament? You've won it twice, what makes you keep making it a tournament on your list every year?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, one of the reasons is because I love the golf course. I have some great friends here. It's just a good city. I found a nice gym and just little things like that makes me feel at home. Again, when you win a tournament, you just have some great memories. The fans have been really nice to me here and I like it.

Q. Where do you foresee the Tour going in the next five years? A lot of people credit your decision to play the many men's event two ears ago as something that was important in the life of the Tour, what do you sort of see as the next steps for the Tour as a whole?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, you know, it's a tough question. I mean, I don't have a crystal ball, but if you just look at our Tour the last five years, it's just totally gone in the right direction. We're getting a lot of recognition, our purses are increasing and we're more on TV, more coverage, you name it.

So if we take the next five years, I'd like to say the same thing, continue the path we're taking. We talked about the next generation, I think they give a lot of excitement to the Tour. It's just a lot of fun tournaments coming up. Solheim Cup I think was a success, it was really exciting and hopefully the fans tune into that and say, hey, women's golf is a lot of fun. That's what we need is people to continue to watch and support us, and with Carolyn now leading our Tour, I think we're going to see a few changes, hopefully towards the better and we'll just get stronger from here.

Q. How much do you get asked by fans about that tournament, Colonial, just your experience; is it an every day occurrence that somebody approaches you?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, I would say it happens every day. I mean, I think about it not every day, but it's something I look back in my career and I'm probably going to say, you know, I'm going to remember the Colonial. It's one of the highlights of my golf career.

I mean it was a huge step for me. It was big for the LPGA and my sponsors were very happy. It was just a great thing I thought. Especially where we are coming here, here we are talking about it two years later. A lot of people ask me, "Are you going to do it again" and so forth. I said, I'm not going to do it again, but I will always remember it.

Q. There are certain sports that thrive with rivalries that eventually develop, earlier this year Michelle Wie and Morgan Pressel had kind of been exchanging words, do you think that's good for ladies golf and who do you see as your rival on the LPGA Tour?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I mean, you mentioned Morgan and Michelle, they are not really they are not part of our Tour yet. They will be, so I'm sure it will be exciting when they are both part of it and I'm sure we'll hear more words then.

As of now, we just have great competition, friendly competition, there's no doubt about it. But I know there's a lot of players that want to be the best player out here. We are all trying to raise to different levels and get there, so I think it's just healthy for sports in general to have that, and I think we have that on our Tour. If you want to come out and watch veterans, players who have been here for a long time, you're also seeing up and comers, just a variety of players. Our Tour just provides it all which is a lot of fun and I think that's good for the future.

Q. On that same subject, would it help you if Lorena Ochoa or Paula Creamer or Michelle or Morgan down the road emerges as a legitimate rival? Would that re energize you or maybe help you decide to play longer?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I guess we'll see. The way Paula is playing, she's as ready as anyone to be the best out here. I've just got to continue to play to my level and continue to push myself.

I think Lorena is a very good player and she's been so consistent the last few years. Those are just two candidates out of many. I'm sure we're going to see somebody like Grace Park coming back maybe end of the year or next year again. I know how important the No. 1 spot is for her.

I love the competition. There's no doubt about it. It really doesn't matter who it is. Like I said, like where I'm at and that day I lose it, who knows, if I have enough energy to dig deep and come back and take it back, I guess we'll find out.

End of FastScripts.

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