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HSBC WOMEN'S WORLD MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP

July 1, 2005

Annika Sorenstam

GLADSTONE, NEW JERSEY

PAUL ROVNAK: Annika, thanks for coming in. You were down most of the day, went 21 holes, your thoughts on the day to begin with.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, it was a tough match. Tina got off to a great start I thought. She birdied the first hole and the second hole, and, you know, played some good golf really. Tin played very, very steady. And I turned it around a little bit in the end, and she won the 18th hole and we went to a playoff. It really could not have gotten more exciting I think.

PAUL ROVNAK: Can you talk about the last putt to win and how far it was?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, I hit a 5 iron, I had 184 to the pin, and the putt that I made was about 30 feet long.

Q. It seems like a long time ago, what was your lie like on 14 when you cut it right and you're in the junk; you got up and down for birdie?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, the ball was okay. I just had that tall grass in the backswing which made it, I don't really know how that's going to affect the club coming down. I had 57 yards to the pin. I hit one of those good shots that came up and had five feet for birdie rolled it in. It was a pretty incredible four there. She had about a foot less, so that was a great hole.

Q. Did you have a good feeling over that last putt?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I said to myself, "I'd better get it to the hole this time." I'd been short all day, all week really.

I just hit it pretty hard and when my caddie picked up the ball, he said, "Yeah, that's what happens when you get to the hole." I think I learned something from that.

Q. I believe you're the only seed left in the Top 10. Were you aware of what was happening around on the leaderboard, and how did that make you feel knowing that this was a day when a lot of seeds were going down?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: You know what, I didn't really look at the leaderboard that much because I had plenty of work to do on my own. So I figured, you know, it's a lot different to look at the leaderboard when it's a stroke play tournament, but match play, it really doesn't matter. You have to focus on your own match, so that's really what I was doing. I had no idea about the seeds and I had no idea who was really winning today.

Q. On 15 she had a chance to go 2 up with a short birdie putt and she missed it. Did you think you had auto another life or that was your window, did you see that as your window to make this match again?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, of course that was an important putt. To go 2 down and three to play, that's quite tough. Instead, I'm 1 down and three to go, and, you know, 16 is quite a long hole. For me I felt like Tina wasn't going to give it to me, so I felt like I was the one that had to make some birdies. So you know, I was playing aggressive with diver off the tee. It's just, you know I had to make something happen. I feel like I had a lot of putts on the edges again. It wasn't until last putt I made that it went in.

Q. Inaudible?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: On the 18th tee? I liked my chances. I thought I was in great position. I hit a good drive, I had 7 iron in and I was just going to hit a smooth 7 iron. I just hit a really poor shot in the front bunker and still could have made it up and down. She hit an incredible second shot. She could have easily made birdie on 18. That's just match play, really. That's what makes it so exciting. You can never take (anything) for granted, so you've got to keep on trying.

Q. Did you ever feel any pressure?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Pressure? Well, I like to do well. I mean, especially from last week, I want to bounce back and do good. Match play is so different that you just have to go out with the mind set that you're playing the best player in the world. You've got to play the best and that's really what I thought today. I played some good golf. You really don't get a second chance here. You play one round and it's either you win or you're out. In a way, that is pressure because you can get a player that's playing really good one particular day, and you might be playing pretty good, but you've got to pack your bags and go home. It is a totally different mind set, and on the other hand that makes it fun, too.

Q. The crowds following you and getting larger, did you notice them?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Oh, I noticed the crowd. I look around. It's great to play in front of people. These people are very supportive and they were cheering us on all day long I thought. They were cheering for good shots overall.

Q. Did it matter to you that you teed off second throughout the entire match?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I had the honor on the first hole, but then I lost it.

You know, sometimes it makes a difference if you tee off first or second. If they hit a good shot, then the pressure is on you. If they miss it, then you can probably relax a little bit more. But like I said, with match play, one tee shot doesn't really matter. It's the whole hole that matters. You've got to be patient and not worry too much about each individual shot.

Q. Have you been in that position before in match play?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Oh, yeah, I've been in that situation before, not a lot. It's hard work because, I mean, there's so many different scenarios that can happen out there. I'm 2 down and 1 up and then a playoff and it changes constantly, and all of a sudden I'm sitting here and I've won it.

It's more of a mental game than anything I think than stroke play.

Q. Most of the top seeds have gone out; is it a matter of survival?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Survival? It's just one of these courses where anything can happen. I mean, tomorrow is another day, another match. I've got to go out there and play the best I can. That's really all you can do. You can't worry about all the other matches, what's going on. You can't worry about how they played. You've just got to worry about the opponents and not get ahead of yourself.

Q. Inaudible?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I guess we'll find out. I feel like I'm in pretty good shape. I don't think that's really going to be an issue for me. I have the will and I have the endurance, so I've just got to play some good golf.

Q. Inaudible?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I'm just happy that I survived today. It was a tough match. It could have gone either way. When I leave here, I'm just going to grab something to eat, get some rest and hopefully get a good night's rest and be fresh tomorrow.

Q. Inaudible?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, like I said, anything can happen. One second you feel like, okay, I get to play and tomorrow, the next day, you're like

Q. Can you remember your last round that was like this?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I haven't played match play in a long time, Solheim Cup, but you don't get to go home the next day. I mean, it happened in Japan once where I lost the first match and I had to be there all week. That was no fun. I was stuck in Tokyo.

Here, it's a beautiful place, I don't mind being stuck here, but I'd rather play the next day.

Q. Inaudible?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Actually I had to stay in Asia, so I had some more sushi.

PAUL ROVNAK: Thank you, Annika.

End of FastScripts.

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