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MICHELOB ULTRA OPEN AT KINGSMILL

May 4, 2004

Annika Sorenstam

WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA

PAUL ROVNAK: Annika, thanks for coming and joining us. You have been off to a great start this year, winning two of four LPGA events, three out of five events worldwide. Just go ahead and tell us about your year and what it feels like to be back at Kingsmill and we'll go from there.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Sure. Well, obviously I am happy with the start I have had so far. You mentioned winning three out of five great places with that start. I played some solid golf. I haven't played a lot. It's already May and I have only played five events. I am excited to be here. Time to play again. I love this place, for many reasons. I love the golf course; just the tournament itself, it's just really well organized. Kind of feels like a major a little bit. Them raising the purse makes this tournament even more special, and I think everybody is excited to be here and play this golf course.

PAUL ROVNAK: Questions.

Q. You are not the first person to say that this kind of feels like a major. What are the flavors that make it feel like a?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Number 1 is the field. Two, golf course. Three, purse. Four, it's just the whole atmosphere, you know, the way it's run, starting from hospitality to hotel accommodations, you name it, just the feel, you know, the fans, the spectators everything around it, it's got that little excitement about it, the little sting that you need.

Q. This time last year there was another tournament looking forward to Colonial. Are you back into the LPGA Tour mindset, obviously, now from a year ago?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Oh, yeah, that was a long time ago. I was -- my mind was back on the LPGA the week after I played. I mean, you know, the Colonial experience was wonderful, and a lot of things I learned about that. But I came back to reality pretty quickly. And it's time to use all the experience over here and which is what I want. I want to win tournaments here, so I am definitely back and you know, it's funny when you look back at it, it's already been a whole year; doesn't seem like it's cooled down either. People still talk about it.

Q. Follow-up on that, you said you learned a hot from that experience. What have you learned that's carried over into your game?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I mean, the biggest thing I would say is just the experience, you know, being under the limelight, you know, the preparation before such a big event. I have had a chance to practice with the guys before Colonial, and I still practice with the guys so I learned something all the time. I mean, it was so good in so many ways, it continues to carry on.

Q. Last year during that event, your personality really came out to shine. Is that something that has developed? I didn't see enough of the end of the year on the LPGA Tour to know the answer to that question?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Why didn't you?

Q. I watched a couple.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: All right. Well, I think the Colonial was just something that I wanted to do. It was, you know, my idea and it was something that I can be myself, and before that everybody was looking at me and saying, you know, you are the next Nancy Lopez; you got to do so and so; this is how Nancy did it. I never felt comfortable doing that. I admire Nancy in so many ways. But I am not Nancy. For me to be able to do something that I felt was what I wanted to do which was to play the Colonial, challenge myself, take my game to a different level, it's easier to be you. I think when people talk about the emotions, it's well, because I was doing something that I was comfortable with. This is what I wanted to do. I wasn't doing something that somebody told me to do.

Q. A lot came about for you as a result of that appearance and the way you played and the way you handled it at the Colonial. Do you feel that the LPGA benefited at all from that?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I'd like to say so, definitely. I mean, obviously I have benefited form it personally. I think women's golf in general benefited from it. I know my sponsors are very happy with the exposure they got, and like I said, we still talk about it, it's got to be a good thing. The exposure the whole week, you know, just women's golf being in the papers, that's good news.

Q. Do you think it opened the doors a little bit for Michelle Wie to do some of the things that she's done?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Maybe. Yeah, I think we all just doing our little parts here and there. Susie Whaley was really the first one to talk about playing in a men's tournament, I mean, she was going to do it and then I did it before she did. So maybe she opened the doors for me, who knows. I mean, we all have done our different parts.

Q. Having lived in sort of a fish bowl for several months last year with intense scrutiny everywhere you go, any advice for Michelle how to handle a situation like that?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I think she's doing pretty good. I don't necessarily think she needs a lot of coaching. I do think that if I were coaching her on something I would tell her to slow down. She's 14 years old and there's a long ways ahead of her and enjoy every step. There's no need to rush out there. Learn the basics, and enjoy the journey. Right now she's in school, and after that school might be college and then LPGA, like I said, I mean she's jumping a lot of steps. That's the only thing I would tell her. Other than that, I think she's doing really, really well. She's talented. She has got her head straight. I mean, what can I say? It's just -- it's wonderful to see somebody that young with so much talent and so much excitement and I love her attitude too.

Q. Do you think it's inevitable whether it's her or someone else that eventually like tennis there will be 14, 15 year old girls playing the LPGA Tour professionally?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Professionally? I mean, the rules got to change, I guess, right now you have to be 18, so Aree Song was just 17, she got a special I don't know, you say exemption, or -- that let her turn pro. I don't think that rule's going to change, going to be very few players that will be able to become pro early. There's a reason for that. Because it's way too early, like I said. They might be very talented and in their -- they might be ready for a week here and there, but long-term, I don't think it's good to be out at that age. And if they are that good at that age, I am sure they will be as good when they are 20. Again, why hurry up? You are missing a lot of steps, college, et cetera, there's a reason for that.

Q. After Colonial last year you have won two majors on Tour, completed a career Grand Slam. This year won your fifth LPGA event. When you hit milestones like that, does an elite athlete allow themselves to think about that and think about milestones or is it always forward thinking?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: For me right now it's always been forward. I find it very tough to look back at what I have achieved and pinch myself and say, hey, you have done this and done that, you know, I haven't really absorbed it, whatever you would say, because it feels kind of unreal especially I was introducing at the tee last week, they said I have won 50 times - sounds so unreal. But I hope one day that I can look back at my career and just let everything sink in and just maybe appreciate it more.

Now it's: What is next, what is the next record to beat; what next tournament to win; it's always go, go, go. But I think in a way that's good because if I didn't then I might just say I am really happy right now, I don't need to do anymore.

Q. What is the next record to beat?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: (Laughter). Well, my goal was to win all four majors this year. And my goal now is to win the next three. So I want to win majors. I'd like to get up to ten. I enjoy the pressure those weeks kind of come with. I enjoy the courses that we play and just -- there so special, the majors, I think that's why it makes it so hard to win.

Q. Do you feel is there a certain, for instance, with majors a number that you will play until I do this, or will you play until you just feel you are comfortable and you are done playing and there's not necessarily a number or something that will keep you around for a certain period of time?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: There's not a number in my mind. I said I like to win 10 majors and I do. You about I am not going to play until I am 100 years old just to win 10. I think the key is to enjoy what you do. Do I love to grind everyday? Do I like to come out and compete? Do I enjoy trying to stay on top and keep this level of play? That's the question. It's very hard. The competition is getting tougher and tougher every year, it takes more to stay up there. So the question is how much longer can I do that. I think that will determine how long I will play.

Q. Would you ever consider like a semi-retirement like what Nicklaus did, where he just eased back on the schedule to a certain degree?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I don't think so. I am a person that's all or nothing. I have said that for a while and I still feel that way. Who knows when the time comes, I mean, I have said that I don't think I will leave the game of golf because I enjoy the game so much. But it's the competing that's very tough only because I am so competitive and if I can't be on top because I have been there, then I don't know if I can handle it. I don't like finishing in the middle. I never have. So therefore I might try something else.

Q. Have you had any time to sit back and watch a tape of the Colonial of some of what you went through?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I have.

Q. What was your impression of it? Was it different than actually living it at the time? Were you surprised by anything?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, when I watched it I was surprised really how good I hit the ball. I had birdie opportunities on every hole. I was never in trouble. Only a few times on the second day but the first day I was just down the middle, I was on the green. I had the birdie putt. It was so solid. That kind of surprised me. Obviously I felt it when I was playing but when you watch it, it just looks different. Therefore when I looked at it I wish I would have scored a little better.

But no, I men, then just I how beautiful the setting was; how good the course looked on TV with all the crowds; especially when they took pictures from up above, all those people, those are things I will never forget.

Q. Compare the pressure you were under that week to the pressure of being in a major and being in the hunt in a major. Seemed like with the focus and the attention there was an incredible amount of pressure on you to perform.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, it's totally different pressure. I believe in a major I am there to win. At Colonial I felt like people were there to see if I was going to fail. Which I have never felt before. I was there to learn something. I was there to experience something. But I felt that obviously for some of the comments from people, and you know, a lot of people didn't want me to be there, so I felt like people were just waiting for me to fail. That's kind of a different type of pressure.

At a major I am just there to win and hopefully do good. I don't look it at it any other way.

Q. Is it more difficult to be in that situation where ---

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I think so, definitely. At a regular tournament I have nothing to lose.

Q. Michelle, notwithstanding, there's a lot of younger players who are talented on the Tour. What are some things that -- adjustments they need to make away from the course, away from the actual playing to continue succeed, is -- what are some of things that you had to deal with away from the golf course?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I think the biggest thing you deal with is the travel part, being in a different city every week, sleeping in a different hotel, finding places to eat, you know, finding different gyms. It's just very different every week, and if you are a home-body it makes it a little tough. If you are used to having friends and family with you and if they don't travel with you, suddenly you are alone and you have to deal with all that. It's not just about being at home, going to the course, practice and then ready to play. You travel and you might lose your luggage in funny places and adjusting to different courses you have never seen, those things, you know, they are not that easy to handle. I think if they are not 100%, it's tough to focus on your game, you can really tell, that people are adjusting to the travel and being a professional the first few years. It's not just the experience on the golf course and so forth. It is just learning everything around it.

Q. Should the LPGA Tour at this point begin to prepare for life without Annika at some point, to think about how they will promote the game, how they will promote the Tour and draw people to the Tour from nay you are not here?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I think the Tour consists of 144 players every week. You got to focus on everyone. This is not my Tour. I just represent one of the many players. Like I said, I don't want to make it sound like I am retiring tomorrow because I am not. I am going to play all this year and starting next year we'll see how things go. But the Tour like I said, has so many great players out here and there's a lot of great faces, that they should promote. It is just they should promote everybody really. There's a lot of top players, Grace Park for example, I think is a wonderful player, winning the first major. She's just very hungry to be No. 1. That's just one of the many. I think the LPGA Tour is in good hands, you know, I don't think on the other hand they shouldn't forget about me because I am here and I am still hungry.

Q. You talk about being comfortable. When did you become comfortable out here? You won a U.S. women's Open pretty early. Were you even comfortable then? I remember you talking how even then you were -- still -- were you comfortable then?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: There's so many -- I have always been comfortable with the golf. That's just something that I felt that I could handle. The travel I got used to pretty quickly because I mean, I came all the way from Sweden to the University of Arizona. I learned how to travel early. I never felt that travel was the hardest thing. It was hard after I won the Open because suddenly everybody wanted a piece of me. I didn't know really what to expect. All I did was to play golf and suddenly I made a few birdies in a tournament and now everybody wants a little bit and that was the hardest thing for me to trying to open up and share my experiences and tell them what did you eat and what is your hobbies. Nobody cared before and suddenly they did. You felt like the private person and it was tough to be private.

Q. Have we been the most difficult part of this whole thing?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Not difficult. It is just, you know, I mean, like you guys, I don't know a lot of you here and here I am telling you everything how I feel and my goals. It's not so easy sometimes. But then again, it's just something you have get to learn like anything. I think I have had many opportunities to learn, so that helps obviously.

Q. Do you feel like -- I mean, you have won three out of five events so far. Are you on top of your game?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I feel like I am playing really good. Last week I was really happy the way I was playing, couldn't really put it together when I needed to, but I was striking the ball well. I have had plenty of rest so I am ready to play. A little bit of, how do you say it, I have been playing last week kind of get the momentum going a little bit. I think that's what I am missing, since I have had a few weeks off before last week, I have got to get into the rhythm of things. I think this golf course really fits my game. So got no excuses. I am just ready to play and it's time.

Q. You mentioned a few minutes ago about the depth of the Tour. Absent you winning every time you tee it up is it encouraging to see first-time winners like there have been a couple of times on Tour already this year?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Oh definitely. I mean, I remember when I won for the first time there's nothing more exciting. I can just imagine how Jenny Rosales felt last week I saw her emotions. It really cool. She works really hard. I think she's taken her game to a totally different level the last few years so it's fun to see somebody win because it means so much. When you work so hard and to finally win your first it really is a breakthrough.

Q. What about you played last year here. You have been getting some practice in. How long does it take when you go to a new golf course to get comfortable with the course, or are you constantly even after a year still picking up learning things about the course that you are playing?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, some courses are easier than others to get to know. I think most of the time it's the greens are the hardest. Some greens they change, I mean, the grass is very moody like one year the grain will take the ball and the next year it won't. So I think the greens is where I learn the most every year, but normally tee-to-green it's, I am pretty good at learning a course right away. I can see from the tee how I would play the hole. It very rarely changes in that way. But it could be, you know, whether-wise I don't know how the course is this year, somebody told me the rough was really thick, so -- but I don't really think it's going to change the way I play it. Hopefully you just hit it straight. This is a course where you still have to hit driver off the tee because it's pretty long. I feel that I know the golf course here. I won't say that that's what is holding me up here.

Q. When you first came out started winning there were a lot of European players who were dominating the Tour, there was talk about why the Europeans were dominating the LPGA. Now there's talk about why a lot of the Asian women are coming over. Do you think it's just the systems they grew up in like it was a very organized system in Sweden and it seems to be the same, especially the Koreans, there are a lot of good players being produced out of those countries. How does that impact the Tour in terms of the dynamics and the relationships on, you know, between the cultures?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, it's definitely different cultures out here and it's definitely becoming a World Tour. You are absolutely right, the way it's gone from Europe to Asia, I mean, I do think that we're going to see more and more Asian players especially Koreans, because first of all, with the success that they are having it's just -- it's a snowball effect over in their country. I do think that their work ethic is really, really good. They grind and I mean if you come out here and see who is on the putting green or on the driving range, you are going to see who is out there, and the ones who are out there are the ones winning tournaments. I just think it's the beginning a lot of Asian players. It is a different culture for everyone but I think it's good because they are bringing different type of fans to our Tour and it's time that we all open it up for a world tour and understand that the game is growing all around the world. Which I think is fantastic. That's really what is happening.

Q. There's been a lot of talk with Tiger Woods this year about how having a fiancee is affecting his game, family part linked with the athlete part. As a female athlete who has so much more to think about when planning a family, what do you think when you hear that stuff, how much more difficult is it for a female athlete in those kinds of discussions?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: In Tiger's case, obviously I don't really know why they are talking about that. His fiancee is very, very sweet and he seems very, very happy. So I think if you are happy you play good golf.

In my case I mean, I have been married for almost eight years and I have played better since, it's just you get a good balance and good harmony in your life. It is different for a woman if you want to start a family and especially if you are playing, there's a time where you just can't play. Obviously after that it's probably going to be somebody changes so it is very, very different in that sense. That's why I am trying to make the most out of it when I can.

Q. Not to harp on Colonial too much, but a year ago you talked about how you wanted to inspire people, women, young women to do things that then weren't supposed to be doing, or people thought they weren't supposed to be doing. What inspired you about some of the responses you got? Any letter you received or any anybody anything anybody said to you that was really inspirational?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I must tell you I got so many letters from all kinds of people. It wasn't just from women. I think -- I mean, I got, like I said, I got so many cool letters from people that I didn't expect at all. But something if I summarize a lot of the letters is from parents or from fathers that have daughters, said that this is great. I have a young three year old or a young girl that's ten, those are the things I remember because it's like it wasn't just a man against a woman. It was just for upcoming years, for them to see, you know, me doing something that maybe their girl can do, and then also something I remember is actually Billie Jean King told me this when I talked to her on the phone she said that it's great for young boys to get used to seeing women with men. I thought that was pretty cool too. Just them growing up seeing that it is okay. And not to be frightened or not to be scared or whatever, when they grow up to see a women in their whatever field they are in. So those are things that stand out.

End of FastScripts.

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