BANK OF AMERICA COLONIAL

May 20, 2003

Annika Sorenstam

TODD BUDNICK: Like to thank Annika Sorenstam for joining us in the media center. The number one player on the LPGA Tour to her first PGA TOUR event. Annika, we're delighted to have you here with us this week at the 2003 Bank of America Colonial. Just a couple things first, of course, Annika has 43 career LPGA wins, including four Majors. Won 10 times internationally, two of those, one internationally, one on the LPGA have come this year. There's been a left hype this week or actually there's been a lot of hype for the last few months leading up to this event, Annika, and you becoming the first woman to play on a PGA TOUR event since Babe Didriksen Zaharias and that's probably where we should start and take a little comment from you as to that situation.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Sure. Well, hi, every one. I'm excited to be here. This is obviously something I've been looking forward for months now. It's too bad it's raining. I wish I was on the golf course at this time. I'm really looking forward to the week and I know it's going to be a historical week. I guess it was 58 years ago since another lady played on the PGA TOUR. So I feel like I'm very privileged and very honored to be here. And I'm very thankful for the invitation and hopefully I can play the best golf I can on Thursday and Friday and we'll see what happens. So I'm thrilled to be here.

TODD BUDNICK: Why don't you talk a little bit about your game leading up to this week. How you feel about it and what you look forward to on the course out here this week.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, I have had a chance to work with my coach Henry Ries all last week and I will feel like I'm hitting the ball as good as I have in a long time. I want to say since January. I feel like I'm peaking at the right time and very thrilled about being here. And today I only played actually just hit three shots, so it's tough to say how my form is just at this time. But I feel very confident coming into this week.

Q. Do you feel pressure with all the attention, with all the hubbub around your playing or are you oblivious to it as much as you can be?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I think I'm just looking forward to playing. Somebody asked me if I, you know, are you prepared. And I'm prepared. If I wait another week, three months or three years, I won't be any more prepared. I'm ready to go. This is once in a lifetime opportunity and I want to enjoy the week. Everything around it is so different than I'm used to. Obviously playing with the guys, you guys, the golf course, that I'm in an environment that I'm not really used to. So those are factors that I have in the back of my mind. But I still hope I can play the best I can and I'm going to see what happens. The pressure is -- I don't feel the close are I come to Thursday the less pressure I feel. I'm just excited to be here. And having the opportunity to play.

Q. You knew this event would get attention, but could you ever imagine this much attention?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: No. I'm still overwhelmed and I can't believe how many of you guys are here. It's great. But I think that when I accepted the invitation I must have been very naive. I'm doing this to test myself and I didn't think everybody else wanted to test me at the same time.

Q. Could you just take us through your morning what you were able to accomplish before the weather started?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, I was here at 6:30 this morning, registered. And got to see the locker room. And obviously I'm the only player in my locker room. So it was a little different feeling. And then I went chip and putt a little bit and then I hit some balls. Took a little break from the rain because it was pouring down about 7:30. Then just went out and hit three shots on the first hole.

Q. What do you think about playing with two less well known players on Thursday and Friday? Do you think that will be less pressure for you?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I think that I'm going to have my hands full whatever happens. And I like my pairing. I had a chance to meet Dean outside here. He seems like a very nice guy. And I'm going to have my hands full. I'm just going to try and focus on my own game, play one shot at a time. And I have respect for all of the guys that are here. So I'm look forward to playing with them.

Q. Can you tell us a little bit more about this personal challenge of yours. Why you're here, what you hope to accomplish.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well first of all my number one is always be a better player. And I'm looking for ways to get better. I believe inside that I can still be a better player. And I push myself in the gym, I push myself on the golf course. And now I get an opportunity to play against the best men in the world. I figured this was really testing me and this was really pushing me to work harder. And also play under tough circumstances. And that's what I call a test. To see if I can handle everything and also see if I can play the best game under really tough circumstances.

Q. What is the one or two things that you that you find so much different about the PGA TOUR as opposed to the LPGA TOUR because obviously you showed up at a bunch of golf tournaments in your career?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Mostly it's the golf course. It's going to be longer. At least 600 yards longer than we normally play. Just the atmosphere is a little different. The way the men approach golf, the way they practice. I'm here to learn. I'm here to experience and see what they do. And even though I was only out maybe for an hour or two yesterday, I saw how some of the guys hit bunker shots. And how they practiced. And that's what I think is very different.

Q. Some people leading up to this said that this course suited her. Recently there have been some people saying maybe the course she bit off maybe a little bit more than she could chew. Your two hours out there yesterday, what do you think of the course and how it suits your game?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I didn't play the golf course yesterday. But I was here earlier in March. And I thought it was an excellent choice of mine. This is a very tricky golf course. Don't take me wrong. But it's a golf course where strength and distance is not as important as all the other tournaments that the guys play. This is more of a what I call a -- you need to have good course management. There is a lot of doglegs where I'm sure some of the guys will hit irons off the tee. So it's more placement than just hitting the long drive down the first hole.

Q. Do you think the rains here would a hard and fast course be better for you or perhaps a course that's a little slower and softer?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well we'll find out when I go out there. It is obviously raining a lot. And it's going to make the fairways a little softer, the greens softer. You won't get as much roll. But like I said earlier, there's some holes where you just can't hit it as far because it's dogleg, so you got to place the shots. So I will find out. The only thing that would be the soft greens, I can be more aggressive than I had planned to be.

Q. You mentioned meeting Dean -- to your left here. You mentioned meeting Dean a few minutes ago. I don't know if you saw but he had a button on that he bought for 3 dollars in the pro shop that said "Go Annika". Is that a little strange. I can't imagine he would wear a "Go Tiger" button or that you would find a "Go Annika" button on the will PGA TOUR? ANNIKA SORENSTAM: We have a few of those buttons on our TOUR, but it's nice to see them here. I mean I feel the support.

Q. In your own mind what is the successful week? Is making the 36 hole cut a success for you or what in your mind is a successful week?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: In my mind a successful week is if I can play the best golf that I know how. I believe under normal circumstances or good conditions on this course I can shoot level par. And whatever that would place me I have no idea. And that's one of the reasons why I'm here because I'm curious to see how good my game is. And how it will stand up to these guys.

Q. You played this morning with Jesper and Sergio, did they say anything to you? Any briefly, three shots, but did they say anything?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: We were just trying to figure out what kind of match we were going to play. And the betting and the order and Jesper asked me how much shots I wanted.

(Laughter.) And I told him I'm not here to get any shots. And he didn't say much more after that.

(Laughter.)

Q. Can you give us some examples from your round in March on the longer par-4s what were you hitting into the greens and how did that work for you?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well the longer holes that I remember was three, four and five. Number three I hit driver, 7-wood. Number four is a par-3, I hit 4-iron, 7-wood. I was playing from different tees to figure out where. I didn't know exactly where to play from. Number five I hit driver, 7-wood. And then I believe it's 14 I hit driver, 7-wood.

Q. All those 7-woods do you think that that's a disadvantage Annika, compared to what the guys might be hitting? What would the guys be hitting into those?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Depends what guy you're asking. But my 7-wood carries 195. I don't know what the guys normally carry that club. That's a 3-iron for me. And I know the guys don't carry 7 woods so they wouldn't really hit that club.

Q. But is it that much of a disadvantage do you think hitting a 7-wood?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: No, I still hit the green, so.

Q. You said this is a once in a lifetime deal. Is once enough to find out what you hope to find out about your game?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I think so. I think one week is going to be enough for me. I've said that this is going to be my only time that I will play on the PGA TOUR. Just because the reason is that I want to play on the LPGA, I want to win tournaments and I have a lot of goals that I want to achieve there. If I was here to prove something then, yeah, believe I should play more tournaments. But I'm not here to prove to anybody anything. I'm just here to test myself kind of get a feel for the water here and learn from that experience.

Q. There's been mixed reaction to you being here and a lot was made about Vijay Singh's comments last week. Can you talk a bit about the criticism that you've been under making this decision?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well when I make a decision, I everything was very positive. And all the support that I got from family and friends and other players has been very positive. I do know that there's some players that disapprove of me being here, but my answer to that is that everybody's entitled to their opinion. I'm very, very thankful for the invitation and I'm going to try and make the most out of this week.

Q. There are some folks who say that you'll cash in financially after you play here from all the marketing opportunities you may receive. I'm wondering what kind of opportunities you expect and what kind of companies you would like to work for?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well my agent is here, you should ask him. I have no idea. Right now I have a lot of logos on my shirt already before I came here. And I'm very proud to represent them in any way. So I don't know what the future will be. But my goal is to win tournaments and win Majors.

Q. Looking back on your career would you say that the most pressure packed situations bring out your best or that you struggle in those situations?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I believe that I play good under pressure. I do know that I love pressure. And I love being in contention on Sundays and having to hit that perfect shot at the right moment. This particular week I'm -- it's going to be Thursday where I hit that perfect shot at the right moment. So this is great for my game. This is great to build me as a player. And that's why this week is so important for me and so -- I'm learning so much about it.

Q. Before you accepted the invite did you know anything about Babe Didriksen Zaharias and if not have you learned anything and can you comment on your historical connection with her since you two obviously are standing above the field.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well obviously I have heard of her. And I wish I knew more about her. I actually wish I had a chance to meet her. But after I accepted invitation to play here the LPGA commissioner Ty Votaw gave me a book about her and her life. And I'm in the middle of the book. So I don't know everything about her yet. She seems like a great lady and really a role model.

Q. What about you as a possible role model even more now as a result of this? Because there are some young women who say that.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well obviously that's very positive. I mean I feel like I'm very fortunate in what I do. I love to play golf, I love to compete. And this particular week I have -- it's a historic week. And I feel very fortunate to be here and to be part of it. And if I'm a role model for little girls, little boys, men, ladies, whatever, that's great.

Q. I'm wondering what you make of all this battle of the sexes hype that you have been reading about in the paper leading up to this.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Sorry, I was looking for you. I missed it.

Q. What do you make of all this battle of the sexes hype?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well I don't look at it that way. There is no way I would have accepted this invitation if I was trying to prove something here. I'm just here maybe a little selfish in the since I'm just trying to be here and test myself but there's no way I would like to have all the women on my shoulders and have my game rely on all women in this world. That's too much pressure. So I'm just going to leave it up to me and do the best I can. And when I leave here on Sunday I know what I got to work on and I will do that.

Q. When it comes to actually getting your ball in the hole, what do you think is going to be the biggest difference at this course, this set-up than courses you play on the LPGA TOUR?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well I thought about this a lot. And the more I think about it there is not going to be a single shot here this week that I haven't hit before. I got the same clubs in my bag as I've had for years. And I still got to putt, I still got to drive. So I'm going to -- the circumstances are different, but I have hit every shot many times. So I'm just going to trust myself, trust my instinct and believe in myself. So nothing really should be any different.

Q. Everybody's talking about the pressure that you deal with on the golf course, but away from the course how does this compare to maybe like wedding week, the biggest anxiety in your life. How would you compare the two?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well my wedding was not even this big.

(Laughter.) But it has changed my life the last three months. But it's been very, very positive. I go in the grocery store people recognize me and they say nice thing. They wish me good luck. And I just feel a lot of support. So it's been very positive and but I think golf wise it's really motivated me to practice and that's, I felt like that's what I needed this year.

Q. Was there any anxiety in the wedding day?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I must say I'm a little more nervous this week than I was at my wedding.

Q. Every week on the LPGA TOUR you know you can win and just a few minutes ago you mentioned level par as being a score you know you can shoot out here. But the winning score is usually double digits. Is it different for you going into this week knowing that you don't have the -- you know you can win out here every week, how is that approach?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well I'm still just going to hit one shot at a time. Give my best on every shot. And I got to be positive in my mind. And it is a much tougher goes golf course and that's why when I said level par when I play on the LPGA I always shoot for much lower than that but I feel I'm being very realistic here. So for me we'll find out where level par puts me. But if I do that I feel like a winner inside and that's why I'm here.

Q. How often do you typically hit your 7-wood at an LPGA event? How comfortable are you with that club?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I probably hit it once a round. And then I'm very comfortable with it.

Q. I know early on in your golf career you were uncomfortable or maybe as a younger player you were uncomfortable with attention. Some reports have you finishing second intentionally to avoid a victory speech. How much more comfortable have you gotten over the years, obviously you've been in a lot of big events how much more comfortable have you become under the spot light?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well I have learned a lot the last few years and I think that it was really awake up call when I won the Open in '95. Because before that I was just playing, I really didn't know what to expect, if I would win a tournament. But the last few years I've learned a lot and I've gone through a lot. And I feel much more comfortable, but most of all I feel comfortable in my game and how I play on the golf course.

Q. Vijay Singh was one of the most critical people about your playing this week. What was your reaction when he decided to pull out of the tournament?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well I was sad that he is not here. I think that he is such a great player, top 7 in the world, I think it's bad for Colonial. But he has his reasons and it's unfortunate that he's not here.

Q. What was the club you hit into number one today in the practice round?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I hit 5-iron.

Q. So many people who think you're going to miss the cut, talk about your inability to spin and hold the ball on Colonial's greens. What's your reaction when you hear and read that stuff?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well I don't read everything that people write. And I wouldn't be here if I didn't feel comfortable in my own game. And I'm not here to drive the ball as far as the men, I'm not here to spin the ball as much as they do because I have a different type of game. I'm going to play my game and that's why I'm here and I'm not going to alter my game for this particular week. Because if I could hit it 300 yards and spin it, 10 feet back, then I would do that every week, obviously. But I feel very comfortable in my game and we'll see how that will do on this golf course.

Q. Can you talk about the support you've been getting from some of the LPGA players, how do they feel about that? Have they talked to you about playing here at all?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, ever since I accepted an invitation in February and our first tournament in March a lot of players have come up to me and wished me good luck. Several players have written me little cards. Good luck cards. And most of all Nancy called me now, it's probably two months ago, and wished me good luck. She said this was great. But she also said she wished she had the chance 25 years ago. So for somebody of her caliber and to call me and wish me good luck, I will never forget that.

Q. Prior to today what's the largest press conference that you've ever held and also have you ever felt like considering everything you've accomplished that you have been overlooked?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well I'll start with the first question. This is much bigger than I have ever experienced. At the U.S. Open we would have a big crowd maybe half of this. Maybe a third of this. It's probably what I've seen in our press tents. And what was the second question?

Q. Have you felt like you've been overlooked by the media?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: No, I don't -- no, I never felt that way. And I wouldn't, I personally don't think I would be here if I wouldn't have achieved everything I have.

Q. Could I ask you a couple questions. First of all, many people who are judged as pioneers and blazing the way to opening up things say they feel a lot of pressure. Do you feel whether or not you view this as opening the doors, do you feel any pressure from fellow women golfers? And No. 2, can you talk about what maybe what you view are some of the misconceptions about what you are doing here this week.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, let's put it this way: Of course I would love to do well here. And I think that would be a great step for women's golf. But you like I said before, that's a lot of pressure. And I just like to focus on what I can do. And the things I bring to women's golf. What was the second question? Sorry, I have a short memory. Can't remember my score.

Q. Can you talk about what you feel maybe are the misconceptions about what you're doing here this week?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, I have said all along and I will say it again, that I'm just here to test myself. And that's really the only reason why I'm here, because I love challenges. I'm an athlete and if you see me do other things, other sports, I'm very very competitive and I just like to get better at everything I do. And obviously golf is my profession and I like to be the best I can be. So that's the only reason why I'm here.

Q. You said awhile ago "when you leave here on Sunday". How confident are you that you'll make the cut and how much does today's rain out hamper your preparation?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I mean I got to think positive and I am positive about my game. I feel like I'm playing as good as I have all year. So I'm very optimistic that I will leave Sunday but we'll see what happens. If I play good, that is all that matters to me. Obviously today I like to be on the golf course getting used to the greens and the course in general and just practice. And enjoy my day. In that sense. But today gives me a chance to just take it easy and rest and maybe this is good for me.

Q. You talked about preparing, testing yourself. Is one of the most difficult tests you're going to face trying to elevate your game for these two particular rounds as opposed to a series of tournaments or a series of rounds like this is the equivalent of maybe trying to play your best on the weekend at a major something isn't it?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I think so. It's probably the toughest ever. And I hope it is. Because this is all I can handle.

Q. But is that something that you have been working towards trying to find a way to peak your game for a particular couple of days?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I have tried to obviously play the best I can this week. I worked hard well for years but just the last few months just to try and time it well. And find my game. So we'll see. But this is long-term for me. This is, I want to learn from this week and I hope to win Majors on our TOUR.

Q. You said you're prepared mentally, how about physically? Are you tired or do you have the jet lag or anything from coming back from Japan? Or do you have any fatigue, any injuries or anything like that? Physically?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: No, I feel great. No injuries. And I feel great. I have -- it was about 10 days ago since I came back from Japan. So I'm fine. I got no excuses.

Q. So far your time here have the guys been nice to you? Have they given you cold stares or any kind of ill will that you feel from some of the players?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Not yet. I feel very welcome. I've had several guys come up to me yesterday and they wished me good luck. All of them wished me good luck. And Tom Pernice especially was very, very friendly. He said if I need anything, any help, just talk to me and Fred funk was the first guy to come up and there's been numerous guys. I had breakfast with Jeff Sluman. He was, it was very nice to me. And I feel obviously a little odd woman out.

(Laughter.) But it's, they all are very supportive. And the guys -- I don't know them all either. So it's, it might take awhile to talk to them.

Q. You hinted that you were maybe a little naive when you accepted this invitation. What's been the biggest surprise of the life that this has taken on?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: You guys. I am overwhelmed. I can't believe all the attention and it's funny suddenly everybody is an expert on my game and how I think and some of them never seen me play. So it's just really funny that everybody's involved in this. But I'm enjoying it as well. I take it as a compliment. And of course I like to play well this week and show them, that's why I'm here and I'm serious.

Q. How long do you think it will be before women will regularly compete with the men on TOUR, if ever?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: The question is if ever. First of all we have a great TOUR. We're the best women golfers in the world they play pretty much every week. So there is not really a need for anybody to come and play here. However, I could see maybe 10, 20 years from now where it will be such a dominant lady out there that she would win every tournament by 10 shots that she would want to come out and challenge herself on regular basis.

Q. You keep saying you how overwhelmed you are. What did you expect when you made the announcement of what it would be like out here?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: You know what, I just didn't think about that. And that was maybe a little crazy from my side. But I'm so into what I do and what I play and that I want to achieve my best. I do anything to be a better golfer. You can ask my coach that or you can ask my trainer that. I do anything in the gym to get another 10 yards. So when I accepted this invitation I was like I would love to because I can get better. I never really thought about everything around it.

Q. You have said that you would for the most part you're going to try to go at the middle of greens. At what point would you consider altering that if you would consider altering it?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well if it continues to rain like this and when I hit my approach shots and it rolls two feet. My approach of playing conservative was if the greens were rock hard and I know they're very small, that I don't want to put -- I want to be cautious. I don't want to put the bunkers into play. I want to take the rough into play, I want to play safe down the middle and bounce the ball up. But if it's this wet, I can just fire at the pin. I think if you are spinning the ball you might have more problems because you would be spinning off the greens. I don't have that problem.

Q. We spoke to Lorie Kane last week and/or last month I should say in Las Vegas, you were paired with her and after the round asked her how she thought you would do. And she said that while she will chip and putt you to death for one but I think her biggest asset is right between the ears of the mental toughness. You said you're coming together physically, maturing at the right time, what about mentally?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I haven't really worked on my head, but mentally this is -- I like to compare myself maybe with a mountain climber. This will be Mount Everest for me and I believe I have practiced for this for years. And now I'm here and I personally feel like I got nothing to lose. Nobody expects anything from me. I expect to play well. Whatever happens, happens. I know I'm going to give a hundred percent. I'm going to be out there and if I hit a bad shot, you know, I hit bad shots before. This week is not going to be any different. Like I said before, I have hit all the shots that I'm going to hit. So I want to enjoy myself and I'm in a spot where I want to be. I don't want to change anything. I'm going to enjoy the most out of it. And mentally I feel that I'm happy to be here, so I'm just going to enjoy that.

Q. You talked about your competitiveness in all sports. Can you go over some of the other sports that you play, how the competitiveness shows up and also specifically talk about playing chess with your husband, if you can still do that.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I don't know if you all know but I was a competitive tennis player for eight years so I grew up with sports. I raced skiing, downhill skiing as a little kid, I raced that. And nowadays it doesn't matter what it is, I'm just very competitive. It could be cards and it could be chess. And well we don't play chess any more. But because I lost the last time we played.

(Laughter.) And I don't know if we find all the pieces either. But anyway I just many very competitive. I don't like to lose and I always want to get better at whatever I do.

Q. You talked about being a little bit overwhelmed, how tough will it be to put all of this out of your mind when you're out there and have you had a chance to talk to Tiger about how he does it?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I have talked to Tiger. He's actually called me several times. Three times in one week. So just first of all to have him call me is a confidence booster. And I left yesterday and he called and twice to just tell me how to handle things. How to do things. To hear it from Tiger, somebody else even knows and has gone through everything it was very very encouraging. So I feel like I got his support, he told me he would be watching so I better play well. So I got a little pressure from him. But other than that it's just great that he would call and support me.

Q. What did he tell you?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Can't tell you everything. No. He just told me to play well. Otherwise I can't get into that. But he told me -- he just told me how to do things on the course of the. How to deal with you guys. Stuff like that. He's done it so many times and I think he's very good at it, so I needed some pointers.

Q. There's been a lot of hand wringing and some of it has come from Tiger over what the impact of what you're doing will have, will be on the LPGA. Every one says it's an, it's going to hurt the LPGA no matter what you do. Either you're going to play well and show that the LPGA isn't competitive enough or you're going to not play well and people will say well the LPGA just isn't worth watching at all. What do you say to that?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well I know that the LPGA, we have a lot of fans. And I know that they're not going to go away if I shoot some high scores here. I think this is good for the LPGA. And I think that if I play better golf by being here and learning, I think that we raise the bar on the LPGA and we will all get better. And I think long-term that's just good for the game in general. And definitely the LPGA.

Q. Could you just -- your physical development over the last years could you sum up how far you've come what kind of weights you started lifting and what you're lifting now and what your work out regimen consists of?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: It's tough to summarize it just in a few words. But I worked out really hard the last two years. And the last year and a half I worked with a new guy from Germany, he lives in Orlando and he put me on a tough program. I do lift a lot of weights. But we do it in different periods so we will do it heavy weights for maybe six weeks and we do lighter weights for another six weeks. So it's tough to talk weights here, but I would do really heavy and then rest so my body will kind of recuperate. It's basic things like squats, bench press, dumbbell curls, this is not some new stuff, this is just great work, great exercises. And I have increased my strength tremendously. Hopefully I can still increase a little bit long-term. But I definitely noticed an increase in my distance, the driver is 20, 25 yards last two years. So and that's one of the reasons why I'm here because if I was if I would hit it 30 yards shorter I wouldn't be here. Now I felt like I've taken my game to a different level that I'm not afraid to try this.

Q. The other two ladies that are playing in men's professional events this year went through an on course qualifications process. Should more of the ladies get out there and try this and if it causes less consternation would that be the better route for the women to go?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well I mean if you qualify, you qualify. In my particular case I got an invite. And I like to say that what I have achieved on my Tour gave me qualifications to be invited. People look at that different ways. But my priority is to play on the LPGA and that's why I didn't try to qualify, because it's not a high priority for me to be here. Even though I'm very thankful and very honored to be here, this is not my main goal to be here. In the future I don't know what it will be. Maybe like I said earlier, if 20 years from now one of the ladies is so dominant on our TOUR wants to play here I'm sure she wants to play regularly and then she will go through TOUR school.

Q. Before you accepted the invitation is there a lot of talk on the LPGA TOUR among the women about trying something like this or how you stack up against men? Is it just sort of general conversation, does that ever come up and two do you expect to be bombarded with questions once you get back on the LPGA TOUR about what this was like?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: First of all I think it's Suzy Whaley that started this whole thing. By her qualifying into a PGA event. Got us all talking a little bit. But this is not a conversation that we would have in the locker room. At least I didn't hear it. This is me personally thinking more about it. Thinking first of all this is going to be cool for her and then thinking, maybe would I want to do this. But I didn't really think more about it until I got the question from one of the reporters in Orlando and that's when I said yes, that's kind of when it occurred to me that I'm going to get a chance to do it. And when I get back to TOUR I'm sure the other players are going to want to know, because they're already calling me asking how is it. So I'm sure I will tell them everything and what's going on here and kind of what the scoop is here.

Q. What did you work on with your coach in Florida and when did things start coming back? In Japan or did you take it even to a higher level with him once you got back to the states last week?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well I started working with him Wednesday last week. I took two days off after traveling. And we worked on a lot of things just a few things in my swing but then we worked on rough shots, lob shots, kind of shots that I think I would have this week.

Q. One of your playing partners said this morning that he had 50 cell phone calls from eight in the morning until noon. What is your cell phone been like in the last couple days?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well I had to increase my minutes because I got the bill from AT&T, so.

(Laughter.) It's been quite busy. That's for sure.

TODD BUDNICK: Well thank you very much for joining us today, Annika, we're delighted to have you here and I'm sure on behalf of everybody we wish you well this week.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Thank you.

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