U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 3, 2002

Annika Sorenstam

MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, we would like to welcome the two-time United States Women's Open champion, Annika Sorenstam. This year she's won six tournaments. She has 36 total victories, and she's won the last two on the tour, ShopRite and Evian Ladies Masters, 1995 and 1996 Women's Open champion, Annika Sorenstam.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Thank you.

Q. What do you think of the golf course, first?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I love it. I really do. I really think it's a great golf course. I like the setup; it's tough and a challenge, but it's also fair, which I think is good. If you hit some good shots, you can still be able to score out here.

Q. You certainly know what it's like to win the Women's Open. For you, what is it like to come back to the Women's Open, and what's the atmosphere?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, this is really a special event in so many ways. First, it seems so big with -- kind of overwhelming with all the people here for the practice rounds. The condition of the course, the setup is just very professionally done. It's always a thrill to come here. Everything is well organized, great locker room. You name it, it's got everything. That's why it's a special tournament.

MODERATOR: Questions for Annika?

Q. Annika, could you talk about the rivalry that's developed between yourself, Karrie, and Se Ri, and what that's meant to women's golf over the last few years.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I think it's fun with the rivalry. Both Karrie and Se Ri have played some great golf the last two years, and it sure brings the best out of me when I'm playing, knowing they are in the field.

You have to play well to win when they are playing, so I want to say it's good for women's golf. The golf itself is better than it has ever been, so I think that proves a lot and, I mean, I enjoy it. I like the competition and, you know, there is a little rivalry feelings. It's a lot of fun.

Q. I'm curious: Did you bring the ruby slippers here to Kansas, the red shoes?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: You don't like my tan ones?

Q. I like those. You didn't bring the red ones?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: We'll see.

MODERATOR: Okay. Question? Questions for Annika.

Q. You've been on a roll for quite some time now. We've seen other players who have good streaks but can't sustain it very long. Do you think the Vision 54 as it relates to golf can also be applied to what you've been able to sustain for coming up on two years now.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I believe so. I always have something to work towards, and I'm always setting new goals, and Vision 54 is something that's been in the back of my mind, and I know I can improve and get better. I think it's important to set goals, even though my goal was to be the best player out here, and last year, when I achieved that, and I kept going and I set new goals.

Q. What new goals? Major-related?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Mainly. I want to become a better player. I lowered the average scoring last year, but I think I can do better this year, always something to look forward to keep working and -- that's what keeps me motivated.

MODERATOR: Questions? Yes, David.

Q. With Karrie going for the 3-peat could you talk about the pressures that go along with that, since you've been through it, and what was your experience.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah. I mean, what Karrie is up for this week is really exciting. I had the chance in '97, and I didn't make the most of it. I was very nervous at the same time and something I really wanted badly, but I wasn't prepared. I wasn't ready that year.

And it's going to be neat for Karrie to have a chance like that. It's the Open, and to win it three times in your career is phenomenal, and to be able to do it three times in a row is incredible, so I wish her all the best. It would be great for women's golf.

Q. I think right now it's kind of acknowledged you may be the fittest player out there, and maybe the fittest player in LPGA history. I wonder how much you think that has to do with the fact that you've won 14 times in a year and a half. Is being fit -- does that really help going down the stretch on Sunday?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Definitely. There is no way around it. You got to be in good shape. A lot of people don't see golf as a sport where you need to be in good shape. I've worked out the last few years, and seriously the last two, so I'm seeing the results. I'm not going to argue, I'm feeling better and hitting it further. I'm totally convinced.

Q. Where would you say the most challenging places are on the course?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: The rough.

Q. The holes?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I know what you mean. I was just kidding. Well, there is a tough par 3, No. 5, there are a few par 4s that I think are very tough. Everything depends so much on the winds, which direction it blows.

I played yesterday and today, and the wind was similar, but the 9th hole is a very difficult hole. It's long, it plays really into the wind. Number 11 is a good hole. There is a lot of good holes.

They can all be tough. If you don't drive in the fairway, every hole can be tough out here.

Q. Number 15 mentioned two yardages, two tees on that. For your information, the championship department will not notify us until the day of play which tee they are going to play.

Which tee do you prefer, the one around 200 yards or the one longer.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: The shorter one.

Q. Which clubs do you hit?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yesterday I hit 5-iron; today I hit 6-iron from the back.

Q. 5-wood?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: 5-iron.

MODERATOR: You have gotten strong, haven't you. Front row, please.

Q. You have gotten strong, haven't you. Front row, please. Can you just talk about you played with Lorena today, and you played with her before, your impressions of her.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: She's a great little player. She has a lot of experience. She hits it far, she hits it solid. I think she's a very good player. It's great to see her as a professional, to come out here and be part of the LPGA. I get along well with her. She's a Wildcat as well, so we have a lot in common.

Q. After '97 and not getting the 3-peat and not winning the Open since then, how important is winning this particular tournament to you?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I believe that this is the biggest tournament in women's golf, and to win this means so much more because it's -- first of all, it's a tough golf course, great field, and, you know, if you compare the Open, there are other Opens in other sports, like tennis, and when I grew up as a little girl, the U.S. Open is what I wanted to win. And knowing I won it, and I can win it, but I haven't the last few years, it means a lot, and it's something I look forward to every year.

This is a special trophy you get to keep at home for a year, and there's some great names on the trophy, so this is definitely one of the ones that I would love to win.

Q. I guess over the past few weeks you've been asked a lot about the rivalry. Between Karrie, Se Ri, and you, have you all ever talked or joked about it or anything like that?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: No, it's not something we sit down and talk about. I think we just try to mind our own business and try to get better, and hopefully beat each other. I think that's the way we look at it.

Q. Couple questions as it relates to the LPGA, actually. The -- when you talk about the rough here, how does it stack up to what you saw at DuPont? Is it different?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, the grass is different. I don't think it's as high, but it somehow nestles down here. It's a different kind of grass. It's still a rough where you have to chip out.

Q. You couldn't go for the greens here, I'm guessing, with so many of them elevated?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: It would be very tough. It doesn't seem like you get a lot of roll in the fairways. It's not one of the courses you hit it and hope it will roll up. It's going to sit whereever it lands in the fairway.

Q. There is a lot of expectations on you because you've been winning and contending so frequently. How do the expectations compare to when you came to Pumpkin Ridge in '97 trying to win three in a row, how is it different?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: It's totally different in the sense that now I have won more tournaments, now I should have the experience, you know, I've hopefully matured a little bit. My game has improved so I feel more pressure for myself that I can do well here. At Pumpkin Ridge it was more history, you can be the first one, et cetera, but I wasn't ready then. My game wasn't as good as it is today, I didn't have the experiences I do today. So personally I feel more ready now than then.

Q. Did you get wrapped up in all that stuff?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah.

Q. Is that what caused you to be not prepared?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Definitely.

Q. I think someone was doing a documentary on your 3-peat. I believe they it had camera crews at Pumpkin Ridge, I remember that.

I'm just wondering, we've heard Tiger Woods say many times when he gets on a roll, sometimes he goes out and takes a tournament by the throat, sometimes it just falls in his lap. Did that maybe happen a little bit last week? And when you're on this kind of roll, does it seem like sometimes the breaks just fall to you.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Definitely. When I'm on the golf course I see a big green, a huge hole, and I just see the positive things. I see the fairway, and I don't go out there and worry about my swing, or I don't worry about out of bounds on the left, or the water hazard over there. I mean, I put the ball on the ground, and I see the fairway, I hit it. I trust my game. I trust my instincts.

It seems so easy when you play well. I don't ask many questions. I just grab a club and trust it. It's confidence, and that's what I have right now.

Q. How do you account for the dominance of you and Karrie and Se Ri, and versus American players not being able to break through?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I wouldn't say that the American players haven't, you know, played well. Laura Diaz has won twice. That's more than Karrie has. Cristie Kerr won for the first time, she's top ten. There is upcoming players.

It seems like there might be a generation change where you got a lot of young American players coming up. The veterans are still there, but I think it's changing and, therefore, you probably don't see them winning four or five times, but I think that will come.

I don't know why Karrie, Se Ri and I are playing better than the others now, but I work hard and set new goals, and I don't give up, and keep working, and I guess that's what puts me where I am today.

MODERATOR: Questions? Front row here, please?

Q. You have gotten strong, haven't you. Front row, please. Annika, how much do you feel your putting has improved, say, from now to maybe two years ago, and how important has that been, do you think, to your success.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Putting is everything, and, I mean, I've always been a good ball strike, I've always hit a lot of greens, but if you don't make the birdies, you can't score. It's making the putts. It's obviously more fun to make birdies, but it gives more confidence for the next hole. I'm not afraid. I trust my line, I trust my strike, and I can shoot low scores.

It was tough when I didn't have the confidence. When I grew up I hit balls more than I putted, and I think that's what has taken me a while to realize is the short game is where you save your shots, and that's how you score, and I've been working on that a lot in the last few years.

Q. Are you mentally tougher than you were three years ago?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I think so. I'm more determined so I think that pushes me a little bit.

Q. Can you elaborate on that a little more or give examples? I seem to recall a couple years ago there where every now and then a 3- or 4-foot putt would spook you, and now it seems you've blocked a lot of that out, and you're blocking a lot of distractions.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Maybe it's something I learned along the way. Every week I learn something new, and I hit thousands of putts and made thousands of putts, and I try to remember the positive things in that, and not to remember the putt that I did miss. We're all going to miss a shot here and there, but if you think about those, you'll be a little shaky, but if you remember the ones you make, you'll feel good about it.

I'm always trying to look for things that will help me in the future. I am calm this week. I've played in the Open several times, and I'm learning to handle this. Most of it is I feel comfortable with my game, I don't need to worry about my game. I've just got to make sure I show up for my tee time. That's what I got to do.

Q. Can you think of a negative experience in your career that you've used to build from and grow from?

Pumpkin Ridge.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: No, I learned a lot from that. It wasn't a positive result, but I learned a lot. If I would get the chance to 3-peat, I would do better than I did at Pumpkin Ridge, I know that.

Let me think here. I mean, I learn something every week. There is always something, but, you know, it was a tough time when we played the Open where Juli Inkster won, that was a tough putting experience for me, and I think I learned something, that I had to go home and work on my putting. I figured out I had to go see somebody, and I saw Dave Stockton for help, and that was a turnaround in my short game because I had such a miserable week.

MODERATOR: Back row, is there somebody back there? Any other questions? Okay. On the aisle here, please, third row?

Q. You have gotten strong, haven't you. Front row, please. As hot as you are right now, many would consider you the favorite for this event. Do you consider yourself the favorite?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I haven't really looked at it that way, but I'm happy the way I'm playing. I don't think I could prepare any better, and I don't think my game could be any better coming into this event. We'll see how things go tomorrow and the next few days.

You know, you need good breaks, you need some good bounces, you need momentum. Those are things I can't control, but I can control my game, and I feel like I got a good handle on that, so we'll see what happens.

MODERATOR: Over here on the aisle.

Q. You have gotten strong, haven't you. Front row, please. Annika, the top two tennis players on the women's side happen to be sisters, and they've made in a couple Grand Slam finals. I wonder if you can relate to that, the fact that you have a sister that's elite in the same sport as you, and if there was ever a situation where you were going head to head with her, how you would feel about that.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I would love to do that. Not in a major championship, but in Phoenix we played together, and she ended up winning, and I thought that was a neat experience. I hope we get the chance -- maybe not this week, but hopefully the next coming years.

MODERATOR: Any other questions for Annika? Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen.

End of FastScripts....