MCDONALD'S LPGA CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY AIG

June 20, 2001

Annika Sorenstam

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I'm happy to be here. Obviously, this is the third major of the season and I'm really looking forward to playing tomorrow. I feel really good about my game. I love this place. I've done pretty good here in the past. Not as well, maybe as I would like, but a few Top-10 finishes. The course this year is in superb condition. I don't think I've seen it this good ever, but in really good shape. The rough is thick. The greens are fast. It's really setting up for a good Championship.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I was disappointed, you know, the way I finished. I think I did a lot of good things that week. I prepared right. I was patient all week. I tried to get the last few holes, but things just didn't go my way that week. I felt really good coming into the Open. I had high expectations, but just didn't do it for me. But I forgot about it. I'm here. This is what matters right now, and if I do really good this week, I'll forget about the Open soon.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I think starting out the way I did this year, expectations just got higher and higher. You know, coming into a major, just because you've won a few doesn't mean you're going to win a major. There's so much to a major, it's just a lot of times, the courses are so much different. The margins are so small and expectations are so high, finishing 16th is a disappointment. I'm better than a lot of players, and that's the way you've got to look at it. You hit good shots and sometimes they turnout good and sometimes they don't. You've just got to face it. I'm still playing good golf right now. My confidence is there. You've just got to keep moving on.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yes, definitely. I mean, I think patience is key to good golf. It's important at major championships, but pretty much every week, you've got to hit one shot at a time and focus on what you've got to do. You can't think about Sunday, especially, you've got to think about the next shot. You've got to prepare, focus and execute it. That's patience, what it's all about.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I think there is a rivalry, a friendly one. I mean, I have a lot of respect for Karrie and her game, and the way she played the last few years have motivated me to play even better. When we see somebody like Karrie playing well, winning in the U.S. Open, it motivates me. I want to play. I want to be the best player out here. I mean, I like a challenge. I love the competition. I think it's great for the game.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: It really wouldn't matter.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: No.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Oh, I enjoy the head-to-head.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Just knowing she's in the field. But if she finishes second or whatever, that doesn't matter. But knowing that she's in the field, she has been the best player out here -- you want the best players to be in the tournament, because if you win, then you beat them. That satisfies me, not finishing second.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: No.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I don't know what's better. I think it's great to see different winners. In the last five years, it's been a competition between Karrie and me. You know, I was No. 1 for a while and then she was No. 1. So, that's got to be exciting, if you watch it from the outside. I grew up watching tennis a lot and if Chris Evert, and Martina Narvatalova, that's exciting. I would not mind being a dominant player at the end of the night. For me, that would be great, obviously. I mean, I love the competition and every week, we have that out here. That's what it's all about.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I'm not sure. I haven't asked her about that, but maybe. We talked about expectations, I'm sure that expectations were high on her starting this year and she didn't get off to the start they wanted so. If it was that or the way I played, she played excellent at the Open.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I thought it was very nice. I don't know if it surprised me, but I thought she showed a lot of class. A lot of class, just to write a note, because she had, I think an afternoon tee time that day, so I didn't kind of run into her, but the note was just -- it was very classy. And then at Nabisco, she was one of the first to congratulate me there, and I thought that was very classy, too. I think that shows a lot, what kind of person she is. She's competitive, but she also recognizes when other people do well. I think that's very nice.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, I am, definitely. I haven't really thought about it the last few weeks, because I'm here -- actually we've been everywhere. But I am looking forward to it. It is going to be a lot of fun. It's going to be a highlight in my career, to have a chance to play with both Tiger and David. It will be a fun format and a little relaxing, but still I want to play well. I want to show the guys that we can play, so I look forward to it.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: No, not really. Pretty much totally different friends. No, we don't do anything outside of course at all. I think we do a lot of -- we have a lot of things in common, but we don't really hang out together.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Just being out here, the things that we do. The things we look at -- look at our careers and stuff like that.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: No, I kind of like this format. I want to play with Tiger. (Laughter.)

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: No, I didn't say that. I can play with Karrie out here. (Laughter.) That match is not set up to be to show who is the better player or anything like that. I think this is more of a fun, relaxed format. I don't think anybody has anything to win, to play against each other. So this way, I think it is best setup. We can interact and play each other and hopefully showcase some good golf.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: A little bit, I must admit. Like I said, I want to show that I can play. I know I won't hit the ball as far and I don't expect to do that. But if he hits a good drive out there, I want to put it close to the pin and show I can play, or if I have a chance, I want to make the putt. It's just our way of showcasing the LPGA a little bit, even though we can do it every week, but this is prime time TV. We don't get the chance too often.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, we do have a major that week. We have to play on Monday night direct to London. We won't get in until Tuesday afternoon, so we kind of miss out on a practice round. But, you know, when you get a chance like this to play with Tiger and David, for me, that's not really a sacrifice. I think it's just an opportunity that I don't want to miss. We've played at Sunningdale before and I was there two weeks ago. So I'm trying it do every preparation I can to do there, too.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yes, there is.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: No, I won't be there.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: The attention has gotten much more and it's been a lot of golf the last few weeks. Actually, this is my fourth week on the road. But it has been great. I mean, it's been a lot of people have paid attention to what I've done. It's been really nice that way. I'm having a week off next week and I'll relax and get ready for the rest of the summer.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: First of all, it's the golf course. Like old, traditional courses and this is one. I like the way it is set up. It is a little longer. It has rough. It just demands good shot. Those are the type of courses that I like. It's the it's a major. It's very well organized. They take good care of you. A lot of things like that, too. When you come here, you feel like it's a special week, and I haven't won this championship. This would mean a lot to me. So, mentally, I'm psyched to be here, too.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Not really. I think in the past when we've had this championship earlier in the year, the conditions have been so different. It's been raining, it's been cold, it's been playing really long. The greens have always been very bumpy. They redid the greens, and now we are later in the year and the course is just much better. I feel like it's better having it later in the year. The course is set up better.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Oh, it's a special event in many ways. Like I said, the course, how we feel coming here. It's very well organized. That's why I see such a good field. I think everybody is here. And I think by having a good field, that's a way of showing that we like this field and we really appreciate what we've got. That's at least why I like it.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I got back Monday afternoon.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: No. I missed it.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: A little.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I know what happened?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: You mean --

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I don't know. About having a --

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I've always said it's never over until it's over. I think I proved that in L.A. when Pat Hurst had a ten-shot lead and things totally turned around. I always fight to the end and always -- you know, I try and do the best I can out there. If it's a little putt or a long shut shot, just finish the best and you can go from there. Especially at the Open or any championship like that, you see what nerves can do. These guys, they probably would have made the first putt if this was the Western Open, but this is not the Western Open; this is the U.S. Open. A lot of things happen and you think about a lot of things and nerves really play a big role. It just shows what really can change, just like that.