THE NABISCO CHAMPIONSHIP

March 22, 2000

Annika Sorenstam

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: This tournament really means a lot to me, just because it's got the history behind it. I think we play an excellent golf course, the field that's always here, and I just it just being the first major of year, also. I have played well here in the past. I have had a few chances to win, and I just haven't been able to grab it when I needed to. I'm excited about being here. I played really well the last few weeks. I think my confidence level is as high as it could be right now, and today I played pretty good. The game is there. So, you know, if I can just control my nerves and just kind of go out there and focus on what I need to do, I think I can have a really good week.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I don't think there's any difference now than there was two weeks ago, just because this is such a special event that I really care about it. Obviously, this would have given me two points and then I would get in the Hall of Fame, also. But just looking at when you walk here on the 18th and you see all the names up there, I really want to put my name on one of those plaques. But it's good to have won. I know that I can do it and I just did it recently. I think that's a big confidence-booster right there.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: No, I don't really know any of founders, but I do know a little bit of the history. I read a lot about it and when I grew up I kind of watched the LPGA. But no, I have no real contact with any of the founders at all, but I sure have a lot of respect for them and what they have done, and given me the chance to come here and play.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, looking back at the previous years, I don't remember, really what year, but it's probably three or four years ago I finished second; and I remember I double-bogeyed 18 in the third round, which pretty much lost me the whole tournament. I think last year I finished fifth, sixth or seventh, something like that, and it seems like I have had three really good rounds, just haven't been able to put the fourth one together; so I hope this year that I can do that. And I think this year the course is probably playing as tough as I've ever seen it. The rough is real thick. They have narrowed some fairways. They have moved us back on a few tees. But on the other hand, I think it's a really fair golf course. You've got to strike the ball well off the tee. You've got to hit good iron shots and you've got to putt well and you've got to have a good short game. This course demands everything; and so therefore, I see it as a big challenge. But I also see it as if you play well here, it's going to be the best golf tournament that I see it.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I think Karrie's record speaks for itself. She won four tournaments in a row; finished second last week. She's obviously playing really good golf as well, and she's going to be one of the ones to beat this week, to have a chance to get the trophy on Sunday. When it comes to her game and to my game, I think this year really hasn't changed anything. But the way she played last year kind of got me motivated a little bit. I finished 4th on the money list. I lost the No. 1 spot and that kind of got me fired up. I worked really hard this winter and my goal is to try and beat Karrie and get back to No. 1, but that sure takes a lot of hard work, but I'm willing to put that in, and I've done really good so far, but I have a little bit more ways to go. But I'm going to keep grinding. I mean, I love working on the game right now, and looking at the results last week, it's a lot of fun to see that it's paying off.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, I can tell you a little bit of what I've done. Before I came out and played in Hawaii, I practiced for four weeks. I was on the golf course every day. I worked with my instructor for seven consecutive days, just grinding, hitting balls, playing. I was out there all day for pretty much four weeks. I started working out really hard since December better and it's like five or six times a week. I mean, I'm putting in the hours. I'm hitting a lot of balls. I'm working a lot with my putter. I'm working a lot with my short game. So what I really mean is instead of going out there for three or four hours, I'm putting five or six hours in and just grinding on my game. I had my instructor in town for Tucson and Phoenix and we worked there, to, too, which was good, coming from Hawaii, where it was a little windy. I needed him again fine-tuning me; so I'm seeing him on a more regular basis. So just a little bit better, I think, in every aspect.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yes, I've worked with him for -- since I was 12, so we're talking 13, 14 years; and I normally work with him four or five times a year. This year, I'm going to work with him seven to eight times. He is from Sweden. His name is Henry Wright. When he does come over, we work together for about a week together when he is here.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yes, I have been.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yes.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Last year, if I remember correctly, I played with her the first two days, and she -- I mean, the way she played was so solid. I remember -- what comes to my mind was her putting. I've never seen anybody read the putts so well and just hit them where she wanted to. She made everything that she could make, I think. But also she was very solid off the tee. I don't think she visited the rough at all, and I think that's the key out here. I didn't play with her on the weekend. The only thing I saw was on TV. I remember she holed two shots the whole week, and that just shows it's going to be her week and it really was her week.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I think -- I think the pressure on Karrie is what she puts on herself, and that's just to win a major championship. I'm sure she's like me. I mean, the majors means a lot, and that's kind of where you make the history. So it's mostly the pressure you put on yourself and just want to perform well here.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, definitely. I struggled a lot last year with my putter and actually kind of brought down my long game a little bit in certain weeks because it put so much pressure on my long game because I couldn't make the putts. At the end of the year, I just decided I'm better than this and I'm not going to let my putting get away -- get away from me like that so I worked really hard to winter. I started working with Dave Stockton a little bit, starting in -- I think it was in August. So I worked with him and he's really helped me, and I think now my technique is there, and it's a matter of making the putts and building the confidence and it's getting better every week. It's a taking a long time, but I'm pleased with the finishes I've had the last few weeks. That really helps. But I'm going to keep grinding. I don't give up until -- I believe I'm the best putter out here.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: It's a 30-second spot and it took eight hours to film so that kind of shows it's quite difficult, even though I didn't say too much in the commercial. It was -- we tried many dresses before I could swing in one, and this one was sleeveless, I think; and therefore, I could move a little bit. But I think the concept of swinging in a beautiful dress like that was more to just kind of show that I do dress up sometimes and I do put makeup on sometimes, but I kind of like the idea, especially wearing the golf shoes it looked a little funny, but we had a good time filming it. I felt really weird swinging with -- with a dress like that. I couldn't really move my legs as much especially teeing up the ball, it was the hardest to bend down.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I think it just shows what confidence means in this sport. I putted well in the beginning and I lost it and then I didn't trust myself. I didn't trust my stroke, I just didn't trust anything, and then I won once and I felt like, you know, I can win again, I put pressure on myself and then my long game kind of went away a little bit. Like you said, it was a very strange year especially for me last year. I hit a lot of strange shots, put a lot of strange scores together, and just one of those years. And now when I look back at it, I like to look at the positive way and say maybe that's what I needed to get the motivation back. I've never felt so happy about coming out and playing again. I was really looking forward to playing when the season started. I wanted to practice. I mean, I still have all the energy. I mean, I've never had this much energy to just keep working on my game, and I guess I want to turn it around and say, hey, maybe it was a good thing.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, I think it would be great. Just look at the crowd we had yesterday. I mean, I've never had so many people in our group in a Pro-Am, and it was definitely not because of me. So I thought it was great. I mean, she's -- she's a sweet lady, and I think she can do a lot for us if she wants to.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Sure. I mean, it was -- last week was -- I mean, it was very special for her and I was happy to be there and see the way she played. I think she really played some solid golf for four days. That course was tricky. It was very similar to this course, where it demanded a lot of the shots and also a good short game. So I was very excited for her. I mean, I know how much she's wanted to win and also beat the players that she did. It was a quality field last week and she really outplayed everybody; so I'm extremely happy for her.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I started playing golf when I was 12, and I think my handicap when I was 13 was maybe 36. No, I cannot imagine playing in a major. But these twins are not just normal 13-year-olds. I've seen them play. I met them when I was in Korea last year and they are pretty incredible. I know they work very hard on their game, and they are just not like any other 13-year-old. They have a lot of game.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I mean, I love it now, of course. Now I can eat whatever I want. And it was a little bit of a distraction maybe when you do a photo shoot, you do a commercial, you just can't be natural. I wanted to keep my lips together and I might look like I was bored, but I just didn't want to show my metal. But now I'm glad I did it because now I'm very happy with how my teeth look; so now I make up for all the smiling I didn't do the last two years.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I just love to come out again. I'm happy to be here. I'm happy the way I have played. I think I'm just happy with what I'm doing now. For a while it was -- it's been a little up and down a little bit. I think we all go through that. I was very spoiled with success for four or five years, and then I had a bad year last year, and for a moment, it felt like the world was falling apart. But now it's coming together again. I mean, I have all reasons to smile and I'm very happy and I'm fortunate what I do and I think I live a great life.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, an entry problem. But I wanted to be there. I had planned on being there all along and I didn't -- I hadn't played the golf course before and I wanted to be there, but it just didn't turn out to be that way.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: It's a little bit of a miscommunication. I thought I was entered. I actually thought I entered three weeks before the deadline, but I wasn't in the computer and when the deadline came, I wasn't in.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: No. I actually called the LPGA the week before to set up a press conference on the Wednesday of the tournament and they said, "Well, how come? You're not even in the tournament." And I was obviously a little shocked because we had made arrangements to go and, I wasn't really packed, but not far from it.