MCDONALD'S LPGA CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY AIG

June 8, 2003

Charlotta Sorenstam

Q. You were just doing it a second ago, but can you set the scene for us, tell us how it all happened?

CHARLOTTA SORENSTAM: Well, I was in for a little bit of lunch and we were -- my tee time was 1:20 and I was sitting down with my sister and Maria Hjorth and Leta Lindley was also in there, and Donna was preparing an apple and talking to Wendy Ward, I think it was about her putting, she joked about it afterwards because she choked on her putting, she said.

And I think Jane Geddes was also in there, I am not sure. But I just heard her cough a little bit, and she was behind me when it all started, and she walked up towards the tables, and I was sorry for Wendy because she just turned around when they were talking to each other, and I don't think Wendy realized -- or anybody else realized what happened.

And she was trying to breathe and she was trying to talk, and she couldn't do either of it, and so I just stood up and hit her back a little soft (indicating), and it didn't work, and then I tried pulling her, but she is kind of fragile, I didn't want to break her rib or anything, so I didn't do it very hard, and then she kind of bent over and I hit her again and it went straight out, so I don't think anybody realized what happened.

But I said, you know, we got to do something because we have to act fast, if nothing happens. We can't call for anybody in here, we have to do something about it ourselves.

Q. Was there kind of confusion, was it just sort of like you kind of went, oh, I guess she needs this?

CHARLOTTA SORENSTAM: No, for my part, I just did what I just told you, and I don't know what was going on, either, until I saw -- I knew she was eating an apple because I saw her preparing the apple, but I didn't know until afterwards that there was an apple stuck -- I think she was trying to say that she had something stuck, but --

Q. So not even breathing, really?

CHARLOTTA SORENSTAM: Not -- no. She started to get tears in her eyes. If it didn't work, what I did, I was going to try to calm her down, because when you get stressed, the muscles tighten up. I think she still could have breathed, but when you panic, you can't, so --

Q. Had you taken a CPR class or anything like that? Did you have any kind of training?

CHARLOTTA SORENSTAM: No, nothing. I was just lucky.

Q. Not as lucky as she was.

Have you ever done anything like that before.

CHARLOTTA SORENSTAM: Well, it actually happened to myself when I was just a baby. My sister, she was trying to be nice and gave me a piece of candy, hard candy, but I was too young to know what to do with it, so it went straight down my throat, and I was lucky that my mom came in, but I was, then, blue in my face, and she just grabbed my legs and, you know, held me upside down and hit my back and it went out, so I kind of heard that story growing up, so I kind of knew a little bit what to do.

But I was thinking of turning Donna upside down, but I don't think I can do that.

Q. Do you know how old you were when that happened?

CHARLOTTA SORENSTAM: Not more than a couple weeks.

Q. That is young.

CHARLOTTA SORENSTAM: Yeah. Annika was about two and a half, so --

Q. Have you forgiven her for that?

CHARLOTTA SORENSTAM: Her intention was -- you know, she had candy, she wanted to give me candy.

Q. What did the players say right when it happened, everybody that was in there?

CHARLOTTA SORENSTAM: Well, Donna just sat down, and Annika came back in the room, and Leta screamed out, "Your sister just saved Donna Caponi's life, and she was like "What? What?"

And Donna was sitting down trying to cope herself and just calm down, I guess. And I had to go out and start practicing, so I headed out.

Q. Do you feel like a hero, heroine?

CHARLOTTA SORENSTAM: No, not really. I will do it again if it ever happens.

Q. Did you think about it on the course a little bit?

CHARLOTTA SORENSTAM: Only on the first tee, but then I kind of forgot about it. I was trying to focus on what I was doing.

Q. Have you talked to Donna since, today, last night?

CHARLOTTA SORENSTAM: No, I haven't.

Q. Are you waiting for a fruit basket or some kind of --

CHARLOTTA SORENSTAM: No, I don't expect anything. But she did hug me then and thanked me a couple of times before I left, so --

MODERATOR: Great. Anything else? All right. Thank you.

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