U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 20, 2000

Shani Waugh

SHANI WAUGH: Well, I started pretty nervously, as you can imagine. Bogeyed the first hole after hitting it in the rough, which we all know you can't do and get away with it. So, I made bogey. And then got up-and-down for par on the next hole and I think that settled me down. And then I can't remember how many holes in a row. I think I hit the next 10 greens in regulation, which is definitely the key out here. I made three birdies in a row there 16, 17 and 18. And I parred the 1st and birdied the 2nd. So, I had a really nice run there, which I guess really set me up for it, and it was a case of hitting the fairways and trying to hold on to the 3-under, I think that was my attitude out there.

SHANI WAUGH: I realized through playing last year that the U.S. Open is a different tournament. You know, it's truly a great, big tournament. We play week-in, week-out on the LPGA, and, you know, I love playing on the LPGA. But, something about this tournament is different, and you start of feeding off the other players. You know, they are getting excited about the Open, and so, therefore, you get excited about the Open, because growing up in Australia we really didn't know about the U.S. Open. I believe Jan Stephenson won it a few years ago, and I have to admit my ignorance, but I didn't even know. That's how sheltered we are in Australia. I guess the more I play it, the more nervous I get about it, the more excited I get about it. I've played 11 weeks out of 12, just gone, and the week I took off, I actually flew home to Australia. So, I'm tired and I think it's helping me, because I tend to play too quickly, and I think just through being tired, it actually slows me down and I'm actually playing all right.

SHANI WAUGH: Definitely. It was almost perfectly calm when we teed off. A little bit of wind, but just enough to know where it's coming from. I didn't notice the wind until we got on to the 9th green, which is my last hole, and I said to my caddy, "I said, wow, we were lucky to tee off this morning because it's going to be tough this afternoon." This course is tough when it's calm, and I can't imagine how tough it is out there right now.

SHANI WAUGH: Yes and no. I have my weeks, and I have my bad weeks. You know, I haven't been in this situation too much. I used to play -- I still play on the European Tour, but I played on the European Tour and won a tournament there. So, I've been in contention before, put it that way. Just not too often on the LPGA, and definitely not in a U.S. Open, and I think -- I can't imagine how I'm going to feel tomorrow. I don't even try and think about it until tomorrow.

SHANI WAUGH: I realized that I play my best golf when I play a lot of golf. I know 11 in 12 weeks is probably too much golf, but I know that I'm not very disciplined when I have a week off and I don't do much practice. So, I'm better off being out here on Tour, and at least if I don't practice, I feel a little bit guilty about it so I'll go and do some practice. I actually was borderline to make the Evian Masters, which was five weeks ago, and that was going to be a week ago and I made it and then I qualified for the U.S. Open. I didn't want to take -- last year, I took the week off before the U.S. Open, and, of course, didn't practice, and really struggled. So, I was determined not to do that this year. So that's the only reason I played 11 in 12 weeks.

SHANI WAUGH: I played two weeks on the European Tour, and I took the week off before the Evian Masters. And, I had to go home to Australia to get my U.S. Visa, so that was a thing I had to do. I could not get out of that; so I went home, saw the family. I should be more tired physically, but I'm not. I'm just more golf-tired, I think, and it's been good for me, slowed me down and made me concentrate, I guess.

SHANI WAUGH: Okay. I didn't start playing golf until I was about 14. I played every other sport. Actually, my father was a really good player. He was a scratch handicap player for a while, and my mom loves to play golf and she has a really good attitude. I think I've been lucky that I've maybe got Dad's ability and my mom's attitude, or I hope that's the case, anyway. But I played golf pretty casually when I was young. And like anything, if you have any success, it makes you want to play more and I think that was the case for me with golf. You know, in Australia, there's not that many good players. So, if you show any ability, they grab hold of you and take you to special training and they put you into the state teams and put you into the Australian squads. So, I guess that sort of success makes you want to keep playing. So I was lucky. I think when I was about 17, I played in a tournament in Australia called the Jack Newton Sub-Junior Classic. And all of you probably know who Jack Newton is, Australian who lost his arm walking into a plane propeller. And he was a great influence on me, because I was playing his tournament -- I won the first year and I was playing the second year. And, I was starting the last day, five shots out of the lead and he actually said in the newspaper that morning that he believed I was going to win the tournament. And to have somebody of his stature has that belief in you, I started to realize, well, maybe I can be all right at this. And then a couple years later, I turned pro and went off to Europe.

SHANI WAUGH: I've had a few. When I was an amateur, I was coached by a guy called Ross Metterol (phonetic). He teaches Craig Parry, Steven Lenny, who some of you know. Then when I turned pro and was playing on the European Tour, an English guy called Lawrence Farmer, who was very important in my development, I think because he taught me from a really raw talented amateur player to at least a decent professional. And since I've been in America, I started working with Hank Johnson from Birmingham in Alabama, and he has given me incredible confidence, because he -- I think he believes in me and I feel that he believed in me. So, that helped me a lot. My golf has improved a lot since then.

SHANI WAUGH: Luckily for me, when she came on the scene she was 14 and I was 20. So, I had one year of junior golf that I got beat up, and then I turned pro when I was 21. So, I had probably the next five years Karrie-free, as they say. So, I guess I could take that as five years of beating her. But I had a putting competition against Karrie when she was 14, and she beat me, I think 5-up over 18 holes, and back then I knew she was going to be special, because she had this look in her eye, and she had to be 4'10" or something, and she could hit the ball as far as I could when she was 14. So, we all knew she was going to be something special.

SHANI WAUGH: Yeah, I didn't want to take it on the practice round. I would have gotten beaten worse, I think.

SHANI WAUGH: Absolutely. When I came out here on Tuesday for my first practice round, I saw how thick the rough was, and that's what makes the course tough is the rough. I'm sure everyone has said that. But, what is good is that the fairways are generous. They are not too wide, but they are generous. And if you drive the ball, you're short off the tee and you drive it in the fairway. Then, I think you can shoot a good score, like I did today; and I think I missed two fairways today and that definitely is the key. People say, you know, you've got to hit close to the pin. The priority for me was to hit the fairways. I hit a few 3-irons off tees, a few 5-woods, a few 3-woods, and only about four or five drivers, and it was the key to be disciplined on this golf course. The greens are rolling well, not really quick. I'm not sure how that would affect the tournament if the greens were really quick, but obviously, I putted well, and so I like them.

SHANI WAUGH: I'll sleep well, regardless. It's only the first round. You know, it would be crazy for me to stress out about the tournament on Thursday night. If it was Saturday night, it would be a little bit different. I don't think I would get much sleep, but there's a long way to go. I'm just going to go back to the hotel this afternoon, have a sleep and probably go to the book store and read a few books. Just try and do my normal routine even though it is the U.S. Open. I started playing well recently because I have sort of a nice relaxing routine. I'm not going to let the fact that it's a U.S. Open change that routine.

SHANI WAUGH: The 1st hole, I hit a very nervous pull hook off the tee into the long rough. Hacked it out and then hit a full sand iron to about, I guess, 25 feet. Hit a good putt and tapped it in for 5. Birdie on 16. I hit 7-iron about 5 feet above the hole; rolled that in. 17, I hit 5-wood off the tee and then I think it was a pitching wedge. Yeah, it was a pitching wedge to about six feet and made the putt. 18, I hit 3-iron for my second shot through the back of the green. Had a tough little chip there that I had chipped it to, probably, six feet again and made that. And then on the 2nd, I didn't hit a very good shot there. I hit 6-iron a little thin to the middle of the green and I holed probably -- I don't know, probably close to 30-foot putt, which was a nice bonus. And then made seven nervous pars on the way in.

SHANI WAUGH: Yeah, 8 was probably close to 10 feet. It was a breaking right-to-left putt and I just didn't hit it hard enough. Broke off and missed it on the low side. On 9, it was probably close to 25 feet on 9. Just ran across the right edge. I was happy to get it in there for a 4 and get off the course. On the 1st, actually, I had a six-foot birdie putt on the 1st, which would have been -- well, in hindsight, it would have been five birdies in a row. And actually, I finished the tournament last week. I made five birdies early on in the final round last week. So I've been getting on little stretches that makes golf seem a lot easier if you can string a few birdies together.

SHANI WAUGH: I'm not really a person that sets myself goals. I don't know if I that's a good or a bad thing, probably a bad thing. I was only 21, and I was just setting out to see to hopefully pave my way and see some of the world. And playing golf allowed me to do that. And it wasn't until I had been on the European Tour for maybe four years and I realized through taking to the players who played on the LPGA Tour and the European Tour what a great stage it is over here to play golf. And that sort of got my incentive going, and I guess I made a bit of a rash decision to come over to qualifying school in '95. But my whole adult life has been rash decisions, so why not have another one. (Laughter.)

SHANI WAUGH: I would probably be teaching physical education in a high school back in Australia. I love kids. I'd be teaching something. If it's not golf or at a school, I'd be doing some sort of teaching, running a camp. I just enjoy children.

SHANI WAUGH: Probably not. (Laughter.) I think I turned pro when I was 21 and that was a completely rash decision. If I had not been selected in the Australian senior team, which is sort of the unwritten rule about, you know, turning pro -- you know, you sort of had to play for Australia before you could consider yourself good enough to turn pro. I don't know, I just enjoy having a good time, and I think the idea of going off to Europe and playing some golf and seeing the world was interesting to me. As far as the other rash decisions go, I've got to think about them. No, I've pretty much just try and live life day-to-day. Turning pro was a rash decision; coming to America was a rash decision. I'll probably make a rash decision at some stage to retire. I don't know, I really enjoy the camaraderie out here playing golf, doing something that I enjoy for a living, and I'm really lucky to be doing it, because if you'd said to me when I was 18 that I'd be playing the in the U.S. Open, and let alone leading the U.S. Open, I would have laughed because I'm from the country in Australia, and my biggest goal at that stage was to get through University and teach kids how to throw and catch a ball.

SHANI WAUGH: I don't come from a place as small as where Karrie comes from. It's a actually a city, but by the world standards, it's pretty small, 30,000 people. A very sports-minded city. If I didn't play golf, I would be playing some other sport. When I was growing up, I thought I was going to be a professional tennis player. And I was 14 years of age and I saw Steffi Graf on TV at Wimbledon and I was not at the same level. That was another rash decision, and I quit tennis and started playing golf the next day.

SHANI WAUGH: It's a bit of a faux paux. You can't play Australian rules football. Girls play like in elementary school, primary school for us, because we are bigger than the boys at that age and we can sort of muscle our way around. A lot of young girls will kick the ball around, but actually as far as playing in a team, very few can play, and then we get to a certain age and the boys are just too big and strong for us so we can't play. But if I had a football here this week, maybe in afternoon I would go out and kick it to myself or something, something to relax.