WEETABIX WOMEN'S BRITISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 30, 2003

Karrie Webb

NEAL REID: Thanks for joining us, defending champion, same place we played in 1998. You just finished the Pro-Am. If you could just tell us what you think about the golf course.

KARRIE WEBB: Well, I think it's always good to come back to the British Open. I look forward to the tournament every year, and obviously we did play here in '98. With the wind the way it was today, it brought back a lot of memories of four long days.

I love the challenge of links golf. It's a lot different to what we're used to. I think it tests all aspects of the game, especially probably imagination and your patience. I think that's why even with the worst conditions, I look back on these tournaments and think of how much of a fun challenge it was. I don't know if you would call it fun, but a fun challenge.

But yeah I'm looking forward to this week. I had a good week last week and feel that my game is in fairly decent shape. It's just a matter of hopefully having the right half of the draw, as they say, for this tournament. I don't think the weather is supposed to be too great tomorrow but just trying to gut it out through that and just try to give myself a chance to win on Sunday.

NEAL REID: The golf course playing the way it is, what do you think you have to do to be successful out there this weekend?

KARRIE WEBB: The main thing for me is I just want to try to keep it in play off the tee, not be overly aggressive and just suck it up and have to hit 6-irons and 5-irons into greens, as long as I'm not chipping out of rough or the deep fairway bunkers that are out there. So I think there's a lot of places out there that you could choose to hit driver, but then you pay the penalty if you're a little inaccurate.

So my game plan is to be aggressive when I can, but I'm probably not hitting that many drivers. Probably maybe four or five drivers this week.

Q. What will you hit instead?

KARRIE WEBB: 2- and 3-irons.

Q. Where do you plan on using driver?

KARRIE WEBB: My first driver of the day will be on 6. Then not till the 11th tee is the next one, and 14 and 15, maybe one, might not be just depending on the wind, and 18 maybe one. That's it.

Q. Will you hit it driver 17 too?

KARRIE WEBB: 17 maybe. I hit driver today and it was way too much. So it would have been a 3-wood today.

Q. How many times have you played Lytham?

KARRIE WEBB: I guess as used anyone who played all four rounds here in '98. I played, what, six times then and another two times or eight times.

Q. Is your game at the moment as good as it's been all year?

KARRIE WEBB: Well, I think last week was the first tournament that I put together that all four rounds were good. And I've tended to have one blowout this year which has really not put me into contention. So as far as that part of my game goes, I think that's the best that it's been.

Q. How does this course compare to Turnberry last year?

KARRIE WEBB: I think Turnberry is a little bit more, what you see is what you get. I think with Lytham, there's a lot of times that you really can stand out there and not necessarily know -- like you could hit it in a spot and not know what. I think here -- I think at Turnberry, there's less luck involved. I think here, just the way the fairways are. At Turnberry, you hit a bad shot, you're going to pay for it. Here, you could get away with it, or just miss a shot and really get lucky or really pay the penalty.

So I felt like Turnberry last year, there weren't as much luck involved there as there probably is here.

Q. Is the challenge of links golf something you're getting used to?

KARRIE WEBB: Well, I didn't really start playing it until the British Open moved into the rotation with the links courses. But obviously growing up watching the men play the British Open, you always wanted to know what it was like to play courses like this. I think that it's fantastic that we get to play at the same venue.

Q. They talk about the difficulty of the finishing holes, the par 4s, the par 5s -- would you agree with that?

KARRIE WEBB: Yeah, definitely, 17 and 18 are two of the toughest finishing holes we play, ever. 16, it's probably -- it's a sneaky one, I think. Because it's a short hole, I think you feel like you should be able to not be able to have too big a number on that hole. But with such a blind tee shot and just knowing where to hit it and confidently hitting it there is probably the biggest challenge of that hole.

What's the hole before that, is that the par 5? Yeah, that's a hole that you, know, you get a good drive there, like I said, I might hit drive there, I might hit 3-wood. It just really depends on the wind. But it's a hole that you get it out there a little ways, you can reach the green in two. But if you miss the fairway, there's not a very easy lay-up, and then you're a long way back because of the cross bunker there.

So as far as par 5s go, I think if you hit the fairway all four days, you probably won't find it all that difficult. But if you're not in the fairway, I think it will be a tough par 5.

Q. Do you know about the history of 17?

KARRIE WEBB: No, I don't. If this is a bad thing, you can tell me on Sunday.

End of FastScripts....