TYCO/ADT CHAMPIONSHIP

November 18, 2001

Karrie Webb

KARRIE WEBB: Yeah, feels really good. Obviously, I had a good year this year. You know, just to finish it off with a win really tops it off. I played really well this week, especially particularly well the first round and today. I really struck the ball well again today. Didn't get into too much trouble again.

KARRIE WEBB: Yeah, I'd agree with that. The wind definitely made this course tough. I mean, it's a tough golf course as it is. But, you know, that wind kept you thinking all the way till you sank the putt on the 18th hole. But, no, I think, you know, on any other regular LPGA event, I think we would have been pretty close to 20-under.

KARRIE WEBB: Yeah, I was. But I was sort of -- I guess like that shot Sergio Garcia hit at the PGA Championship a couple years ago. I kind of shut my eyes and hoped it went through all the junk. I was lucky enough it went to the right of it and carried the bunker.

KARRIE WEBB: Well, 17, actually it was a little bit easier pin position today. You could definitely dump it in the water. But, you know, with a two-shot lead, it was easy to hit something that was going to pitch at the pin and go a little bit past, take the water out of play pretty much. That wasn't as daunting a shot as it has been the last three days. But 18, you know, no matter where we play, what tee we play from there, that's a daunting tee shot. The last few days I hit it straight down the middle of the fairway. You know, once I got it on the fairway, I felt pretty comfortable about my situation.

KARRIE WEBB: Not really. I just wanted to hit the green on 17. If I made a three there, I pretty much would have a two-shot lead going into 18. You know, Annika would have had to birdie and I still would have had a one-shot lead. I was mainly concerned with hitting the green there, hitting the fairway on 18. With two shots, that's all I was really thinking about.

KARRIE WEBB: Well, I mean, even before today, she probably deserved to break the record, the way she's played this year. If I know Annika, she knew what she had to shoot today. The fact that she knew what she had to shoot, went out and did it on a course that wasn't giving up scores like that, is very impressive. You know, all credit to her. She deserves to have the record. You know, she played on four really tough major golf courses this year, you know, still ended up shooting a lower record than what I held in '99.

KARRIE WEBB: My what, sorry?

KARRIE WEBB: No. You know, I just wanted to finish the year off well. You know, the fact that Annika and I played together the first two rounds, then a group apart the last two rounds, you know, obviously battled it out till the end today. To me, I don't think that I'm sending any sort of message. I try to win every golf tournament I play in. Obviously, I'm not going to do that. You know, I felt pretty good about this week. I felt with the rest that I had, I thought I could, you know, at least have a shot at winning it. You know, that was all I wanted to achieve.

KARRIE WEBB: Yeah. I don't really feel like I've come off it, though. You know, I won two huge tournaments this year, two majors. Winning this tournament, you know, it's one of -- we have the Top 30, the best players of the year here. You know, it's a special tournament to win, as well. You know, I mean, I did probably get to a peak, and it's turned down a little bit. But, you know, that's a peak that I might never even get to again. You know, 13 tournaments in two years. That's not something that you expect to do forever or, you know, continue to do it year after year. You know, the fact that I won three tournaments this year, two of them being the two biggest tournaments we play, it's not as good as last year, but it's pretty close.

KARRIE WEBB: No, no. It is, definitely. When the year started this year in January, you know, I definitely was not ready to play golf. You know, it took me to have a month off in April to be ready -- to June. After June, like I said earlier this week, once again I achieved two goals that realistically I didn't know if I was going to be able to do this year. You know, I did both of them in one year, won the US Open back to back, completing the career Grand Slam. For a little while after that, it was just hard for me to think about what else I wanted to do. Winning a tournament every time you step on the tee is definitely a goal. You know, it's just -- it was a bit of a letdown. I really built myself up for those two tournaments. Was just a bit of a lull after that.

KARRIE WEBB: I was only entered in CISCO. I was 50/50 on whether I was going to go. I talked to my family about it. You know, they didn't feel too good about me going, would have preferred me not to go. That was pretty much my decision in the end. If I had another week, I think, of time to make the decision, I probably would have gone. It was just that time, they'd only been in Afghanistan a week, threats of retaliation and stuff. Just didn't think it was worth the trip.

KARRIE WEBB: Well, you know, not that I think that I'm not ever going to be on a plane that -- that I'm so special that I won't be on a plane that's going to crash. But the fact that I had to travel probably 24 hours to get to Japan, making my family worry for 24 hours over there, worry for 24 hours back, even though the flight I was supposed to be on made it there and the flight I was supposed to be on coming back made it back. I just didn't think it was worth the stress that I'd put on everyone else, as well as the stress on myself. At the time, I mean, I just got my green card a couple of weeks ago, but at the time I didn't have a green card. I would have been entering the country as a foreigner, as well. The security, as tight as it is, it's for good reason, but they just would have been all extra stress added to that whole trip that I didn't really think was worth it.

KARRIE WEBB: Green card, you only have it once. So, yeah, first time.

KARRIE WEBB: Well, I applied two, three years ago.

KARRIE WEBB: Permanent resident.

KARRIE WEBB: All four majors are definitely a priority to me. You know, I feel like they're the four biggest tournaments of the year. I want to contend in all four. That's definitely a goal. I contended in all four this year; had a chance to win every one. I'd like to do that again. Whether or not I win any of them, just to have a chance to win is my goal. I'm not going to set a goal to win a major next year or win multiple majors; just to contend in all four. Hopefully, if I'm lucky, to pick up one.

KARRIE WEBB: Nothing's ever impossible. You know, it takes having your golf peak four different times throughout the year. You have to like all four golf courses. You've got to be the best of that week for the four weeks. I mean, your game could peak on a certain week, but you might not win. You know, there's a lot, a lot of luck involved to do that.

KARRIE WEBB: Yes and no. I've thought about it just because I've been asked about it. It would be something that I probably think about more if I had won the first three. I'll have to win the first three (laughter). Long way to go if I won the first two.

KARRIE WEBB: I just think I really like the challenge. You know, obviously we're not going to play courses that are set up that tough every week. I'd probably be only able to play 12 or 13 tournaments because it would take so much out of me. We don't get to play on courses that ask you and require you to hit, you know, 3-irons, two 3 irons on the two par-3s on the Front 9 today. I hit a couple of 4-irons out there. You can reach par 5s, but you've got to hit the green or you're dead. You know, I like the fact -- and you've got to really think about it. You don't have to hit it next to the stick every single hole, but you've got to try and leave it on the right side of the hole so you don't have a difficult putt. You want to hit the green to start with. I just like the challenge that a course like this gives you, just because you have to think through the whole four hours or however long you're out there for. You've got to think about every single shot. There's not a shot out there that you can relax on; you've really got to think the whole day.

KARRIE WEBB: Well, I think, you know, when you look at what finished in the Top 10, we're all better players than that, than the scores show. It just proves how tough the golf course played. I think, you know, the greens just got faster and faster as the days went on. I mean, like I said earlier this week, I've been out here since the Wednesday before the week of the tournament. The greens are running at about eight. Now they're running about 12. You know, in that period of time, they've just gotten so fast that there's certain pin positions out there that are just -- they're not accessible to hit to, then where you've got to hit it to, you don't even have a decent putt. You know, you're playing defensive golf all the time. You know, there's nothing wrong with having a challenging golf course, but I can understand. I only had to be off my game slightly this week and I probably would have been one of those players 5-over, 7-over, maybe even more. It's such a fine line. I think with this course, you miss a shot in a certain area, and then it gets you thinking even more defensive. You know, I was fortunate. I never hit a ball in the water this week. I never got to play on the defensive as much as some other people did. I know some players were joking yesterday at how well now they can drop the ball. They can pick a piece of grass out and drop the ball on that piece of grass because they dropped the ball so many times this week (laughter). You know, I don't want to see it set up next year where, you know, 15 -, 16-under wins. I think the score that I shot is fine. But, you know, see a few more people under par, as well.

KARRIE WEBB: Not really actually. When I played here before, I played in a golf cart. Didn't really have any yardages. I have a laser when I play, but you're shooting through the fairways and guessing at what a carry is and stuff like that. It was finally good to have those yardages to know where exactly you can hit it. Like I said, I was out here last Wednesday. The greens were running at about eight. Practicing out here last Wednesday really didn't help me at all to the way I played this week because the greens, you know, were totally different.

KARRIE WEBB: Yeah, sure. Whether Annika was there or not, you know, just the way I played this week gives me satisfaction. But the fact because she played so well today, you know, I couldn't just (breathe/breeze?) on the last few holes. I still had to hit some good golf shots, not hit the shots that have cost plenty of players this week a lot of shots.

KARRIE WEBB: I can pretty much guarantee that, because that happens to us all the time. I don't know if it will ever change. I hope it does. You know, if you guys don't write in your articles how hard the golf course played, then that doesn't help us out at all. You know, it's a Catch-22. '98, when Se Ri pack won the US Open, none of us could play. It wasn't that the golf course was ridiculously hard and the conditions were ridiculously hard; it was that we couldn't play. Then the next year Julie Inkster shot 16 -under at The US Open. The course was easy. It's not because Juli Inkster played unbelievable golf. Yes, it was an easier golf course, easier US Open golf course than expected, but she still shot 16-under par. It's not because the course is that easy. Juli Inkster played great that week. She's a great player. Everyone else under par that played that week played well. You know, we have that situation. The PGA TOUR, 1-over wins US Open, I'm like, "How difficult was that golf course if only 1-over won?" If 30-under wins a four-round event, "He played great to shoot that." Not that he was hitting 6-irons into par 5s and wedges into par 4s. Still 30-under is great no matter if you are hitting those clubs in. It's still great. If we shoot 20-under, 25-under, it's because the course is too easy. I think as a group in here, when we as LPGA players shoot scores like this week, you have to write how difficult the golf course is and explain to the readers how difficult the golf course is. If we do shoot 20 under, you've got to explain that, yes, the course was set up as a birdie-able golf course, but 20-under was still an outstanding score on that course.

KARRIE WEBB: I don't know. I'm going to leave you to ask that question. He seemed pretty pleased at presentations today. I'm pretty sure that he knows, you know, for the majority of the players, he got what he wanted as far as score-wise.

KARRIE WEBB: Sure. 1 I hit a 7-iron to 15 feet. 3 I hit a 5-wood just through the back edge, 2-putted from 30 feet. 4, I missed the green left with an 8-iron and chipped it to about four feet, missed the putt. 6, I hit a sand wedge to three feet. 8, I missed the fairway left into a fairway bunker, chipped it out. Hit an 8-iron on to the back edge of the green, 2-putted from 20 feet. 10, I hit my 53-degree wedge to 18 feet.

KARRIE WEBB: 113, 115. No, 118, I think. 12, I hit a wedge to about three feet. 14, I hit a 4-iron to 15, 18 feet, in that vicinity, and parred in.

KARRIE WEBB: Well, I think to win the season-ender with the Top 30 players in the field, obviously everyone here has had a good year. All 30 players have just as much chance to win the tournament. To go out on such a challenging golf course and to beat 29 of the best players in the world, you know, it's very special to me. Like I said earlier, it really just caps off to me what is a great year.

KARRIE WEBB: Thank you.