U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 10, 1997

Jenny Chuasiriporn

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: 20.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: Well, I guess I felt a little more comfortable than I thought I would. I got out to the first hole, and first holes are usually shaky for me. And just hit both fairways, kept it in the fairway -- I mean, hit several greens in the beginning, and made a couple of key up-and-downs, and pretty much I felt pretty comfortable out there. And most of all I kept my drives in the fairway, that always helps out here.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: Well, I just wanted to come in and -- I've tried to qualify twice before, missed it by a couple of shots. And I just wanted to come in and play my best, play consistent. I know I have the game for the course. I know I have the shots. And I just wanted to keep it consistent and do it over and over. I figured I'd do okay out here.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: That was a 5-iron into there at about 160, 162, 3, into the green. And I had a 15-footer for birdie. And I made that.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: Yes.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: That's the one I 3-putted. I got above the tier, and it was fast coming down, and left my second putt just on the lip.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: I hit a good drive out there. I had about 132 into the green, and hit it to about -- probably another 15 feet and just slight break, left edge of the hole and made that.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: I hit an 8-iron in.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: Well, I hit a good drive and then hit a 3-wood, I didn't hit it well, at all. And I was right behind the bunker, and I had about -- about 96 yards in. And I just hit a wedge right up to about a foot.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: Well, that's when it started to rain a little and I hit my 5-wood -- I just hit it way right into the bunker. And I had about, probably about a 35-yard bunker shot -- probably 30-yard bunker shot and just -- I got it on to the green about ten feet -- probably more than that, probably about 15 feet and missed it.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: I like to do a lot of things. I like to watch a lot of athletics on TV. I just like to spend time with friends and family. And I guess I spend so much time golfing that I just like to relax and just stay home.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: The Eastern? Following the Eastern, I played a local tournament right beforehand, so I had two sudden death playoffs. The first one was a two-hole playoff, and then I ended up making a key putt on the first playoff to stay in there. And then in the Eastern it was a 12-hole playoff. Nine holes of that was sudden death. So the first three were just stroke-play. There were three people at the beginning of the playoff and two of us, Marla Jemsek-Weeks was in the playoff with me and that was just -- that was tiring. I made some putts, though, that gave me a lot of confidence on the green. The last hole, the 18th hole on the Kingsmill Resort, I made a 35-footer for birdie, and she actually ended up missing her 8-foot birdie putt. So it was an up-and-down round and luckily it ended in my favor.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: Yes.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: I don't think I really want to change much, just what am I thinking into the next round? I'm just trying to stay calm and not to get too nervous. I haven't gotten too nervous out there. I'm probably not going to change much.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: How do I feel about -- well, I know that I can hit the ball as well as most of the girls out there. And it's just pretty much all on the putting green and around the green. I know that's where it comes to. And I guess golf is up-and-down, some days an amateur can play up to their level.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: It was pretty shocking for the whole team. I was upset for that week, but it was something we'd all learned from, our team. We know what to change and how to improve next year. But overall it hasn't really set us back at all or set me back.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: I have two more years, and I definitely won't. I'm not in a rush to get out. I like it. It's fun, but the schedule, the days just aren't what I want right now.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: In four years?

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: Yes, I'll finish in four years.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: Yeah, I'm probably going to turn pro out of college. We'll see. I'm getting a little taste of it this summer, playing in another Futures event in Morgantown, West Virginia, later in August. And I'll try and play in more LPGA events or pro events next summer, before my senior year, just so see what it's like and see if I like it.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: It's actually really comforting. We've played golf together since forever. We grew up playing in the summers. We'd go out there together. And he knows my game the best and he knows how to relax. And he helps me a lot, course management. He helps me read my putts. And overall he's just a good thing for me to have out there.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: Joey, J-o-e-y.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: Major is psychology. Probably off the tee, I'm thinking 240, about. I can't tell. I was looking at the yardages out there, a couple of them are shorter, but probably around 235, 240.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: It's right between a 7 and a 6.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: Yeah, I think so. I've been playing -- I've gotten to be a lot more consistent in college, and it's continued over into the summer.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: The first two times I tried I just got completely nervous and had a couple of bogeys, string of bogeys coming in to miss the cuts the two years before this. And it was a good change this third year. My brother caddied for me begin. He only caddied the first year. And I wasn't nervous at all. And I thought -- I noticed that that was a good thing for me, because that's what I've been working on, just staying calm and keeping my confidence up.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: Susan Ginter and Lisa Kartheiser.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: She's on the futures Tour.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: She's a pro, but I don't know if she's on the futures Tour.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: Uh-huh.

JENNY CHUASIRIPORN: Yeah.