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KRAFT NABISCO CHAMPIONSHIP

April 2, 2006

Karrie Webb

RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIFORNIA

PAM WARNER: Thanks for coming and joining us. Second victory at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, 31st career win, 7th major victory, 4th playoff win, and 13th come from behind. Those are great accomplishments. Talk about how you're feeling right now.

KARRIE WEBB: If I can put it into words. I'm ecstatic right now. I feel pretty lucky to be here. Obviously, you know, when you hit a shot at the flag on the last hole thinking you need birdie at least, when it goes in the hole, there's always a little bit of an element of luck there. So I feel pretty fortunate. Just a lot of hard work paid off, just really enjoying the moment.

PAM WARNER: How were you feeling when you holed that eagle shot on 18?

KARRIE WEBB: Like I said, it was straight at the pin and I wanted it to get close so I had a good birdie chance. And when it went in, I just couldn't believe it. I think my heart just about jumped out of my chest, because it was aching for about five minutes after. No, it was definitely very exciting.

PAM WARNER: Questions for Karrie?

Q. Could you have pictured yourself here when you showed up at the start of the week in this robe and in the pond and all that stuff?

KARRIE WEBB: I think every week I can picture myself winning. I don't ever tee it up thinking that I can't. You know, actually, when I was playing a lot of my good golf, my practice used to be really, really bad, and I would be just going into the tournament wondering what the hell what sort of game I was going to have for the tournament, and then I got a win.

Monday was the same this week. I was working with Chigsy and just had a terrible day. And thinking, when is this going to change, when am I going to feel good going into a tournament. And I said, but, you know, I used to practice bad before I played and I would go out and win. Hopefully that's what the sign was.

What was your question? I know that's not the answer (laughter).

Q. (No microphone.)

KARRIE WEBB: Right. So yes, I imagine it every week. And it's just a matter of me believing in myself and me getting in there and doing the job.

Q. Was it getting harder to believe in yourself having gone four years since your last major two years since your last win out here?

KARRIE WEBB: It was. But in practice I was seeing such unbelievable stuff, like stuff that I've never been able to do before hitting the golf ball. You know, I saw a lot of it this week. I didn't see it on every hole and sometimes there wasn't a lot of trust there. That's the thing that was so hard to be patient, because it would be one thing if I wasn't seeing any of this work, you know, coming out in practice, then it would be hard to believe in myself. But my practice has been so good, that every week it was like, is this going to be the week, is this the week everything falls into place. It was just a matter of trying to be patient. And a lot of people around me didn't think I was being patient enough. Yes, that is what I had to do, just hang in there.

Q. How much were you watching the leaderboard today?

KARRIE WEBB: I didn't watch it as much as I normally do because I knew I just had to keep trying to make birdies and going as low as I could. There wasn't much point looking to see, oh, I'm two behind. I was still chasing and I still needed to play aggressive.

The first time I really looked at it, I think I was on the 17th green and saw I was tied for the lead. And I had made a good up and down on 16 before that. So that was really the first time I really had taken a good look at it.

Q. Obviously before the 18th you played very well today. What were you doing well today that may be better than the last couple of days? And when, if you didn't look at the leaderboard, at what point did you start think maybe this was possible?

KARRIE WEBB: Well, I made a lot of putts today. I made a good few on the front nine, like 20, 25 footers. And that was really what had held me back mostly for the week, was my putting.

And then when I made the turn I started to swing it a little bit better. I started to have a few more good birdie opportunities. When I made the turn I was just trying to think, I was at 5 under. I still felt I had an outside shot.

And then I birdied 10 and 11, and I was like, well, supposedly I've done this before, so I'm supposed to be the one that's got all the experience. And Michelle and Natalie and Lorena Lorena has obviously won, but Michelle and Natalie hadn't. So I was like, they're not going to go out there and blitz the back nine, so try to post a score and see what happens.

Q. Talk about or elaborate more on the frustration while you were going through this drought. What was going through your mind?

KARRIE WEBB: I think mainly what it was is that since I have struggled a little bit in the last couple of years, I think I realized how much it's hard for me to say that I took things for granted, because I think I did, but at the time I didn't think I was really taking it for granted. I knew that I didn't really, really enjoy winning and what comes with that.

I don't know if it was because I was uncomfortable with sitting in front of you guys all the time and being asked questions, if that led to the reason why I didn't feel that comfortable, but and that's why I was probably trying so hard, I wanted to feel this again and enjoy it and really appreciate it.

Q. After your heart jumped out of your chest, you actually had to wait around to see if you were still going to win this golf tournament.

KARRIE WEBB: Then I went in the score tent and Michelle had birdied 16 to go to 8. So I was thinking she was probably going to get to 9. And then Natalie birdied 17. And I thought and I knew 18 was reachable for those guys. So I thought, I can't believe I have to play a hole after doing that, because it took me probably 15 minutes to calm down.

Q. You had about 15 minutes. Was that a big help?

KARRIE WEBB: Yes. They were on the 16th green, so I probably had a good half hour before they got onto the 18th green. That was probably a benefit, that I got to calm down a little bit.

Q. Considering the drought, how were you able to shake off that 76 yesterday and those couple of nasty 3 putts along the way?

KARRIE WEBB: I don't know. I guess I shook it off. I was a little disappointed with my mental work yesterday because I played the first six holes really well and had given myself a lot of opportunities and then hit a poor tee shot on 7 which led to just not trusting getting up there and smashing a big draw down there. That led to me having a 20 footer for par and I just fell asleep on my bogey putt.

And then I was just so mad at myself. I thought, Do you really want this? How can you fall asleep or lose your concentration now? So I was questioning, What do you want. Are you going to work this hard and fall asleep now?

It took me well, I don't think I regrouped. I just managed to get around and birdie the last and shoot 76. I want to say that I'm used to it, but I'm used to seeing that from myself. So I was disappointed, but I knew that if I played solidly today I could still have a good tournament. And it wasn't until this morning that I really thought if I went out there that I could you know, if I could post a number, I had a chance to win.

Q. Can you elaborate a bit on your experience versus the three young girls in the lead today?

KARRIE WEBB: Well, I guess I know that I've been down this stretch and I know what it takes to win major tournaments. I think my best shot that I hit today was my chip it was a pitch really on 16, because I had to get up and down there and I knew I had to get up and down.

You know, I think that I just knew I had a little bit of an edge over the three of them, probably not so much Lorena because she had won, but I knew I had that edge if I could post a number that it would be really hard for them to go out and produce you know, I mean they're all very, very talented players. I just knew that there's more of a weight on their shoulders when they actually have to make a birdie to be in a playoff or win the tournament.

Q. Any idea where this puts you now in the World Ranking?

KARRIE WEBB: I'd like to go back to that after this. (Laughter.)

Q. You spoke the other day about needing to put a couple of rounds together and then a couple of weeks together, et cetera. Now that you've got a major again, where do you think what's next? Where do you think you can go from here?

KARRIE WEBB: Well, I really don't want to put that sort of pressure on myself. You know, I still do have I mean, it's great for my confidence that I know I can do this again, but I still battle the same demons I've been battling for a while. But this is going to definitely put a foot in the right direction and give me a little bit of a belief. And I really feel like I enjoyed being out there today and enjoyed listening to the crowd cheer for me.

The crowds were great out there all day, cheering for me, you know, especially when I made the turn. They knew there was a chance I could be up there.

I'm losing track again. Would you ask me again?

Q. Where do you go from here?

KARRIE WEBB: Well, I just hope it gives me a jump start into playing the golf I know I can play and gives me that belief to keep working hard, to keep doing what I'm doing because it's the right thing.

Q. I wonder if you could take us through the playoff hole shot by shot, what you saw, particularly the third shot from way back there?

KARRIE WEBB: Well, I knew that Lorena well, I teed off second. And I knew that Lorena, where she hit her drive she would be able to get on quite comfortably. I hit a poor tee shot in regulation. I put a good swing on it and got down there. It was really, really borderline yardage for me. I had 202 on the left front and 212 on the right front. That's just a perfect gap for me, between my 3 wood and 19 degree rescue. I probably carry my 19 degree rescue maybe in that circumstance 205 but I would be really busting it. And then my 3 wood, I carry about 215. And I hadn't been hitting my 3 wood good all week.

I knew Lorena was going to go for it in two and I just had to get up there and hit 3 wood. I hit a pretty good 3 wood. I hit it really solid. I pulled it a little bit from I was trying to hit a fade and little cut so it would come off the slope. But I was glad there was rough behind the green, which Mike said he knew, after we were there.

Then the chip shot, I knew if I could get it to carry over the fringe it would just chase down to the hole. I had a pretty good lie. The grass was going with me. I just popped it up there and it rolled down. And my putt was probably 6, 7 feet, left edge putt.

Q. (No microphone.)

KARRIE WEBB: I have no idea, but just the way that I came back and holed the shot on the last to even get in a playoff was pretty spectacular.

Q. Was there any specific aspect of your game that you struggled with that you've dramatically improved?

KARRIE WEBB: I'm been working on my swing, but my swing isn't really what's let me down. My swing has always been good enough to play good golf. My putting really in the last 18 months has not been what it was when I was playing my best golf. With good putting there is a lot of momentum there. Even if you hit a poor shot, you can get it up and down. Or even if you don't quite hit the shot you're wanting, you have a 20 footer, and you make the 20 footer.

When you're not making the 20 footers, you're not getting up and down as much. It's just really hard then to keep trusting your swing, because you're like, if I don't hit this to 5 feet I'm not going to make birdie. And if I miss the green, I'm going to make bogey. My putting has let me down the most, but also my swing changes have led to a little bit of a lack of confidence as well.

Q. You've obviously won a lot of tournaments, won a lot majors, where does this rank considering you hadn't won in a year and considering the fashion, you know, you came back?

KARRIE WEBB: It's really hard to say it's my biggest victory or what. It's definitely one in 30, 40 years when I'm thinking about my career, it's definitely one that's going to stick out in my memory, just with the fashion I won in and just the way I handled myself after, having to go back and play in the playoff.

And obviously not having won out here for a couple of years, and a year since I've won anywhere, it's definitely it ranks up there in the top couple, for sure.

Q. How was the lake today? And when did you start thinking about taking your shoes off and all that?

KARRIE WEBB: Actually, when I made the putt on 18, I kept thinking I still had to go to the score tent to do my scorecard. So I was standing there and Mike is like, "Are we going in? Are we jumping in?" And I'm like, "Oh, yeah." And I wasn't thinking about it until he said, "Are you going to go in the water?" I'm like, "All right."

PAM WARNER: Let's go over your scorecard.

The third, I hit a 7 iron to 18 feet, made the putt.

Birdie on 5, I hit an 8 iron to 25 feet.

Birdie on 7, I hit 9 iron to 30 feet.

Birdie on 10, I hit wedge to about 12 feet, 15 feet maybe.

11, I hit laid up, hit my 53 degree wedge to about two feet.

Eagle on 18, I had a wedge from 116.

Q. (No microphone.)

KARRIE WEBB: I was kind of glad I had missed it. I don't know if I would have hit 3 wood in regulation and gone for it. And we played that hole with a little bit of wind in our face, a few yards of wind. And then in the playoff it was helping us a little bit.

Q. The wind was helping?

KARRIE WEBB: Just a little bit.

Q. (No microphone.)

KARRIE WEBB: Yes, definitely destiny.

Q. Was this your first time playing with Morgan Pressel? I think she said you had played in practice before, but being from neighboring towns

KARRIE WEBB: Yes, we played a practice round at the U.S. Open last year, but this is the first competitive round that we have played.

Q. (No microphone.)

KARRIE WEBB: She's a great young talent and she's going to be around a long time and she's going to win tournaments out on the LPGA for sure.

Q. (No microphone.)

KARRIE WEBB: I don't know. I'll have to go look at the rule book. I think it does, yes.

PAM WARNER: Thank you, Karrie. Congratulations.

End of FastScripts.

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