JOHN Q. HAMMONS HOTEL CLASSIC

September 10, 2006

Annika Sorenstam

THE MODERATOR: Annika, thank you for coming in and joining us today. Solid round out there, 2 under for the day, but Cristie seemed to turn it on a little bit on the back. Just talk about today.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Like you said, very solid from my part. I thought I played pretty solid today. I believe I hit 18 greens, which is not too often. So 18 greens on this course, a lot of chances, but just just couldn't really make them when I needed to. I had some really good shots close and I made those, but other than that, I had a lot of 12 , 15 , 20 footers, and just really the last two days haven't really made any longer ones, which is disappointing, but overall I've been working a lot with my game, and to hit 18 greens, I think that says a lot about my long game. All the credit to Cristie. She played well. She shot 4 under on the back, birdied two difficult holes, 15 and 17, so she played really well.

Q. Can we go over the score card?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: First hole I hit a the iron to nine feet.

No. 10, I hit another 9 iron to six feet.

Q. You came this week talking about your swing. Looked like it was your putting that might have you had the long game going and the short game, like you said, didn't come along as well as you thought.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I actually thought I putted well. They were rolling well but didn't go in, and there's not much you can do about those times. That's just the way it is. The first day I hit them good and they went in. The last two days I felt like I've putted well, about the same, but just haven't made anything. Today it felt like a lot of pins were a little slopey, corners or edges, just it was always breaking wherever I was, so it made it a little difficult that way. But I'm happy.

It's one of those days where you just felt really good but couldn't get anything going. If I look back at this round, what would I have done differently, not much. I thought I executed well, read the putts and hit them the way I thought. It's just one of those days.

Q. Do you remember a round where you hit 18 greens, and I think she missed 7 by a foot, but she hit 17 greens, neither player had to chip?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: No, you're right. I think that's extraordinary on Sunday on a course that you could really host a major championship. There's a lot of good ball striking out there, and it was solid, I thought so. I shot 2 under, not bad, and she shot 4 under or was it 3 under? It was a pretty good round, anyway.

Q. Your 12 under is the second best in tournament history. It just so happened somebody had a record number.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Like we talked about yesterday, the competition is getting tougher out here. I'm happy the way I played, I really am. Like I said, 18 greens today, 16 I believe yesterday, and 17 the first, just missing three greens and two bogeys, so I'll take that any day, any tournament.

Q. You said the competition is getting tougher out here. I think you and Paula were the only two to break par last year and there's almost 30 this year. Is the course different or has the play elevated that much?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: It's tough to say if the game elevated that much. But the players are definitely getting better just looking at all the stats and so forth. I do think the greens being a little softer this year, you can fire a little bit more at the pin. It makes it a little bit easier. I mean, when it's firm and you have small greens, it's easy to roll out, and then you have Bermuda around the greens, it's very tough to chip out of. So maybe that would make a big difference. I think so, anyway. When you have conditions like this, you want to hit the greens.

Q. A lot of times when players are paired with Tiger they have a reputation for fading. No one faded today. You played pretty well, she played pretty well. Was that kind of what you thought would happen, that it would be a fight almost to the last hole?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, I think so. I mean, Cristie has had a very solid year and she's played very good of late, and then she was 10 under yesterday. She's obviously playing her very best. I was expecting her to play well.

Now when I look back, I wish I would have made a few more birdies, but I didn't make any mistakes. When I walk away from here, I think I've got to give myself credit for that. I didn't really give away any shots. Maybe I could have made a few more, but it's all about mistakes, too, and I didn't make many, and I'm proud of that.

Q. I guess it's a little bit ironic that last week she was kind of the victim of your record, and this week you're kind of in the opposite role after what she did yesterday.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I think my round was hurting her more last week. We had a bonus on the line. This week she was leading going into Sunday. I think that's a little different. But she did have a fantastic round yesterday, and I think her 10 under I would say is a little better than my 10 under last week because this course is not as tough as this one.

Q. The last two days she really seemed to roll in a lot of the longer or medium putts. Is she streaky or consistent as far as hitting those?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I think somebody asked me yesterday what her strengths are, and I'd say putting. She does roll it very well, she's very aggressive. Her short putts, I don't think she plays any break, just hits them. Today she rolled in some really good putts, a birdie on which hole was that, like 11, and she rolled in quite a nice sized putt on 12 and then both 15 and 17. They're all past 15 feet, maybe 15 and between 30. I think that says a lot.

Q. The rest of the season there's still a lot to be played for this year. I know you had the great finish last year. You were still 2nd today so it's not like you hurt yourself much. Still looking for that great finish so you can get to the top of the

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Oh, yeah, absolutely. I gained a little ground on Lorena this week, two weeks in a row, so I have let's see, I'm playing a few more tournaments, so I think it's going to be exciting down the stretch. I'm happy I'm starting to play well. I finished 1st, 1st, 2nd the last three tournaments I've played in, so I would say I'm ready.

Q. Speaking of Lorena, did you keep an eye on her today?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I was watching the leaderboard. She had a really good start. She got off to a hot start there. I saw 4 or 5 under making the turn. I mean, she made it exciting, too, and then I looked at the leaderboard and I saw some other players climbing today. So again, there's some good golf out there.

Q. Does it say anything that the A players, that the three leading money winners on Tour are also the three top finishers in this tournament?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, it is one of the tougher courses that we play throughout the year, and like I said before, it's kind of a major setup, narrow course, small greens. This is a tough course, and I think in the past we mentioned the scores have not been that low. You have to be a good golfer overall to play here, like I said. You can't get away with bad shots. You can't scramble because the rough is so thick, and around the greens, if you don't hit greens it's very tough to make up and down every single time. I guess it does put a premium on the long game, and therefore I would say probably the top players would like a place like this.

Q. Real quick, Patty Berg passed away this morning. Can you just give us a quote on that?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, I was very sorry to hear that. Patty as you all know has done a lot for golf and especially for women's golf, to be one of the founders. I think we'll miss her dearly.

I remember the last few years I've seen her do clinics. She was quite hysterical, great sense of humor, and a pioneer. I think we are going to miss her, but most of all just want to say thanks for everything she has done.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much.

End of FastScripts.