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CN CANADIAN WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

August 10, 2006

Cristie Kerr

LONDON, ONTARIO

CRISTIE KERR: About 25 feet, made that.

16, kind of like a 40 yard pitch to 10 feet and made that.

6 iron on the second hole to about six feet and made that.

And then on the 7th hole, I hit 3 wood short of the green, chipped it up there, hit the pin, a good thing because it was going too hard, to about 5 feet and made that.

Did not birdie the 4th hole.

DANA GROSS RHODE: Cristie, thank you very much for coming in. You're 5 under for the day. Talk about your round out there. It was a strong round.

CRISTIE KERR: Yes, I got off to a good start. I birdied the 10th hole, which was my first, and just played solidly all day. I hit 13 fairways, 14 greens, and I putted well, so everything was just really solid.

I left some shots out there. I didn't birdie the short par 5, the 4th hole. I didn't birdie that. And there were a couple of other putts that could have gone in, but definitely a solid day to start out, and I played very well.

Q. On the 10th hole, I heard you whisper to your caddie, "This is going to be 5 hours." Recognizing it was going to be a 5 hour round, does it help you mentally just to know that it was going to be slow?

CRISTIE KERR: Unfortunately I think that tends to be the pace of play out here now. They say you should get around in four and a half in threesomes, but that just never seems to quite happen. I think you have to prepare yourself mentally that it's going to be an over 5 hour round every day. And if it's under, great, you played quickly. But yes, it definitely seems to be the norm out here.

Q. You had to dig in. You knew it was going to be 5 hours?

CRISTIE KERR: You have to mentally pace yourself. That's all you can do.

Q. Did you notice Angela getting to 8? I think it was right around the time you missed your birdie at 4, right around there.

CRISTIE KERR: I think I saw a leaderboard when I was on 6 and was surprised she had gotten to 8. But it's definitely out there on the course to get if you're hitting the ball well because the greens are so good.

Q. You talked about leaving some out there. Was it on the greens? Is that where they're going to be left out?

CRISTIE KERR: You know, I didn't birdie 4. I hit a 4 iron into the green. I hit it right into the bunker. I had a decent bunker shot out, but my putt kind of bounced on me. That's a hole you should definitely get on the green in two.

And then the third hole, the hole previous to that, I had a perfect gripped 9 iron which I balked way out there and I had like over a 40 foot putt. Tightening up my ball striking a little bit, there's definitely a low round out there.

Q. (No microphone) make sure you hit the fairways here?

CRISTIE KERR: Yes, the rough is definitely there. I think if you're hitting it in the fairway every hole you're going to have a chance to make birdie, even if you knock it 30 feet from the hole, because the greens are so good.

I definitely need to go work on my swing a little bit and tighten my irons and get a little more dialed in come the weekend.

Q. After the finish last week at the British Open where you were in contention, is it nice that you're right back into a tournament and not have a week off to get back into play?

CRISTIE KERR: Absolutely. I played great on Sunday there. I made two doubles and still shot under par there on Sunday, which was just pretty remarkable. I was really in contention, I just didn't play the last three holes well. It's nice because it seemed like the practice round and the Pro Am kind of flew by and we were right into it. So it was definitely nice to get back out on the golf course.

Q. I want to ask about the focus. I watched you in the Pro Am and you seemed extremely focused on the greens and where the ball was going to go. Is that a routine? And you're playing so well this year. Is that what really strengthens your game, your focus?

CRISTIE KERR: I think for me, when I practice like I want to play, I do better. Definitely when I'm playing well, I tend to pay attention a little bit more, even in the Pro Ams. As of late I've been playing well all year, but there was a period of time I wasn't playing well, so I got refocused on what I needed to do with my game, and a big part of that was focus and doing things the right way. You know, don't just get up there and hit the putt in the Pro Am. Read it, do what you normally do, go through your routine and try to recreate the conditions that you would play under. So I've definitely made a concerted effort to be more focused in my practice as of late and that's definitely carried over.

Q. Is 8 under out there again?

CRISTIE KERR: Yes. I think the pins were fairly accessible today. I think they can put them in a lot tougher locations. If they do that, who knows. I think the course is going to do nothing but firm up. If they tuck the pins and the course gets firmer, harder, then you may not see an 8 under, but it just depends.

Q. Were the greens hard out there today?

CRISTIE KERR: In spots, yes. I definitely had where I would pull my iron shot a little bit, it would fly at the pin and bounce over the green. So they are definitely not soft, I can tell you that. They are definitely on the firmer side. If they don't water them it just depends on what they want to do with the scores. They really have the control of that.

Q. What's your overall impression of the course and the tournament, in general?

CRISTIE KERR: I think this really feels like a major to me. All the tents set up, all the volunteers, putting the flags in the rough, hopefully you're not in there, the sponsor, the hospitality, the shape the course is in. The crowds that we got today for a Thursday, I was incredibly surprised. I hadn't played in Canada in a couple of years, but of all the places that I've played, I think, besides when it was at [] DeMoriet, I think this place has got the best crowds so far, from what I can see. And the purse, it really feels like a very, very high caliber tournament.

Q. I understand that Lorie Kane lobbied a lot of the golfers to come here. I was wondering if you were one and what her pitch to you was.

CRISTIE KERR: She had mentioned you know, asked me if I was going to play. And originally I was not scheduled to play. I was going to take this week off and play Portland, because I always play there. And I thought, you know what, Lorie has done so much for us and our tour, I might give this tournament a shot. It's not like I had heard the golf course was good and everything. Sometimes you look at it from a player's perspective, schedule wise, but when I looked at it, I said, you know what, this really does fit into what I want to do and what I'm trying to do. I had heard this was going to be a good golf course for me.

So she gave me nothing but positive feedback about the tournament and the site and all the things that were going to happen about that, so that definitely helped sway my decision to come here.

DANA GROSS RHODE: Thank you very much.

End of FastScripts.

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