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GINN CLUBS & RESORTS OPEN

April 30, 2006

Lorena Ochoa

ORLANDO, FLORIDA

PAUL ROVNAK: Lorena Ochoa, thanks for coming in. We always appreciate your time. Another top finish for you with the one win this year and the two runner ups. And here is another one this week. You gave it a great run on the front nine. Talk about your day and we'll take questions.

LORENA OCHOA: Thank you. It was a really good day out there for me. I knew I was so many strokes behind and I needed to stay aggressive at the start. The No. 1 hole, trying to make birdies, and that's what I did. It was really good.

And I think I make a big mistake on No. 9, making the bogey on the par 5. The two shots went by me and it was important for me to get that birdie and put more pressure on the others. That was my mistake.

I made a birdie on No. 10 and then a birdie on 17. I can't complain. I tried very hard. I did my best and she gave us a chance for a moment, but then she finished strong too, so it was a good win for her.

PAUL ROVNAK: We'll go ahead and take questions.

Q. Going back to the 9th hole, I think you birdied 5 of the first 8 and you were just off and running. Did that third shot out of the rough just kind of jump on you?

Walk through those last few things because that was sort of the point I think you had trouble recovering from.

LORENA OCHOA: Yes. My chip wasn't very easy. I was on the downslope and I had some grass behind the ball. So when I hit it, the ball just stayed kind of like close and shot down and the ball shot out of there. And I was fine. I just tried to be patient. I managed to 2 putt, even though I was on the fringe, because it was so smooth and kind of downhill. But I had so much grass in front of me, I hit it really hard and it was hard to make the putt coming back.

Q. This is the first time for this event and in very difficult conditions. Talk about the course and then the course plus the wind for four days. What kind of challenge was that?

LORENA OCHOA: Yes, it was very challenging. I was just saying sometimes you have one windy day and in the morning it's fine and then the back you get some wind, but four rounds were tough. You have to think so much and the rounds are so long, and that it takes a lot of you.

I'm really happy with the way I'm hitting the ball. I feel good about that. I did make good decisions in a round like this, it just makes you stronger and a better player, so try to put it in the positive way.

Q. You got off to that hot start, a run of pars on the back nine, it just didn't look like you could really get back into the birdie mode. Were there any misses in there that you're going to kind of agonize over that were close ones that you didn't quite convert, or were those mostly just routine pars?

LORENA OCHOA: Well, like I said, I think the mistake was on No. 9. But I made birdie on 10.

11, I hit a good second shot just on the left side of the green.

And 12, I hit a good shot on the par 3, a really good putt and it just leaped out and came back.

I think if I made that putt everything would have changed, just being more, kind of like gaining momentum of making birdies.

Q. Do you, as a rule, when you come out and you are a few shots behind and you get to go flag hunting and go after everything, is that more fun for you? You've always been an aggressive player naturally.

LORENA OCHOA: I do like that. Right now if I think back, I had a really good week. I don't know what happened yesterday in my round. Now it's time to get back and think. I'm going to see, is it me or in my game, or the way I'm walking the course. I try to put those rounds out of the tournament.

Q. Lorena Ochoa, aside from the wind, how did you find the course?

LORENA OCHOA: It's a very good golf course. I think we're all happy. It's in good shape. It's a challenging golf course. Some lies from the rough are tough, and the greens. The fairways are downhill lie, uphill lie. And this type of a course I think it's tough. Only a few players can play good. I think it's good. It helps a lot for our game, so I keep working on that to become a better player.

Q. You were 7 shots behind at the start of the day and then you got off to that hot start. At what point did you finally look at the leaderboard and see you had a chance to win?

LORENA OCHOA: Right away on hole No. 6. On the little par 4 I saw she was already 9 under and I was 7 at the time, and I had a little par 4 coming. And No. 9, the par 5, and I thought I'm in good shape, so keep making birdies. She let us do it because she didn't have as good a start.

Q. We talked about this before. You're playing better this year than anybody else. Only one win. Do you feel if you keep playing this well, sooner or later the wins are going to fall into your lap because you're right there?

LORENA OCHOA: That's the plan. (Laughter) keep trying, yes.

PAUL ROVNAK: Take us over your scorecard. Starting with a birdie on 1.

LORENA OCHOA: One, I hit a 6 iron, 150 yards, two feet, made it.

Birdie on No. 3, the par 5, I hit it just on my second shot short of the green, maybe 10 paces, and I make it up and down for birdie. My putt was about six feet.

I made birdie on No. 4, I hit 60 degree wedge to a 100 yards and put it maybe 12 feet and made it.

Birdie on No. 6, I hit it 160 yards, 5 iron, maybe 15 feet and made it.

And then No. 7, I tried to hit the green on one, but I hit it to the left in the rough, maybe 40 yards to the green and chipped it really good, about two feet, and made it.

Bogey on No. 9. I was on the left side in the rough about 40 yards to the pin and I hit it long, and I putt, 3 putts for bogey.

PAUL ROVNAK: How long would you say that first putt was from the fringe?

LORENA OCHOA: 40 feet, 35.

PAUL ROVNAK: And then the one coming back?

LORENA OCHOA: Six feet.

PAUL ROVNAK: No. 10, the birdie.

LORENA OCHOA: No. 10, I was maybe like 15 yards short of the green, and I chipped and I put it about like eight feet and I made it.

No. 17, tried to hit it on in two, but I went to the right in the rough and chipped it really good to one foot and I made it.

Q. You play with Mi Hyun Kim yesterday didn't you?

LORENA OCHOA: Yes.

Q. When you are a long hitter like yourself and you have got a little short hitter like that who keeps nipping at you and pecking at you, does that drive you as crazy as it does when we play with people like that?

PAUL ROVNAK: That hit it longer than you?

Q. Hit it shorter but beat your brains out. She's so accurate.

LORENA OCHOA: Yes., we know she is that way. So you think about that. What makes me upset and mad is I didn't take advantage of the opportunity. I was so much ahead of them, especially on the par 5s. It really killed me. Yesterday was a mistake, and especially I didn't take advantage on No. 9 and 10. I make a bogey and a par a par and a bogey, yesterday. So you know, that was a big mistake yesterday.

Q. (No microphone.)

LORENA OCHOA: Yes, today, too.

Q. Probably your own divot?

LORENA OCHOA: No. (Laughter.)

End of FastScripts.

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