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U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 30, 2006

Annika Sorenstam

NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND

RHONDA GLENN: Ladies and gentlemen, Annika Sorenstam is where she usually is, and that's tied for the lead, 2 under par today, a fine round in the wind.

Annika, just tell us a little bit overall about how you feel about how you played?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I'm very happy the way I played. I thought I drove it beautifully and hit a lot of greens, putted well. I'm very happy.

RHONDA GLENN: Have you gone over your card for anyone yet?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I did downstairs, but we can do it again.

No. 3, hit a 5 iron and made a putt that was 17 feet.

Bogeyed 6, 7 wood over the green, chipped and two putted from 20 feet.

No. 9, 4 iron, made a putt from 12 feet.

Then on 16, I made birdie, hit sand wedge to eight feet.

Q. Do you feel like this 69 is especially good considering it looked like the conditions were harder in the afternoon than they were in the morning?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I'm just happy the way I played. I was not really out here this morning and I don't know what kind of conditions they had. I'm sure they had it a little soggier fairways and greens than we did, but I'm just very happy the way I played. I drove it well, hit some fairways. We haven't seen fairways in a while, so it's a good change. My putter was rolling really well. It was a great start, and hopefully I can continue this. I feel like I've come a long ways the last few days, and today I really showed that, so it was good.

Q. Can you just talk generally about the way you approach U.S. Opens in terms of what par means at a U.S. Open?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, this is a tough golf course, especially with the conditions we have. I mean, we're getting no roll whatsoever, it's a really long golf course. The rough is thick, and the pins, I think, are quite tough. You just come here for the biggest challenge that we have throughout the year. You really have got to drive it well, got to hit your long irons well and you've got to putt well and have a good short game. This is a true test, and all parts of the game have got to work for you to score. Par sometimes is a good one, especially when we have wind like we did today, it's two to three clubs at times, and it's really a true test. Like I said, you've got to hit every shot well and you're going to need some touch at the same time.

Q. Did you need any drops yourself, and were you in any bunkers where the water in the bunkers came into play?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I wasn't in any bunkers. I had one drop for casual water, which was on the 9th hole.

Q. When the nature of this tournament so much is to grind out pars and you really have to work for them, how important was it for you today to have kind of a fairly comfortable day in terms of hitting a lot of greens, not having to fight out your pars?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, it is a long week, especially now we're only finishing the first round on a Friday, you know it's going to be a long weekend. You have to be patient. When you're out there you just have to relax between shots and you just really don't want to waste too much energy because it's going to be such a long weekend, especially when the conditions are this tough. You think a lot. I think I'm more mentally tired than physically because you're trying to plan the shots. Some holes the elevation change, you're trying to plan the shot, what club, how much is the wind, what kind of distance you have to add or subtract. It's just a lot of thinking and that wears me out.

RHONDA GLENN: When you say you try to relax, how do you personally do that?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I talk a lot to my caddie Terry. Today I had a good pairing with Ai and Natalie, so we both talked about a lot of things. It was just a good way to relax and not really think about the game the whole time you're out there.

Q. Do you think the format of 36 holes on Sunday, do you think you're one of the people that will benefit from that?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I'm not complaining. No, it's going to be tough. This is a tough course to play 18 holes, and then you put another 18 on top of that, and at the end of the championship, you've got to be in good shape. I think it's going to favor the ones that can handle that. I mean, it's going to be, like I said it's a tough championship to start with, and then to finish the way we are here, 36 holes, it's going to make it extremely tough.

RHONDA GLENN: Does it favor you because of your conditioning?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, there's several players out here that are in good shape. I'd like to think that I'm one of them, and it's going to help.

Q. Can you talk about the ball striking? This year how much is your warm up routine consistent with what your performance on the course would be, and how about today in particular?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I would say normally my warmup is the way I hit on the warmup is the way I hit on the course. I would say the same thing here today. I had a great practice session yesterday with my coach, and I actually think that the fog helped me. It gave me another day to work on a few things. I'm thankful for that. We had a great session yesterday, and I was able to carry that momentum into today and start hitting good shots early on. It was key for me to hit the fairway the first few holes, and same thing with the long irons. After three, four holes I felt really good about my game and I didn't really think more about my swing. I was just playing and not thinking technique anymore.

Q. You mentioned the 36 holes and how difficult that is in terms of physical fitness, but talk about the mental aspect. Is that even more difficult, and is that also maybe more of an advantage you'll have because of your record in competitiveness?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I guess we'll see, but I do think experience is going to play a big role. I think you're going to have to be in good shape to walk 36 holes, and then, like I said, the mental part really wears you out physically. All of those factors are going to play a big role.

Q. Two unrelated questions: One, your practice rounds this week, did you play a full 18 at all this week leading in?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, Tuesday.

Q. On another note, Se Ri Pak is obviously getting back to competing in the majors. I'm just wondering if that resurgence this year from that injury, are you glad to see her back and competing in these things? She kind of gave you a good run a few years back?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, I obviously have a lot of respect for her and what she has achieved on the golf course. I'm very happy to see her back. She's a great asset to this Tour. You think about it, I don't even think she's 30 years old yet, and she's won a lot of majors and a lot of tournaments, and she's going to be a Hall of Famer next year, so it's great to see her back, and hopefully she'll stay there, too.

Q. As far as the conditions, would you say in the afternoon it was the wind that was more of a challenge than the wetness?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, I would say so. The wind was a big factor today. Like I said, it was two or three clubs at times. You don't get any roll. The drives are two or three feet. There's certain holes you can just carry the ball to the flag and you know it's not going to go anywhere. It makes it tougher when you have longer irons because you don't know if it's going to release as much. Some greens are a little dryer and it will definitely not roll as much. When you're out there you have to think about so many things and so many factors that play a role.

Q. Talk a little bit about 9. I believe you had the only birdie on that hole.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Is that right?

Q. You got a skin.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: It's probably one of the toughest holes for sure that we're going to play this year, but overall, it's a long par 4. You stand up way up there, your tee shot. You can't feel the wind but you know it's left to right. It's very tough to hit that fairway, and then it's soaking wet. I was lucky that I was in casual water because I had a chance to clean my ball, which I had so much mud on it if I would have had mud it would have been very difficult to control the distance and direction. I hit it up there with a 4 iron to 123 feet and hit it over a ridge and made it.

Q. What did you have left in there?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: 185.

RHONDA GLENN: They showed you as having no putts. Were you on the fringe on that hole?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, I was about two inches.

RHONDA GLENN: You said yesterday or the day before I think it was that you expected because of the wet conditions to be hitting a lot of very long clubs into the greens. Did you, in fact, have to do that?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yes, I thought so. It's definitely the longest course we've played all year. Even though they moved up the tees on several holes and the par 3s where we have two different tees to choose from, when they put us in the front it still was playing very long. We're talking 5 irons, 4 iron on 9, a few 7-woods, a lot of 6-irons. It's a long course.

RHONDA GLENN: Wonderful round. Thanks so much for joining us.

End of FastScripts.

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