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U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 3, 2006

Pat Hurst

NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND

RHONDA GLENN: Ladies and gentlemen, the runner up in the 2006 United States Women's Open, who already has two USGA titles, almost got her third, Ms. Pat Hurst. Pat, what do you take away from this experience?

PAT HURST: You know, just definitely gain a little bit more experience, just put myself in position. That's the bottom line. The more times I can put myself in position, it's going to happen. You know, one day.

RHONDA GLENN: I felt personally that after the LPGA Championship you kind of faltered and you had a chance to win that. You showed a tremendous spirit and comeback to tie for 1st in this. That must be gratifying.

PAT HURST: Yeah, definitely. I had a good 72 holes. I played well. I didn't play as well in the last 18, but I feel good. I'm a fighter, and I always fight till the end, and that's what I did.

RHONDA GLENN: Were you rested today coming into this 18? How do you feel?

PAT HURST: Do you think I was rested?

RHONDA GLENN: I want the truth.

PAT HURST: No, I'm tired. I definitely am tired. I'm spent, I'm ready to go and put my feet up and just I'm going to take tomorrow off and just relax a little bit.

RHONDA GLENN: And then what's in store for you in the coming weeks?

PAT HURST: We've got the Match Play coming up, HSBC Match Play, and I actually do not know where I haven't looked at the brackets yet or anything like that, and I don't know when I play, but we've got our Pro Am starting Wednesday, so I don't have much time off.

I'm looking forward to next week actually now this week. I'm playing well, and I'm excited about playing this week. You know, this definitely builds the confidence a little bit. Annika played well, and there was only one person that beat me out there, and that was Annika.

Q. What do you think of the 18 hole playoff in general? Would you have rather have played a hole or two last night, or do you mind coming back out here and playing 18?

PAT HURST: I wish we would have played last night. The competitive juices weren't flowing as much as they were yesterday, even though we did play 36, and to play a three or six hole sudden death type of deal, I think that would have been better. We would have had more people out, and it wouldn't have taken a toll on us. Playing 18, 36 and another 18 right behind it, it makes it tough out there.

Q. Obviously going up the 18th green had to be very tough for you. What did it mean to you when Annika waited for you and asked you to walk up together?

PAT HURST: You know, she's a class act. Right there it tells you what she's like. We both had a great time out there. We chitchatted out there and had a good time. Like I said, she's a class act.

To wait for me really made it special for the two of us.

Q. After the 1st hole you were obviously down two strokes and then down three after three. You both played so fast, I'm curious, did the round just go did it seem really fast for you, that you were obviously fighting from behind from the beginning?

PAT HURST: The round didn't feel as fast as I wanted it to feel (laughter) after being three shots down. The pace of play was great. We both talked about that. You know, we enjoyed the pace of play considering the last how many rounds we've played have been really five and a half hours or longer.

We didn't think anything about the pace. It was nice.

Q. How much of a blow was it, the two shot swing right at the first hole? And also, it seemed like you were coming up short a lot on your putts. I just wanted to know about the pace on the greens.

PAT HURST: I couldn't get the ball to the hole, and that was the frustrating thing for me because I'm generally a pretty aggressive putter, and when you can't get them to the hole, you obviously can't make anything. That's where I felt it put me behind the 8 ball is not making any putts out there.

Being two shots down after the first hole sets you back a little bit, but I knew I had a lot of holes left. I had 17 more holes left to play, and anything could have happened. I wasn't too down about that. But definitely about my putting, it was frustrating.

Q. What did you do last night when you left here? Was it a very quick turnaround with the kids? Did you have a chance to eat much or was it quick and right to bed?

PAT HURST: I went to McDonald's (laughter). I went to McDonald's, went home, got an outfit and ironed it and went right to bed. I really didn't have much time with the traffic. There was a lot of people here last night.

We actually tried to get into a different restaurant, and that was busy and we asked for takeout and they said there was going to be a wait for takeout, and we weren't going to wait for that. So that's how we ended up at McDonald's, and we went home after that.

Q. Yesterday you said that your putting was the thing that was the best for you this weekend. What do you think happened today?

PAT HURST: I just didn't have enough pace out there, just couldn't get them to the hole. When you can't get them to the hole, you're not going to be making any birdies. That's what I needed to do out there. I made one birdie and that was on 18, and that came a little bit too late.

Q. I wanted to clarify your thoughts on a playoff. Do you think the 18 was too much just because of the circumstances this week? Or do you think it would be better off for the Women's Open, regardless, to finish it that night? And if you do feel you should finish it, in what format, sudden death?

PAT HURST: The USGA likes to do the 18 hole playoff, but I would prefer maybe a three or six hole deal to finish up that night if we could. Obviously I don't think we could have last night considering we played 36 holes and it was pretty dark. But generally you're getting done early enough that in my opinion I think it would be nice to do a three or six hole playoff just because you're in the moment then. You kind of lose I felt like I lost a little bit coming back out the next day. I wasn't into it as much as I was into it yesterday.

You know, I'd be in favor of a three or six hole playoff.

Q. What was your adrenaline like last night compared to this morning?

PAT HURST: I mean, the adrenaline pushed me through to play 36 no problem, and I think if we would have played 18 holes, the adrenaline would have pushed me to play another six holes, no problem, or whatever they wanted. I just think that coming back the next day kind of takes away a little bit from it.

Q. When you went looking for a restaurant and couldn't find a table, did they know who you were? Did you drop the "I'm Pat Hurst and I'm in a playoff for the U.S. Women's Open title tomorrow"?

PAT HURST: No, I didn't.

Q. Do you feel like they knew who you were?

PAT HURST: I don't know. I ended up at McDonald's.

Q. Drive thru?

PAT HURST: Yes.

Q. Was there anyplace on the back nine where maybe you thought you really didn't have a chance to win?

PAT HURST: Pretty much coming 17 green. After we were on the green, I told my caddie, it's a little disappointing, but he says, "You should just be proud of yourself." I said, "I am." I would have to say 17 I kind of knew it was over. Walking down 18, I just asked Annika, I said, "If anything, I want a signed ball from you." Just like everybody else, they want a signed ball, so do I.

Q. Did she give you one yet?

PAT HURST: Not yet. I'll get one.

RHONDA GLENN: You're a two time national champion. You've won the big ones at all age levels. How much does it hurt?

PAT HURST: It hurts. I mean, you don't know how many more chances you're going to have, so you want to get it done the first time. But hopefully I'll be playing for another five, ten years, who knows, and maybe I'll have another chance. You know, we'll see. Time will only tell, and hopefully if I keep putting myself in that position, then it will happen.

Q. Just to follow up on the request for the signed ball, she's very unassuming, but her record is very imposing. What do you think of Annika's place in women's golf history right now?

PAT HURST: You know, she's I mean, she's a Hall of Famer. We don't have too many Hall of Famers on our Tour. She's great. She's a class act in women's golf, and she's very good for us. Someone like that, you want them on your side, and she is.

Q. Can you talk about the putt that you made on 18, and did that let you walk away with a pretty good feeling?

PAT HURST: You know, it definitely helps with the confidence going into next week and kind of puts a smile on your face. I think any time you birdie, no matter where it is, it definitely puts a smile on your face. It was a little bit too late, but at least I did get one in.

RHONDA GLENN: Speaking of the Match Play tournament, what's going to happen if you face Annika in match play?

PAT HURST: I'm going to go hopefully 18 holes (laughter).

RHONDA GLENN: Pat, you've been very gracious meeting with us this week. Thanks so much, and good luck to you.

PAT HURST: Thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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