BMO FINANCIAL GROUP CANADIAN WOMEN'S OPEN

July 13, 2003

Beth Daniel

Q. We'd like to welcome the winner of the BMO Financial Group Canadian Women's Open, Beth Daniel. Thanks for joining us and congratulations on the win. It is your first since 1995. A long time to wait for your next win. Could you maybe tell us about how it feels to be a winner after a few years?

BETH DANIEL: Well it's been awhile. I think you go through a spell that long and you kind of start wondering, number one, if you're ever going to win again and number two, maybe you're too old to be out here. But I always had confidence in myself. I always felt like I was going to win again. And it's funny, all week here I was very calm, I was very confident. I felt like it was my golf tournament. And the only time I got a little derailed on that was the two shot swing on 13 or 12 where Juli made the birdie and I made the bogey. And all of a sudden I didn't have the lead any more. So I just had to dig in deep and try to get it back. And it came down to the last two holes.

Really, Juli should have made that putt on 17. I don't know what happened to that putt. It went right at the hole. And it should have turned left. It should have continued to turn left. And for some reason her putt went right. My ball was just inside right putt there. But it kind of opened the door and it was a battle the whole way. And for a golf tournament to come down to the last hole like that it's a spectator's dream. It was pretty neat to be a part of it.

Q. Run us through what was going through your mind. Juli hit her wedge in real close, almost hopped in the hole as a matter of fact. So what are you thinking then and then run us through that last putt when had you like a 6-footer?

BETH DANIEL: Yeah, it was right at 6 feet. That's a tough shot because with the moisture on the greens from the rain the last couple of days, you got to be careful not to over spin that shot. And it really was a wedge shot for me, but I played a 9-iron. Because yesterday I hit the wedge, I had the same distance, I hit the wedge and I spun it all the way back to the front of the green. So I knew that after she hit that shot that I had to keep it up top. And I just took a 9-iron and basically just bumped it in there with as little spin as I could put on it. And it stayed up top and spun back enough just to come a little bit below the hole. And it gave me a really good look at it.

Q. Do you soak this win in a lot more now than you did in 1995?

BETH DANIEL: Well, yeah, maybe you do. Definitely I'm in the so-called autumn of my career. And yeah, I think you enjoy it a lot more when it gets to that point. When the wins get few and far between. And it's been a year where a lot of people had given up on me. There were people that hadn't given up on me, but there were some that had given up on me. I love this game and that's why I'm still playing and I kept saying that I'll play as long as I still feel like I can win out here. I proved it today. I've had a lot of disappointments in those 8 years or whatever, but I've been close and didn't do it and today I was able to come through and win it.

Q. You talked about how deciding a tournament on 18 is a spectator's dream. What about as a player?

BETH DANIEL: Well I tell you what, it's pretty cool to stand over a 6-footer and just tell yourself let's just get it over with right now. Let's just knock this thing in the hole and no sudden death play off. And I did. It was a tough putt, it was probably a 6 inch break, kind of a speed putt. But I hit a great putt.

Q. Follow-up up on that, how does this compare to the concert from the weekend?

BETH DANIEL: Well, the concert was pretty good, but this is a lot better.

(Laughter.)

Q. Juli talked to us a little while ago, she talk about how some young players on the Tour, that she said, "If some of the young players worked as hard as Beth and I do, their game would be better". What do you think that says about you when so many people want to talk about the teenagers and other young players?

BETH DANIEL: I look at the teenagers and the young players and I think there's a great future in women's golf. But Juli's right. There's one thing that Juli Inkster, Betsy King and myself all have in common. And Juli's younger than Betsy and myself, but we're all in our 40s. And all of us love to practice, we love to work on our game and we love the game. And that's something that the three of us have in common. And I have no problem going out on the driving range at home and beating balls for hours and hours just trying to get it right. As a matter of fact, that's one of the things that I most enjoy about golf. I have no problem working at the game and trying to learn and that's sort of what keeps me in it. But there's a lot of younger players that work pretty hard at it too, so I just think that the three of us in particular have always worked hard and any time you have a good work ethic, it has a tendency to eventually pay off.

Q. You have become the oldest player to ever win an event. Was there a time when you thought of giving up?

BETH DANIEL: Am I the oldest player to ever win an event? Is that true? I thought it was August.

(Laughter.) I'm proud of that. I'm proud of that. Actually that was a goal this year. That was a goal of mine this year to be the oldest player to ever win on the LPGA Tour. So I thought winning this event when I won today, the thought crossed my mind that it's a month early, I'll win again. I didn't realize that this did it. You sure about that? Okay. All right. I had it figured out August. But I must have figured it wrong. Somebody's going to be really mad at me. It makes it really sweet. That's a goal that I had this year. I accomplished a goal. I wanted to get back in the winner's circle, that's another goal. Yeah, I think that's pretty neat. Longevity, it says a lot. And I look at a Kathy Whitworth who played for a long time and continued to win and continued to compete well. I'm proud of myself for having the longevity that I've had.

Q. Go over your scorecard with us, please. Tell us what you hit in and how far the putt was, please.

BETH DANIEL: Okay. Birdied the first hole. From 95 yards. And I made about a 20-footer.

Q. What club did you hit in?

BETH DANIEL: I hit pitching wedge. I was in the rough there and hit a pitching wedge out.

I birdied the third hole. I was in the bunker in two, green side bunker. I blasted out to five feet. Made that.

I birdied the 8th hole. And I had the a 5-iron in there and made about a 30-footer. Is that right? Yeah.

I bogeyed 12. I drove it in the right rough. Then I hit it short of the green in the rough. I hit another shot out and 2-putted from about 20 feet for bogey.

Then I birdied 17 and 18. 17, I hit an 8-iron to about five feet. I made that.

And 18 I hit the 9-iron to 6 feet and made that.

Q. Question about your putting. How long have you had the long putter?

BETH DANIEL: I started using the long putter in April of 2000. So I've had it a little over three years.

Q. Did it take long to get used to it?

BETH DANIEL: Yeah, it took a long time. As a matter of fact at the open last week on telecast I guess Gary Koch told the story, he saw me at one of my first attempts at putting with along putter and I was pitiful. And Gary and Jim Ferree both told me to give it up, that I had no chance of ever putting with a long putter. But my teacher, Mike McGetrick convinced me to use it and I said, you know what, if you want me to use it, you have to come teach me how to use it, because I have no clue. So we spent a lot of time and I actually practiced for months with the short putter and the long putter. And finally I used it for the first time in the Chick-fil-A Championship in April of 2000. And I carried two putters in the bag. I carried the long and the short putter, I took the 3-iron out. Because I didn't know what was going to happen under pressure. And I have never gone back since and I actually wish I had gone to it earlier. It made a huge difference in my putting.

Q. (Inaudible.)

BETH DANIEL: '91, no. I was not here. And why wasn't I here? Yeah, that's right. My dog died the week before, which sounds -- I got massacred for it.

Q. (Inaudible.)

BETH DANIEL: I got massacred for not coming here. But I withdrew because I had someone at the time that was taking care of my dogs. My dogs drowned in the swimming pool and I had to go home and take care of everything that ensued after that. So I withdrew from the event.

Q. Thank you.

BETH DANIEL: Okay. Thank you.

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