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GINN CLUBS & RESORTS OPEN

April 26, 2006

Annika Sorenstam

ORLANDO, FLORIDA

PAM WARNER: Annika, thanks for coming in and joining us today, new event, can you talk about playing here?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I'm very excited that we're back to Orlando. Obviously, to be a resident here and have a little bit of a connection to the Ginn Company, I'm very excited to come here and get a chance to really showcase this place. It's a really fantastic place, and I'm anxious to get around and see what they have done. The course is in excellent shape, and you know, just fun to be here. It's going to be a good tournament.

Q. Follow up on that a little bit, it's been awhile now since the Tour has had a full field event in Florida, do you feel like it's about time and especially having a home here, being able to sleep at home and drive to a tournament must be kind of nice?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Oh, it is kind of nice. I just hope I make my tee time. It seems like there's a lot to do. I have to take out the trash and get the phone and all that, and all of a sudden I have to rush to the course, which is what happened this morning.

No, it's great to be back in Orlando. We have not had a full field event here in quite some time, and this to me is a good golf town, or city. There's a lot of courses to showcase women's golf, and I'm glad it's here and I'm glad we're back and hopefully it will stay here for some time.

Q. How would you assess the early part of the season? Has there been any frustration level right now or are you satisfied with what's happened so far in the first few events?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I would say I'm very satisfied. I got off to a good start in Mexico, thought I played pretty solid. The last two events it's been a little bit up and down. I'm playing some really good golf and then I'm mixing it with not so good golf.

So I hope to find a little bit of consistency the next few weeks and maybe the start of this week, I have my coach in town. My game, it's just up and down, a lot of birdies, a lot of bogeys. The good stuff is good, so hopefully I can eliminate the bad.

Q. Anything you're working on in?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: A little bit of driving, a little bit of some of the short game. I'm very happy the way I'm hitting my irons, probably as good as I have in a really long time. So luckily that part is working great. But I think I have to fine tune it and clean it up a little bit.

Q. There's a lot of talk about an academy for you, your golf academy, can you give us an update on that?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, we've come a really long ways and we're about to sign a contract, with me and Reunion, and we're going to put it on the other side of the driving range. It's going to be a golf school for about seven or eight months of the year. We're going to combine golf training with fitness. It's going to have my name on it, but the people that come here, they are going to be able to work with my swing coach and my fitness coach and once in awhile I will make an appearance and play some golf as well.

Q. A fitness center to go with it, are they separate, can you belong to one and not the other and vice versa?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: It's not really about belonging to a certain part of the school. You come in for different packages and different type of instruction and some of the programs we have are going to combine with golf instruction and fitness, so when you leave, hopefully you'll be swinging better and you'll have a program you can take home and work on at home.

Q. Between Carly and Dakoda, you've got a couple of girls that might be able to attend that academy. What's it been like playing with those two youngsters the last couple of days?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: It's been really good. They are both very, very talented. They are still very young and they have a lot to learn and a lot to experience. They are impressive, both of them are. I mean, it's fun to see, because, you know, golf is really growing and you can see these young girls, 13, 14 years old are really impressive. They already work with coaches; they already are doing their fitness and already talking about driving it 250 yards. When I was that age, you know, I didn't really talk about that. It was just more let's go play a little bit and that was it.

Now they are totally serious and they come out here and one is playing in the event and one is playing in the Pro Am. It's fun to see and it's really great that so many young girls are picking up the game and they are so good at such young ages?

Q. Dakoda's appearance has drawn a lot of media attention and I'm assuming you can relate having gone through that at the Colonial, do you plan on saying anything to her or trying to give her any advice?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, I mean, I've had a chance to spend some time with her already and we already talked about it. I think she's as prepared as she can be. I think the key for her here is just to come out, enjoy it, absorb the atmosphere, it's a fantastic place to be and just have some fun. I told her, enjoy this week, this is what this is all about. If you play great, you know, you will. It's more about being part of the whole thing and just being able to fulfill a dream, it's pretty cool.

Q. There's been steroid scandal in baseball and other sports with golf becoming such a power game, could you ever foresee steroids infiltrating this sport?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, that's a good question. I mean, I guess time will tell. But I definitely hope not. I mean, this is a game of power, it's a game of finesse, it's about accuracy. I mean, I hope is that you know, if you think about it, when you go out there and play, we're kind of our own officials out there, and I hope that it stays that way, even outside the golf course so, when you come here it's going to be fair and square. That's what I'm hoping for.

Q. Could you talk about the last time you played close to home and how much the Tour has changed since that last time?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: You mean here in Orlando or just in general home? I've lived in many places and I've had tournaments

Q. What would be close to home?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I played in Sweden last year, which was pretty close to home. It's not an LPGA event but I think I mean, the game itself has grown, the Tours are growing all over the world. It's not necessarily just the LPGA. The game is getting better, the tournaments are getting bigger, the purses are growing. I mean, everything is going in the right direction, whether it's a year ago or five years ago, you can see the progress. I bet ten years from now, I can say I played in Orlando in 2006 and it was great then and it's still getting better.

Q. You just finished playing with Carly, what are your thoughts on some of the skill level that she's at right now, do you see a little of you or what?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I mean, I was very impressed with her. She's only 14, but she hits the ball a long ways and she had her sister on the bag. She was so supportive in telling her what to do. The chemistry between them was pretty cool to see.

She has too much potential. She already hits it a long ways. She has a good short game. When we were out there we were talking a lot, she was asking a lot of questions, how can I get better, and she is just really keen on learning more. I think at that age it's just great to pick up some pointers here and there. For her to be a part of this week, and I told her, look around a little bit and see how the other players practice; what's their routine on the practice tee and how do they practice putting, etc. I said this is a great week for you to learn a lot. She was totally excited and I think she learned a lot, and also, she realized, I'm pretty good and one day I want to do this.

Q. There's now a rising generation of American stars like Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel, what do you think that could do for the popularity of the women's game here in the United States?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I think it's going to grow the game even more and I think it's going to make the LPGA even more popular. I would like to say that this is the beginning of a new generation. These are two names of many that's coming up and have a dream to play on the LPGA.

Q. On Sunday if you had shot under par and somebody simply beat you because they shot one lower, would that have been easier to take than the way it happened, or does it not matter when you don't win?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Oh, it matters. (Laughter).

I'm competitive, and yeah, I was very disappointed in the way I played on Sunday. I mean, I was in great shape. I played really good for three days and I made a few mistakes down the stretch. Of course I was disappointed in myself and wished things would have been a little different. You know, when I look back on my career, I've been very fortunate. A lot of times, I've been on the good side.

I think, you know, this just gives me a little bit more fire and maybe that's what I need for the rest of the season.

Q. We have seven tournaments, I think there's one American winner, and that was Juli Inkster, and are you surprised maybe that the younger like Paula Creamer, has not been up there more this year so far this season?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, like you said, it's only been seven events. You have to remember that there are a lot of good players out here. The depth is there and the talent is there, and you can't forget that.

You know, even though you write more things about certain players doesn't mean they are better players. It's tough out here. You have to play very consistent. You have to be able to pull through down the stretch. Let's see where the season, after 20, 30 tournaments, maybe then we can look at it and evaluate a little bit. Right now it's too early in the season I think, for me, to even think about it.

Q. One of your goals in your career is to catch Kathy Whitworth's 88 wins. You're at 67 now, are you going to stay with it until you beat her record or are you trying real hard for it? What's going on there?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, you know, I said this before, that, you know, when I came out on Tour, I didn't even know that I could win a single tournament. So that was never a goal of mine to have the most victories on Tour, and it has not been for maybe the last two years that I thought, wow, I'm doing pretty good and maybe one day I have a chance.

It's a little bit of a goal but again, I just want to focus on each year in time. I'd like to win some majors and then we'll see what happens. I know I'm a player that won't be out here forever. I have a lot of interests off the golf course that I would like to pursue a little bit more one of these days. We'll see what happens. Who knows, if I'm at 85 or 87, maybe I'll push a little harder. But until then, I'm going to continue to do what I'm doing.

Q. You've accomplished so much in your career so far, had some unbelievable seasons, ten wins a year ago, what do you consider a good year for you now at this stage of your career?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I've gotten a little spoiled, I must say. Every year I set some goals and it's about the majors and about a few other tournaments, but I must say that I think I've done a lot better than I expected. You know, especially now, sitting here I've played, what, four events or five events and I've won twice, including the World Championship. I have to put things in perspective. It's not necessarily all about the amount of wins I measure in the season, but the consistency is very important to me. Last year I would say is probably one of the best years I've had, maybe the best or the second to best.

This year, just come out in the first event and you think, how am I going to improve from last year. That's putting a lot of pressure on myself, so I try to change the goals a little bit. I looked a lot at my stats and trying to improve in different areas. If I improve there and win some majors, then it might be a better year.

Q. How much more difficult is it getting to win, though, with the depth of talent that the Korean players have shown? We've talked about the Americans not winning, but the Korean players have come true and won several tournaments.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Oh, it's totally getting tougher, every year, I'd like to say the last five years, you've seen a lot of players from all around the world and especially Korea. They have a lot of talent and they seem to do really well once they get to the top on the leaderboard and they seem to stay there.

So it does get tougher every year, and having said that, I mean, I've got to get better. I've got to get more consistent, so it takes a lot more hard work and you have really, really play your best to have a chance to win nowadays.

Q. How much does being physically fit and strong help a golfer?

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I think a lot, a lot, in many ways. Especially the season is so long, my season is ten months, when you travel overseas three or four times a year and practice pretty much every day, a lot of travel. I mean, it wears on your body. So I think the better shape you are, the stronger, I think you can prolong your career, you can probably prolong the season and be more steady.

PAM WARNER: Thank you, Annika.

End of FastScripts.

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