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KRAFT NABISCO CHAMPIONSHIP

March 27, 2007

Karrie Webb

RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIFORNIA

DANA GROSS-RHODE: Karrie, thank you for coming, you are the defending champion of the 2006 Kraft Nabisco Championship and you are back. A little different conditions today, but after having the season that that win kick-started for you last year, what does it mean to be back here?
KARRIE WEBB: Well, I didn't play the tournament course today. I was on the Palmer Course but obviously I played a practice round yesterday. It was obviously very special to be back, and especially playing 18 yesterday afternoon was a lot of fun. Mikey and I were trying to fine the spot where I hit my shot from, trying to get the yardage and stuff.

Q. Did you drop a ball from 116 yards and try and hole it yet?
KARRIE WEBB: Yeah, we didn't try and hit from there, but we were sort of looking -- it's amazing that you don't remember exactly where you were. Like I thought I was a little further back from the bunkers; we were up sort of in the middle of them. Mikey said if I had run at him a bit harder, he would have ended up in one of the bunkers there.

Q. With the year now coming back to the scene of the crime so to speak, does it all flood back or have you had a year to digest it and it's just a nice memory now?
KARRIE WEBB: Yeah, it obviously did yesterday, coming back here, and again like I said, playing 18. But you know, it's a memory that I in the past year, there have not been many days where it has not crossed my mind at least once.
So, you know, to be back here is very special, and obviously sometimes it feels like a long time ago, but sometimes I can't believe it was a year ago. It's just one of those things that happen in your life that you're very lucky to actually have experienced, and you wish you could actually experience it again if you could. Once is pretty lucky; if you could do it again, that would be pretty amazing.

Q. Your performance in Phoenix probably was not what you were expecting, is there anything that you've been working on since then?
KARRIE WEBB: No, the same thing. Last week really caught me off-guard. I had prepared very well and practiced well. Just got off to a poor start on Thursday, and just never recovered.
So that was probably the disappointing part was that I never got settled in and played very well. But again, just I think it was one of those weeks that those things happen, and I don't expect to play that sort of golf this week.

Q. How much are you reminded of that shot on 18, and specifically today, how many times did you hear about it, and maybe yesterday how many times have you heard about it?
KARRIE WEBB: Yeah, I think to me, apart from the actual experience itself, one of the fun things that I've experienced over the past year is initially right after I won, I heard all the stories from family and friends and where they were and what they did. It was always fun to hear those. And to hear from fans as well, where they were, sitting on the couch, or you know, they were at their local golf club watching it; how excited everyone got.
So that's been really fun to hear those stories, and obviously it's a great moment in my life and I don't mind talking about it.

Q. It was a springboard for five victories last year. Did you feel that something was coming that week of last year?
KARRIE WEBB: I didn't know if it was going to be that week. But I had done a lot of hard work over the off-season, and felt that I was pretty close. I think my biggest hurdle was being a bit more comfortable on the course mentally, and you know, obviously that's where the win here really jump started my year, because I think it allowed me to settle down and go out and trust the hard work that I had done and put that into play rather than doubting myself.

Q. And could you talk to me about they are going to play Sunday's final round and Friday's final round from 485 on 18.
KARRIE WEBB: Say that again? I couldn't hear.

Q. They are going to play 18 from 485 yards. Can you talk about what that creates on the 72nd hole come Sunday, just talk about that 18th hole, please.
KARRIE WEBB: Well, I think you all witnessed it last year, how exciting of a finish that was. You know, 485 sounds like a pretty short par-5 finishing hole in a major championship. But with the way -- an island green, it makes for risk/reward and obviously Lorena eagled the 18th or 72nd hole as well to force a playoff. And then we both went for the green in two in the playoff.
It definitely makes for it to be very exciting. Birdies and eagles, you don't see lots of those in major championships, and so that's -- two people that eagled the last to go into a playoff doesn't happen very often. Still, I'm hearing how exciting of a finish it was, and fans are remembering this tournament even a year later.

Q. The great players have this ability to produce spectacular shots at the most unexpected moment. Did you used to do this as a junior or younger player, or is there anything that you did as a younger player that matches that? I realize for a major it's impossible, but the ability to wipe out the opposition.
KARRIE WEBB: No, I don't think so. Like I was saying earlier, you're lucky enough to do it once, and you really wish you could do it again, just to experience the sensations that I felt.
But you know, that was the biggest shot of my career, and really, again, not just because it propelled me to win, but it sort of turned my career back into the positive and playing well again.

Q. Aside from Phoenix last week you were off to a great start, a couple of wins in Australia, and third in the event in Hawaii; do you feel like you're playing the way you played last year in the middle of the year when you were winning tournaments?
KARRIE WEBB: In the middle of the year, is that what you said?

Q. Yeah.
KARRIE WEBB: I think so. It's hard to say. We haven't played in tons of great weather at the start of this year. My first four tournaments, and the first round last week, we played in a tremendous amount of wind.
So I think if anything, I developed just a couple of bad habits, and then my three weeks off after Hawaii, it was really windy, I'm sure you would have seen the men playing down in Florida how windy it was. And then playing today was fun as well. (Laughing).
I'm ready for -- it sounds like our four days this week are going to be good weather. If there's any breeze, it's not going to be ridiculous. I'm ready to not be standing, bracing myself to hit a golf shot. I think things are very good in that regard. I think I just was getting a little tired of playing in the wind.

Q. Annika just spoke about you complimentary at the press conference prior to this, and she said that she is missing this battling back and forth a few years ago with you. Are you going to give her some more excitement this year, rivalry?
KARRIE WEBB: Well, I hope I can. I think Lorena certainly is. You know, I'd like to be in that mix, as well.

Q. Just wondering about the Pro-Ams you girls have to play, like two days in a row with four amateur companions; it's hardly the ideal preparation, is it? I mean, how do you accommodate it.
KARRIE WEBB: Well, every major we play is at least one Pro-Am anyway. It's been this way -- well, long before I came on Tour. I played 12 years of two-day Pro-Ams, so I don't know how you prepare for it. You just know that you've got to do it. So it's not really something that you concern yourself with I guess.

Q. How do you think the men would accommodate it?
KARRIE WEBB: It wouldn't happen. (Laughter).

Q. If you could give yourself, this time last year, a percentage of your level of confidence, and how much it's gone up this year?
KARRIE WEBB: Oh, that's probably pretty hard, but you know, obviously, I think my confidence was growing last year. But I still didn't have that ultimate belief. I would say my confidence is close to as high as it's ever been on the golf course I think.
It's hard to compare because when you're a rookie or a few years into your career, you play with a lot of just no fear, just from being young and lack of experience. So I don't think you ever regain that carefreeness on the golf course that you have when you're first starting out and you're young -- not that I'm old. But you guys tend to call me a veteran, so I'll start thinking that way.
You know, you never regain that freeness I don't think. But with experience, you understand a lot more things and you understand yourself better to be able to handle the lack of confidence and stuff like that. You learn how to deal with it.

Q. You mentioned Lorena; you battled all year for Money List, Player of the Year. She had been out here a couple years and last year was the big breakthrough year. You have experienced that. Did you see anything different in here last year that vaulted her to that same level that you had and Annika had been at the last few years?
KARRIE WEBB: I don't think so. I think just like anyone that's playing consistently well every week, their confidence grows and grows. I think she learned a lot from this tournament last year. You know, what did she shoot, 10-under the first round? Really it was her tournament to win after that and didn't get the job done. I think she really learned from that, because later in the year, she had a couple of tournaments where she had leads and won, and then at Samsung, she beat Annika down the stretch.
So I think those experiences after this experience really gave her the confidence to really continue playing as well as she did last year this year.

Q. Annika was in here earlier and talked about how she had to go back and find her swing in the off-season. When was the last time you had to go back and find your swing?
KARRIE WEBB: I think I'm always working on my swing. I don't think it's something that you ever feel 100% -- you do at times feel 100% great about it, but then as soon as you think that, there's something else that you need to work on.
You know, I've changed my swing probably two, two and a half years ago now, and I think that's still a work-in-progress for me. The only difference from now to two and a half years ago is I have a little bit more of an understanding of the swing that I have now.

Q. When you were younger, would you have thought you would be going through this kind of adjustment through this stage of your career?
KARRIE WEBB: Yeah, I think so, just understanding the game of golf; that there's always room for improvement.
You know, I didn't think that I was immune to not having to make changes to get better and obviously the standard of golf increases out here every year. So you have to sit down and work out what you need to do to keep up with that standard or stay ahead of that standard.
DANA GROSS-RHODE: Thank you very much. Karrie, good luck.

End of FastScripts

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