	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

KRAFT NABISCO CHAMPIONSHIP

March 31, 2007

Meaghan Francella

RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIFORNIA

DANA GROSS-RHODE: Let's go over your score card.
MEAGHAN FRANCELLA: 5, the par 3, I hit 7-iron, to like 15 feet and had a straight-in put.
11 I hit it in the right trees off the tee and then punched out and hit a 7-iron to about four feet and made birdie.
15, I hit 9-iron to about five feet.
18, putt from six feet.
DANA GROSS-RHODE: You had a great round, no bogeys and on this course not a lot of people have done that this weekend. Talk about the tournament to date.
MEAGHAN FRANCELLA: I think at the beginning of the week I just decided hey, people are going to make bogeys here; if I hit it in the rough just take my medicine and chip out and get up-and-down for par.
On 16, I did not hit the fairway until today. I got up-and-down from 16 yards the first day and 95 yards the second day to make par, and I've made a lot of great up-and-downs this week. That's what's saving me is my short game. So if I can just keep it in the fairway on 16, I'll be fine.

Q. Three weeks ago you were not even in this field, and today you're tied for second. Does any part of that amaze you?
MEAGHAN FRANCELLA: Well, I just told somebody that I didn't even think I was going to get in this tournament, and you know, anything that happened after getting in this tournament was a bonus because I just wanted to be here.
I mean, this is a great event and a lot of history. I'm just happy to be here. So I'm pretty excited. Just trying not to get ahead of myself right now. Obviously I want to win the tournament, but like I said, there's a lot of great players out there, and, you know, I've seen a lot of stuff happen on 18 in the past couple of years.

Q. I take it you've never been here before?
MEAGHAN FRANCELLA: No, I played here Q-School three years ago.

Q. Which course?
MEAGHAN FRANCELLA: We played one round on the Dinah Course and I shot 75. And I actually -- this is my first year -- that was my first Q-School and I shot 65 on the Palmer to get in. So I have good memories of this place. I just thought the Dinah course was really difficult when I played it.
It's still difficult, yeah.

Q. Do you look upon this as a kind of backing up the first win, or does the first win give you the confidence to come here and play as well as you have?
MEAGHAN FRANCELLA: I think after México, I was feeling really confident. Obviously I missed the cut in Phoenix by a shot but I was really playing well. Obviously I had to reassess my goals and say, hey, you know, now I want to try and win a major.
So if that happens tomorrow, I'm going to be thrilled, but if not, I'll take a lot from this experience, being in contention in a major, my first full season on Tour.

Q. How many good par saves did you have today; a bunch, a few, could you just list those?
MEAGHAN FRANCELLA: I had one on 13, I got up-and-down from 92 yards. I think that was the only -- maybe one other one just off the green. On the first two holes I missed the green and got up-and-down, but they were straightforward chip shots.

Q. You mentioned earlier how your short game had saved you.
MEAGHAN FRANCELLA: Over the first two days yeah.

Q. How hard is it when you do miss to get within comfortable range of the hole, which would be I guess, what, 12 inches and in?
MEAGHAN FRANCELLA: What did you say?

Q. How hard is it when you do miss the green to get within tap-in range, instead of those 3- or 4- or 5-footers?
MEAGHAN FRANCELLA: It's difficult. I had a lot of 3- and 4-footers to save par. Have not had a lot of tap-ins. Like I said, I hit in the rough on 13 and I had a bad lie. I had to hit pitching wedge out and laid up to a yardage I felt comfortable with and that I know I can get up-and-down from.

Q. How far --
MEAGHAN FRANCELLA: Four feet.

Q. I realize you have not been chasing Annika for a few years but most of this field has. How strange is it here in a major to have this cluster of players near the top and Annika is to the one of them? Does this validate what people have been saying; that there are so many good players?
MEAGHAN FRANCELLA: Annika is a great player but I think a lot of people forget that there are tons of great players out here.
A hundred people are in this field I think and a hundred people are capable of winning. So you know, I just think that there are a lot of great players out here, and anybody can win.

Q. You said you had to reassess your goals; that's pretty early on in the season to start reassessing goals. Other than a major, was it every goal that you had had to be reassessed or suddenly you're thinking Player of the Year?
MEAGHAN FRANCELLA: I think obviously I'm out of the Rookie of the Year because I had conditional status last year. But that would have been a goal.
You know obviously now I'm thinking about Solheim Cup. Everybody just keeps talking about Solheim Cup, Solheim Cup, so it's hard not to think about it.
That was a goal in the beginning of the year, but really it was way in the back of my head. Now I think it's more reachable.

Q. For someone who did not know that she was going to be here a couple of weeks ago, you seem to have a huge following; did you bring all of these people with you?
MEAGHAN FRANCELLA: No, to be honest with you, I was like crying the other day because people are like, "Oh, are your parents coming?"
"Nobody's coming."
"Nobody's coming to your first major?"
"No."
And then I decided to have my uncle come out. He came out from New York. But that's it. And a couple of my friends, they live in California, but I didn't have too many people. I guess I just -- I don't know, they just came out and followed and everybody has been so nice here. So, yeah, I don't know those people. (Laughter).

Q. So your New York style is egging on the crowd, not the crowd egging on you?
MEAGHAN FRANCELLA: I think the crowd loves to get into it. I'm just having fun out here. Obviously I want to play well, but in order to play well I think it's important to have fun and that's what I'm trying to do.
DANA GROSS-RHODE: Thank you.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297