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MICHELOB ULTRA OPEN AT KINGSMILLMay 13, 2007Suzann PettersenWILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA DANA GROSS-RHODE: Suzann, congratulations. SUZANN PETTERSEN: Thank you. DANA GROSS-RHODE: Thank you for coming in. I don't know if you can put it into words right now, but after so many close calls, close chances this year, how does this one feel? SUZANN PETTERSEN: It feels special, I must say. Well, I didn't expect to win. I mean, it felt like after yesterday, I thought it was okay, I'm a little too far back, but I'm still in the hunt. So I just thought if I can get out and post a number, that would be good and that's what I tried to do. And I played really good. The wind was good for me, made it a little difficult for the other ones. So, that was my plan. So when I finished on 18, I was like, at least I posted a number. So that was a nice feeling. Then the playoff, I mean, I had been pretty calm all day, not nervous. Probably the experience from Nabisco did come in. I just was letting it come to me and not try to force it. DANA GROSS-RHODE: Can we go over your scorecard real quick? SUZANN PETTERSEN: No. 2 was a little 4-iron to seven, eight feet. 3 was just short of the green in two. So I chipped it to about six feet and made the putt. 11, I hit a little wedge about 72 yards, and it was a little long. I made probably a 25-footer. The first playoff hole, I hit a pretty good shot the first time into the green, a little 5. I just tried to control the trajectory on the ball and it came out good and I really fancied a chip. So I really, really tried to make it and it was a pretty good effort. Then the second playoff, I got a little lucky with the driver. I pulled it a little bit. It was still far enough to carry over the trouble. Then I hit a tiny, tiny 9 over that uphill lie, and it was 106 to the pin. It was just a chip and a 9. And it was a good shot. I was in perfect position and hit a good putt from about eight, nine, ten feet. And just one of those where you feel like you hit a good putt and it didn't prop. On the third, I hit a tiny 7 from about 143 to the edge of the green, I don't know how far it was, 20 feet, 15 feet maybe. Then I had like a foot left. DANA GROSS-RHODE: And you are now third qualifier for the ADT Championship. SUZANN PETTERSEN: That's pretty cool. Q. You had two shots during the course of your round that almost were carbon copies of what you ended up with in the playoff. You had a putt from the fifth hole from the apron, the par 3, and then you had a chip shot at 16 that was pretty delicate. Did you have some confidence on the shots that you had to play in the playoff because of that? SUZANN PETTERSEN: Not really. I don't think so. Overall I felt really good with my game all week. It got better and better each day, so I mean, that lie I had on the putt of the last playoff hole, it's not ideal, it's not what you want. You just try to get the pace. It came out pretty good, and it was an aggressive stroke, so not too bad. Q. Were you even watching Jee Young when she missed the par putt? SUZANN PETTERSEN: Actually I played with Meena Lee today, and she had exactly the same putt and she missed it, as well. So I don't know if it's a hard line or -- I don't know, but I watched, yes. Q. Were you surprised? It looked like she rushed. I don't think she even marked it, did she? SUZANN PETTERSEN: I don't know. What can I say. Q. You chose not to putt out for that reason? SUZANN PETTERSEN: No, because I also had to mark the ball and clean it. So I thought I might as well wait. I was right, waiting for it. (Laughter). Q. You mentioned the wind was good for you today. Can you kind of expand on that a little bit, why did it help you? SUZANN PETTERSEN: I've been hitting the ball really good, so my ball-striking has been probably better than it was at Nabisco this week. So I thought I had been kind of in control off the tee and on my irons, so it felt like it was definitely to my advantage today. It was a bit more gusty and windy today. So, no, it turned out very good. Q. How much time did you spend thinking about winning? Just in your life, not today. SUZANN PETTERSEN: I mean, you've been dreaming of this since you're a kid. I've played on the European Tour and I had a chance to win there, and that was also a playoff. But, I mean, this is the league you want to play in, against the best players and on a course like this. You can't get much better. Q. What was your initial thought when you saw your ball disappear and you knew you won? SUZANN PETTERSEN: I don't know, I was like, "wow, it happened." Q. How satisfying is it? From what I've read about the last fewer holes in Nabisco, a couple of drives got away from you, and it seemed like today with that club in your hand, you were darned near flawless. SUZANN PETTERSEN: It's been long and good all week, so it's definitely been one of my strongest weapons this week. I mean, overall I felt really comfortable with my entire game. It felt better than Nabisco, so I felt like I was kind of one step ahead. And I was surprisingly very calm all the time. Q. Were you calm at Nabisco, and how did you react in the aftermath of Nabisco? SUZANN PETTERSEN: The last couple of holes at Nabisco was a bit tense; when I look back, you feel a little waste of energy here and there when the shots didn't come out as you thought. Today I just thought there's no point in wasting the energy, you just use it to your advantage and be calm and committed. That was part of my game plan today. Even the playoff, I wasn't -- I don't think my heart rate was much more than when I played the regular 18 holes. It could possibly the experience I had from a month ago or whatever it is already. It was good. Q. Did it take you a couple of days after Nabisco to get over it? SUZANN PETTERSEN: Of course, I was a bit disappointed but I was really happy, as well. It was a huge step for me to be in contention, almost pull it off. It was a great learning experience. It didn't take me many days. Monday was probably the worst day. When I picked up the phone and my caddie called on Monday, he was like, "You're still alive, that's a good sign." (Laughter) From there it was pretty much uphill. Q. Once you were on the green in the third playoff hole and you see how close she is and you see your predicament, do you figure, game's over or what? SUZANN PETTERSEN: I just told my caddie, "She's going to make this." He goes -- well, hopefully not. I just had a feeling she was going to make it. That's the game of golf. It can turn around so easy, either to your advantage or against you. So finally, I was patient enough to wait for it. Q. You said you didn't expect at beginning of the round to even be in contention today. At what point during the round did you kind of see a scoreboard or whatever and realize that you're right there in the thick of it? SUZANN PETTERSEN: I mean, last night, I talked to my coach and he said, "Just go out and play your game and try to post a low number." And I thought, I mean, if the conditions were like yesterday, I could easily see a 65 out there, 64, 65 out there with my game. Then I woke up and it was a bit windy, so, okay, that changes a little bit. Well, I had a pretty good start again, and then I didn't birdie the par-5 15th. I hit a poor drive and thought, okay, just do the job on the rest, the last three holes and see what you can be. So when I finished at 10, I thought, okay, and I knew she had played the par-5 15th. So I would not have thought 10 was going to win. Q. Did you ever see during the round, though, one of the scoreboards that you were right there? SUZANN PETTERSEN: Yeah, I kind of looked around. I knew what was going on. Q. Do you consider yourself a good match-play player; you've had good moments at Solheim. SUZANN PETTERSEN: Well, I hate to lose, that helps. Whatever it takes. (Laughter) Yeah, I would probably consider myself a pretty good match-play player. On the back in the playoff hole, it's a tough pin but all of the three shots I hit, I tried to go for the pin. I mean, there's no point in hitting right or try to be safe. You're in the playoff. If you feel you can pull the shots off, you just aim for the flag. So, I tried to stay aggressive. Q. When you played 18 in the regulation round, did you just not have a good lie in the fairway where you were and have to play a little bit safer? SUZANN PETTERSEN: No. It was kind of on a downhill lie. The bad shot off that lie is going to be left, so that is the last thing that you want to do. So it's easy to kind of control it out to the right but it was fine. Q. Had you reached either 7 or 15 during the earlier round? SUZANN PETTERSEN: Yeah, I had mid-irons into that green. Q. So your drives today -- SUZANN PETTERSEN: I just tried to make a birdie from the regular position. Q. Can you talk a little about playing the same hole over and over and over again; whether or not you get more comfortable as it goes on, or whether it gets a little bit unnerving to keep going back to the same tee box. SUZANN PETTERSEN: I don't know, I always felt comfortable on that tee box. I think that's where I usually hit my best drives. I mean, you have to take the chance when you get it, and I had my chance on the second time. I missed my putt and I thought, well, just try to stick one in there again and see what happens. Q. Could you talk just a little about growing up in Norway, a place where the golf season is very short. What drew you to this game, as opposed to a lot of the other things you could have done over there? SUZANN PETTERSEN: I don't know why I started playing golf because our winter is usually the longest part of our season. I don't know, my family plays golf. They couldn't leave me at home, so they just had to bring me to the golf course, and there I was, chipping around. I mean, it's a short season, but it's also a good thing because you get to work on technique during the wintertime, and you go to the south of Europe and you play and you practice and you come back and you practice your technique. Then you play all summer and the older you get, the more you play more international. Look at Sweden, they have produced a lot of good players. It's possible even though the climate is not ideal. You kind of use it to your advantage. Being part of kind of a winter sport country, you can take advantage of a lot of those athletes, what they do and kind of how they prepare. Q. Did you try skiing and skating and all of that? SUZANN PETTERSEN: If I didn't play golf, I would probably be a professional skier. That's actually what I love to do. Golf is just a job. Q. I was actually trying to monitor the tournament on some Norwegian Web sites where it's after midnight, and you're still big news over there; do you think the people over there were following you, staying up after midnight? Do they get it on TV? SUZANN PETTERSEN: At least my brother knew. (Laughter). No, I think they will. Q. Do you feel like you kind of cleared a hurdle today? A lot of people have been in contention, it has to happen more than once or twice, and they finally get over the hump and get a win. Does this make you -- you said the Kraft thing made you more comfortable. Does this make you more confident the next time you're in the same kind of situation, do you think? SUZANN PETTERSEN: Yes, I think so. Of course, it's a huge step to take your first win. A lot of players say that's the most difficult one. I mean, you grind; you grind; you grind. I'm just glad, it's been a great season. Even though the start of the season wasn't the best, I still felt I played good and just try to play my game, and all of a sudden I had a fantastic two-month stretch and finished it off with a win here. And playing next week, of course it's going to be -- it feels really good. Q. Did you switch coaches in the off-season? SUZANN PETTERSEN: Yeah, I switched coaches just before Christmas. Q. How do you feel you've benefited? SUZANN PETTERSEN: Well, it's been pretty good. It's been a pleasure to -- it was kind of hard to change. It's easy to stick with something that you know and you feel it's working but then don't get the results. To switch and get some new thoughts and new energy, fresh blood, that was a good -- smart move. It worked out really well. Q. You've played well here before, and you said you were just trying to post a number here, do you feel looking back that you might have thought you had a better chance to win a couple of years ago here, as opposed to today? SUZANN PETTERSEN: No. I mean, as good as I feel with my game and how I'm hitting it, no. This was the chance probably. I mean, all year, like at Nabisco, if I can't win now, I would never win, is how I felt about my game. But I've kind of stepped up and brought it to a little better level. I don't know -- no, today was the day. Q. Did the wind make you change your club selection much over your shots? SUZANN PETTERSEN: In the playoff holes? Q. No. During the round, because a lot of players seemed to be confused a lot during the round. SUZANN PETTERSEN: You hit some shots and all of a sudden a gust -- yeah, I had a few shots where you feel like -- I mean, the wind was going to gust and it was going to change and especially the front nine it was swirling around the trees all the time. Yeah, it was very hard. I just try to play the percentage shots all the time and keep the ball in play. Today was par was a good score. DANA GROSS-RHODE: Suzann, congratulations. End of FastScripts |
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