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LPGA CORNING CLASSIC

May 24, 2007

Paula Creamer

CORNING, NEW YORK

ASHLEY CUSHMAN: Thanks for joining us. You had a great round, 66, and you're currently tied for second. Talk about your day a little bit.
PAULA CREAMER: I gave myself plenty of chances out there for birdie. I didn't hit my driver quite as well as I have been the past couple tournaments, but when I missed I missed it in relatively okay spots. On the right holes I should say, except the last hole.
Overall it's the first day. I know I had to come out and just keep pace. I knew somebody was going to go low, so I just had to stay up around there.

Q. Can we go over your scorecard?
PAULA CREAMER: Sure. Birdie at No. 2. I went driver, 6-iron to about fifteen or twenty feet, 2-putt, birdie.
No.4, bogey. I hit my drive kind of left in the rough and I had to punch underneath a tree and had about 120 yards and kind of went long right. It was a really hard neck shot and I made bogey and putted it down to 80 feet and just missed my par putt.
Birdie on 5, Par 5. I went driver, driver 4-iron to about 30 feet and I made about a 2-putt, tap-in.
Birdie on 6. I went 4 rescue and then 50 degree wedge. I had 95 yards and I hit it to about 5 feet.
No. 6 it was 155, around there. I hit a little 6-iron to 6 feet and made birdie.
Wait, what am I saying? No, that was 7, right?
ASHLEY CUSHMAN: Yeah. 7 was a Par 3, 152. You're good. No. 10?
PAULA CREAMER: Okay. Sorry. No. 10, driver, 9-iron. I hit about 125 yards to about 5 feet. Birdied on 13. Really, really good birdie. I went driver, little 6-iron. I was in between clubs there and hit it to about 10 feet above the hole and made birdie.
14, hit my tee shot in the last rough so I just punched out to -- I had about 120 yards for my next shot and hit a little 9-iron above the hole about twenty feet or so and made a great putt. It was like four different breaks. It was a great putt. That's it.
ASHLEY CUSHMAN: Okay. Questions for Paula?

Q. Seeing what the morning scores were like, does that put a little more pressure on you to play a little more aggressively and attack the course?
PAULA CREAMER: Not necessary aggressively, but there's a little extra pressure. 7-under is a leading. You want to be able to stay up around that leader because it is -- you can't put yourself out of it really the first day, or win it the first day, but it's good to be around that.
So after the first couple holes I started to settle down and just make my birdies and went on a little run there for a while.

Q. Did you learn anything about the course from today's round that you can use going into tomorrow?
PAULA CREAMER: Oh, definitely. The greens are getting a little firmer and not spinning as much, so that's good. That makes it a little bit more difficult.
You know, the fairways are also getting a little firmer too, so that certain shots you can't be too aggressive off the tee. Just take your 3-wood or your -- I have a 4 rescue in my bag so sometimes I hit that. Those are the two biggest things.

Q. Coming in today and playing here for the first time in a tournament, is this the type of round that you sort of visualized?
PAULA CREAMER: Oh, yeah. I mean, anywhere you shoot 6-under, that's a good day. I'll take 6-under first day every day, no matter what the golf course is.
It's a good course to go low on, that's for sure. I said earlier if you miss in the wrong place you're going to make bogey. The greens here are so punishing if you're above the hole and you have to be aware of where you hit the ball.

Q. With so many low scores out today, there's a number in the 60s, does that leave little margin for error going into tomorrow?
PAULA CREAMER: Seems like a lot of our tournaments we have a really low first day and then it just kind of stays around there and gets better a couple times.
To run away with it, of course we're going to have to go back-to-back four times in a row to win this. It's always been a pretty low tournament.
I think, if you're aware of that going into it and you birdie all the Par 5s, you're 4-under right there. You're bound to make a couple other birdies. I think you just have to go into it with that mindset.

Q. (No microphone.)
PAULA CREAMER: I did. Not even those holes. I mean, No. 11 I missed a 4-footer for birdie. But I made some really good putts, too. Overall it was a good day. It was a stress-free day, and that's what you like. You like to come out your first round and have 7 birdies and 1 bogey.

Q. All three people in your group were shooting really well. What does that do as the round progresses for your attitude. Does it create a sense of camaraderie or a sense of competition?
PAULA CREAMER: Everybody's out there competing against the golf course. You're really only playing someone down the stretch in the last couple holes to win. But, yeah, JJ and Young Kim played good today. When you're in a group like that, people always making birdies, JJ holed out on 10, you want to be in that mix as well and be a part of that and play good.

Q. You last won in February. Seems like this year you've got so much more confidence than last year. Is that an accurate assessment?
PAULA CREAMER: Yeah. Last year my expectations were incredibly high. I think that I just came out and was just pushing way too hard on the golf course. I was very anxious.
This year I've kind of just more relaxed and settled down into the rounds. There's so much golf every week. If you have a bad week you have to turn around and bounce back.
Even out in the golf course if you have a bad hole it's not like it's all over. You got 10 holes left or whatnot. You just have to be strong and fight through it, and I think I learned that from last year.

Q. (No microphone.)
PAULA CREAMER: No. Yeah, I know. Scary. It's great to see that. I really am blessed that I've been given the opportunity to do this. I have a great family and team around me. It's such a balancing act out here.
When you see that, I think it's from the way you play. If you play good, I think you deserve to be like that.
I think that's a different assessment. But I think if you just go out and play your game then it's nice to see that. I don't really go looking for it, but I find it, so I see it.

Q. (No microphone.)
PAULA CREAMER: I mean, the harder the conditions I like that. I think that's great. Today is a beautiful day. Not much wind. That's with why the scores were low, too. You can just fire at thing. It's nice to be able to go to different climates. I live in Florida right now, so I'm used to this hot, muggy weather.
I have traveled so many different places and played in so many different climates like that. But, you know, I just like the harder the better, I guess. We'll take sunny days though for sure.

End of FastScripts

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