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GINN TRIBUTE HOSTED BY ANNIKA

June 2, 2007

Cristie Kerr

MOUNT PLEASANT, SOUTH CAROLINA

DANA GROSS-RHODE: Let's go over your scorecard real quick.
CRISTIE KERR: We started on the first hole, No. 3, kind of hit it in the right rough off the tee and hit a 7-wood to the back part of the green. I left my putt probably 10 feet short and made that for birdie.
On No. 6, I hit like 5-wood off the tee, little pitching wedge into the green and made about a 12-, 15-footer for birdie, from 110 yards out.
On 8, I actually hit it to eight or ten feet and it lipped out.
On 9, I hit kind of like a sand wedge pin-high right and paid about a 20-footer for birdie.
10, I actually made I a really good 2-putt from the right of the fringe to save par, from 40, 45 feet up and oath the ridge.
The par 5, I hit a perfect sand wedge just past the pin and left it about eight feet and made that.
12, I actually hit 4-iron -- I hit 3-wood, 4-iron into that green and I had about 25 feet and it lipped out.
13, I hit a little 7-iron perfect behind the hole about ten feet and made that. It was really into the wind on that shot. I think we had about 141 yards. I think it's 141 yards. So it was really into the wind.
15, bogey. I told Ron coming in here, it was the heaviest down poor that we had all day. I actually hit a really good shot into the green. Just hit it a little bit too solid with a little 7-iron on the back fringe and it just started pouring. There's a little hut right there, I cold Jason, my caddie, to go put the bag under there. I actually had it read perfect. It almost hit the hole to stop it, but I misread it and went by about ten feet and didn't hit a very good putt coming back.
16, I actually made about -- I hit not a great drive. 4-iron, lay up, kind of lazy into the right rough on an upslope and was kind of in-between clubs and knocked it over the green on 16 and chipped it up there and made about a 20-footer for par.
17, I hit 6-iron to about 20 feet and made that for birdie on 17 and 18, par.
DANA GROSS-RHODE: Obviously by the conditions that are outside and despite the fact that it's been raining all day, you had a very solid round. Just talk about what was clicking out there for you?
CRISTIE KERR: I've just been working on my swing for the last month with my coach, Brian Lebedevitch. He's come out to see me quite a few times. My swing, just at the end of last year through the beginning of this year, got really across the line at the top and it's really hard to save the downswing when you're like that.
So I've really been working hard with him and with Jason, my caddie, to get the club laid off more on line at the top so less can happen. You know, the swing is more repeatable. So I've been working really, really hard on that and on my short game.
I went to Korea two weeks ago and I actually putted so poorly with the putter I putted so well with last year, I basically said I'm taking that out and I bought a putter in the pro shop there for 290 million Won, however much it was, 290 U.S. I think, a PING Craz-E putter, and I have just absolutely putted 'crazy' with it. It's funny how things work out.

Q. You've been the dominant American for the last few years and several Americans have won already on Tour this year. Were you worried that all that maybe your title was going to be in jeopardy here or was that something that spurs you on at all?
CRISTIE KERR: It definitely spurs me on. You definitely have to work where you are to stay where you are on this tour. Competition gets better and better every year. And if you don't play well you're going to lose your World Ranking, you're going to lose where you are on the Money List and that's just the way it is nowadays. You have to play well kind of every week to stay where you are.
Morgan Pressel won this year; she was one of my bridesmaids, I was very happy for her; and Paula won, also one of my friends. It's nice to see some of the other American players winning as well, and that the rise of American golf is now kind of on the -- coming on its way back up, which is nice to see. We've been very dominated on the Tour by European and Asian players over the last several years, and it's nice to see the American golf kind of turning its head around.

Q. How do players or do you personally block out the rain because it is kind of annoying to be out there, grips are wet and you can never stay dry, you were talking about being cold before; how do you block that out and just go on?
CRISTIE KERR: It is difficult and you just have to realize it's going to be difficult for everybody. You just hope it's not pouring down rain like a horrible downpour like on the toughest holes of the course because then you're kind of unlucky. It's kind of the same for everybody.
This is my 11th year on Tour and we've played in a lot of days like this. So you kind of know what to expect. You know how it's going to be. You know it's going to be a day where you have to really grind out every shot, take as much time as you need to really dry out the grips, you're not in a rush.
So those are the little things that you have to do well to try and, you know, basically give yourself the best opportunity to may well in these kind of adverse conditions.

Q. How hard is it going to be to track down Lorena tomorrow?
CRISTIE KERR: I don't know really what she's at right now but she's definitely at the top of her game. She's been at the top of her game for over a year now. If we have another day like we had today tomorrow, if I put another round like this, it's anybody's ballgame.
But I'm just really, really satisfied with the work that I've put in with my game. I've made little improvements over the last several weeks, finished second in Korea when I went there, had I had the Ping Craz-E putter there the second day I probably would have done better. I'm just satisfied with the work I've put in and the results that I'm seeing in my game and it's nice to be back.

Q. You bought the putter before the final round?
CRISTIE KERR: In Korea -- no, before. It was a three-day tournament in Korea. It was the end of the second round.
DANA GROSS-RHODE: Great round, good luck tomorrow.

End of FastScripts

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