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GINN TRIBUTE HOSTED BY ANNIKAJune 3, 2007Nicole CastraleMOUNT PLEASANT, SOUTH CAROLINA MIKE SCANLAN: First of all, congratulations. You're the sixth Rolex first-time winner this year and you're the fourth automatic qualifier into the season-ending ADT Championship with a chance to win a million dollars. If you could right now just describe how you feel after winning your first-ever tournament. NICOLE CASTRALE: You know, I think I don't quite know how to feel. I think it will start to set in here in a couple of hours when I start talking to family and friends. You know, it's definitely a dream of mine and you know, I'm just going to enjoy it. MIKE SCANLAN: Can we go through your scorecard, please. NICOLE CASTRALE: Sure. I bogeyed No. 2. I 3-putted from about 30 feet. MIKE SCANLAN: What did you hit in? NICOLE CASTRALE: I hit 9-iron. I birdied No. 6. I hit a sand wedge to about 25 feet. MIKE SCANLAN: How far out were you? NICOLE CASTRALE: 92 yards. On 11, I made birdie. I hit rescue just off the edge of the green and chipped it to about nine feet. Made that for a birdie. MIKE SCANLAN: How far out were you with your rescue. NICOLE CASTRALE: I had 228 pin. I bogeyed 16. I was in the right rough. I had 109 to the pin and hit 8-iron to the right fringe and 3-putted. 17, I had 146 pin and hit 9-iron to about 12 feet and made that for birdie. MIKE SCANLAN: And on the playoff hole? NICOLE CASTRALE: I had 145 into the wind and hit just a grip 7-iron to about 30 feet or so. MIKE SCANLAN: Thanks very much. Q. Did you ever have any doubt out there today that you, you know, could win and would win? NICOLE CASTRALE: Right. My goal really going into today was to give myself a chance to win on the back nine. So really, to stay close enough basically close to Lorena. I had -- it was really weird, I had an eerie calmness about me all week and it paid off. I wish I could duplicate that more often. Not quite sure why I was so calm but I was very at peace out there. You know, I just wanted to enjoy it and really, whatever happened, happened, and just stick to my routine and just go from there. Q. Is it any more satisfying that your first victory is against the No. 1 player? NICOLE CASTRALE: You know, I think my first victory in itself was, you know, very fulfilling. To beat Lorena, yeah, I wouldn't -- the odds weren't on my side for sure, you know. So Lorena is a great player and there's a reason why she's the No. 1 player in the world. We've just got to keep at it. Q. What did you think on the playoff hole when Lorena's hole went into the hazard? NICOLE CASTRALE: I actually wasn't sure. I kind of glanced up and saw it was heading left. Not sure if it was in the hazard or not -- I just knew I had to stick to my thoughts and do what I could do get my tee shot in the fairway, because if I don't hit the fairway, it doesn't matter what she did. All I know is I can control myself and frankly she hit her third shot in there close and you expect the No. 1 player in the world to make those putts. So I figured we were going to keep on playing. Q. It seems like you've been on the verge for a while. Does it feel like a breakthrough for you for bigger and better things? NICOLE CASTRALE: Like I said, I don't think this has fully sunk in yet. I've worked really hard the last couple of years and I've been close this year. This was my week I guess you would say. Q. Given that your caddie is your husband, he must have been very excited for you, too. How did it go today with him? Did he help keep you calm and what was that like? NICOLE CASTRALE: Craig is always very calm. I mean, he never gets up and never gets down. And sometimes it frustrates me (laughing). But he has a very calm demeanor. I think luckily that wore off on me. I never felt panicked. I never felt like I was in a rush to do anything. You know, like I said, I just thought if I could stick to my process, you know, and just basically see what happens. I mean, I could have shot 65 today and lost, really. You just never know. Q. Given some of the health problems you've had to deal with, did you sort of wonder if this day would ever come? NICOLE CASTRALE: No. I mean, I always believed that, you know, I could win out here. And like I said, it's not always the time schedule that you want it to be in. I would have liked to have won my rookie year in 2002 but I wasn't ready; I wasn't mature enough to win back then; I wasn't as good of a golfer as I am now. I think you just evolve over time. You have to pay your dues out here. I mean, these the best women in the world, and to win against them, you know, it's tough. Q. You talked about staying within yourself and whatever happens, happens. Was there a point yesterday, Lorena is making eagles and the fairway, she chips in again and you're six shots behind. Was there ever a point where you looked at the scoreboard and said, "Oh, well, maybe we're all playing for second?" NICOLE CASTRALE: No, not really. I mean, the only time that I glanced up and saw that I was six shots back was when we were waiting to get the green squeegeed on 13 and I was like, "Man, Lorena is playing great." Never did I think, "Man, I can't catch her." I was playing well, too. I think I was 4-under at the time in tough conditions. All I can do is keep doing what I'm doing and that's all I can control is doing what I do. Like I said, Lorena is the No. 1 player in the world for a reason, and you would expect her to play well all the time. Q. I want to ask your opinion on the trophy. NICOLE CASTRALE: It's heavy. (Laughter) I'm just glad I have it. It's going in my house. Q. Will you display it prominently? NICOLE CASTRALE: Absolutely. Q. You made reference to some of your injuries. Could you go through briefly a couple those, especially the most recent one and what you had to do to get back from it? NICOLE CASTRALE: I was in a car accident my senior year in college and so that would have been March of '01 and I tore my right rotator cuff. I waited to have it operated on until late in '02; because I waited so long, I ended up having two operations on my right shoulder. And, you know, just a lot of rehab and then later in '04, I ended up having my left shoulder scoped as well, and pretty much the last surgery. I rehabbed pretty hard that next off-season. But you know, thank God I'm healthy now and every morning I wake up and I feel great. I count it as a blessing really. I think everything happens for a reason and like I say, it's not always on our time frame and you just pretty much have to go with what you're dealt. Q. Have you thought at all about the Solheim Cup this year? NICOLE CASTRALE: I mean, I don't know how I -- Q. Is that on your mind? NICOLE CASTRALE: I don't know how I couldn't think about Solheim Cup. I mean, it's an honor to play for your country, and it's definitely a huge goal of mine going into this year. And I just figure if I keep giving myself chances and see what happens, I mean, there's a lot of great Americans out here and all I can do is control myself and you know, gather up as many points as I can. Q. You mentioned the surgery. Do you have -- are you going to have to have another surgery at some point? NICOLE CASTRALE: Not that I know of. (Laughter) I hope not. No. Q. Okay. NICOLE CASTRALE: (Laughter). Q. Can you talk about just sort of about what you guys went through this week, Thursday and Friday, hard and fast, yesterday the rain and today the wind and now the sun comes out. And talk about River Town; did it stand up to the best women's players in the world? NICOLE CASTRALE: Absolutely. I think we had 50 of the Top-50 here and so any time it's that good of a field -- any player is that good out here, 144 players that we have in the field in the week. At any point, anyone can win, really, and you know, the golf course was hard and fast on Thursday and Friday. I mean, you have to stay extremely patient because you can hit good shots and not get rewarded for it. And come the rain Friday, Craig goes out and watches some holes before I play usually. And so he knew the fairways were softer so we could be a little more aggressive off the tee and knew the greens, downwind, still going to be a little hard to stop it, but again, you could be a little more aggressive. I mean, you just have to pick a club and go with it basically and you can't second-guess yourself when the conditions are this tough. MIKE SCANLAN: What did you hit on the final hole in regulation to force the playoff? NICOLE CASTRALE: I had 150 into the wind and I was out of the rough, so I just gripped a 6-iron. MIKE SCANLAN: How far was the putt? NICOLE CASTRALE: About 20 feet. MIKE SCANLAN: Now you're done. Congratulations. NICOLE CASTRALE: Thank you. End of FastScripts |
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