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MCDONALD'S LPGA CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY COCA-COLA

June 5, 2007

Annika Sorenstam

HAVRE DE GRACE, MARYLAND

DANA GROSS-RHODE: Annika, thank you for joining us. It's a new week this week. You just came off of a pretty good tournament last week, your first week back and if you were to win a major this week you would be second only to Mickey Wright in winning this event four times.
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, that sounds pretty good. No, I'm happy to be here. I'm coming off a good week I thought in Charleston, being the hostess and all, I thought it was a really successful week. I was pleased to be back on Tour and competing again. So, all is well.

Q. Is it tough going into a major after an injury?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: It is a little bit different. I really don't have a choice. I'm just happy to be here. My expectations, they are not very high at this point. I'm just happy to be back to compete right now. I just have to pace myself and I can't practice as much as I would like to; and I need to, I feel quite rusty.
It is what it is. I'm happy to be here competing. I have to think long term. Golf is part of my rehab right now. So there's nothing I can do about it. I just want to come here and enjoy it and hit some shots and hopefully it gets better every day.

Q. What hurt the most last week?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: What hurt the most? Well, my neck didn't hurt. I don't know, it was a good week. Like I said, there's nothing I can do about it. When you get an injury like that, you're just very limited. I was gone from competition for six weeks, and when you get a chance, the doctor gives you thumbs-up to play and it is exciting, it is a different level. But again then, I didn't have to have surgery and I'm back playing a lot faster than they thought.

Q. I guess I'm just assuming that something hurt last week. But did you feel any muscles you had not used in a while?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I got tired the last three or four holes every day. The muscles, it was fatigue, I was a little sore in my right calf from walking. I haven't been walking in a while. Other than that, it was great.

Q. What are your thoughts on the course, and also the level of difficulty?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I love this golf course. It's been good to me in the past and I've played really well here, so I enjoy coming back.

Q. A lot of people were talking about what happened with Michelle. A lot of people were very concerned about what happened; I wonder if you had any reaction to what she did, the way she did it, and I wonder how some of the players you've talked to felt about it as well.
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I haven't really talked to any other players. But you know, I just feel that there's a little bit of lack of respect and class just to kind of leave a tournament like that and then come out and practice here, especially being the hostess. You know, I don't know the situation, if it's injury or whatever it is. It's just -- it just seemed really weird.

Q. Will you talk to her about it?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I'm not really sure. I haven't heard anything from her, anyway. It's not really something that I was planning on doing, but if she would talk to me, I'd definitely talk to her.

Q. Would you have felt that way if she had not come out here and practiced?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Absolutely. I know what it's like to be injured. I mean, when I was injured, I wasn't able to touch golf clubs for weeks. It's a little funny that you pull out with an injury and then you start grinding. My doctor told me to rest.

Q. So it sounds like you have similar suspicions to a bunch of people who think that the 88 was a factor into that decision?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I have no idea what it is, but I know that being a hostess of an event and when you get a sponsor invite, I think you have some responsibilities to the sponsor, to the organizer, and I can tell you that from being part of it now, it's a different side from that aspect.

Q. How do you feel about this particular competition; are you feeling very strong in your game this week?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I'm not up to 100%. I would say I'm probably about 85%. The strength is coming back. I feel like I'm getting better every day. The more, you know, the more I get into it. Like I said, I'm just happy to be here competing again and I love the feeling of being a part of competition. I'm not going to hit the same shots that I did last year; I just don't have the strength. But I'm hoping to hit some fairways, hit some greens, I've got my 4-iron and I've got a 9-wood in the bag and it's working pretty nicely.

Q. When is the last time you had one in the bag?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: It was a long time ago -- oh, five, six years maybe.

Q. Does it have a name?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: No, it does not have a name yet. Hopefully it's just temporary. I hope to have my strength in my 4-iron.

Q. Can you remember the last time you were an underdog in a big tournament like this?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: No.

Q. It's that far?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Never count me out, that's what I'm telling you. (Laughter).

Q. Today compared to the last round of the Ginn Tribute, do you notice any improvement?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I think so. I felt stronger today than I did just a few days ago. You know, this past weekend, I thought the conditions were very, very tough. It's tough when you're 100%, and even tougher when you're not.
So, you know, I was glad that, you know, I had the performance I did last week. It was great to get some rounds under my belt and hopefully just get better every day.

Q. You said you were physically tired because you haven't been out there, but were you more mentally tired because of your responsibilities as the host and all of the things you had to worry about?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: You know it was a great week. I said it earlier in the week; I was honored to be the host. It's fun when you kind of work with people you enjoy working with, with the Ginn Company, Bobby especially, and with IMG. The tournament was such a great success that we were just on a high, all of us.
You know when we got together on Sunday night just to kind of talk about the week, it was very, very positive. So I think maybe I was more tired on Monday knowing we can put that behind us and move forward.

Q. Bear with me as I muddle my way through another question, going back to the Wie thing, it looked like there was a lot of involvement from various parties in making this decision to withdraw, and we've seen cases before where rules were amended for Michelle; this tournament is a good example. I'm asking you this question, just because I think there was a case for you back in '99, 2000, 2001, about trying to inter the L.A. Open, a little mix-up there, and you were not allowed to enter. Based on all that stuff I just mentioned, can you talk about the ramifications of what happens when you try to continually change rules for one person, the can of worms that can get opened.
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: It's definitely a can of worms. You know, I really don't know what happened last week. I mean, I wasn't there. I was out playing and everything is speculation. But I've been on the other side of the rules and I've been on the same side of the rules. You have them and you've got to follow them otherwise it becomes a sticky situation.

Q. Do you think it's a good rule to have? I guess it was created back in '90 for the teaching pros; do you think it's still apt today, should it still be on the books?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: You know, I don't think it hurts anybody really. This is the first time it's ever come up I think.
So, yeah, I really don't know why they have that rule but I know Mackenzie (Kline) shot 89 the last day and she was just a trooper and she finished her round. She was proud to be there and, you know, that was a dream come true for her and that's the way you should handle a situation like that.
DANA GROSS-RHODE: Thank you all for coming in. Annika, good luck.

End of FastScripts

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