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HSBC WOMEN'S WORLD MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP

July 19, 2007

Meaghan Francella

NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK

DANA GROSS-RHODE: Thank you all you for coming in. Meaghan, you had a great round out there. You said it was playing tough on the back side, but you held on and now you're probably going to be playing Lorena Ochoa tomorrow.
MEAGHAN FRANCELLA: Yeah, I played really well on the front nine, birdied the first hole and made a really good par save on 2. I made the turn, I think I was 3-up at the turn and birdied 10 to get to 4-up. Meena just started making some birdies, she had a really great shot in on 11. And then I made a big putt on 12, about five feet for par, and then 13, she won 13 and I think I was maybe 2-up at that point.
I made a really, really good putt on 15 for a par. I was in the back rough and just, you know, hit it way by and made like a 15-foot par save and she made a really good par save right on top of mine.
Next hole, I had 212 to the front and I'm thinking, well, I have to get it up there. So I hit it all the way up there, thinking I'm looking pretty good to close out the match here and she sticks it up there to about two feet. So she gave me a good run.
On 17, I hit a really good shot in there to about three feet and made birdie. So it was a good match.
DANA GROSS-RHODE: How much does it mean to be having such a big gallery following you out here every hole?
MEAGHAN FRANCELLA: It was pretty cool. There were a lot of people out here today. They were pretty rowdy but they stayed under control, thank God. I'm sure tomorrow it's going to be a little bit more intense. Should be fun.

Q. Can you talk a little about tomorrow's challenge? I know you're just coming off the course today, but talk about facing Lorena, and, you know, how exciting it will be?
MEAGHAN FRANCELLA: Yeah, it's going to be fun. Hopefully there will be some good golf played. Lorena is obviously the best player in the world right now. I had a good run with Annika in March, so hopefully I can take another No. 1 seed down.

Q. Talk about your driving today. It seemed like except for one hole where you were off a little bit to the left, you were splitting the fairway most of the day, and it must be giving you a lot of confidence for the rest of your day.
MEAGHAN FRANCELLA: Yeah, I hit the ball really well today. I think I only missed -- I missed two greens maybe, two or three greens.
But I was solid, I just picked my targets. You have to hit in the fairways and put it in good spots on the green here, so that was my plan today and I thought I did a pretty good job.

Q. How were you feeling; your ribs, did it bother you at all?
MEAGHAN FRANCELLA: You know, it hurts when I warm up, but then when I'm on the golf course, I'm okay.
I did a lot of stretching this morning and put some Biofreeze on it and tried to take the pain away a little bit. But it felt all right out there.

Q. Is it almost going to be a bigger concern going into tomorrow after playing with it today?
MEAGHAN FRANCELLA: No. I'll be fine.

Q. How much of a factor did local knowledge play today?
MEAGHAN FRANCELLA: I don't know. I never really thought of that. I think it's more confidence, just having a lot of people out here supporting me. Actually, yeah, I've played it enough where I know where to hit it and where not to hit it. But they changed it a little bit and they lengthened it a little bit, so a lot of the spots are different now. So I just tried to keep it down the middle of the fairway.

Q. I was going to ask, on 17, what was the thought process? You obviously struck it very close. Were you trying to close it out there?
MEAGHAN FRANCELLA: Yeah, I didn't want to play 18. (Laughter) I didn't want to play 15. I didn't want to walk up that hill!
In the practice round, I was telling my caddie, I made triple on 17 the first time I played it -- I was upset, like three years ago, and that hole owes me a couple of shots. I got up, the wind with was in our face, and hit 7-iron, probably the best swing I made all day.

Q. Could you talk a little bit about working with Tara today and maybe that what that did for your game and what changes you were looking for?
MEAGHAN FRANCELLA: What do you mean, "changes?"

Q. In terms of carrying your bag.
MEAGHAN FRANCELLA: Yeah, she was great today. She kept me under control and kept me calm, and we just clicked out there.
DANA GROSS-RHODE: Thank you all very much.

End of FastScripts

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