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EVIAN MASTERS

July 25, 2007

Karrie Webb

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, FRANCE

PAM WARNER: Thanks for joining us today. You're coming back here as the defending champion. Can you start with talking about coming back and defending your title?
KARRIE WEBB: I think it's always great to be back at Evian, I think it's one of the most beautiful places in the world and definitely probably the most beautiful place that I've ever played in my career, and obviously to come back as defending champion it's a great feeling.
I played well here last year and played really well under a lot of pressure coming down the stretch, and winning here was special.
It's an event a lot of players hold in high regard because obviously of the scenery and how well we're treated by everybody here, and obviously we play for a big purse, but all in all it's a great tournament and I'm happy to be back here.

Q. It was an exciting finish. You were a couple behind with a few holes to play. What do you remember particularly about last year?
KARRIE WEBB: Well, actually what I remember, No. 11, I think, back up the hill, Michelle Wie birdied that hole last year, and I three-putted, and that made a 2-shot swing -- that made her two shots ahead with 7 holes to go, and I just remember walking up to the hill to the next tee telling myself out of that group, and anyone else in contention, you know, I shouldn't be the one that was -- I should have been the least nervous and should be the one that is relishing -- reveling in that situation and.
Michelle Wie has never won, and I would assume the others were feeling the nerves as well, so I thought I needed to take control and play a good seven holes and hopefully that would be good enough.

Q. How did you control your nerves on that 12th tee, then?
KARRIE WEBB: Well, I put a really good swing on the -- I think I birdied the next hole, so that's a great birdie on the 12th hole, and from there I just didn't really miss a shot. And I'm trying to think where I made my other birdie. I know I birdied 17. I think I might have birdied 14 as well coming in.
So I closed in 7 holes really well, and up until that point I wasn't playing with a lot of freedom and as much trust as I had been playing with earlier in the week. And I think that was a really good kick in the butt and made me realize that, you know, that was where I needed to take control of things and realize that the other two players I was playing with were probably more nervous than me, and I needed to take control of the situation.

Q. We're halfway through '07. How do you sum up this year?
KARRIE WEBB: I got off to a good start, won both tournaments in Australia and played well in the States, but it's been an up and down summer for me in the States. I wouldn't say I'm ecstatic. I'm actually -- the last two, two and a half months has been the most consistent I've hit the ball in my whole career, and I haven't really made any putts.
I feel like if I can just keep being patient -- I've gone book to cross-handed putting, and the putter I used in '99 through 2002, I think. And just the few changes I've made, I feel, will get me going in the right direction.
If I stay patient with my swing I could have a good finish to the end.

Q. Do you feel like you're actually putting okay; it's just a matter of now getting them to drop?
KARRIE WEBB: I have had stretches where I felt like I have been putting well, but I went through a period where I wasn't hitting my spots, so it's been more of an adjustment that way, and, you know, I went back to cross-handed.
I did a test on a machine that showed my stroke, and I saw exactly what I saw at the end of '98 with my conventional putting stroke, and then obviously I tested cross-handed, and I saw exactly at the end of '98 when I putted cross-handed, and I felt that was going to give me a good opportunity for putting.

Q. (Question regarding thoughts about winning this year.)
KARRIE WEBB: You have the best memories of the year before, and I played well, and I'm hoping that gives me confidence this week to go out there and at least give myself a chance to win.

Q. We've been here for a week and it's rained almost every day. How is it?
KARRIE WEBB: It's pretty boggy out there today. It's better out there today than it was yesterday. The water is coming off of the ground right now, so it will be interesting to see how it will be.
The greens are soft, which by the end of day makes them quite bumpy, so hopefully we don't get anymore rain for the rest of the week and by Friday, Saturday, Sunday they'll be in the shape we normally see.

Q. If you had to describe the difference between playing in the States and coming across to Europe and playing a couple of tournaments, is there any clear difference in style of course, type of game you have to play?
KARRIE WEBB: I don't think so. I think, you know, we always play pretty similar courses every week. More variety, a little more of a variety in the conditioning of the golf courses, I think, is probably the main difference.
You know, I just play them as I see them. I don't try to compare.

Q. Perhaps there an excitement not knowing about the conditions?
KARRIE WEBB: I'm excited about playing at -- in my earlier career I played at the old course, so I'm excited to play there. I've played there once professionally, and I was really excited to see the British Open was there.

Q. How badly do you aspire to be No. 1 in the game?
KARRIE WEBB: I wouldn't say that I badly aspire to be No. 1. I think that it's definitely an achievable goal for me, and it's something that ultimately if I play good enough golf I can achieve that, but it's not something -- I guess because I achieved it once before it's not something that is grinding away at me, that it's something I have to do.
To achieve it again would be great, an accomplishment more the second time than the first, but in saying that, you know, Lorena is a great player, a wonderful girl, and she's playing the best golf out of anybody, and she's exciting to watch because it's not -- I think with Lorena I think at the moment I think because she's fun to watch and there is a loose shot here and there, and that always makes you think you have a chance to keep up.
And then she has the capability of blowing everybody away at any time of the day. Whereas with Annika you were the one that had to play unbelievable because she wasn't going to make any mistakes. But I feel like Lorena has that capability, and I don't think that's necessarily -- I'm not saying it a negative thing. I think it just makes it really exciting. She's an exciting player to watch.

Q. What do you think of last year Michelle Wie pushed you all the way, and now she seems to be in a slump the first one, really, of her golfing life. What's your take on that?
KARRIE WEBB: Yeah, I would hate to be in Michelle's shoes; I really feel badly for her. I think what people forget is that she is only 17, and what she has already accomplished as 17-year old, some people would love to do that through their whole career.
Yes, she hasn't won, but too many people have been too hard on her. She's been sort of in the spotlight, and it's difficult to be in that position. So obviously once you get to that spot, people see what you're made of and whether you're going to take a step forward and continue to be a solid player or whether it will knock you down if you don't achieve what you're supposed to achieve.
I can only imagine where -- the way she must be feeling right now. I think there's a little bit of nerves, really, and she's still the most athletically posed. And whether she does it now or later, it will still be great. Whether she does it now or at 24 or at 30, it will be great.

Q. (Question regarding playing time.)
KARRIE WEBB: I don't know how you can do it any quicker. I don't know, it's not just a matter of -- I think, too, it's much more a matter of how long it takes to hit a shot, getting to the ball and being ready to hit, and a lot of that goes out the window. I still walk very quickly to the ball, and I think I'm always looking down the fairway to see who is behind us, and it's a combination of things.
I think the officials around the world are trying their best to counteract that, but at the moment it's not going in the right direction.

Q. (Question regarding slowness during the rounds.)
KARRIE WEBB: I think so, too, and I think, too, I don't think -- like when I was here, I was speaking to a friend the other day and we started at 3:30, and we finished in less than three hours, and we just pretty much were running around. And people are not getting it done all the time, but you learn how to handle it, and I think if you have that at the beginning, you know, you want to take your time to hit shots.
And I think you have the ability to know when you have to be ready to hit a shot and when you can take more time.
PAM WARNER: Thank you Karrie.

End of FastScripts

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