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U.S. WOMEN'S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 10, 2007

Mariajo Uribe

CARMEL, INDIANA

PETE KOWALSKI: We'd like to welcome Maria Uribe, 5 & 4 winner, correct?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: I think so.
PETE KOWALSKI: It seemed to us watching partly out there and partly on TV that this might have been probably the best you've played this week. Is that a pretty good assessment?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yep (laughing).

Q. Expand on that for us.
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Like on the other matches I didn't play good, but I just made like the putts that I had to and I kept winning.
But today my game was on. I was hitting the ball real well, hitting all the fairways, almost all the greens and then just making putts.
She was a really good player, and like I respect her a lot because she's one of the best here.
You know, these days, like you have that day, you can win against everyone. It was amazing.
PETE KOWALSKI: Have you played against Mina before?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: No, it was the first time.
PETE KOWALSKI: Do you think that the struggles that you had in your previous matches coming from behind and that kind of thing helped you put it all together today?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yeah, I knew that today I had to play really good to stay in the match. The last matches I played really bad in the first nine holes. So I knew that I needed to start playing good since the beginning. So that's what I did; I hit it close on the first hole and then just kept it up.

Q. Your coach is on the bag, right?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yeah.

Q. How long has he been with you?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Like nine years. Since I've started to play, just like two months after I started to play I started with him.

Q. And does he really help keep you calm? You're quite an emotional player.
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yeah, he's always there, and like he tells me where to stay and where to play. He knows a lot of my game. He knows what to do and what club should I hit and things like that. Sometimes you're so into the game that you just miss some details. He's like the best caddie that I can have, so that's good.

Q. You said that today obviously you were much more on your game than in the past. Was there something in particular that you did that changed things, or was it just kind of you worked through the bad rounds early?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yeah. Like I was hitting the ball good, but I was just struggling with the speed of the greens. And it just came to me because the putting green is really slow compared to the speed of the greens. Just mentally I don't know what I did, but it worked.

Q. Was there a point during the match when you realized, okay, I'm back to normal as opposed to what it had been like the last few days?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yeah. I started putting really good, and then -- I don't know, I just made every single putt that I had. It was amazing.
And then Mina just gave up on the 10th hole. She just like stopped fighting.

Q. On the 10th hole?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yeah. That's what I felt. She was just playing, like, okay, whatever. It's what happens, I don't know. It was like the best game I have ever played in match play, I think.

Q. Pretty good place to do it.
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yeah, and the match, it was like perfect. I don't care. I didn't play really good the other day, so we'll see.

Q. Was there something that you took away from last year getting to this point, as well? Obviously you were able to get through and go a little bit further now. Something you learned from last year that you were able to apply to this year?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yeah, basically it's that in it tournament anyone can win. They are all good players if they make it to match play, and I know that I can beat even Annika if she was playing here. Since the first Amateur, I got there as an alternate and I didn't know anybody, and I knew that I could -- I started winning and winning and winning. It's what happens. Sometimes the people you don't expect to win, win, so why can I not do that?

Q. Do you feel like a veteran kind of now? You've been playing over here a lot, all these girls?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yeah. Like three years ago I didn't know anyone but now I know everybody. Sometimes it's better and sometimes it's not because if you know that you're playing against Mina Harigae, you'll be like, yeah, she's really good. But I like to play under pressure, so it's good.

Q. What's the biggest win in your career in your mind?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: I don't know. I haven't won a lot of tournaments, though, maybe -- maybe in Colombia and South America because I've been playing in the States for three years and I have not won one tournament. But I've been there. It's better experience to be here and not win than to be in Colombia winning. That's what I think.

Q. Do you feel like you're getting better under pressure?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yeah.

Q. Putting?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yeah. It's what I've been working on, hitting more fairways and just don't make three-putts and just have good speed. If you don't make it, make it close enough so your opponent will give to you. That's what I did today, and it worked. If I keep doing it, it will maybe get me to Sunday. Sounds good.

Q. Are you not playing as aggressively then?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Today I really played aggressively, more aggressively than the other days, maybe because I knew that I had to.
With the other girls they were not as known as Mina, and I knew that if I played normally I would get into the match. Today I knew that I needed to make birdies to win the holes, so that's what I did. And I didn't make bogeys, so that's good.
PETE KOWALSKI: Congratulations. Thank you very much.

End of FastScripts

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