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U.S. WOMEN'S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 11, 2007

Mariajo Uribe

CARMEL, INDIANA

RHONDA GLENN: You played great. Tell us what it felt like to make that last putt.
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Relief.
RHONDA GLENN: How long was it in your mind? How long was the putt?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: They said like 55 feet.
RHONDA GLENN: Is that the longest putt you made this week?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: I think so.

Q. Do you think it was that long?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: I don't know. I think, yeah, like 50. It was hard, though, because it had like slope and -- I just wanted to make it in two putts and don't go to the 18th hole.

Q. You were walking towards it, too. Did you think it was going in?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yeah, after I hit it, yeah. It was perfect.

Q. Can you interpret what you said in English?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: I said "vamos," that is like, "let's go." Like in Spanish we say vamos when you're -- I don't know, it's just like, "come on," or something like that.

Q. How many breaks did the putt have would you say?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Three. At the beginning it was going like this (indicating to the right), and then to the left, and then back to the right. But it stayed like a little bit straight there.

Q. Can you talk about your emotions? I've watched you now for three years, and you just -- you do this (indicating a fist pump), and you wear your emotions on your sleeve. You kind of know how you're playing --
MARIA JOSE URIBE: I'm better now, though. I'm not that emotional, am I?

Q. There's nothing wrong with it. People like it. I mean, there's a lot of players like Lorena Ochoa out there on Tour who like to show --
MARIA JOSE URIBE: I think it's just the spirit that Latin people have. We're really into things. It's not like I told you last year, like I'm going to do this or something, it's just that it goes. It's just the way we are. It's like my personality.

Q. You played very well today. I think you were 3- or 4-under par, maybe 5- with that last putt, made two great putts the last two holes. You have to be pleased with the way you're playing?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yeah. We both played really good. On the front nine I didn't make a lot of putts, though. I missed some of them, but we both were playing good just at the end, I just started making putts, and that was all. Yeah, my game was on. It was better yesterday, though.

Q. 4-under for the day today.
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Really?

Q. With the concessions, yeah. What does it seem like? Does it seem like more, more under par?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yeah, like today I made bogeys, two bogeys, but then I made birdies, too.

Q. Have you noticed the orange clad guys out there cheering for you, the maintenance crew?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yeah.

Q. I don't know how many people are with you this week, but you're going to face Amanda tomorrow who's maybe going to have the whole state out here rooting for her. Does it feel good to have a little support from some people in Indiana?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yeah, it's really good. Like they're Latin people, so wherever you go you will find them, and even if they don't know you, they just go and cheer for you. That's really good. They're really nice.
I have been here for two weeks now, so I have seen them like a lot of times. It's good, and I know that Amanda has a lot of family and I don't have anybody.

Q. Have you talked with them at all?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yeah.

Q. You've had some conversation with them?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yeah.

Q. In Spanish?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yeah, obviously.

Q. When did you talk to them?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: I first got here like -- this Monday, the last one, and I started talking to them like how is going to be the course and stuff like that because they're all Mexican and they know Spanish. They just started like, "Come on, keep it up." Yesterday they were following me, and today there were like 20 of them there (laughter).

Q. How many times did you play the course before the competition started?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Six.

Q. So you played it every day for a week just about?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yeah, and Saturday and Sunday just nine holes, but the other days -- I played with members, too, like teenagers so they knew a lot of the course, and that was good.

Q. Is there a particular reason you came so early?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: I was in the U.S. Girls, and it was just dumb to go back home, so I just stayed here.

Q. Can you tell us about 16? I understand you went bunker to bunker and then made a long putt there, too.
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yeah. Usually I will pass the bunker on the right, but there was a lot of wind today, so I didn't. And then I tried to hit the green, but I hooked it. The approach was really hard, but then -- I knew that I had to make that putt. If not I will go to the 18th or maybe lose the match. I just made it.

Q. How long would you guess that one was?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: About 20 feet.

Q. Are you all staying with a family here?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: No.

Q. You're in a hotel?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yep, just with my coach. No one else.

Q. Are you tired?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: No, not really. Today I'm just fine.

Q. Are you in contact with people back home at all?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yeah.

Q. Each evening are you talking to family or friends?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yeah, every day, and they write me and stuff like that. They cannot watch it on TV because Golf Channel in Latin America is not happening. But they're watching on the website, so they should be excited.

Q. Can you talk about how you learned the game, who you learned from and what course you grew up playing?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Okay. I started when I was nine because my sister was already a competitive player, so I started to go to like tournaments with her, and I thought it was fun just to travel and meet people.
So I started in a club that is called Ruitoque; it's the only resort that is in Colombia. And they make a golf academy there, my coach that is here this week. He started that golf academy. He was a really good amateur player in Colombia and he started to be pro when he was like 26 or something.
I was really bad, though, at the beginning, like for three years. But then I started to play better, and here I am.

Q. Is that the course where you still play down there?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yep. Ruitoque Golf and Country Club.

Q. How about other sports? Have you played other sports in your life?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: I used to play basketball and volleyball, but then I could get like injured or something.

Q. Were you pretty good?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yeah, I was good.

Q. Good athlete then?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yeah.

Q. How about your parents? Are they good athletes?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Not really (laughing). My mom? She only goes to the gym. But my dad, he plays like soccer. Soccer is really big in Colombia.

Q. Tiffany Joh says you could be on "Dancing With the Stars," you're that good of a salsa dancer. How would you rate that?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: I'm good, yeah. I like it, though.

Q. Will you break out in some salsa dancing if you win tomorrow?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yeah, if they put salsa on I will. I need just music and someone to dance with.

Q. What do you plan to do tonight to prepare for 36 holes tomorrow?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Rest and just relax, watch some movies or stuff like that. I don't like to like change my routine just because I'm playing a final tomorrow. It's going to be the same thing.

Q. What has been the routine, just watching movies?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yeah, watching movies and watching "So You Think You Can Dance?" That show is so good. That, and talk with people at home and nothing else.

Q. Are you a better dancer or golfer?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: About the same. In both of them I'm good.

Q. How did you decide to pick UCLA?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: It was like my dream school since I was really young. UCLA is really well-known with academics and athletics, too. So I liked it but I never thought that I was going to be able to get in.
And then coaches started to talk to me, and I went to visit. I just loved the weather in LA; it's great. And then the campus is really good. My teammates, they're crazy and they're funny.
The coach is really nice, and for me it's really important to have like a team, like really united. The practice facilities are really good, too. Athletes are treated really well at that school, so that's what I like.

Q. Why did you go to the AJGA that one year and not stay longer? What made you decide to go there and why was it just the one year?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Basically an academy that big, you don't have like so much attention, and back home I had a coach like almost all the time. I really liked my coach, so basically come back with my coach, and I knew that that was going to be the last year that I could live in Colombia for the rest of my life. So just go back home.
My dad told me that he will pay like all the tournaments here because I wanted to stay here playing tournaments but live in Colombia, and he told me it was okay. So I did it, and it has worked.

Q. What have your parents been saying this week when you've called them and talk about how well you've done?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: My dad is really excited because he knows what golf is because he plays. My mom, she just doesn't know what the U.S. Amateur is. She's like, okay, you will play good. Then my dad is really into it. He wanted to come but he couldn't because of work. But he's really excited.

Q. What are your parents' names and what do they do?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: My dad's name is Jorge, and he's like the owner of an electric cable company. And then my mom has like a store, like a Home Depot kind of, in Colombia.

Q. What's her name?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Her name is Carmen.

Q. She works there or she owns it?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: She owns it.

Q. And your dad is what handicap?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: About 10. Yeah, he's not that bad. He's getting better, though. He practices a lot.

Q. And your older sibling, what is her name?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: She's 21, her name is Silvia, and she used to play golf. And then like the school -- like universities in Colombia are really good, so she decided to stay there and not come to college here.
But she's going to Berkeley next year with a scholarship for a master's degree. She's really intelligent.

Q. So she'll be in California with you?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yep.

Q. How do you think they'll take it in Colombia if you should happen to win?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: They will be really impressed. Like people think that why do I come to these tournaments, because they don't think that we have a chance to win. They think that Americans are really good, and now they know that we can. Basically that.
They will be really excited, though. They were really excited when we got third in the World Am, and then this will be like a really huge thing.

Q. Camilo was the runner-up in '99 and Marisa Baena was the runner-up at this championship in '96, so you've got a chance to do one better tomorrow. What do you think about that? If you win will you give Camilo and Marisa a hard time?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: No, he's going to win the PGA this week, so it's fine.

Q. Have you met both of them?
MARIA JOSE URIBE: Yeah, I met Marisa in U.S. Open last year, and then Camilo when he was like the best in Colombia, I was starting. So I met him there.
And then like six months ago I met him like in a pro tournament. He's really nice.
RHONDA GLENN: Congratulations, Maria. Good luck tomorrow. You'll have a lot of fans out there of your own, I'm sure.

End of FastScripts

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