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JOHN Q. HAMMONS HOTEL CLASSIC

September 17, 2005

Karine Icher

TULSA, OKLAHOMA

PAUL ROVNAK: You're 5 under for the tournament and you'll be right there in the thick of things tomorrow going after your first win on Tour, so just go ahead and talk about that.

KARINE ICHER: I'm okay with this round today. I two bogeys on the last few holes, but I'm a little disappointed about that. I'm going to try to keep the same rhythm tomorrow. I had some good experiences this year about this, in the final round, so I'm going to try to keep my focusing on the game, especially on the second shot on the green, because I think tomorrow we're going to have good pin positions. So it's going to be interesting.

PAUL ROVNAK: Before we take questions, can you take us over your score card, starting with the birdie on 1.

KARINE ICHER: On 1, I had a driver and I put my ball in the rough on the right hand side. Then I had 6 iron and then 9 iron to six feet to the hole.

PAUL ROVNAK: Birdie on 2, the par 3.

KARINE ICHER: I had 6 iron, and then six feet downhill, five feet.

PAUL ROVNAK: Bogey on 3.

KARINE ICHER: Yeah, I missed my second shot on the left hand side and then I had a pretty good chip, but I missed the putt, two putts.

PAUL ROVNAK: Do you know how far the first one was, the par one?

KARINE ICHER: Four feet.

PAUL ROVNAK: Then birdie on 4.

KARINE ICHER: I had a good drive and then a good 5 iron, and my ball was given, like a tap in.

PAUL ROVNAK: Bogey on 8.

KARINE ICHER: 3 wood and then 5 iron. I missed the ball on the right hand side, chip, two putts.

PAUL ROVNAK: Do you know how far the first putt was?

KARINE ICHER: Maybe ten feet, something like that.

PAUL ROVNAK: Birdie on 12.

KARINE ICHER: Birdie on 12, driver, 7 iron and then three feet, four feet.

PAUL ROVNAK: Birdie on 14 the par 5.

KARINE ICHER: I missed my drive on the right hand side and then I had a 4 iron just to push the ball close to the pin. Then 9 iron to six feet to the hole.

PAUL ROVNAK: 16, the bogey.

KARINE ICHER: I missed my drive on the left hand side. So I tried a shot, a low shot and my ball was short of the green and I chipped, two putts, but I really missed my chip and I had a pretty long putt, like five yards. My ball was short by a quarter of an inch.

On 17, I played 3 wood on the tee shot and my ball was short. She pitched on the bunker, and then I hit a 6 iron to the green, bunker close to the green and then a sand a bunker shot and chip it.

PAUL ROVNAK: How far was that first putt?

KARINE ICHER: Four feet downhill.

Q. You made the birdie on 14 after Annika almost pitched in, you made that to get even, at that point your mindset was you're tied, what was your mindset going to those last four holes coming?

KARINE ICHER: Yeah, the four last holes are pretty difficult, especially the last three, we had tough pin positions. The pin was on the back of the green, back left. So I had a good par on the par 3 and then when I missed my chip on the 16th green, I was a little bit nervous.

Then 17 is a hard hole, so it is easy to take bogeys on these holes. I am a little bit disappointed about that, but it's okay, 1 under, I'm okay on this type of course.

Q. When you made the birdie on 14, did you realize you were tied for the lead at that point with Annika?

KARINE ICHER: I know Annika can do everything, but it's challenging to be with her and playing with her group. She never missed a shot. So it's good to play and make some good shots.

Q. Did you enjoy playing back and forth, did you say anything to each other or anything like that?

KARINE ICHER: Yeah, a little bit, yeah. We talked about life and we live in Orlando both, it's amazing, yeah.

Q. No golf?

KARINE ICHER: No, no golf.

Q. Did you guys kind of feed off each other, the success each of you were having, you and Annika?

KARINE ICHER: No. You mean, did she speak about

Q. When she was having good shots and you were, did you feel like you two were just kind of in sync a little bit?

KARINE ICHER: Yeah, of course.

Q. You played really well the first two days, does that really give you a lot of confidence going into the last day?

KARINE ICHER: Of course, yeah. Especially on this golf course, because everything can happen, it's a difficult course when you see the score might be plus six, plus seven. So it's a different course than last week.

I tend to play well on this type of course.

Q. Do you look at the score board out on the course to see where you stand, who is leading and stuff?

KARINE ICHER: Yeah.

Q. Some golfers refuse to do that, they just want to keep focus on their own game, why do you choose to do that?

KARINE ICHER: I choose to do that, both ways you can watch the leaderboard or not. I prefer to have a look because my mind wants to have a look. So you say, no, no, don't look at the leaderboard; it's hard, too, because it's a big, big board, you don't miss it. It gives a good idea of where you are and what you have to do.

Q. Before you teed off today, did you see where you stood in relation to that point? Maria I think was 9 under when you were teeing off, did you know that?

KARINE ICHER: No.

Q. So you didn't take a look before you went off today?

KARINE ICHER: I had a look around on the back nine around 12 or something like that.

Q. Would you talk about your year, you mentioned that you're getting used to going into the final rounds, would you talk about the success that you've had this year?

KARINE ICHER: I realize that I have a good year. The beginning of the season I had a condition on this tour, my goal was to get my card at the end of the season with Q School. So I make a good result in Mexico gave me an opportunity to play here.

And it's like a dream for me because I realize it's really hard to get on this tour, because everybody wants to play here, especially the girls who play in Europe and on the Japanese and Asian Tour. Everybody wants to play here, and it's tough to get the card at Q School because you have a lot of pressure and you play a season in five rounds now.

So to finish second in Mexico gave me the opportunity to play on the LPGA without having to go to the Q School. So, I mean, it's really good. And then I had a good result in Corning and the U.S. Open. So I'm in a good position, much better than I thought in the beginning of the season. So now I try to continue and to grab some spots on the rankings.

Q. Do you feel comfortable with the lead going into the final day or are you nervous? What will your emotions be?

KARINE ICHER: No, I'm really happy to be here. Of course, I think tomorrow I'm going to be a little bit nervous, but it's normal, and I will try to do my best. I had good experiences this year, so I'm going to try to don't make the same mistake and we'll see.

Q. Just talking about the final round, is it anymore nerves for you because Annika is at the top of the leaderboard? Can you just talk about the challenge of trying to overcome that in tomorrow's round?

KARINE ICHER: It's going to be tough because I know Annika can do everything. She knows a lot about golf and she's No. 1. So to beat her tomorrow is going to be very difficult, but I'm going to try, I'm going to try to play my best golf, but I don't know if I'm going to look at the leaderboard tomorrow because I know she can finish with like six or seven birdies, I know she can do everything. She's a really good player and she plays well this week, so we'll see tomorrow.

PAUL ROVNAK: Thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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