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HSBC WOMEN'S CHAMPIONS

March 2, 2008

Lorena Ochoa

TANAH MERAH, SINGAPORE

MIKE SCANLAN: Congratulations, your first win of the year and your first tournament of the year. If you would just talk about how you feel right now.
LORENA OCHOA: Thank you. Hello, everybody.
I feel very good. I'm really excited. I'm really happy. It's a fantastic week. Starting on Thursday, the first two days, pretty low rounds, and on the weekend I wasn't as good with the putter but I managed to shoot under par every day. Today was a really long round with all the delays.
I learned a lot, and I took my game to a new level, so I'm going to keep trying to repeat myself. There are a lot of birdies out there, and hopefully I'll have great rounds this year.

Q. Do you think that the rest of the field did not push you hard enough?
LORENA OCHOA: Well, it was not easy, but you never know how it's going to happen. Sometimes you can play your best and someone else does something better than you, and sometimes you can just play okay and win, sometimes you can get away with a tournament, but this week for some reason I was the only one that -- I played consistent and some other players struggled a little bit. There is no explanation. Sometimes it happens that you take a big lead and you feel comfortable and you keep going, and today that was the case.
You know, it was just great because I also had pressure. I wanted to keep the pace. I didn't want to make mistakes. I wanted to win by more than eight which was my lead yesterday. It was good today.

Q. You said you worked very hard on your game. What have you seen over the last four days that has improved over last year?
LORENA OCHOA: I think I hit my driver very consistent. I only missed a few times the fairways. I think my putting improved a lot; if I'm right I didn't make any three-putts, and that's always good. I was a little bit bad, lost a little control with my wedges, with my 56- and my 50-degree. For some reason I hit them a little bit farther and I wasn't comfortable, so I'm going to make sure I work on that the next few weeks.
And the rest, I'm happy to see good results. It's good to see that because we worked so hard, and it's just good to see that it's working.

Q. At the start of this event, because of Annika's win, people were wondering who was the true No. 1. You've beaten not just Annika, a winner this season; Paula, a winner this season; Karrie Webb, a winner this season; and two runners-up this season, Ji-Yai Shin and Laura Diaz; and you've got the biggest victory margin of your career. Can you just put in context what all of that means to you?
LORENA OCHOA: It means a lot. To me it's a great motivation, you know? It makes me want to play better, to win more. But like I said, sometimes there is just no explanation. It just happens and it was a great win for me. Everything came together at the right place, and I'm ready to keep going. I do want to have a great year this year. I know it's going to be tough, we're just at the beginning, but I like I way I've started.

Q. First of all, on the 10th hole when your second shot spun back, you obviously looked very angry. Can you tell us a little bit about that? Secondly, were you consulted at all today about whether the tournament would finish or whether you would have to come back tomorrow?
LORENA OCHOA: On the 10th hole I hit a good bunker shot. It was windy and the sand was wet, and I managed to get it out okay. But I hit it a little bit to the right, and it just came back to the front part of the green. So I was mad that I guess I was aiming to the right.
And the second answer, we kept asking, do you know, do we have a good chance to finish, and they said, yes, maybe yes. Really we didn't know anything. I was just trying to be relaxed and to enjoy having some time off, chatting with my brother. I did okay. It was more mentally a tough day than physically. You needed to be patient and not to worry too much and hit the ball with precision. I did very good. I was very calm and I was just comfortable.

Q. I just wanted to ask a little bit about the game today. Obviously the rain was really heavy. How did you stay patient during the delays?
LORENA OCHOA: I was able to keep it every time they called us off, just not get mad, so I was like okay, try to be positive about it, right, one more time. I ate a couple times, they had good food, and I was just trying to relax.

Q. You said physically it wasn't much of a challenge, but I guess when everything is wet, including wet gloves on your hands, not a problem?
LORENA OCHOA: I have a rain glove, so whenever it rains I use that black rain glove. That helps me not to lose the grip.

Q. What's your schedule for the next few weeks, and how much are you thinking about the majors this year?
LORENA OCHOA: I go to Mexico City in a couple weeks, and then I play Phoenix and then Nabisco. That will be the first major of the year. For sure I want to play a couple majors this year, but I don't want to think ahead. I always try to stay in the moment. Right now we're looking forward to going back home. My sister is getting married on Friday, so that's first, and then I go to Mexico City and try to win that tournament. I'm really just trying to concentrate in the short-term and do one week at a time.

Q. What's your sister's name, and are you a bridesmaid?
LORENA OCHOA: Daniela is her name, with one L. We don't have bridesmaids in Mexico, so no, I'm not.

Q. Every year is a new start, you start a new season and you have to start winning again. When you win this tournament, psychology obviously tells you, okay, I can win and I want to win this tournament. Is it also important to send a quiet message to the rest of the field that I'm still the best and I'm the one to beat?
LORENA OCHOA: Yes (laughter). I think yes. I always think that when my name is up there on the leaderboard -- when we play in America we have electronic leaderboards, and when you've made it to the front page, it's good because they can see your name. You know, it's all about -- to me, feeling good, but it also means a lot that they know that I'm prepared. I guess it says to my competition that I'm going to do everything they do.

Q. Congratulations on being champion. I'm not sure if you're aware, but you're getting a lot of media coverage in the U.S., as well, in this event, and they've been talking about the big three in ladies' golf being yourself, Annika and Paula, and you're being compared back in the U.S. as the next Tiger Woods of ladies' golf. How would you feel about that?
LORENA OCHOA: Well, it's always great to be compared with Tiger. We all want to be like him. I admire him a lot and I respect him a lot. You know, we're in two different worlds, but when he won the first time by ten, I had that in mind. You know, it can be done, and why not go and win my first tournament by ten. I guess in a way it's always something that motivates me. I just want to say that it's an honour to be compared, and I'm going to try to go after him.

Q. For the coming year who do you see as your biggest rival or rivals for the season?
LORENA OCHOA: Well, I think many players. I don't like to think a name. I always like to do my own game and worry about the things I can control. It can be anybody. We know Annika is back and she's healthy and she likes to win. But there are so many other good players that I don't want to miss, so I'm going to just try to focus on my game and do that every week.

Q. You say you want to go after Tiger. Tiger measures his success in majors. You've got your major breakthrough. What's your target this year for majors? Where do you see yourself, winning all four? Have you set yourself a target?
LORENA OCHOA: I don't really have a number in my mind. Every tournament I play, I play to win, same as any major tournament. As I said before, I take it one tournament at a time. And when I'm in Nabisco teeing off for that first major, I'm going to be ready to win the tournament, so that's what I do.

Q. Could you maybe just discuss the whole Singapore experience you've had since arriving here last Sunday both on and off the course?
LORENA OCHOA: Well, I had a great experience everywhere, inside and outside the golf course. You know, the hospitality and all the attention that we got. Everything was perfect. All the attention outside the golf course, and the condition of the course was beautiful. It seems like they worked so hard, and we appreciate that very much.
I can only tell you good things. We are really excited and really happy, and for sure we'll be back not only next year but hopefully many more years.
I think all the fans and the crowd were beautiful. Today on hole No. 9, I think that hole was full and there were more people on the course. We liked that very much, and we appreciate that very much, and it was a great day.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Lorena.

End of FastScripts

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