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STANFORD INTERNATIONAL PRO-AMApril 23, 2008Annika SorenstamAVENTURA, FLORIDA KIM BERARD: Annika, thanks for joining us this morning, and thanks to everyone for being here. You've had a great season so far: Five top 10 finishes including a win in the first tournament you played in. You finished fourth and you finished second on two occasions. Talk a little bit about your season to this point. And also, you're coming up on kind of a unique event, so what your plan is for this week. ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Sure. I'm quite happy with the season. I've obviously got off to a great start and been quite consistent since. So, you know, comparing to last year I would say it's quite the improvement. This week is a special event. I'm excited to be here. It's a beautiful place. I've never been down here. But staying at the resort and playing the golf courses is very convenient. Sees like a top-notch event so far. Obviously great support from Stanford. I'm looking forward to the week. It's going to be fun. It's going to be different, but it's nice to be in a new area like Miami. I'm sure we'll get some great support and a lot of fans will be out here. KIM BERARD: Great. Questions. Q. (No microphone.) ANNIKA SORENSTAM: It's going to be different. I have -- I played in a similar format a few years ago in the Callaway Invitational at Pebble Beach. It wasn't as big a tournament as this, but I enjoyed that. I'm looking forward to it. I think it's playing like a Pro-Am, but then again you have to focus more on your score and keep in mind that it's a tournament and you want to play obviously as well as you can. So you have to find a balance to socialize and still focus on your game. Q. Talk about where you are with your game right now compared to a year ago confidence-wise. Obviously you're healthier now, but just talk about the contrast this year to last year. ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, it's a big difference. This year I'm competing on a different level than last year. Last year I was struggling. As a matter of fact, I don't think I was competing at the end of April last year. That's when I pretty much found out about my neck injury, so I was sidelined for two months just doing rehab and really starting from scratch. So I would say I've come a long way since then. I feel good about my game now. I feel great and my neck is fine. I can practice as much as I want and work out as much as I want. The strength is there, it's really just fine tuning my game a little bit. I believe that, you know, the injury made me compensate certain things in my swing, and now I'm trying to get back and get rid of those bad habits and back to the way I used to swing. It takes a little time, but I feel like I've come a long way. I would say I'm probably 90% there with my game, maybe a little bit more. Strength-wise I'm very, very close. Q. With Lorena Ochoa on this run, is that a bit dispiriting, our how do you deal with what she's doing? ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I really have to mind my own business. I'm dealing with me coming back and playing my own game. She has her on agenda. She's playing some amazing golf. There's nothing to say about that other than congratulate her. Like I said, I have to focus on my game and what I'm trying to do. I have a win this season so far and I'm looking forward to a few more. I feel like it's going to happen. Just keep playing and go from there. Q. What advice would you give your amateur about playing with you? ANNIKA SORENSTAM: First of all, I like to meet this person -- I'm not sure who I'm playing with. I haven't looked at the tee sheets. I mean, the key, really, is just to have fun. Enjoy the fun format and the facility. Hopefully together we'll put a good score together. I will help a little bit with reading putts and club selection. I don't think it's a good time to give swing tips on the course. It's okay when you play in a Pro-Am when it's just 18 holes and you will know see them again and they have time to work on it. But this is a little bigger competition, so I'm going to try and not make this person nervous. Just more relaxed and have some fun. Q. Along those lines, when you play with amateurs in general, do you find that the intimidation factor is often quite high just because everyone knows your resume and those amateurs don't have that kind of resume? ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, maybe a little bit. But I always -- I try to make them feel comfortable on the course. I do this for a living and they don't, so I try to make that clear. They're very good at what they do, and I happen to be decent at what I do. Let's just have fun. You play to your level and I'll play to mine. Normally that works. I'm not out there to prove to them anything. I'm just out there to play my game, and I hope they feel the same way. If you only play once a week or once a month, don't have so high expectations. This is a tough game, and it's tough when you play every day. Just enjoy it. Q. To go back to the injury question, about a year ago sort of when the injuries were at their worst for you, what was your confidence level then and the belief that you could get back to the level that you were at? Was there ever doubt, substantial doubt? ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I've never doubted my ability and my will to work and my dedication when it comes to anything. I don't doubt that at all. What was unclear was the extent of the injury. I mean, I've never had an injury before. How does it affect me? And is this short-term? Long-term? Can I recover? These were just questions that I had early on. I worked with some great therapists that really gave me great hope, and I followed their advice. I took my time to get back. I just wanted to do it right so that I wouldn't have any complications down the road. I feel like I succeeded quite well in that. Knock on wood, so far so good. Q. I know you said you try to mind your own business, but you're one of only four people, like Lorena, who's won four tournaments in a row. Talk about what is it's like from the other side where you know when you go into the press conferences people are going to be asking you about her. Even when she's not here you get those kinds of questions. Talk about that. ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, I mean, I wish you would ask me how it would feel trying to go for five in a row. I miss those times. Hopefully I get that again later this year. It's obviously a great time for Lorena. I hope she's enjoying it. There's pressure, but then by the end of day it's fun. Not many people have the chance to do that, and I hope she's enjoying that. It seems like when she is playing she's very, very relaxed and she's obviously in control and a lot of confidence, and that's what you need. I mean, obviously I'll be watching and trying to play the best I can and give her a challenge. That's really all I can do. Like I said, it's a fun spot she's in. I remember that. It wasn't too long ago, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Q. How many holes have you played here so far? What do you think of the course? And what kind of player does it favor? ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I played 18 holes. I walked nine at other course, the course that we're only going to play once, the one I'm playing tomorrow. I would say in a way they're similar, but then in a way they're very different. The tournament course that we play three days is a little more narrow, a little longer. I think it's tougher. It's not necessarily about distance this week. I think it's about accuracy. I think it's a lot of feel around the greens. The greens are very undulated, small landing areas. They were firm yesterday, so it would take somebody with precise iron shots. I like it. Certain holes on the other courses you can play aggressive there. Distance might matter a little bit more there. You can take a few more chances because it's wider. But I like this facility in general. The course, it's a fun course. I used a lot of clubs yesterday. I mean, it's not about just getting the driver off the tee. I hit a few 5-woods, a few 4-woods off the tee. The Par 3s are varying distance, which I think is fun. I had a few 9-irons, and then there was a Par 3 where I had a 4-iron. So just a good variety of holes out here. Q. A little more on the facility. In light of it being Earth Week, this grass, the Sea Dwarf Paspalum, it's considered an environmentally friendly turf grass. What are your thoughts on playing on a course like that? ANNIKA SORENSTAM: That's a good question. I haven't really thought about the type of grass. I mean, I'm glad it's friendly grass. I hope it's friendly to me. Q. Is there anything that you might have picked up from the Callaway Pebble Beach event that kind of gives you an idea of how to play this event that maybe some of the other players would not know? ANNIKA SORENSTAM: It was so long ago that I played in that event. I really think the key is if you have a good chemistry with your partner and you have a good time, I don't think you have to think too much. Try and stay -- try not to be in each other's way. Sometimes when you want to play well you try so hard and try to you help each other. Like I said earlier, I'm not going to try and do that. Unless he or she wants my advice, I help. But, you know, this is a big tournament for the amateurs as well. We talked a little bit about the intimidation factor. It's a big event for them and they want to perform also. I think really the key is to have fun and be relaxed in a group. Q. With the combination of the greens, and it is narrow in some places, and the fact that virtually no one in the field has ever seen the course before, would you expect this to be a score where a winning score Sunday, 5, 8, 10? I know it's impossible to predict, but do you think it's going to be one of those weeks where birdies are going to be an especially valuable commodity? ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I would say birdies are always special. Everything depends on the conditions here. I played yesterday, and today when I talk walked I could feel the wind. The wind plays a factor here. If it gets windier it's going to be very tough. If they let the greens dry out a little bit more, it's going to be tough to get close to some of these pins, which will put a premium on the putting, especially the long putts. Again, I never really predict scores. I'm not very good at it. My goal is to go out there and play the best I can and focus on one shot at a time, hit the fairway and hit the green and try to make the putts. That's going to be my strategy. Q. On the undulating greens, how do you think the amateurs are going to fair on some greens that neither one of you are familiar with, but obviously you're a little bit more experienced doing this type of thing than they are? ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I would say the greens make up this golf course. It's pretty with a lot of the water and so forth, but it's the greens where I think makes this course a little trickier. To have a good putt, you have to put it in the right places. And if you don't have the accuracy with your irons or approach shots, I should say, it makes it even harder. So I would think that a higher handicap would struggle a little bit more around the greens. I hope my partner has played here many times and it will be a piece of cake. Q. Is there any one consistent tip that after the round you would tell somebody? What do you see amateurs normally, the mistake they make over and over? ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Two things: One is course management. I mean, I see this a lot at my academy in Orlando. I take our guests out and I do course management. It's almost like they don't plan ahead. They think because they're on the tee it means driver. I always tell they them to think about where they want to hit their second shot from. You got to think ahead before you just hit it. I would say the second one is around the greens. They focus so much on the line sometimes that they don't think about the speed. To me, speed is almost more important than the line. Because if you don't have the speed, it really doesn't matter. I just see a lot of the people read and read and read and they hit it and it's nowhere close. Those are two things are very important: Course management and speed around the greens. End of FastScripts |
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