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MICHELOB ULTRA OPEN AT KINGSMILLMay 9, 2008Annika SorenstamWILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA MIKE SCANLAN: Annika, thanks for coming in. Kind of a long day out there for you. A little wet. Take us through your day and how you feel after that rain delay. ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I agree with you. It was a long day. When I was looking at the score I could hardly remember what I did on the back-9, which is my front-9. Overall, I'm very happy with my round. It was the kind of day with wind, some rain, little delay when we made the turn. So very pleased that I hang in there. But I hit some good shots, rolled in some beautiful putts to save par. Very pleased. MIKE SCANLAN: Questions. Q. Can you talk about the up and down at 8 and 9 there? ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yes. On 8, I hit a 6-iron short of the green and chipped it up to about three feet, made the putt, and then on No. 9, I was in the fairway bunker. Hit just a lob wedge out of there and hit another lob wedge just to another three feet. Q. No bogeys after two rounds. Just kind of talk about that. Are you feeling particularly crisp? ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I'm happy about that. I can't remember the last time that was but, you know, anything can really happen on this course. I'm just trying to play smart. I'm trying to play, you know, conservative at times and aggressive at other times. Overall, I would say I'm so happy the way I'm striking my irons, I feel so good about hitting the target and the spots and the yardages that I'm planning so I'm not going out there thinking about that. I'm trying to play best I can. Q. Did you think you had hit the pin at 8 when -- were you down? ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I'm sorry? Q. When your chip shot at 8 hit the pin, could you see the bottom of the flag? ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I couldn't see. When I hit it, it came off exactly the way I wanted off the face. I felt like I had a little spin to it and I knew it was going to be good and then I heard the crowd. I didn't know if that meant it hit the pin or it was very close. You know, when I tap it in, one of the caddies said it hit the pin and just spun a little bit to the left. Q. You had a lot of action on the pitch shot at 9, too. Have you been really working on ball control on that type of shot? ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I love to practice wedges. I do -- I hit a lot of those shots and, you know, Terry, my caddy, he stands with a baseball mitt and catches my shot from everything from 40 yards up to, you know, up to 6-iron. But we spend a lot of time on the wedges and, you know, I do a lot of clinics at my academy and I show them the shot so it's nice for me to be able to pull it off when I needed to and not just in clinics. MIKE SCANLAN: Alright. Anything else? Q. Today might not be the best example with all the rain delays and stuff, but I'm doing something on sort of speed of play, the new slow play rules. Do you think they're working? Are you happy about them? Today you're standing around a little bit those last couple holes. ANNIKA SORENSTAM: The last two holes we waited. Other than that, I thought the pace was good. It's not easy when you have wind and rain. This is not an easy golf course. I expect a course like this to be a little slower. Overall, the pace of play has been better this year. I'm not really sure what the real time is telling us but just from a player's standpoint, it feels like it's moving a little better. Q. Were you a proponent of the changes? Were you excited they're putting them in play? ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I play fast. I would love to see us play in four hours but, you know, I don't know if that's going to be possible since we're 144 players and we split tees all the time. It's very tough to cram in 70-something players. I'm all for it. I think players need -- we need to play faster for fans and TV. I think it's really we need to be role models in pace of play. I'm all for it. Q. Annika, talking about some of the changes this year, if I could just ask you quickly, five months into the drug testing, is that affected -- like do you have to be more careful about supplements or has it affected your daily routine at all? ANNIKA SORENSTAM: It hasn't affected my daily routine. I've always been careful what I take. I haven't really changed anything. I'm still on some vitamins, some protein shakes. That's all I take. But it makes you think a little bit what's in some products and, you know, this new policy obviously, it can change a player's career. You really need to be careful. It's something we all need to be aware of a and understand we have to do testing, drug testing in sports today, even golf. Q. You think it is a necessary step? ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I think it's -- unfortunately, I think it's necessary. I'm not really sure we have an issue on our Tour but I think as a leading organization, you know, we need to stay up with the times and, you know, also set precedents for the future, for young, upcoming players to understand this is a sport and we need to follow rules and maybe this will help that way. Q. With the missed 6-iron from the fairway at 8 and then hitting a drive in the bunker on 9, did you feel like fatigue was getting to be a factor in the day? ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I made two sloppy swings. There's no doubt about it. I don't know if it was fatigue or what it was. I mean the lie on No. 8, I was way above the ball. I tried to hit a shot I shouldn't have done. On the other hand, what can you say when you tee up the ball on the tees, it's not a bad lie. It's a bad swing. I'm going to leave that behind. I feel really good the way I hit the ball well and I'm not going to worry too much about it. MIKE SCANLAN: Alright. Annika, thanks for coming in. Good luck tomorrow. ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Thank you very much. End of FastScripts |
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