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SYBASE CLASSIC PRESENTED BY SHOPRITE

May 15, 2008

Annika Sorenstam

CLIFTON, NEW JERSEY

ASHLEY CUSHMAN: Annika, thanks for coming in and joining us. I know this was your first competitive round at Upper Montclair Country Club here, but you held it very well and you're the leader in the clubhouse, so can you just talk about the way you played today?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I'm very happy the way I played. I thought I played very steady, a lot of fairways, a lot of greens, again, kind of like last week. I felt very much in control with my iron shots, and I was rolling it well. So I enjoyed myself out there. Very calm, enjoying the walk and the golf.

Q. All right. And I know you've had a very business week this week obviously with your announcement on Tuesday. You threw out the first pitch at the Metts game on Tuesday night. You read the Top 10 list on "David Letterman," so obviously you haven't been distracted on the golf course because you're keeping up your great play.
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Thank you. It's been a busy week, so it's kind of nice this morning to tee off and then walk inside the ropes where it was just my pace and not have to worry about any appointments or anything I had to do. I'm focusing on the golf. So you know, I'm done with things this week. I'm just going to try and focus on the game, which is why I'm here, and I really want to play well, so I got off to a good start, and then go from here.

Q. Absolutely a good start. Can we go over your birdies, all five of them?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yes. Birdie number two, 8-iron to six feet; birdie No. 5, sand wedge to 10 feet; birdie number seven, sand wedge to three feet. 11 I hit a 4-wood on the green and two putted from eight feet. And then 14 I hit a sand wedge to four feet.
ASHLEY CUSHMAN: All right. Questions for Annika. Please just use the microphone.

Q. Annika, the way you played last week and today it seems that you want to make the rest of the year like a year-long retirement party.
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I'm just very happy the way I'm playing. I mean I worked very hard this winter, and it's all coming together. My swing feels really good and my putting feels good. So this is the way I enjoy this game. It's fairways and greens.

Q. I don't know if you've spoken about this before, but is one of your goals just maybe to get back to No. 1 by the end of the season and go out on top, fully on top?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: My goal is to play some good golf, and I mean I wanted to win some tournaments this year, after last year, and you know, I've done that this year. I feel very good about the start, and now I just want to continue to play this way. We have some majors coming up, and if I make No. 1, obviously that would be great. I just have a long ways to go. Lorena is playing some great golf last year, this year, so it's going to be tough to overtake, but I'm going to do the best I can to have a great season, and I want to finish strong and play some good golf.

Q. When you made the decision to announce that you're retiring, I'm curious if you thought about how that might affect your play, screw you up even more. I mean you're talking about enjoying the walk, and I'm sure you always do, but I'm curious if you thought about what it would be like to make that announcement and then continue to play, if it would have any positive effect, even more to your game.
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I mean I hope it's going to have a positive effect. I mean, you know, now I feel like I have announced it. I know where I'm going. I know now there are no doubts. There is no question when I'm going to say something, where I'm going to say it and why. I've answered all those questions, so now it's just a matter for me to play, and I mean I really hope I can enjoy the rest of the season because it's a fantastic game. I'm fortunate to do something that I enjoy very much.
In the past I've always felt pressure to perform knowing I can do it and just expectations. And you know, I know I have nothing to prove, but I love this game and I love to play good golf, so I've always built it up for myself in wanting to perform. Now I'm just going to say, hey, swing it loose, enjoy it and go from there.

Q. Annika, chasing Lorena, has that actually helped -- I know you're always motivated anyway, but does it help to keep you motivated for the rest of the year trying to catch her?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, it motivated me coming back from the injury. I mean I missed last year, and I didn't want to leave the game on those terms. Now I'm leaving on my terms, and you know, this is the way I've played for all these years. So that's the way I want to remember my career out here.

Q. Have you and do you like putting your name up there at the very start and get people thinking, you know, come and get me, or is that neither here nor there?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I mean it's something that I cannot control. I can control playing good golf, and everybody wants to be on the leaderboard. I mean it's great to be there on Thursday, but what really matters is on Sunday. So my goal now is obviously to continue to play the way I'm doing and stay up there.

Q. Does it feel any different today because you've announced?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I mean I just feel at peace. I feel good about my game. And like I said, I'm focused on the game and not all the other obstacles or questions or -- now it's out there in the air and I'm just focusing on the golf.

Q. Was there any feedback from the gallery?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, it's been -- I've got a lot of nice feedback, and several people say "don't retire. We love you, come out and play." It's very, very positive. So that was obviously different because in the past it's been "good to see you again," and now they say "don't leave us," so it's nice.

Q. Two questions: It doesn't seem like you've thrown your game plan out the window, 190 yards away. It looks like it's reachable in two, but you lay up. Is that something you had to preplan?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I'm just trying to play smart. I'm trying to play to my strength. This is Thursday, and I don't want to start pressing with the swing, start pressing with the shots. It's all about strategy. This is a course where you need to play smart, and you know, wait game is my strength. So why not use it.

Q. The other question is it looked like this is a round where you were 5-under and could have been 8-under. Were there a lot of holes where you felt like you could have had more?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I had a few. I thought I made the putt on 10. I really thought I made the putt on 11 and on 13, and 16. Just the way I felt that I needed to do. But you know, I'm not complaining at all. I made some mistakes. You know, it was steady, and I'm not going to worry about those. You make them and you don't. You just move on and try to be steady the rest of the round and the rest of the tournament.

Q. You've won this tournament before, but it was a while ago. Any similarities in the golf course?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I think so. I mean it's an old traditional course, narrow fairways. I think it favors somebody who has good touch with an iron, so these greens are not as severe, which you know, I like this golf course a lot. There is a variety of holes, short-par course, long-par course. Then we have reachable par-5s and then we have some that are not, and not a lot of long par-3s, so I think this golf course suits me in every way, so I'm excited to be here playing.

Q. Do you still hear from young women about your appearance at the Colonial and do you fully appreciate the impact you've had on the lives of young female athletes in particular?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I hear from people about Colonial still, and what is it, five years next week. I think it's tough for me to maybe see the impact. Maybe somebody from the outside can see more than I, but you know, I know that it changed me, and it was a special week, a lot of memories?

Q. How did it change you specifically?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I would say that it gave me the confidence to be myself and follow my dreams.

Q. Last thing on that: Have you ever had a conversation with Billie Jean King about having that kind of impact and what she did?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I have spoken to Billie Jean about that. I talked to her before the Colonial, and you know, just asking her about her experience and how she was feeling and thinking and so forth. But I have not spoken to her about that after Colonial.

Q. One of the neat things about "The Golf Channel" is they show a lot of highlights from old tournaments. When you look back or see yourself in the mid 90s and look at you now, what prompted you to really change your body and get strong and really become the fitness person that you are today?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I wanted to be the best. I think to be the best out here you have to be good in many different areas, and fitness is part of that, and it's not enough nowadays to hit the ball well. You need to have endurance; you need to be mentally strong, and the physical part was something that I just -- when I joined the Tour, it wasn't a priority of mine, and then when I realized that I needed it, I decided to do something about it. And I also realized that I enjoyed it, and it made me feel good not just for golf, but for life, and in general, and it's something I'm going to continue to do. I mean I've always been very active, and I'm going to continue working out for life, not just for golf.

Q. Lorena is right behind you on the leaderboard. She was right in front of you in the group today. Do you like that knowing when she does well, when she hits a bad shot, vice versa with her?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: You know, I wasn't watching her today. I mean I know she was in front of me, and I saw her name on the leaderboard, but I've got my hands full to play my own game. It's tough enough to worry about somebody else, especially if you can't control it. I just try to control my game and go from there.

Q. I know you said you're at peace very much with your decision, but given how competitive a person you are, do you ever envision a scenario where you get your game back to a level where it's actually a lot harder to step away than you originally thought? At the end of the season I'm talking about.
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I'm there. My game is as good as it can be, and I still feel at peace. I'm going to be competitive in other areas. I mean I'm continuing the hard work with the "Annika" brand, and that's a competitive business. I'm going to take everything I've learned from here into a really tough industry. My goal is to be one of the first females to really build the brand outside golf. So I would say that that's going to be very hard. So I have big challenges ahead. I need experience from the golf course, and I'm looking forward to it.
ASHLEY CUSHMAN: Any more questions for Annika? Okay. Great. Thanks for coming in, and good luck this week.
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Thanks very much.

End of FastScripts

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