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LPGA CORNING CLASSIC

May 24, 2008

Katherine Hull-Kirk

CORNING, NEW YORK

ASHLEY CUSHMAN: Katherine, great round out there. Those back-to-back birdies you had on 17 and 18 really moved you up the leader board. Now you're in second place. Can you just talk about your round, and the way you played?
KATHERINE HULL: I hit the ball pretty well all day, and didn't really kind of capitalize until, like you said, 17 and 18. So it was nice to finish that way. And definitely take that momentum into tomorrow's round.
ASHLEY CUSHMAN: All right. Let's go over your scorecard really quick, the birdies and bogeys, starting with Number 2.
KATHERINE HULL: Hit a 6-iron just short of the green, hit a pitch shot to about 37 feet, made it.
ASHLEY CUSHMAN: The bogey on 4?
KATHERINE HULL: Hit it left off the tee in the rough and punched it right of the green, pin high, then missed the up and down. Birdied 5. I hit a 7-wood to about 25 feet, maybe and 2 putted. Number 6, I think I hit a pitching wedge to about, maybe, 10 feet made that one from above the hole. It is kind of rare. You want to be below the hole on that one. 12, the Par 5. Driver off the tee, 5-wood lay-up, sand wedge actually hit the pin and finished probably around 15 feet past the hole and made the putt. Bogeyed 13. Hit the fairway, hit a 5-iron left of the green and hit a poor kind of pitch shot then missed the putt.
ASHLEY CUSHMAN: How far was the putt?
KATHERINE HULL: Oh, maybe 15, well, 12-15 feet, somewhere in there. And then 17 hit a 9-iron or a grip 9-iron to, oh, I'm not good with feet, maybe like 20 feet, made that. Then 18 I hit a grip 8-iron to the front edge; that was probably about around 20 feet again.
ASHLEY CUSHMAN: All right. Questions for Katherine?

Q. When was the last time you were within a couple of shots going into the Sunday round?
KATHERINE HULL: Oh boy, I think it's been awhile. I played well couple weeks ago at the Michelob Ultra. I shot 7-under the last round. But I wasn't really in contention going into the final day. So that doesn't really count. But I was really happy with that round and the way I finished.
I've been striking the ball well. The putter is kind of hot and cold at the moment.

Q. The media, of course, we don't play the game as well as you guys, but nobody seem to be able to put up the big number. I mean we had a 7-under Thursday. Obviously, not like you are not trying. Are you guys surprised no one else is putting up some big numbers?
KATHERINE HULL: In a way, yes. But Thursday and Friday, obviously, with the wind and the rain and the cold not really conducive to great scores. But, you know, it's an outdoor sport. So as long as you can kind of keep it under par around here, then you are going to be doing well. I mean, I would have expected more people to shoot the lower numbers, they just haven't this week. It's a combination of things.
But tomorrow if we have another day like this, I'm sure you will see some mid-60's for sure.

Q. Does it change the way you approach, knowing that at 3-under might be enough to get you in contention, or do you strive to try to put big numbers up?
KATHERINE HULL: Well it's always nice to put the low numbers up on the board. But, at the same time, we realize that, you know, 72 holes is more like a marathon than it is a sprint. And although we're trying to make birdies, we're trying to just execute our plan out there and basically play one shot at a time. And if it happens to go in, then, I mean, you shoot a good the number, then that's a bonus really.
But we've got no control over the score we shoot. But we have control over the shots that we're hitting. I know that's kind of sounds funny but it's ultimately what it's about.

Q. How do you think you will handle being potentially either a leader or so close? Are you the type who might have trouble sleeping tonight, or will you just treat it like I'm going to sleep eight and go out tomorrow?
KATHERINE HULL: My golf scores and my finishes out here don't really define who I am. And, I mean, it's -- don't get me wrong, it's great to play golf, and I'm going to go out and try to win tomorrow, but I think my priority is going to be to just execute my plan. And that's basically fairways and greens.
I do like to watch the leader board so I'll probably be doing that tomorrow. But as far as tonight goes, I'll just do everything normal, and I'll probably sleep well too. I tend to sleep hard.

Q. You mentioned that you like to watch the leader board. Did you watch it today as you your score dropped lower and lower? And at what point did you realize, hey, you know, nobody is making a move here this may be my tournament?
KATHERINE HULL: Um, I was looking at the leader board on a few holes in the back nine. Then the bogey on 13 was kind of disappointing for me.
I happen to look at the board there and I think Erica might have been at 9-under at that point. So I kind of just said to myself, you know what just make a few birdies coming in and see where that puts you at the end of the day. And I don't think there's a board on 16 or 17. And then 18 I was just too busy trying to make the putt than look at the board there. Does that answer your question?

Q. Uh-huh?
KATHERINE HULL: Cool.

Q. You said that golf doesn't necessarily define who you are. Would you say that your mission work more defines who you are?
KATHERINE HULL: Yeah, my faith is in Christ is definitely a huge part of who I am. And, you know, golf is -- I love golf and it's what I do, but it's not who I am. So that's the way I look at it.

Q. I was reading about your trip to Rwanda in the last year. Can you just talk a little bit about how that got started and how that opportunity came up for, was it Betsy also that went with you?
KATHERINE HULL: Yeah. My rookie year I was in a small group bible study with Betsy so I got to know her through that. She went to Africa in October 2006 and obviously talked to a few of us after she got back about her trip. I just saw how much passion she had for the people of Africa and getting involved down there and through World Vision. So when she said they were going to take a trip in October '07, I said, I'm in, count me in.
And it was the most humbling experience of my life. I mean, in Rwanda the country we went to, 60% of people are below the poverty line. Obviously, growing up in Australia and playing college golf here in the states, you are not use to seeing that. And when you got the aids pandemic on top of it, it's just a really bad situation. And, I mean, it puts things in perspective. Like a bad day out here just doesn't mean anything.

Q. I think a lot of people probably only know about Rwanda from the movie "Hotel Rwanda" with the tribal wars and everything. Is that still a problem there? Did you have any contact with the tribal factions and the division of people?
KATHERINE HULL: The current government's done a lot of great work from kind of the grassroots up so there's not, as far as from what we saw, not too much racial prejudice amongst the tribes. But there's still rebel groups, obviously, on the outskirts of Rwanda that are causing a bit of a problem.

Q. Were you in danger at any point and time? Did you run into any situations --
KATHERINE HULL: No. We were interesting because the hotel we stayed in Kigali, which is the capital, just down the road there are guys standing on the street corners with, I guess, M-16's. But you got the U.S. Embassy there and a couple of other places so they're just making sure it's as safe as possible. But we never felt in danger by any means.

Q. One last question about Rwanda. I read that one of your goals -- and I don't know if you have filled it yet -- was to actually help build a school there. If tomorrow they said you can win this tournament or you can immediately snap your fingers and have a school built in Rwanda, which one would you pick?
KATHERINE HULL: Well I am going to build a school in Rwanda anyway.

Q. Maybe win then use the winnings?
KATHERINE HULL: Yeah. I think through World Vision -- you can actually make a donation to build a school for around $10,000. That was one of my goals at the start of the year.

Q. So you will take both right?
KATHERINE HULL: Definitely. Definitely. Sure.

Q. Do you have a number that you think might be the magic number for tomorrow?
KATHERINE HULL: No, I don't have a number. I haven't thought about it. If the leaders finished at 7-under then probably double-digits will do it. But still it's going to depend upon the conditions and who putts the best.
ASHLEY CUSHMAN: Any last questions for Katherine? All right. Thanks for your time. Great round today, Katherine. Good seeing you.

End of FastScripts

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