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LPGA CORNING CLASSIC

May 27, 2004

Lisolette Neumann

CORNING, NEW YORK

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: Started with a birdie on No. 2, the par-5 was just short of the green, and just actually I putted it off the fringe, putted it about 4 feet and made that putt for birdie.

PAUL ROVNAK: Do you know how far the original putt was.

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: About 40 feet or so, it was just off the green.

Then birdied No. 3, I hit a 9-wood for about 15 feet, ask made that putt.

And then I birdied on 5. That was a -- that was a 6-iron. That was the par-5. My second shot was a 6-iron into the green, about 20 feet for the hole and 2-putted that one.

And then a birdie on No. 7. Par-3, that was also a 6-iron, up the hill, made a long putt there, about a 40-footer.

And then a birdie on 8. A hit a pitching wedge to 9 feet. I made that.

And then a birdie on 12, also a par-5. I made a long putt for birdie there, about a 45 footer. And then --

PAUL ROVNAK: Do you remember what you hit on 12?

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: A 4-wood, just kind of short of the green, and then I had a terrible lie in the rough and I chipped it up to about -- obviously a long way, 45 feet. I was lucky to make that putt.

And then on 14 I hit a pitching wedge up on the green, and had a downhill putt from about 35 feet that I made.

So I was making lots of long putts today.

On 16 I actually 3-putted. That was a bogey on 16, sorry. My second shot was a pitching wedge to about 20 feet and 3-putted that one, my second putt was about three feet that I missed.

But then came back with a birdie on 17 and that was an 8-iron to 7 feet I made.

PAUL ROVNAK: Lots of long putts. Right now you're at the top of the leaderboard all by yourself.

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: So far so good.

PAUL ROVNAK: Still a lot of golf to be played.

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: It's very scorable out there. I wouldn't be surprised to see a couple of maybe 6, 7 unders this afternoon, as well. A lot of the par-5s are obviously reachable in two. I think the greens are holding really nicely. You can be very aggressive, right at the stick. It's very scorable right now.

Q. How much can you feed off of a group that's playing well?

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: I think it's always nice when -- like I said, you do feed off each other, when you see someone else making putts or hitting good shots, it sort of -- I think it just really keeps you focused. They're super nice girls to play with, too. I know them really well. It was sort of a relaxing day for all of us out there. We all played pretty solid golf and made some putts out there. So it was a nice day for all of us.

Q. Was making a lot of long putts a boost to your confidence?

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: Definitely. Yeah. That's actually been a struggle in my game for a while, and I took last week off and was trying to just figure out what I was doing wrong. And I think it sort of clicked for me that I've just been gripping the putter really tight and been tight overall and I kind of loosened the grip and let it happen today and all of a sudden I could just tell the way my ball was rolling, before I had some side spin on it and today it was tracking nice and had good speed on the putts. It was sort of like finally.

Q. What about course management, staying in the fairways, were you --

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: It was good to pretty much the last two holes. I think I got a little tight, my two last tee shots to the right, I just missed them in the right rough. I was still able to birdie 17 and parred 18, so it didn't hit me there.

Q. You mentioned confidence, just season-wise, what does a round like this do for you? I know looking back over a couple of cuts recently just probably feeling pretty good after getting a round like this?

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: Feels really good. Like I said I took last week off, I played the week before Nashville and got two really good rounds if there, like two 68s, and then two bad ones. For me right now it sort of feels like my game is there, but it's a matter of getting it together and to be able to play for four days. So that's going to be the challenge now to keep this up. And I know my tendencies, I know I get a little quick, a little short, a little tight and that's going to be my thing now for the next three days is how can I stay loose there and let it go. It's going to be a challenge. But I'm looking forward to it. It's really nice to be back on the top of the leaderboard again.

Q. I see some big names in the second group or the afternoon group. When will you go back and check out their scores?

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: I'll probably look at it tonight. I'll probably go and take it easy now. I'm going to do a little bit of practicing, and go back to my hotel and relax a little bit. And check the scores tonight and see where everybody is standing. It's three more days out here. It's a long way to go, and even at 7-under, it's so many people at 6 and 5, everyone is bunched up there. So I'm just going to try to stay loose and patient and just enjoy it, enjoy the moment.

Q. Did you play here last year and what has been your history of the scores?

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: I haven't been here since 2000, I believe, so it's been a few years now.

Q. What's brought you back this year and talk about how to course suits your game or doesn't suit your game?

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: The few years I haven't been back has basically been my schedule, hasn't fit in. I've been traveling back to Europe a few times and this year it worked out perfect. I took last week off instead and it's just -- I think it's a fun course to play. Like I said it's a lot of birdies out there but you've got to manage your game. You've got to keep the ball in play. It's tight fairways and the greens can be really tricky, if you leave yourself a lot of downhill putts. So overall I was just excited to come back here and I haven't been back for a while.

Q. This tournament has a history of not having back-to-back winners. Rosie Jones did that and Betsy King has won this tournament twice. Is this something that's a factor to you or maybe other of your contemporaries that you've spoken with about the Corning Classic, do you think much about that, just having that distinction of not being one that's won by just a group or a handful of players?

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: Yeah, I don't know, it's weird how some tournaments are like that, you always see different winners, and I don't know why, to be honest. But obviously you sort of feel if you don't see the same players win on the same course all the time, it Opens up the doors for everybody.

Q. It's a good incentive for you?

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: I think so, yeah, absolutely.

Q. As you know, the weather here can turn on a dime. You've got pretty good weather. You might get snow tomorrow. Are you a player that plays to a certain type of weather or temperature or are you the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the LPGA?

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: I like when it's really warm, actually. I don't mind when it's really hot, it makes you stay loose, it definitely helps. But growing up in Sweden, I grew up in a lot of rain and cold weather and practiced a lot in the cold. So I think I could play in both. But if I had a choice, I would definitely prefer 85 degrees and sunshine.

Q. Would you care to go on record right now as to what it is going to take to win this, score-wise, if the whether stays as is?

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: Probably be around 20-under, I'm guessing, around there.

End of FastScripts.

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