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LONGS DRUGS CHALLENGE

October 7, 2008

Suzann Pettersen

DANVILLE, CALIFORNIA

JASON TAYLOR: Susann, thanks for joining us today. You're the defending champion. You won here last year. If you would, just talk about being here back at Longs Drugs.
SUZANN PETTERSEN: I mean, it's great to be back. Great memories from here. I went out and played the back nine earlier today and I remember every single putt and every break and everything.
Hopefully I can get off to a good start and kind of be there on Sunday under again. It's such a great place. Just being in California now for almost two weeks with the Samsung last week and just being able to come over here and play here is just great.
JASON TAYLOR: Questions.

Q. Any predictions on this year? How will the wind factor in?
SUZANN PETTERSEN: I mean, I think the weather is supposed to be like it is today all week. I don't think the weather conditions are going to have a big factor this week. It'll probably dry up a little bit, the course, and make it a little bit faster.
The greens are in great shape. It's always hard to tell around here, but I think we talked about it today. It was like 14-under won last year, or at least coming into the playoff. The par-5s you can do well on this week.
So longer hitters, of course advantage. We'll see. But, I mean, it's a tricky little course. Some holes you just got to be in the fairways to give yourself a good chance to get to the greens.

Q. Were there any changes you saw this year?
SUZANN PETTERSEN: I only saw they moved up the par-3, 16, which I'm not a big fan of. I think it was a great par-3 from where it was. It's a little longer. You still only had like a mid-iron. They moved that up like twenty yards, sp that makes a little difference.
I wish they actually moved it further the back. That would be more fun. But that's the only change I've seen. I haven't played the front nine, but I haven't heard anything, so, yeah.

Q. Talk about the season you've had so far. Obviously you're still looking for a win this year. Talk about some of the things you've gone through this year.
SUZANN PETTERSEN: Yeah, I mean, I came off a great season last year. It started pretty much here. It just shows I mean, patience, you get on a roll, and you can just keep it going.
It's been a very good year for me. I just haven't pulled off the wins that I did last year. I've been very close and I had two or three second place finishes, I've been close. Last week again I was right there, only two shots back. I had two wins in Europe. I've been quite solid.
But, I mean, I'm going to play now eight week, so hopefully I'll give myself plenty of opportunities to close the deal on Sunday.

Q. You made the decision to switch coaches this summer. Talk a little bit about some of the things that David has helped you with and what were some of the reasons you decided to switch.
SUZANN PETTERSEN: The reason I decided to switch was, I mean, I've been -- I mean, David Leadbetter, he has a lot of experience and a lot of people that go off by themselves. They all go in different directions. Most of the teachers I've had in the past have come from his academy. So instead of going through the system, you might as well go to the main source.
Like you said, he teaches them a lot, but he doesn't tech them everything. That's his work. No, I mean, I was just looking for a guy with a lot knowledge around the game. You feel like you can kind of dig into their brain. You're going get -- learn more every day.
I just felt a bit stuck there for a moment and decided to go with Leadbetter. I get along great with him. We've worked really hard since, and, of course, it's hard to adapt to some new changes and still be very competitive.
I tried to keep it like somewhere in between where I can still compete and be able to win and still work on stuff. I actually can't wait to get this season over and done with and kind of get my game down and kind of break it up a little bit.
But I still feel very competitive the way I am now. I mean, last week I played pretty good on the weekend. That was kind of the main reason. As a player, you always want to keep improving. I hate the feeling where I feel like I'm standing still.

Q. (No microphone.)
SUZANN PETTERSEN: I'm feeling great. I switched physical trainers, too. I mean, it's been a lot of changes. I had a couple caddies back and forth, and now my old caddie is back on the bag, so I'm very happy with that.
So it's actually before you kind of get over into the top you kind of learn and you go through experiences. You might fail, but you learn.
So it's been very -- I mean, I learn every day. You see things and you pick up stuff. It's just a very enjoyable life.

Q. You got on such a hot streak really sort of kicking off here last year at the end of the year. Would it be fair at all to characterize you, or have you ever thought that you're a streaky player? When you get on a hot streak you're just impossible stop?
SUZANN PETTERSEN: No, but I definitely say I'm a player that likes to play my way into form. I don't practice my way into form. I don't know, I just always feels like in the beginning of the year I can practice really hard and feel ready to go, but it always takes me a couple tournaments before the head is catching up with the body. So I'm definitely one that kind likes to play a lot. So the more I play usually the better, and the more feel I have for my own game.
I mean, end of the last year, it's the end of year and people get tired. If you can just stay in a little bit better shape and you feel like you have a little bit more energy, you never know. Last year was just a great end of the year. Just shows the year is not over before it's over.

Q. When you're playing your way into shape - and you mentioned head and body - what tends to come first? Do you get your head into the game first? Because you work out a lot, too.
SUZANN PETTERSEN: Hopefully you get both at the same time. Makes it a little bit easier. No, I think it's -- I mean, for me, when you practice, I mean, one thing is try to get the practice very close to how it is in competition. Because then actually teeing it up with a scorecard is sometimes not a big difference.
But it's very easy when you practice to just kind of throw down another ball, another ball, another ball. When you play, just try to have a competition, when you throw down another ball, a mulligan.
So you never get in that mental frame of mind where it's get that ball in the hole. It's very different. I don't know. Like if you run 100 meters, you know, if you don't run for anything it's kind of hard to get that heart going.
I just love competition, and that's what kind of drives me. It's a challenge always of course to get the practice up to kind of performance rate.

Q. By that same token, I had a conversation with David Leadbetter regarding Nick Faldo. They used to get on the range and work before a tournament and mentally think of rehearsing the first three holes of a tournament. Have you done anything like that and has he suggested anything like that with you?
SUZANN PETTERSEN: No. Close to the tournament I shape shots a lot. It's just like technical, get in position. You actually feel the ball going -- I mean, all kind of different shapes. That's kind of how you get into your own body. I mean, you got try to shape shots and see how the ball reacts to your feel.
That's the easiest way to kind of build your game. I mean, if you work on technical things and try to get in good position, I mean, you can get there, but it might not give you great feel. You got to be able to kind of mix it up.
But, I mean, Faldo is such a perfectionist himself. No wonder they would try to loosen him up a little bit.

Q. Would you say you're more of a feel player than a mechanical player?
SUZANN PETTERSEN: I'm a good -- I probably play my best golf with feel, but I'm a -- I mean, I want to have it perfect, so it's kind of both. When I practice I'm very mechanical, and that's why it kind of takes me a couple of rounds, tournaments, to get into my feel. I don't know. But I'm a bit of both.

Q. What are your memories of the playoff last year? It was getting so dark. How well could you see?
SUZANN PETTERSEN: I was glad we could finish it right there. I didn't want to come back Monday morning. No, I mean, it was great. We had such a great rally, Lorena and I, last year. Some events we just went head to head. It was kind of nice to be the best one at the time. She's still the best.
I remember, I mean, the first approach I hit it was -- I hit it to (indiscernible), and then she makes a long putt. I'm like, sure it's not gonna be -- it would be her.
But I just was very patient. I was just, like I'm saying, you just got to stay patient and kind of grab the moment when you get it, and hopefully you can make the most out it.
I mean, it was a great scenario. All I could think of was if I won they promised me I was gonna have that Dodge. Like taking the candy away from the kids.

Q. How is your off-season? Obviously, I imagine there were more demands on your time. Did you get a chance to unwind a little bit after last year?
SUZANN PETTERSEN: You know what, I actually played so much the end of last year. I played good and I won a lot of tournaments, but by the time I actually got to the Lexus Cup I had to pull out. That is such a fine balance. I mean, you play well and you want to play everything. I mean, you want to play every week and play while you're hot. So then health comes second and golf comes first. Should be the other way around. I mean, I actually played my way down under, to say it that way.
It was really disappointing though to have to pull out of the Lexus and tell Annika I couldn't play. I just couldn't do it. My back was too painful. I mean, I learned. You got to pace yourself. But that obviously gave me some down time. That gave me a lot of down time to work on my physical.
Throw my back out so I could be ready to go for pre-season in January, so... we don't really have much off-season. I can play all the way up until Christmas if I want to. I can play in the Lexus Cup, I can play a couple tournaments on the European Tour, Dubai and India. I'm not going to, but, I mean, we can. If you want you can keep going until to the World Cup the 20th of January. That gives you Christmas to kind of wind down and enjoy life.
Might need a little bit more than a few weeks after 11 months on.

Q. You mentioned a sore back at the end of last year. Didn't you have a back injury in like '06 or something like that? Is this a recurrence of that? What did you do originally?
SUZANN PETTERSEN: I had a herniated disc in '05. I didn't play for nine months. I learned my lesson. I've been down in the valley and come back up.
But, I mean, like everybody with a herniated disc, I mean, some get really good and never feel it again. I get good but I still feel it every now and then. I react to the weather. Sitting on airplanes doesn't help much. So, I mean, you got to make sure you stay really disciplined and do your exercises.
And like I said, last year I just played too much. I kind of played my way tired. When you get tired, you try to get the power and energy from maybe sometimes the wrong places.
So it's just something I got to learn. I have learned to live with it, and it's always going to be a part of me for the rest of my golf career.
JASON TAYLOR: All right. Thanks so much.

End of FastScripts

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