THE NABISCO CHAMPIONSHIP

March 22, 2001

Lisolette Neumann

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: I birdied No. 2 which was the sandwedge to six feet. Then it was solid golf, I hit every green for the front 9. Finally made a birdie on 10. That was an 8-iron to six feet. Then birdie on 11 which is the par 5 I had my second shot was just short of green. I chipped it up to five feet; made that putt for birdie. Then I had a bogey on 17 where I hit a 5-iron off the tee in the left bunker and hit my bunker shot to about six feet, I missed that putt.

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: I just haven't been driving the ball that well. Little bit of struggle off the tee and just haven't had much confidence in my game. This last four, five days or so feels like my game is starting to come around a little bit and able to drive the ball a little bit better/TER today. Still missed a couple of shots, but still hit a lot of greens, so I am quite pleased with today's round compared to the beginning of the year.

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: Last week our 9th hole was like a double green. It ended up -- the putting green and the 9th green were connected. And what the LPGA did, they just draw a little red line and said the 9th green ends here and I just thought it was off the green so just I putted it because I was on the putting green, but I have putted it back, but you are not allowed to play a shot off a wrong green. I would have to take a release. But no one noticed until -- I played another nine holes and obviously signed my score card and no one ever noticed I had done something wrong and I didn't know. So that is a DQ yeah.

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: Not much. (Laughs) The only good thing is that I started to hit the ball much better when I came out and the good thing with getting DQ'd was that I could come out here and I got extra practice rounds in. So I played here on both Saturday and Sunday and then Monday and then Wednesday. So I got four rounds at this golf course. So it was something positive. You got to look at it that way, I guess, you do something stupid, got to look at the bright side of it.

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: Obviously if I would have made the cut and kept playing there I wouldn't have been able to come over here 'til Monday so at least this way at least I got a couple of extra rounds in. So it was something good came with it.

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: It is tough. The rough is really, really thick. It is just hard. The course is playing pretty long so if you miss a tee shot you have shots out of the rough that there might be like 160, 170, 180 yards to the middle of the green and it is just really hard to get the ball out of the rough. That is probably one reason. These greens have always been tough. I think if you ask any player they are very difficult to read. They are just very sneaky little breaks in them. They are just really tough. Normally the scores are never really that low here.

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: I didn't find out until about an hour and a half after I was done. I was just in the workout trailer working out. One of the officials came up and told me I was DQ'd. I think it was either some of the caddies or players had seen me, you know, do what I did and they reported it in later. But I mean obviously -- I mean, if I would have found out I would have reported myself, I did something wrong. It wasn't, you know, it was my mistake; not for another reason.

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: No. Not what I could think of. No, I remember back when we used to have a tournament up in Minnesota where you actually, the 18th green was connected with the putting green and at that time I know because I was actually on the putting end, you just played it like a normal shot. So I remember putting it off the putting green into a regular green, so that is why it never entered my mind to call for a ruling or -- most of the players are very careful if you are in a situation where you really don't know, you always call for a ruling or make sure you are doing the right thing. But because I sort of felt I had been in that situation before, even though it was probably ten years ago, it just never entered my mind that I had done something wrong.

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: More disappointment, I think. I mean, in a way I was glad I didn't shoot 65 or something at that time then I would have been really sad. But I was disappointed because obviously you work hard on your game and it is like -- I feel like I am practicing, practicing, practicing and I never get to play. I missed the cut in Tucson; went to Phoenix to prepare and I play one round there. Then I am sort of out of that tournament, so I always feel like I am just preparing for the next week the whole time. Little frustration, but --

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: I am guessing that they didn't know at that time either; that they must have found out after we were done because if it would have been -- if I would have found out before I signed the score card it would have been a two-shot penalty and I would have still been able to continue. But now I signed obviously for a lower score than what I had. So -- I mean, I don't think anyone did it on purpose. I think it was someone figured it out after we were done.

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: Yeah, usually kind of get my game together before the majors so I usually play pretty good. I am very pleased coming off a good started to, but like I said, last year wasn't a great year. Beginning of this year sort of still you know, been a struggle, so, at this time I am sort of just taking one day at a time and trying to just kind of work on my game, just be very patient and just put some good rounds together. Just trying to have a little more fun out on the golf course. It hasn't been much fun lately. So if I can just make little improvements everyday I will be quite pleased at this time. I mean right now I am going to concentrate on this week. It is hard to start thinking ahead for the U.S. Open and MacDonald's, all those. I am concentrating on this week now and then we will see how it goes.

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: Yeah.

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: (Inaudible) I guess I am a member here. I think I had a little members' luck on that last hole. Hit it over the water, actually hung onto the bank just like sitting, it was in the hazard but it stayed up on the grass so I take that as a member's kick. (Laughs).

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: A good friend of mine came out; he gave me a nice bottle of wine. It is a 1988 Chateau Lateur, so 1988 was the year I won the Open, so I thought that would bring me good luck. I am just going to have to put it away so I don't drink it tonight. (Laughs) It was a nice gift.