U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

May 29, 1996

Lisolette Neumann

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: First of all, it's a beautiful golf course. I think it's one of the better courses that we play the U.S. Open on, maybe except for the Five Farms in 1988. It's really a nice course. It's a pretty long course. Looking at the back 9 a couple of the par 4's coming in are really long, and you have to make sure you keep the driver in play. You definitely want to stay out of the rough, because it's really thick. If you can drive it good this week, you'll be one step on the way. And greens are getting pretty fast. I'm sure they're going to cut them and maybe roll them tomorrow, too. So they'll be pretty firm and fast. Most of the greens, they're sloping off on the backs and on all the sides, so if you miss the greens, you could have some tricky little chip shots. Bunkers are quite difficult, I think. The sand is a little heavy, and especially if you have a couple of pretty long bunker shots, it's going to be difficult. But overall it's in great condition, and even though the greens are rolling really nice, I mean, they're fair. I like the course. I think it's a great golf course.

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: It's been decent. Actually, I started out really well last week, I shot a five under the first round and was one behind the leaders. And then my game kind of fell apart a little bit. I didn't drive it as well and my putting wasn't as good, which is usually the strongest part of my game. I rely a lot on my putting. It seems the two rounds now I've got on this course I've been putting really well, so I'm quite pleased with that. I worked a lot on my driving this last couple of days, and it's much better. So I feel quite comfortable right now, it feels good.

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: It's hard to say exactly who would really fit. I like the course, and the way I've been playing now, I think it sets up pretty good for my game. It's a pretty long golf course. I think for the longer hitters it might be a little bit of an advantage, as long as you can hit it straight. It's not quite as tight. I think even though I played the practice round, the two plays with Laura, she's using the driver quite a lot on this golf course. So when she drives it straight, I think it's a big advantage for her. He's hitting 7 and 8-irons into the greens. But like I say, you've definitely got to keep the drives in play.

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: If you miss the greens you've definitely got to have a great short game on this golf course. I think the little chip shots, when you're way below the greens, are really tricky. When you don't have too much green to work, when you have to flop them up in the air, and the lies around the greens are still pretty tight, I think a lot of times when you're around the greens you can put it off the fringe. Like you say, you've got to be creative here and use all different kind of clubs around the greens.

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: No, I never did that. They're kind of way out there. You really have to hit it bad to get to the pine needles out there. The few drives that I missed today I was in the thick rough, and it seems like that's almost going to be tougher than the pine needles, I think, this week.

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: Well, I don't know about that. In a way you've kind of been in that situation, but in a way, though, when you've won this tournament, you know how much it means, and that you put even more pressure on yourself because you really want to win it again. For people who haven't won it, sometimes you treat the U.S. Open more like another golf tournament. I know I did the year when I won. I didn't think it was really any difference. Of course it was my rookie year, too, but for me it wasn't much difference coming into the U.S. Open or going to Minnesota or Corning. I treated it just like a normal week. But after winning it, I understood that it was a little different. I don't know, having won, I think you know really how important this tournament is, and you might put a little extra pressure on yourself.

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: No, we haven't talked that much at all. Annika and I didn't really grow up together. I spent more time with Helen Alfredsson and Eva Dahllof. We were at the same time on the Swedish team, and never got really to know Annika that well, so we haven't talked about it at all.

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: I think it put a lot of pressure on the players playing well this early in the season. It's a little tiring, I think. Usually coming to the U.S. Open it's later on in the year, and usually you can take some time off before, maybe a couple of weeks, and kind of prepare yourself. Now we've been going with all these majors so early in the season, it's been really busy this last couple of weeks. It's been a busy schedule, and it's been really tiring, because you're under a little bit more pressure in the major tournaments.

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: Yeah, I feel comfortable. I feel good about it, because I came off to such a good start this year, and I've been playing quite good the last couple of weeks. So in a way I'm happy that the U.S. Open is now and not later.

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: Yeah, it's been nice. It's quite amazing seeing all the girls coming out here. I think we have a couple of good players right now on the European tour, and hopefully they'll come over and try the LPGA in a couple of years. I think the European tour is a good way to prepare yourself. You go from Amateur golf to the European tour, and you learn what it's like to be out 30 to 35 weeks a year and be on the road and basically living out of a suitcase. And you get to travel and get around and make all your travel arrangements and know what it's like to play golf for money and not just fun. And I think hopefully in the future we're going to have a lot of good Swedish players out here, more to come.

LISELOTTE NEUMANN: Probably a lot of reasons. One thing I think golf is kind of a new sport in Sweden. It's really been growing this last couple of years. And I remember when I first started playing, the kids in my school were making fun of me because I played golf. Today everybody wants to play golf. So it's really been growing a lot. And also we have a great junior program, like we talked about before, Pia Nilsson is a big part of it, the Swedish Golf Federation has been behind that, and they just have a good system; you get help with anything,; everything from physical training to the mental part of the game, how to prepare yourself for tournament and basically anything, if you need a teacher or anything. So it's a good program that prepares you for the professional life.