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LORENA OCHOA INVITATIONAL BY BANAMEX AND CORONA LIGHT

November 13, 2008

Annika Sorenstam

GUADALAJARA, JALISCO

ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Birdied No. 6, 8-iron to four feet.
Birdied No. 10, 4-wood in the green-side bunker and hit it up and made a putt, that was from 12 feet.
Birdied No. 12, 5-iron and I chipped in to about 11 feet, actually a little bit more than that, 14 feet.
Then I bogeyed 14 and hit a sand wedge to the green and 2-putted from five feet.
Bogeyed No. 16, 8-iron, three putts from 20 feet and the par putt was 4.
Then on 18, I chipped in from 21 feet.
MIKE SCANLAN: Annika thanks for coming in, and a nice chip-in to tie for the lead.
Talk about your day and thoughts on the course.
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yes, it was a nice chip, and it's always great to finish with a birdie.
I would say overall I played very well and hit a lot of good shots. I'm very pleased with my game and worked with my instructor for a little bit before I got here, and we worked on my chipping, so I would say it paid off.

Q. You were 5-under, and then you had a struggle on 14 and 16, can you talk about that?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: You know, there's really not much to talk about other than I missed two short putts there from four or five feet. I still hit the fairway on both holes, and around the greens, I just wasn't tidy around the greens. Just tried to move on and I made a lot of good shots and good putts, and I'm not going to dwell too much about it.

Q. It seems like MÃ©xico fits you, you always play really good here in Mexico City, Acapulco, Ixtapa, no matter what kind of tournament it is; how do you feel about it?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I would agree with you. I think a combination of a lot of things, I like the Mexican tacos and margaritas, that's a good start (laughter).
I just feel very welcome here. I've always felt the hospitality, and being a good friend of Lorena, her family has been very nice. And when you go to a place you like, you just get in a good -- you just feel good. I like it here. I mean, I'm obviously very happy I came.
And this golf course is very, very good. I think it's one of the best we've played all year, and I'm not kidding by saying that. I really believe that it's in great shape. I love the holes out there. It's a mixture of holes. We have long par 5s and a mixture of par 3s, par 4s are dogleg-left and dogleg-right, short, long and it's just a great variety of holes. I just like coming here and playing.

Q. How tough do you think the golf course will be playing tomorrow and the rest of the week? There are at least 23 players shooting in the red numbers.
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Yeah, I think the scores were good today. It just shows the calibre of players that are here this week, and also, you know, when we have good greens, usually the scores are lower. I guess, you know, tomorrow is a new day, and we'll see how the course plays.
I thought today we had some tough pins, but if you look at the greens overall, there are some places you can put a pin and make it a little tougher, and of course, moving the tees back to make it longer; I don't think we need to do that.
The course itself is tough. It's just that the players are playing well, and it's a true golf course. If you hit good shots, you get rewarded. You have to be quite off the line to get in the trees, but it can easily happen.

Q. It's just Thursday and we already have big crowds here and they have been very supportive to you. What do you think about all of these people coming already on Thursday?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I think it's wonderful. It's a sign of appreciation for Lorena and women's golf over here. It's wonderful to see the support, and like you said, it's Thursday and we have big crowds. I think the whole city has embraced this event, and obviously Lorena is from here and she has a lot of friends and a big family, and the support is wonderful. It's another sign that it's a good reason to come here and play.
So I'm looking forward to seeing more people and playing in front of them.

Q. Almost all of the other golfers have said, they want to meet you before your retirement; who is the most you are going to most of the players?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Who am I going to miss the most? I have a lot of friends out here. I think overall I'm going to miss the people that have been with me every week. It's not just players; it's caddies and staff, of course, and you guys in the media. There's a lot of people that I will miss.
But the hardest part is obviously to stay the grind. That's just been the hardest part for me, and the motivation, I just don't have that anymore. I'm hoping that connect with people anyway. I'm not leaving the game of golf. So like I said, I'm not saying good-bye forever, either. It's just for now, and I'm sure one of these days, I'll look forward to hooking up with these people again.

Q. Even though you said you lost your motivation to play, you're still playing like Tiger; you're dominating the course. How much would you like to win this tournament?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I definitely would love to win. I've always felt like when I come to a golf course that I give my best chances to do so. I practiced with my coach, like I said, and I love this place. I mean, I felt good about this week, and today was a good round. I obviously need another three to go with it, and then we'll see what happens.
But you know, once I step inside the ropes, I enjoy the competition. It's just hard for me to sometimes prepare the way I used to, and you know, the fire is not there the way it used to be every week, and that's just kind of what I'm fighting every day.
So, you know, once I start making some birdies, the competitive part of me has not disappeared, and that's why today was a good round when I really get into it and play well. So that helps. And again, I'm coming to an end, so you know, that's why I would like to finish on a strong note.
MIKE SCANLAN: Annika, thank you so much for coming in.

End of FastScripts

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