U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 3, 2003

Donna Andrews

Q. Let's start with the good stuff.

DONNA ANDREWS: I started at 10.

Q. Talk about being at the top of the leader board?

DONNA ANDREWS: It's great. I was talking to somebody the other day and they say, you know, you always find a way to finish in the top 20. I really did not hit the ball that well and didn't feel very comfortable about the way I drove it today. But I hit every fairway, so I can't complain. That's how you play good at Opens.

Q. Sometimes it's expectations or lack thereof and you probably played with a free mind and free spirit?

DONNA ANDREWS: Actually, no, I didn't. I was thinking a lot. I had been working on my swing last week and that was part of my problem. I had been hitting the ball great and unfortunately I watched it on video and when I do I always critique it a little bit too much. So yesterday afternoon on the range I just tried to go back to finding my good balance and hit the ball great today.

Q. A hundred percent of the fairways, 83 percent of the greens, so obviously you hit it well. But looking at your putts, were these greens a little difficult out here today?

DONNA ANDREWS: Well I started out with 3-putt. So that probably wasn't real good for my confidence on the first hole. But it's hard. We have a small putting green here. And I left myself a 45 footer on first hole. Well the longest putt you can hit on that green is maybe 30 feet. And both the girls I played with had that same problem. You leave yourself some long putts and you're not sure what to do with them because you haven't practiced them. So I just worked on my tempo and trying to get the speed right. And I hit a lot of great putts on the front nine and didn't quite read them right or have the speed right. I left two short on the front side, two inches short dead in the jaws. And on the back side I was trying to be patient and I saw that everybody was playing great on the back and blowing up on the front. Because everybody had stars by their name. I said, that's not going to be us. I was trying to concentrate on the front side because it's playing tougher than the back today.

Q. Did you find you played here a couple days before that did you find it really change that much the last few days?

DONNA ANDREWS: No I played late on Tuesday, at 2 o'clock I think. And I felt it was very similar to today. Actually it wasn't quite as windy today as it was Tuesday afternoon. The same holes the wind's been very consistent all week, it's been north, northwest. It swirls a lot more on the front side and I think that's probably why it plays more difficult. It swirls in the trees and you probably have to be paying attention. And one hole we hit a great shot and by the time we got to the green it was down wind. And I said, thank goodness it wasn't down wind when we hit the shot. I think that's probably why the scores were higher on the front side.

Q. There's probably two youngsters that are going to be up on the leaderboard. Does that surprise you and if so, to what extent?

DONNA ANDREWS: Actually it really doesn't. I watched the Songs, I think they're going by now, and Michelle Wie. Just to watch the their games, the fundamentals are so good. I wish I was the size of Michelle Wie. I'm 36 and not as tall. And she reminds me a lot of Davis Love. She's got the big arc and being tall like that you can create a lot of arm speed. And I think that they're so much more mature at that age than we were. We haven't had the competition that they had. It just wasn't out there for us. And with the start of the AJGA and things like that, the USGA Girls Club. It's gotten so much better for girls coming up. And they have got great games. They don't always have the course management and that's what I saw with Michelle a little bit at Dinah is once she gets that course management to go a long with that swing she's going to be unbeatable. And I hope I'm not still playing when she's out here.

Q. Mhairi talked about the fact that today is Thursday. It's a great round, but you got three more rounds to go. What's your approach going into tomorrow?

DONNA ANDREWS: I'm going to try to find that same sweet tempo that I had today. I couldn't have drove the ball any better today and that's what I was really concerned about after my first two practice rounds. Normally I do hit a lot of fairways so that really didn't concern me. And to go out there and find a good tempo like I had today, a nice slow tempo, that's really what I'm going to concentrate on. If the wind picks up it's harder for me to keep it slow. So I'll go out and work on my rhythm and tempo out there.

Q. When you get it, do you keep it for awhile?

DONNA ANDREWS: Usually with the injuries I've had, every day is a new adventure, unfortunately. It depends on what aches and pains you show up with. Unfortunately my chest was bugging me a little bit on the range today. I have a rib head that tends to pop out and I was very concerned about it. Because it hasn't bothered me much this year and for it to be hurting on the range I figured oh, no, I'm trying to change my swing now. And I got to playing and it didn't hurt me. I felt it once over a fat shot. And I got over it and just trusted it and went out throughout the day.

Q. Don't hit fat shots?

DONNA ANDREWS: I said that. If it hurts when you hit bad shots, don't hit them.

Q. (Inaudible.)

DONNA ANDREWS: Absolutely. Well certainly here in Portland. Portland is the site of my first win on the LPGA Tour in '93. And they were giving me grief that it was 10 years since I had one. So I have a lot of fans and friends here in Portland. So it's pretty special to be out here and just to play well. I think my goal is always to try and finish in the top 20 at the Open and top-10 is even better. I played well here before, I think I finished 19th when the tournament was here before. But I feel better about my game now than I probably did back in '97 when we were here.

Q. No dogs here?

DONNA ANDREWS: No dog, no cat, no horses, no nothing. Just me.

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