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KRAFT NABISCO CHAMPIONSHIPApril 5, 2009Cristie KerrRANCHO MIRAGE, CALIFORNIA DANA GROSS-RHODE: Today was a day of battling back and forth between a trio of Americans, and you all made it very exciting; what do you take away from today and the success that you did have? CRISTIE KERR: You know, I thought I played great all week. I struggled with hitting the driver straight at times, and you know, it kind of came back to haunt me a little bit on 15. I felt good over it. I went through my normal routine, just made a really bad swing at it. Just obviously wasn't my week. I fought really hard to try and get back. From what I understand, it almost went in for eagle on 18, and you know, at least I had to hit it to make it. DANA GROSS-RHODE: You're well up in the Solheim Cup race, but what does that mean for you, being on the Solheim Cup team in August? CRISTIE KERR: I feel very good. American golf is on the upswing again. We are all pulling for each other, and we are obviously playing well. Q. Early on you kind of hit your driver all over the place but you seemed to manage those shots very well like a veteran; they were struggling and you were making the shots you needed. You got up by three, did that change your feelings at any point? CRISTIE KERR: I knew we had a lot of golf to play at that point. You know, I hit it in the rough on 9, instead of hitting in the fairway. I had a good birdie opportunity there but I got myself above the hole where you can't be really aggressive. You know, that's where I could have done a little better there. 10, I played great, just misread the putt. 11, hit a good putt. I played great today, I really did. I had two bad drives. Unfortunately one of them, you know, even in usual circumstances would have been a bogey instead of a double, and that might have been the difference. But in this case, it wasn't. I had to take away from it that, you know, I played a great tournament, and I just came up a little bit short. Q. You played really well; Brittany played well; Kristy played well. What was it like to be in a final pairing where somebody just had to make a great shot to win it because nobody was giving up anything? CRISTIE KERR: It was exciting to say the least. You know, again, it's great for American golf. It's great for me in the sense that, you know, I was there again in a major, and I feel good about the rest of the year. You know, it's definitely exciting. Whoever made the most putts today or the least mistakes won, and Brittany I think out of both of us made the least amount of mistakes and she ended up hitting an amazing shot into the green on 18 and made that putt for eagle to win it. So, you know, that's what it takes to win majors, and unfortunately coming down the last couple of holes, I made two bad swings with the driver; not mental, but just had been struggling with that all week. Again, I played great and just came up a little short, and it's a great experience for me. Q. You say it's great for American golf; how important is that for the LPGA Tour for Americans to do well? CRISTIE KERR: I think it's hugely important for us. We play most of our tournaments on American soil, and most of our fan base, a lot of it is in Korea and Japan now, but most of our fan base is in the United States. I think this was a very big day for the LPGA and for American golf. Q. On 18, standing back there, was two ever a possibility for you? CRISTIE KERR: No. To make matters worse, on my backswing, there was one of the little beetles that literally whizzed by my head on the tee on 18. I tried to hang on and hit it straight, but it didn't happen. I hit it way right and had to lay up, and my second shot was in a divot, so that was kind of my clue that maybe it wasn't my week at that point. I gave it everything I had. It nearly went in on 18 from what I understand. I'd love to see the replay. You know, I made the putt; because a 4-footer to win the tournament for eagle is a little shaky, but she got a read off me, too. Q. What initially went through your mind after your ball went off the club on 15 after the first drive is this? CRISTIE KERR: In tournaments in general, but majors in specific, it's such a fine line. You know, you have to walk to be able to end up winning. You have to have everything go your way; maybe it hits the tree and drops instead of going out-of-bounds. I made sure going left not to hit anything -- that hole, I think that hole may owe me next year, because I hit a ball right once and tried to get it on the green and the tree on the right ate one of my balls one time. That hole definitely owes me in the future. I told my caddie, John, this is not the last time we are going to be in contention here together. It's obviously exciting to be there and I'm disappointed it didn't turn out in my favor, but I'll take away some great memories and experience from the tournament. Q. What is the most important single thing that you learned from Joe that you implemented? CRISTIE KERR: That's a lot of things that we worked on but just basically getting out of my head and how to think about the results and planning it out and doing it, basically, is the most simple way I can describe that. DANA GROSS-RHODE: Thank you all. Cristie, congratulations on a great major finish. End of FastScripts |
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