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LPGA STATE FARM CLASSIC

June 5, 2009

Kristy McPherson

SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS

JASON TAYLOR: Want to run through your scorecard.
KRISTY McPHERSON: Sure, I would.
JASON TAYLOR: If you remember.
KRISTY McPHERSON: Okay. Starting on 1, hit lob wedge like eight feet, made birdie.
2, 8-iron, 14 feet.
10, 9-iron, made about a 20-footer.
11, wedge, eight feet.
16, chipped it to four feet.
18, 7-iron to like an inch.
JASON TAYLOR: Perfect. Thanks for coming in.
KRISTY McPHERSON: Absolutely.
JASON TAYLOR: Great round, 6-under, 10-under overall. You're tied for the lead right now.
KRISTY McPHERSON: 9 (laughter). I'll take it. Did I sign the wrong scorecard (laughter)?
JASON TAYLOR: Six birdies, no bogeys. That's a plus. Talk a little bit about the day.
KRISTY McPHERSON: No bogeys is key. Actually I think this is probably my first round this year with no bogeys.
It was scorable out there. It was a little bit of wind, but not enough to really affect the ball. The greens are really receptive. The fairways are in perfect shape. If you're not making birdies, it's your own fault out there.
Hit the ball well. Hit every fairway, which is huge out here. Gave me lots of opportunities.
JASON TAYLOR: Questions.

Q. Obviously you really got going on your first nine, the backside. A lot of pars. On the front side, did you leave a few birdies out there? Did you not have as many chances?
KRISTY McPHERSON: Yeah, I had good opportunities all day. But, you know, I had to make a couple of good saves on my back nine, which was the front. Missed a little one that I thought I had, a 7-footer, No. 5, my 14th hole. Last one, had it about eight feet. Those two, kind of left them out there.
But you can't really complain when you take six birdies and no bogeys. Just trying to look forward now.

Q. Did you think you were getting the eagle on 18?
KRISTY McPHERSON: I did (laughter). Actually I hit it just like I wanted. Told my caddie, I said, That's as good as I could do. I was telling somebody out there, the crowd tells you everything. The crowd got loud, got quiet, got loud, got quiet. I knew it didn't go in, but I knew it was really close, according to the crowd (laughter).

Q. What about at the end when you hit the one to the green, the ball cut over to the right?
KRISTY McPHERSON: Yeah, that was kind of in between two clubs for me. I decided to take the longer one because I knew I had the backstop to bring it back on. You don't want to miss it short in that bunker there. I was trying to use that slope a little bit. I got a little more out of it than I thought I was going to. It was nice to see it edge closer to the hole. Unfortunately, didn't get the putt in the hole.

Q. Not to take anything away from your day, but Se Ri, when she's up on the board like she is now, is she still one of those players that commands a lot of respect?
KRISTY McPHERSON: Absolutely. I was joking with her on the first tee yesterday. She has the Hall of Fame badge on her bag. Me and her caddie were like, You can't just build up boxtops for those things, you got to earn those things.
She played like a Hall of Famer the last two days. She didn't make a bogey in two days. That's pretty special. That's tough to do, I don't care who you are. She made some pretty good par saves today. Just a great player, great person. Just enjoyed playing the last two rounds with her. I really wanted to make that putt on 18 so I could get with her tomorrow. Unfortunately, didn't.
She's just a class act.

Q. Hard to believe she's only 31.
KRISTY McPHERSON: 32, isn't she?

Q. 31 or 32. As long as she's been around, is she still the same kind of player?
KRISTY McPHERSON: I mean, this is only my third year out here. I didn't play with her when she was in her prime. But I've played with her a few times over the last few years. She's still got the game. If she gets another win, you better watch out. Once you get that confidence, gets going back to how she used to be, everybody better watch out, get out of the way.

Q. You were talking the other day about your arthritis. Sometimes you have good days, bad days. Weather-wise today?
KRISTY McPHERSON: Perfect. I told my caddie walking down one of the holes, Give me these days for the rest of my life, I'll play golf every day the rest of my life if we had this weather.
Yeah, it was perfect weather. I've been fighting some hip and low back issues the last couple weeks. But today's as good as it's felt in a long time, with it being such nice weather.

Q. What measures do you take to keep that under control?
KRISTY McPHERSON: Just stretch as much as I can. I take medicine every day. I know when my limitations -- if it's going to be a tough day, bad weather, rainy, cold weather makes it a lot more difficult for me.
I just exercise, and most importantly stretch, let the medicine do its work.

Q. Before you got that diagnosis when you were a kid, where did you envision yourself going? What was your dream?
KRISTY McPHERSON: I don't remember much before I got diagnosed. I was 11 when I got diagnosed. I was a big softball and basketball player. I really wanted to go into college and play one of those sports. But, yeah, I really wanted to go and play another sport. Obviously when I got sick, that was not really possible. Turned to golf.

Q. How old were you when you turned to golf?
KRISTY McPHERSON: 11. I started playing golf when I was like 14.

Q. Is there a key stretch of holes out there for you?
KRISTY McPHERSON: Today or in general?

Q. In general.
KRISTY McPHERSON: I think you got to take advantage of the par 5s. Even myself, being a shorter hitter, you definitely have to take advantage of 16. Today that's where I started playing well. I birdied 16, 18, 1 and 2. Like I said, you hit the fairways out here, you get short-irons in your hands, you get lots of opportunities. All of the longer hitters, the girls at the top of the board, Se Ri, Suzann, getting to those with no problem. To me, if I get there, if I have a wedge in my hand, I got to take advantage of it.

Q. What do you think is going on out there today? Yesterday scores were maybe not as low as they are here some years. Helen is having a heck of a round out there. Are the fairways just firming up?
KRISTY McPHERSON: I think today with no wind out there, very little wind, not enough to really get you in trouble. The little bit of wind that was out there favored me on most of the tee shots.
I just think it's out there for you. The fairways are perfect and greens are receptive. You get a lot of short-irons in your hands. It's easy to do out there.

Q. You came close at the Kraft Nabisco. What did you take away from that experience? Tip your hat to the other girl?
KRISTY McPHERSON: Absolutely. She hit a pretty good shot at a good time. I got beat there. That's all you can do. But I played well. Like I said, I gave myself a one-shot lead after 71 holes. That's what I wanted to do. Obviously get a lead going into the last, then I just got beat.
Shows me I can compete. Just go out there, there's a lot of good players out here, and it takes a lot to get up on the leaderboard sometimes. Just shows me that I can compete out here with the rest of the girls.
JASON TAYLOR: Thank you.
KRISTY McPHERSON: Thanks.

End of FastScripts

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