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RICOH WOMEN'S BRITISH OPEN

July 31, 2009

Catriona Matthew

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, ENGLAND

COLIN CALLENDER: Catriona Matthew just had a 67 for a 3-under par total of 141, and currently sharing the lead in the championship. That was a great round. How do you feel about it?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yes, delighted with it. Obviously didn't start too well, 2-over, but obviously turned it around coming back in. So I'm very pleased.
11, I hit a perfect drive. I had 218 to the hole and hit a good rescue to probably six feet and holed that.
Then 12, I had 152 maybe to the hole and just hit a normal 8-iron and was looking good the whole way, just a couple of bounces and popped in.
13, I hit a punch 7-iron from about 130 to ten feet and holed that one for birdie.
COLIN CALLENDER: Have you ever had a hole-in-one in competition before?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yes, at Sunningdale, actually. 13, I hit driver, 3-wood probably 20 yards short of the green and chipped on and holed that one.
16, I hit a 3-wood and just had 100 yard, little gap wedge.
Then 18, I hit drive and a little wedge to ten feet and holed that one for birdie.

Q. Have you ever had a burst like that where you were 7-under?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: No, I don't think I've ever had two eagles in a row. No, that's a first.

Q. Is this your best nine-hole score?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, about 7-under. I think 7-under would be my lowest.

Q. Not trying to diminish it in any way, but the wind changed today. How did that change the back nine compared to yesterday?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: The back nine played a lot easier. The front nine was into the wind probably more going out and the back nine played more downwind. So yeah, I mean, it definitely played easier today, the back nine.

Q. Given the reputation of Lytham's back nine, would you rate that the best back nine of your career?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, one of them, certainly. I mean, any time you shoot 7-under, it's got to be one of your best ones. They are saying it played a lot easier the back nine today than yesterday. A little change in wind direction can make a huge difference on links courses but you've still got to hit the shots.
Yeah I had chances. Unfortunately 17 missed probably about a 6-footer for par. Improved on that hole from yesterday. So not too bad.

Q. How soon did you get back into practising after the birth of your baby girl?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Probably five weeks after.

Q. And how easy has it been to get back into the swing of it?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Well, it's been fairly easy really. Yeah, I started back practicing pretty quickly and I was hitting it really pretty well. Played quite a lot of golf when I was at home just to try to get back into the swing of playing on a golf course.
I was probably nervous my first round last week, but it was nice to get four rounds in and I feel like I'm getting back into it now.

Q. You've played a lot of links golf as an amateur and had a pretty good record. Do you have any idea why up till now you've struggled when the Open has been on links courses?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, I've been awful since I turned pro. I don't know, maybe this time I've been home practising, so I've probably been playing more links golf. So I'm sure that probably helped this time. But even though I could, forget how when I played it seems like.

Q. Is your baby with you at the moment? I don't mean under the desk.
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, they are both here.

Q. Just wondering about sleep deprivation.
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Well, my mum's here, so unfortunately for hershe's the one getting up and doing all of that. We've been doing quite well. I think she'll be ready for a break. She's had her for two weeks, last week and this week. She'll be catching up on her sleep next week.

Q. You might be called a Superwoman, having this incredible round ten weeks after birth, do you feel like that?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Not really, no. I found it was a lot easier time. I felt as though I recovered a lot more quickly. The birth was slightly easier this time than the first time around. No, I mean, it doesn't take you too long to get back into it I don't think.

Q. Can you just quickly run through the putts on the last nine?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: One on 10, I hit a terrible shot into the bunker. That kind of kept my round going, actually, was holing that putt on 10. Then I had 1 on 11, none on 12, 1 on 13, 2 on 14, 1 on 15, 1 on 16, 2 on 17 and 1 on 18.Ten putts. That's unusual for me.

Q: Talk through your birdies and bogeys on the front nine.

The third, I hit 3-wood off the tee and then had a poor rescue into the green, which I just pulled a little bit and hit a fairly decent chip up to about six feet and missed that one.
4, I hit 3-rescue off the tee and then an 8-iron on to the green and probably holed about a 25-footer there for birdie.
Then 7, I put my second shot in the rough and then kind of just pulled it left my third shot and then chipped on and missed the putt.
8, I hit a terrible second shot into the bunker on the right and played out and 2-putted.

Q. Taking the baby break, do you think that helped your golf?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, I came back from Katie and finished second and third and then second. Maybe I started too late (laughs).

Q. Can you talk a bit about the fire drama you had last week at the Evian?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: It was about 10.30 it started. I was in bed and my husband was on the balcony on the computer and I thought it was raining and I shouted out, "Oh, it's heavy rain out."
And he came in and said, "What on earth are you talking about? "It just got louder and louder and eventually we went and opened the door and it was just flames and smoke outside the door.

Q. Was it scary at the time?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Oh, very scary, yeah. We were just kind of thankful we were on our own. If we had all been there we would have been asleep; we would have been just exhausted then. Yeah, very fortunate it was just the two of us.

Q. Just wondering what sort of dialogue was going on between you and your husband on the back nine as you're on this stretch. Were you talking much?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Not a whole lot to be honest. I don't speak a whole lot when I'm out there playing. So, yeah, I'm not really saying too much. Just kind of discussing the clubs and different things.
He was obviously pleased and quite delighted at the eagle and hole-in-one. But you've just got to try to stay calm when that happens. You don't want to get too kind of caught up in those two holes. You still have some pretty difficult holes to come up with. I finished pretty badly yesterday, so I still had to hit a lot of good shots coming in.

Q. Can you run through how you got out last week at the hotel? Was it all straightforward and did you get all your stuff out with you?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: No, we didn't get much stuff. We got maybe about a third of our clothes and that. In fact, Cristie Kerr got me some LACOSTE clothes last week so that was very nice of her. We just literally went out the door and said there was a fire. I just leapt out of bed and ran out. He forgot to put his shoes on and he got his foot burnt. Yeah, we kind of panicked.

Q. Where were you?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: We were on the first floor. We had a balcony on the first floor but the door was kind of on the level, and then we kind of ran around shouting fire and other people got out. Amy Hung, she had to jump out of their balcony. I think she threw their mattresses and then jumped.

Q. Did you go back?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: They got us into another hotel.

Q. Is that new, what you're wearing?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: No. This was the only jersey I had left that didn't get burnt.

Q. You used to be renowned for your consistency. How do you explain this sort of metamorphosis into Helen Alfredsson? At one stage you're 4-over and then suddenly, you have this amazing run.
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, I felt I had not played too badly on the way out but it's just this kind of course. You can kind of hit not too bad of a shot but you get in the bunker or in the rough, and then it's a bogey before you know it.
Yeah, obviously I just hit some really good shots coming in. I was obviously lucky to make the two eagles. I could have hit a good shot into 11 and still made birdie and maybe birdie on 12, but you need a bit of luck every so often. I'll take it.

Q. You seem very relaxed out on the course. I was there with you when you lost a ball on 17 yesterday. There were no histrionics, you were kind of very pragmatic. And I was there when you had the hole-in-one and the eagle. Is that a deliberate policy or are you just generally a very calm and relaxed person?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Well, no, I don't know about that. I'm trying not to get too annoyed if I hit bad shots. It's only been my second tournament back. I probably haven't gotten into that mode of being too annoyed yet. Yeah, I am definitely trying to make an effort to try and not let myself get too annoyed.

Q. When you were at St. Andrews you got yourself in good position at halfway, three rounds, was it?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, I was doing pretty well, yeah.

Q. Did you learn from what happened then?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, I think you do. Obviously a lot just depends on the weather. I'm not sure what the forecast is or how windy it's going to be.
Yeah, this is definitely a course you've just got to be able to go out and be very patient and just try to keep it out of the bunkers and keep it out of the rough. I'd rather have a longer shot into the green than maybe go with driver and pull it or push it and you're in the bunker and then you're struggling from there. So I would rather just lay back. And if I keep putting well, I feel like I'm swinging well.

Q. What did you learn from St. Andrews?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: I didn't play very well, I think, the third day in the wind. The wind kind of blew me off course a little bit. Yeah, I think you do learn from those things, learn to probably hang in there a bit better and stay more patient.

Q. How far from the green was the lost ball yesterday on 17?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Oh, a long way. It was a terrible second shot. I was trying to hit it over the rough, on 17 you hit it kind of over the rubbish and I caught it a bit thin and just played straight into a hill. No doubt about it being lost. We hit it about, I don't know, about 80 yards in front of me, 100 yards.

Q. So you hit your fourth shot, presumably you were near where you hit your second?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, and I hit a really good next shot, too. I made a good six in the end.
Q: Have you plans to play more in Europe or will you be going back to the LPGA Tour?

CATRIONA MATTHEW: I'm going to go back and play -- I think I can only play ten events until the end of the year, so I'll probably go back and play a few on the LPGA. Maybe play Dubai maybe at the end of the year. Just need to kind of look at the schedule and pick and choose. Taking maternity this year, I can only play ten after having the baby. So I'll have to see which ones I'm going to pick.
COLIN CALLENDER: Thank you very much.

End of FastScripts

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