PAGENET CHAMPIONSHIP

November 12, 1999

Juli Inkster

JULI INKSTER: No. 1 I hit 7-iron about 10 feet; made that for birdie. No. 2, I hit it just to the right, chipped up; missed about a 4-footer; made bogey. No. 3, I hit pitching wedge out of the right bunker to about twelve feet; made that for birdie. No. 4, I hit an 8-iron about three feet made that for birdie. No. 9 I hit sand wedge about 15 feet, made for birdie. No. 10, I hit 7-wood on in two and putted up; made birdie. I had probably -- from the bottom, probably 35-foot putt for eagle. Then I think I parred all the rest of them. Last couple of days I have gotten good starts off the fronts and kind of haven't -- I played really good on the back today; just didn't make the putts. I had some birdie chances that I didn't make. But I don't know, it is going to be hard to catch Se Ri. She is lightning it up out there.

JULI INKSTER: You can make some birdies out here so you just got to -- maybe you are wondering she might shoot even; you can get hot and shoot 7-under so you just got to keep trying to play your own game, but there is a lot of good players up there.

JULI INKSTER: I think I just had food poisening. I went to dinner Wednesday night and went to a nice place and I had veal and woke up about two with the "U-hoes," and about 5 with the other end, so, I think everybody has had it. It just not fun. You wish you can get it Monday or Tuesday before the next tournament. I felt -- I think it helped me as far as slowing my swing down and my tempo down because I really wasn't hitting the ball that good this week, and yesterday I think with how easy I was swinging started to get some of my rhythm back, but I slept -- stayed in bed a lot yesterday afternoon, but I felt better today. I felt like I need to start eating.

JULI INKSTER: Yeah, I think sometimes your expectations go from here to down here and I think sometimes you just kind of let it go and not really worry about the outcome. If someone said yesterday before I teed it up, you shot 2-under, I would have head right back to the room. I was very pleased. I played very good on the front and kind of pittered on the back, but I was pleased with the way I played.

JULI INKSTER: I felt like, you know, if I am playing good, I feel like I can compete with anybody. I wasn't real happy with the way I was hitting the ball, but I don't know, sometimes when a tournament starts your swing comes back, so I mean, I wasn't really going into it knocking the pins down, but I still felt confident enough that I could get something going.

JULI INKSTER: Slim, but I thought it was slim coming in here. I never give up, so just going to keep firing at the pins and I am going to need a good low round to get back into this thing.

JULI INKSTER: I don't know. I guess someone said that, one, that when I went to tap it in, I missed it; tapped it again, and the other one said that it looked like my feet were behind my ball. But, you know, I think I would have remembered if I missed it. I know my feet weren't behind the ball. I just wanted to make sure, look at the tapes, make sure that everything was on the up and up and it was.

JULI INKSTER: Yeah, it is annoying because, you know, you just -- you just want to make sure everything is right. This game is an integrity game and I just want to make sure I do the right thing. I think I was more (inaudible) last night than over my illness but once I looked at the tapes and Karrie was right there with me and we just, you know, it was just one of those things someone said they thought they saw something and it just wasn't there.

JULI INKSTER: When I got off the 18th green Bob said 14, 14, he says remember how you tapped it in. I says -- I thought I went down with my right hand and went down and tapped it in. But looking at the tapes, Karrie says I wasn't watching and so we went back to the tapes and she is watching it and I hit it with my left hand. So it is just, you know, it is hard to remember those things, but looking at the tapes, it looked pretty much on the up and up.

JULI INKSTER: You know what, I wanted to come in here and give it a run and have a solid tournament and believe me I am still trying to win this thing. If I don't win it, I have had a great year. Karrie has had a fantastic year. We both had great years. Especially latter part of my career, you know, it has been a year that I have always dreamed of. Karrie is a phenomenal player and very good person and I don't have to step back -- I don't mind stepping back and in the back seat because she is a great player. I am just very pleased with the way I have played this year.

JULI INKSTER: Yeah.

JULI INKSTER: I think we have really gotten away from what the Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup is all about. It is about getting two continents together and playing against each other. It is not -- I think, nothing personal, the media and people behind it, really take it personally if we lose, and it is a lot of pressure on these people, these guys and these gals, to come through. And, you know, I just think it's gotten out of hand. The Europeans, we see them every week. I mean, it is not like the guys were -- they play there 12 tournaments -- we see the Europeans every week. So, I mean, it is like a whole year of buildup of we are going to beat you; no, we are going to beat you. It is really two years of bragging rights, and that is what I play for. I don't -- if I go out and play against the Europeans and they beat me, they have a better day, we will shake their hands and move on. But I think it's gotten too, I don't know, the word -- too callous, too much. It shouldn't be that big a deal. It should be a fun event. It shouldn't be that pressure-packed.

JULI INKSTER: It is not -- you know, what happened on the 17th hole of the Ryder Cup, that is just pure emotion and Dottie, I played with Dottie. Dottie did nothing wrong. I mean, we are own the 18th hole, I have got a long putt, I knock it up there about this far. As far as I am concerned, if the Europeans didn't want everybody to clap, they should have not given it to her and had her mark it. They give Dottie the putt and she is walking back towards me like this - anybody would do it; then the crowd got into it. But, you know, it is water under the bridge and you move on. Whatever Dottie does every little thing is magnified. I guess that is why -- that is why you love to have her on your team; you hate to play against her. She is a Danny Ainge of the LPGA.