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KIA CLASSIC PRESENTED BY J GOLF

March 25, 2010

Catriona Matthew

CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA

HEATHER DALY-DONOFRIO: Welcome, Catriona, congratulations on a solid start to the tournament, 4-under, 68. Can you talk about your round, what worked, didn't work?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Really played well today. Drove the ball well, I think I hit 11 fairways and 14 greens so hit the ball well, great start, birdied 11, 12, 13, 15 and 17 on the back nine, which was my front nine, and then just parred my way back and unfortunately, a bogey there on the last but overall very pleased with my round.

Q. How do you feel your great many suits this golf course?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: I think I've been driving the ball well probably over the past couple of years. You've got to hit the ball straight, the rough is pretty thick in places and the greens are small so if you're not on the fairway it's tough to get onto the greens.

Q. Talk about your round today and how that's going to set up your weekend, do you think?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, obviously delighted with my start. I thought when I first saw the course on Tuesday I thought it was a tough course, playing long, greens were difficult so, yeah, I thought kinda close to par would be doing well, so delighted with the 4-under start.

Q. Do you think your game is, in terms of distance off the tee and your irons, back to pre-baby?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, I would definitely say so, probably maybe picked up a little bit of distance, actually, working on getting through the ball better just to get a better ball flight, so I think that's helping into the wind a little bit.

Q. Speaking of the children, you had a spectacular year last year, an very unusual feat where you won the golf tournament in Brazil while you were pregnant with your daughter, and then 11 weeks after she was born you won your first major at the Ricoh British Women's Open. So do you feel having your second child and being a mother has helped you on the golf course and with your career?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, I think having children has helped. Certainly after Katie, the first one, I think it help me relax more on the course. I tended to, you know, maybe just make too much of bad shots, but now you know it's not the end of the world, you go back and they're always happy to see you, usually. So, yeah, I think it's helped me relax a little bit, put golf more in perspective.

Q. So you have Katie here this week?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, the older one with us this week.

Q. How do you decide who is going to travel and if the whole family is going to come, who is going to stay home and what your schedule will be like?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: For these two weeks we decided it was a long way. We came from Scotland so it was a long flight with a big time change to bring both of them, so we decided to bring Katie, and then I think next time I'm over is for the match play, and I think we're just going to come the two of us, and then all four of us will start traveling the end of May, beginning of June, for the summer stretch and probably through the autumn.

Q. Will you have grandparents with you for the five weeks?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: No, we're doing it on our own at the moment. We might rope in some help.

Q. How big of a help is the Smucker's Child Development Center and does that give you a peace of mind?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Obviously having the Smucker's Daycare, couldn't do it without them. They love it; it's the same two ladies every week, and they set the place up the same way, so it's really just like a normal daycare, so it gives the children -- you feel not too guilty leaving them when you know it's so good.

Q. What was your frame of mind coming into this week? Were you brimming with confidence?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, I felt as if I'd played well in Asia, played well the first week in Thailand, the second week didn't putt quite so well but worked hard on my game, got some nice weather in Scotland, so been working hard on it the last two and a half weeks and felt as though I was hitting the ball well.
So I was keen to get out and -- it's always different to try and take a score, so I was keen to get out here and see how it would convert into taking a card.

Q. There are a couple of moms playing their first week back after having a baby. What advice would you give to them in terms of juggling it, especially when you're away.
CATRIONA MATTHEW: I think the hardest bit is to not feel guilty if you're not there all the time. Katie certainly wasn't wanting to go to the daycare this morning, making me feel very bad, but you've got to accept that within 2 seconds of leaving, they're fine again.
But I think that's the hardest bit, is having to leave them, especially if they're crying and things.

Q. Obviously your first eight holes were very good. Did you feel at that point that you wanted to steer it in, that 5-under was good, and obviously you finished at 4.
CATRIONA MATTHEW: No, you know, I think I just missed two greens on the back nine, had a lot of chances, a couple of putts that looked good and just bubbled off the greens, they were getting a little bumpy towards the end of the day.
And unfortunately on 9, I was playing a pretty tough hole back into the wind and missed the green right and didn't have a good chip and actually had a good putt that slid round the edge. No, I had a few good chances and just maybe didn't hold -- hold a few good putts on the front nine, which made the difference.
HEATHER DALY-DONOFRIO: Thank you, Catriona.

End of FastScripts

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