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KRAFT NABISCO CHAMPIONSHIP

April 2, 2010

Cristie Kerr

RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIFORNIA

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations, Cristie Kerr, on a great second round. You're at 6-under par for the tournament. Can you walk us through your round?
CRISTIE KERR: I played great on the front nine. You know, I had some putts that could have gone in, but I bombed the driver all day today and it gave me a huge advantage on some of the holes where if you could get shorter clubs in, you could stop it a little bit better on the greens.
And on 3 I hit it about six feet and made birdie. And on 9 I actually to a Top 10 and hit lob wedge -- actually sand wedge pin high about 20-plus feet and made that, and when I saw that go in, it kind of gave me a little confidence.
Played 10 and 11 as good as you can play them. I birdied 10 with that back hole location, I was under the hole about maybe, I don't know how long the putt was, maybe 12, 14 feet and made that right in the middle.
And 11, you know, 11 was a perfect hole. I couldn't hit the tee shot any better, the 7-wood any better, and I walked it in from like 8, 10 feet out, and if it would have missed, it would have looked really stupid, but it didn't, because I walked them in occasionally.
You know, 12 and 13, I played well. 13 I hit in the bunker, but it was actually pretty severe lie in the fairway and I actually hit a good shot, just kind of squirted right off the lie there.
14 kind of played tough today. I was in between clubs and really didn't have that difficult of a little wedge to belly from the fringe. Just didn't hit it hard enough, and then I started walking my par putt in and missed.
And then the next hole, I just really the only swing all day where I didn't have that nice rhythm, and I hit it right, and I just said, you know what, don't try and get greedy here, just get on the green make bogey and get out of there.
And then on 16 I made an unbelievable putt, a little wedge into the green. That's how far I was hitting my driver today. And you know, I made it from above the hole. My caddie thought that if it would have missed, I would have been chipping coming back, but I don't think so. I thought if it went in, it might have been about five, six feet by, but that's a really quick putt, and it went in.
And then on 17, as firm as that green is, it was good to make par. And then on 18, the tee up if you hit a good drive, you could hit it on the green, and I hit it just short. Actually I hit that hybrid right at the hole, and we thought it was helping, and it wasn't really helping up at the green, so it was good to get word.
So I played really, really well today. It was great mentally, and I hit the ball as solid as I think I've ever hit it, and I wasn't really even that, you know, having that kind of adrenaline. I hit it really, really solid. I hit some drives today that I probably hit further than, you know, without much wind, downwind or whatever. You know, I hit the ball really far today. I had a lot of speed.
THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. So I assume was it your driver that was the best part of your game today?
CRISTIE KERR: It was definitely one of them. You know, putting was great. You know, overall game was great. If you're shooting in the 60s, whether it's 61 or 69 in a major championship on a course this difficult with greens this firm and as much rough as there is, you're doing a lot of things well.

Q. So how much does last year and how you played down the stretch come into play this year with your confidence and how you've done on this course?
CRISTIE KERR: I played great down the stretch last year. I had kind of one mishap. Maybe that had to do with an official coming up to us, maybe it didn't. Who knows? I hooked it, probably didn't even need driver there.
But I played great coming down the stretch last year, gave me a lot of confidence. I made a big putt on the last hole.
And you know, that's a year ago. I'm definitely more mature, older, and ready to go.

Q. Talk about the course conditions, the greens some people -- (laughs). Couple of players have come in and said they've never seen the greens quite this firm here. Is that kind of what you're thinking?
CRISTIE KERR: I've seen them this firm before. You know, on Monday afternoon when we played our practice round, the greens were getting very brown in spots, and I think they've done a very good job actually of preventing them from getting burned out.
I think No. 16 and a couple of the ones on the Back 9 they need to watch going into the weekend so that it's not unfair, but it's playing like a U.S. Open, lots of rough, challenging course, greens hard and fast, and I like that.

Q. Looking at the leaderboard there's a lot of major champions with experience there. How important do you think that will be given the course conditions heading into the weekend?
CRISTIE KERR: Yeah, with major championships, you would think that a lot of experience counts, but sometimes, you know, the people that haven't won don't put pressure on themselves and they come through.
Look at Brittany Lincicome, she kind of hung around last year and ended up having that shot that defined her tournament on the last hole. But I would say, you can kind of look at it both ways. I've won a major championship and obviously looking for another, and I think that having that little bit of experience helps more cases than not when you're dealing with these kinds of tournaments, but it's hard to predict that kind of stuff.

Q. What do you think of the new look on 18 with the grand stands moving? Does that affect you at all?
CRISTIE KERR: Honestly, until somebody mentioned it, I didn't even notice it. And they said maybe they would move it because it's unfair or something if you hit it over the green, you get a drop, but it's the same for everybody. It doesn't really matter. It's not like you want the ball to be screaming over that green. You're going for it in two anyway, so I don't think it really matters. When we're putting, it feels like it's in the same spot that it's been.

Q. Does it change your approach at all when you look at the leaderboard and you see Lorena and Suzann and Yani and so many great players? Does that make you push harder on the weekend?
CRISTIE KERR: Not really. I just gotta take care of my own job. I can hang with the best of them, and that's really all I gotta say about that.
THE MODERATOR: Any more questions?
CRISTIE KERR: You got me coming off of a really good round, so I'm confident. That's all it all goes.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Cristie.

End of FastScripts

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