MICHELOB ULTRA OPEN AT KINGSMILL

May 2, 2003

Grace Park

NEAL REID: We will go over your scorecard last, another good day out there today. I wonder if you could talk a little bit about it and what was working for you out there.

GRACE PARK: The past two days have been up and down, a little roller-coaster ride. Maybe I will go to Busch Gardens and do all of the rides and get it done there and get it over with. A lot of great shots, a couple of misses, a lot of great putts. Lots of bad putts.

NEAL REID: Up and down. What do you think of the golf course?

GRACE PARK: The course is awesome. The rough is getting thick, hard to get out of. Playing in the morning definitely helped. The poa annua wasn't as up as yesterday afternoon, so that was definitely beneficial and it's a wonderful course.

NEAL REID: Questions, guys?

Q. Grace, talk particularly about the last 5 or 6 holes if you would, you started pretty well, slipped back to 4, I think and then really surged nicely at the end?

GRACE PARK: Yes, I started out with birdie, birdie. Then started to miss my drive left and right but I still managed to get up and down for pars until I missed one putt, and I missed another putt. So the little par putts I missed for bogeys. And then when I got over on to the 10th hole, my 10th hole, No. 1, I just made a couple of practice swings and I said I got to regroup myself, group my swing and just, you know, from there on it seemed to go straight which helped me to hit more greens and more opportunity for birdies.

So I still left a few putts out there, but I guess I made enough to be on the top.

Q. Are you usually pretty good at mid-round adjustments like that, kind of straighten yourself out?

GRACE PARK: This week I am. Yesterday, was also very up and down on the front side, and I had to tell myself to calm down a little bit, back off and just relax a little and I started to play better. And today was the same thing.

Q. The short par putt you said you missed on your front side today, misreads, bad hits?

GRACE PARK: A couple of miss hits, a couple of bad hits. I missed a couple on the backside, too but, yes, I was hitting it very well out there today and yesterday.

NEAL REID: Is this a course you can make a lot of birdies and get on a roll?

GRACE PARK: Yes, the course is not very long, so as long as I hit the fairway I can hit, you know, wedges and short irons into the green which is an advantage over a lot of players. I'm a high-ball hitter so it helps me, you know, on those undulated greens. Or greens that are up high.

NEAL REID: Are the greens any softer today than they had been early in the week.

GRACE PARK: Yes, they were holding better even yesterday. It seemed like I was going almost right at the pin.

Q. Grace, are you pleased with 7, or do you think you needed to be lower?

GRACE PARK: I would love to be lower, but my caddy kept saying you got to remember you still got some good bounce and hit some great shots and great putts, you can't forget about them. Everybody is going to make mistakes on 72 holes. So I guess I just got to stay patient and take what I have.

Q. Were you getting your birdies on the par-5s, on some of the birdie holes. It sounds like it wasn't necessarily the easy holes or hard holes it was whether or not you were making the putts?

GRACE PARK: Yes, I three putt one of the par-5s. I missed a short putt, or the putt. I didn't birdie any of the par-5s today. Yesterday I eagled one and birdied one. So those didn't help me even though I hit great drives. I just couldn't make birdies. I am hitting on par-4's and par-3s, hitting them close to make birdies.

Q. There were some people earlier in the week who thought only a couple, or a few pars under par, would win this tournament, are you a little surprised there are people at 7, 8 and the people that were leading yesterday hadn't teed off yet?

GRACE PARK: I guess it's showing that our players are improving. It's elevating. We are all better players.

Q. This is a golf course, I guess to be fair to say that would bring out the best in the best players where the cream rises to the top?

GRACE PARK: I think so. Definitely you look at the leader board and you know you see what you get.

Q. Annika was saying the other day it's very rare in a non-major to play against a field this strong, are you a little bit extra pumped up this week because you know the field is some strong?

GRACE PARK: I don't even know who is playing. I just know who I am playing with.

NEAL REID: Anything else, guys?

Q. Can you talk about the prominent success of all of the Asian players particularly the last couple of years?

GRACE PARK: Sure. Golf, I know in Korea golf has become more and more popular in the last decade or so. People are picking up the game and that's why you are seeing more Korean players. And I know that, you know, every single one of them practices and practices. There work ethics is unbelievable. You will see later in the afternoon, or even Monday or Tuesday, everywhere you look, there is a Korean player practicing left and right.

Q. What is there impetus or more people taking up the game?

GRACE PARK: Because of me. No, as I said, golf has become popular. Young kids are seeing Se Ri, Mi-Hyun and myself too, hopefully, and they look forward to becoming famous and rich and popular.

Q. You look forward to the same I take it?

GRACE PARK: Yes, that would be nice. I look forward to being rich.

Q. Is there a difference between the men and women?

GRACE PARK: I mean I know there are tons of men players out there, too. It's just that over here Asian men are not as strong. I think that's why. They are shorter, smaller. And American guys, like you, you are all big and tall and strong.

Q. So are you a range rat, will you leave here and go pound balls for most of the afternoon?

GRACE PARK: Probably, yes. I got to go have lunch first and then feed myself and then I will go to the range, do a little work, make sure that I hit more fairways tomorrow and then come back to the green and putt and putt until it feels good.

Q. How much of a household name are you in Korea? Are the tournaments here televised over there?

GRACE PARK: I think Neal can speak for that.

NEAL REID: Korean Broadcasting System televises every event.

GRACE PARK: More Koreans watch our TOUR event than probably all Americans together. It's very popular.

Q. How long has that been?

NEAL REID: I will have to check.

Q. Do they take the TV feedback there and have announcers in Korea?

NEAL REID: I believe so.

GRACE PARK: It's on at four or five in the morning and people wake up to watch.

Q. Does anybody every watch it and call you when you get done on your cell phone?

GRACE PARK: My parents. They watch every day even though I'm not on very much.

NEAL REID: Thank you, Grace.

End of FastScripts....