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SHOPRITE LPGA CLASSIC

June 18, 2010

Sherri Steinhauer

GALLOWAY, NEW JERSEY

MODERATOR: Sherri, welcome. Great round today, 64.
SHERRI STEINHAUSER: Thank you.
MODERATOR: First, run through your card, birdies and bogeys.
SHERRI STEINHAUSER: Birdies and bogeys. All right, the third hole, par-5, I was just down in front. Pitched up to about three feet and made that for birdie.
Parred 4.
5, I hit a 3-wood then my 52-degree wedge, and hit it about 15 feet and made that for birdie.
Parred 6 and 7.
No. 8 I hit my drive left. Just in the gunch and just got it out in front of the green. Pitched on about eight feet and missed that and made bogey.
And then 9, I hit driver, 3-wood right on the front edge and made about a 30-footer for eagle.
Parred 10, 11.
Then 12 hit a driver, 52-degree again, wedge; hit it about 15 feet and made that for birdie.
Parred 13, 14.
15, a par-3, I hit a 7-wood about two feet and made that for birdie.
16, I hit driver, 9-iron about 25 feet and made that for birdie.
Then 18, I hit driver 3-wood in front; pitched up to about eight feet and made that for birdie.
MODERATOR: Great. Just kind of some post-round thoughts. Obviously got to be feeling good with a 64.
SHERRI STEINHAUSER: Yeah, it feels really good. After being off last year with hip surgery, two hip surgeries, to be back and to be in the media tent feels good. To have a 64 under my belt after not playing golf -- I didn't touch a club for 14 months, so it feels real good to get a round like this.

Q. After 14 months, when did you touch a club again?
SHERRI STEINHAUSER: Last October is when I first picked one up. I started out very slowly just hitting wedges. I would go around and play five holes with a 9-iron and never hit any other club. Just 9-iron and putt.
Gradually started working up until -- that was the beginning of October. By the end of October I started full shots, and then in November I played in the Legends Tour Championship, which was my first event back. I won that, so that was a real confidence builder.
But that was my first event back after, I guess it was about 11 months off. Oh, I'm sorry, 14 months, 15, 16 months of not playing.

Q. Something like a 64, can this be a turning point, do you think, where you kind of really turn the corner?
SHERRI STEINHAUSER: Well, this is definitely baby steps coming back from this. Being out of competition is -- that's what I want to work on hardest, getting back the competitive -- you know, being out of competition you have to learn how to compete again at this level.
And to be up at the top, I need -- at least experience to draw on, but the experience has been -- it was a long time in the past. So all this is gonna be good for me moving forward. I need the experience again to be on top.

Q. Was it just wear and tear with the hips? What was the problem?
SHERRI STEINHAUSER: Yeah, it was wear and tear. I had -- on the left hip I had a muscle rupture and tendon tear and labral tear and bone spurs repaired.
And then the right hip, which was -- the right hip I had operated on three months later, and it was just a labral tear.

Q. How much pain were you in before the surgeries?
SHERRI STEINHAUSER: Well, August of 2009 I played in Canada. I could hardly -- until I couldn't walk anymore. I just said, This is it. I didn't know if I would ever play golf again.
It was on Friday. I was missing the cut, and I was walking up the fairway with tears in my eyes thinking, I don't know if I'll ever play professional golf again.
So, you know, I decided to have the surgery and make one last big effort to work hard and try to get back out here.
So this feels really good.

Q. That was kind of maybe my next question. What made you come back? What made you work so hard to come back?
SHERRI STEINHAUSER: Because I love golf. I just love playing golf. I love competing. You know, hey, if my career ends because I can't play anymore, that's okay. I'll move on.
But I'm not satisfied just giving up, so I wanted to work hard because I love it. It was worth it to me to put everything in it and spend all the hours in the gym rehabbing and getting back out here.

Q. Obviously it was a tough rehab. Were there times you thought, Maybe I'm not gonna make it back? I'm sure it was a long struggle.
SHERRI STEINHAUSER: Yeah, I had a lot of conversations with my doctor, and he said, Trust me, you're not the only one. You know, three months after and I'm like, Doc, why am I not feeling better and I'm doing all this? He said, Trust me. This takes a long time. So the recovery is long.
So, yeah, there were times. But so I just listened to him and believed that I was gonna get back out here.

Q. Professional golfers are pretty competitive people. Did those instincts help going through all the rehab as hard as it was?
SHERRI STEINHAUSER: Well, I think so. It's not easy to get up and get into the gym and to do these tedious little exercises and spend the hours in there.
But when I got frustrated or down, I just said, What's the alternative? Do you want to get out there and play? So that would just get me excited. I would imagine being back out on tour, and that would get me excited and I would just keep plugging along.

Q. What's your stamina been like? It's not easy obviously walking five miles on a golf course every day.
SHERRI STEINHAUSER: Yeah, I spend a lot of hours in the trailer before and after. It's a struggle, but I'm definitely better than what I was. You know, this is a relatively flat golf course, so that's on my side.
But Rob and Caroline in the trailer are helping me tremendously. Without them, I definitely wouldn't be able to -- I don't think I could play.

Q. Is this a case of you pushing yourself, or was there somebody in the background shoving?
SHERRI STEINHAUSER: It was me being hard headed and not giving up. Thinking I could do it. Thinking I could play through it. Ultimately my swing changed and I was swinging to favor the injury and hitting some just horrendous shots.
But being hard headed and not realizing I was changing my swing for my injury. I thought my swing was off. But I've learned otherwise, and can look back and see that I was hard head and I should have stopped a lot earlier.

Q. I mean the recovery though, was it you pushing yourself or somebody else pushing along?
SHERRI STEINHAUSER: No, I just -- I think it's more when I know that I'm gonna go back and see the doctor, I want to prove to him, too, that I'm making great progress.
My first therapist told me that I would never play golf again, so that was a motivator.

Q. There's not a lot of players from your generation, so to speak, left out here.
SHERRI STEINHAUSER: (Laughter.) Very, very well put.

Q. Do you know many of the younger competitors? Are there some players that you played with for years who you kind of hang around with?
SHERRI STEINHAUSER: Well, in 2002 I captained the Junior Solheim Cup team. On that team was Brittany Lang, Paula Creamer, Brittany Lincicome, Morgan Pressel, and Jane Park. So I had some great -- so that era I know, but now there's -- now they're probably feeling older.
So I know that era pretty well, but there are younger ones than that. I play with them and they don't know how old I am. I'll say, How old is your mom? That'll go 46, and I'll go, Well, I'm older than any mom. What?
So it's interesting, but it's fun.

Q. Did you have any moments out there today where you just kind of took a step back and sort of maybe took some extra enjoyment in it, or were you just going shot to shot maybe like you used to? Did today mean any more to you because of what you've been through?
SHERRI STEINHAUSER: I had a good round going, and I was thinking more like, Let's just keep it going and not give it back. I've been doing a lot of that this year. I've been playing decent and then I give it back.
So I think I was more concerned about just playing steady, and the putts kept dropping at the end. So that part of it was satisfying. I tried not to get too excited. You know, I was having one of my best rounds of the year, and I'm just trying not to think about it and just enjoy where I am and really just, you know, stay in the present.

Q. So is this the first step on being a playing assistant captain for the Solheim Cup?
SHERRI STEINHAUSER: Well, that would be -- you know, obviously that's a goal of mine. We've had discussions about that, Rosie and I, and we'll deal with that. If that happens, it would be a fun predicament to be in. I got a long way to go.

Q. Who did the surgery?
SHERRI STEINHAUSER: Dr. Carlos Guanche. He's out of Van Nuys, California. Southern California Orthopedic Institute. So he specializes in this type of surgery.

Q. You might have gone over it before, but what was the timetable? Left hip and then right hip?
SHERRI STEINHAUSER: Yeah, he knew the left hip was worse and wanted to do it first. That was in May of 2009. Did I say -- because we're in 2010. So it was August of 2008. I'm not sure if I said 2009. It was August 2008 with Canada, the last tournament that I played in.
And then it was the following February of '09 I had the left hip down; we waited three months, and then in May I had the right hip done.

Q. When you first picked up that first wedge you hit, where did that ball go? Did it go straight? Right? Left?
SHERRI STEINHAUSER: I don't remember. I just was so worried about -- I didn't know if there was gonna be pain. That's what I was most worried about. It was a pretty easy swing. It was just a little chip, so it didn't go very far.
But I don't really remember the very first shot. It was pretty rusty after 14 months. It was a little frightening.
MODERATOR: You good?
SHERRI STEINHAUSER: Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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