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U.S. WOMEN'S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 15, 2004

Jane Park

ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA

RHONDA GLENN: Jane, it is mighty nice to see that gold medal after having two silvers, isn't it?

JANE PARK: Very nice, very nice.

RHONDA GLENN: How do you live feel about what happened to you today? You are the national champion.

JANE PARK: It hasn't sunk in yet and I don't think it will sink in until -- I don't know. I don't know when. But I can't believe I'm a USGA champion. I can't believe I have a title. And being up there with those names, Bobby Jones, Tiger Woods, Carol Semple-Thompson. It's awesome. I love it.

RHONDA GLENN: And of course you'll always be a USGA champion and Barbara Romack will tell you that once you're a USGA champion you get invited back for about 45 free chicken dinners.

JANE PARK: Then I don't have to go to the Golden Corral.

Q. Talk about your chip in on 12 and how big that shot was. She was kind of making a run, she had just birdied 11, actually, and that really seemed to kind of be the knock out punch.

JANE PARK: Right. She did, she was getting it going. Even though I was 2-up at that point. Even though I was 2-up at that point it felt like I just kept thinking I'm even with her. To try to always try to get that shot up as much as you can. On that chip, it was a pretty easy chip, it was up the hill, I just needed to get it rolling and it went in perfectly center cut.

Q. Talk a little bit about seemed like as the day went on the crowd tended to be a little bit more pro-McCurdy. What was your reaction to that and how did you, did you get motivation from that?

JANE PARK: I didn't -- you know, I don't really care about that kind of thing. I'm really good at blocking that out. At the first hole I could sense that already in the atmosphere. I knew as the day went on that the crowd would be more for Amanda. I just blocked it all out and it worked out pretty well.

RHONDA GLENN: Last year were you sort of the underdog in that match with Virada? Did you feel that you got that kind of underdog wave of support? When you were in the final.

JANE PARK: Yeah, I think so. The crowds were pretty even over there. But I'm not really sure. I know I was the underdog though. Because I was only 16 and she was 22, with a whole bunch of experience. I played my best, but I got my chance this year and I pulled through.

RHONDA GLENN: Having been runner-up in the Girls Junior and the Women's Amateur, what did you learn from those two experiences that maybe helped you a little bit today to come out on top?

JANE PARK: Keep it in the fairway. That's all you got to do. Keep it in the fairway. Even though I did hit the fairway on 17, I had about 150 to that pin and the ball on that hole doesn't go very far for me. I would usually hit a choke 7 from that position. But I did hit a choke 7 there, but my adrenaline was rushing so much, I guess. And I absolutely pured that shot. It was the best shot I hit all week. And it went 20 yards over the green. But it is okay. I guess that's it.

Q. Your cousin said that he told you to hit an 8?

JANE PARK: Yeah, he did.

(Laughter.) But I says, "Give me my 7-iron, I don't want to roll off this green", because I kept, I've been rolling off that green all week. Front, left, right, it's just been a tough up-and-down on that hole.

Q. Did you do anything between morning 18 and afternoon 18? Because when you came out you made three quick birdies on her.

JANE PARK: I didn't do anything different. I -- well there was one swing change that I made. And it was taking it back a little bit more upright. Because I was pulling a lot of my shots this whole week. And it's the championship match and I got to get it going. So I took it outside, I just talk it a little more upright. And my shots were going much straighter. Fortunately my shots weren't spinning over the green like they were in the morning match. And I hit a lot of good shots.

Q. What about taking that, after all even after 18, you take the lead here, it was on 10 or I mean on 1?

JANE PARK: Um-hum.

Q. What about taking that advantage right off the bat? And stage up the rest of the way.

JANE PARK: Even though I made that putt on 1, and I was 1-up, there were still 17 more holes to go. So I just forgot about it just like that. I just went to the next hole and played the next shot. Everything in the past I just forgot about it.

Q. Did you take a look at the trophy and see the names? What did, what's the first thing you did when you got that nice piece of hardware?

JANE PARK: Well, earlier in the week I think it was the second round of stroke play I took a glance at it, but I didn't get close to it because I didn't want to jinx myself or anything. So I looked at the names and I saw Barbara's name on it and I was so happy because my plate is just below hers or just above hers. I'm not sure. And I'm always connected with her. So I was really happy.

RHONDA GLENN: Jane, take us through after you go to 17, you lose 17, you're 1-up with 1 to play. Would you tell us what you were thinking on every shot from the time you hit the 36th tee.

JANE PARK: When I stepped on to the tee at 18 I hit that fairway all week, except one time. And I'm hitting my 3-wood awesome right now. So I knew I was going to hit the fairway. And in the morning I had, I actually had the same yardage I had this morning into that hole. I had about 138 to the hole, I think. This morning I landed it just a bit short and it rolled all the way off the green. And but this time my adrenaline was rushing and on the hole before that I hit my 7-iron awesome. So I just wanted to hit a solid 8-iron. And given that the crowd didn't clap that much for me I thought it was like 50 feet away. But once I got up there it was probably 10 feet. I was like, wow, this is a tough crowd.

(Laughter.)

Q. You have been the villain for some reason.

JANE PARK: Yeah, I felt like it was a really tough crowd. Even though I hit a good shot it was nothing. And that shot on 4, when I hit it to four feet, I thought it was 50 or 15 feet away. It was, wow, I was like, whoah.

RHONDA GLENN: But keep telling us now. Okay, you teed off, you hit the fairway, what are you thinking about when you're walking up to your ball.

JANE PARK: You know my cousin told me to say, he kept saying, 4, 4, 4, 4. He just kept telling me to make par, make par, make par. That's all I got to do. And I hit a really solid shot in there. And after her ball ran by the hole, ran by about 20 feet. I was just relieved. I was -- it hasn't sunk in yet, but it's starting to almost.

Q. Do you feel like, and there's almost a little bit of a monkey off your back, you played so well in the USGA events you got to finals and whatnot and you finally broke through her. Is that kind of a feeling for you?

JANE PARK: Yeah, I'm like Phil Mickelson. I got the monkey off my back, the Major Monkey or whatever. Yeah, coming in second twice, I think that's pretty, that's pretty awesome, I think. But coming in first is a whole new thing than coming in second. And to be able to finally break through, it's, I can't even put into words how happy I am. I don't know. I'm just not an emotional girl, it's all inside of me.

Q. Do you have a spot picked out for where the trophy is going to be?

JANE PARK: I don't know if I'm going to leave it at Chicago for my uncle to keep or if I'm going to take it back to L.A.. I'm not sure. I'm not sure.

Q. We ask you this every time but just to make sure, were you nervous at all at any point?

JANE PARK: You know what, I was nervous on hole 12. Walking to my ball. Walking to my ball after the tee shot. I wasn't really like nerve wracking nervous I was just thinking, it's really coming down to the line now and it's really game time. I was nervous for a little bit, but after that chip in went in, the chip went in, I was just pumped. After that I wasn't nervous at all.

Q. How much do you think an advantage, you played in a 36 hole final last year, you don't play 36 hole finals at the Junior, but you played one here again today and she had never been in a long marathon match like this. Do you think you had any type of advantage over her?

JANE PARK: As you guys can see she can hit the green from behind a tree. It was, oh, my gosh, she hit every green today. And I was, it was amazing to watch her hit every green. And I think it's because she has this low, boring shot. Even if she's in the rough she rolls it up on to the green. I'm just like, oh, my goodness, does she ever miss a green? I told my cousin, on 17, on 17, when she was in the rough on the right, or on the, yeah, what hole was that? The 35th hole. She was in the right rough and I was in the fairway and my cousin tells me, "If this goes on the green I'm going to cry." And it was like 10 feet. I was amazed that she hit that shot. She's a tremendous player. She didn't crack under pressure. But her putting didn't work very well today. And that's fortunate for me.

Q. She hit 28 greens.

JANE PARK: Yeah. That's amazing.

RHONDA GLENN: How many did Jane hit?

JANE PARK: I hit like one.

(Laughter.)

Q. No.

RHONDA GLENN: I thought your distance control was great.

Q. You hit 24.

JANE PARK: 24? Didn't seem like it. I felt like I was missing every green out there.

RHONDA GLENN: Just as a little aside I was thinking today about all the tradition about this championship, it's 105 years old, "Play away, please", the tents, the way they set up the lunch. A table for you and a table for Amanda. They have been doing that for a mighty long time. Does any of that sink in or do you like it or do you not notice it?

JANE PARK: I know the tradition's there and I respect it very much. I'm just glad that I can be a part of it now. My name's always going to be on that trophy. I like the tradition. I like the way they treat us here at the golf course and at every USGA tournament. They treat us like we're royalty. And it's just awesome.

RHONDA GLENN: Have you ever played in front of that many people before?

JANE PARK: Yes, I have.

RHONDA GLENN: Curtis Cup.

JANE PARK: Curtis Cup, yeah, that was the people were all condensed on like two or three holes. There were probably 8,000 people there. But the biggest crowd I played in front of would have to be the U.S. Open. Both of them.

Q. Your cousin says you're going to kind of make a decision maybe about college when you get back to L.A., any thoughts about where you might be going? You're going to be a senior in high school. You got one more year of that, but --

JANE PARK: I'm thinking I'm going to stay on the west coast. That's all I can tell you.

RHONDA GLENN: It's probably going to happen, you'll be asked to play on the Women's World Amateur Team for the United States and go to Puerto Rico to play. Does that appeal to you?

JANE PARK: Yeah. Of course. I'm just going to have to go back home and see my schedule and see if I have anything and okay it with my school first.

Q. It's in the end of October.

JANE PARK: Okay.

Q. Do you think the shirt did anything for you today?

JANE PARK: This is not the shirt that I said I was going to wear.

Q. What happened to the shirt?

JANE PARK: Well, I think this shirt's cuter.

(Laughter.)

JANE PARK: After I won my match yesterday I had lunch or dinner at a steak house and there was a shopping mall about a mile down the road and my dad said, let's go buy some new shirts. And some new shorts. And I said okay.

So I went -- and I loved Tommy Hilfiger. That fits me very well. I love the design and everything, so.

RHONDA GLENN: And that's what that is?

JANE PARK: Yeah, the one I wore in the morning match it's just like this one. Except it's white.

Q. So that was new too?

JANE PARK: Yup.

RHONDA GLENN: But this is the not real cute one you were planning to wear?

JANE PARK: Nope.

RHONDA GLENN: Where is that?

JANE PARK: It's packed away in my suitcase all wrinkled.

Q. You go to a different place for dinner last night?

JANE PARK: I did. Where was it at? Texas Roadhouse. Yeah. Felt like I was in Texas.

Q. They cook your steak right?

JANE PARK: Yup or actually I had baby back ribs. It was very good.

RHONDA GLENN: Jane, thank you so much for all the time you spent in here with us and you've been so cooperative, we all just feel very special about you and what you did.

JANE PARK: Thank you very much. Thank you everybody.

End of FastScripts.

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