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U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 8, 2010

Alena Sharp

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA

MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, we're happy to have with us Alena Sharp from Ontario, Canada. She is playing in her fifth U.S. Women's Open; she shot a 1-under par, 72. So we're thrilled that she's with us.
Did you start on the front or back nine?
ALENA SHARP: The front side.
MODERATOR: All right. You birdied No. 3. Would you tell us what club you hit into the hole and how long your putt was.
ALENA SHARP: The tee was up, so I hit a great drive, and I had probably about 120 yards. I hit a pitching wedge to two feet. So those are easy ones.
MODERATOR: No. 4 you had a bogey. What happened on that one?
ALENA SHARP: I just had a three-putt from about 20 feet.
MODERATOR: Then you had kind of a tough streak there; 7 and 8 you bogeyed. How did those happen?
ALENA SHARP: I missed the fairway on 7 and didn't get it up and down. And then 8, I missed the green to the left.
MODERATOR: And No. 9 you birdied.
ALENA SHARP: Yeah, I had a two-putt birdie from 40 feet; I hit the green in two with a 5-wood.
MODERATOR: And then we had a birdie on No. 13, the par-3. What did you hit to the green there?
ALENA SHARP: I hit an 8 iron into that pin, and I was 20 feet above it and tapped it down there and it went in. So I was happy that one went in.
MODERATOR: And No. 14 you had a bogey. How did that happen?
ALENA SHARP: Three-putt, pin high right; I had probably about a 40-footer, and I left myself with six feet and I mix missed it.
MODERATOR: 15, a birdie.
ALENA SHARP: Yeah, I hit pitching wedge into that green and had 12 feet for birdie and made it.
MODERATOR: What happened on 18, the bogey?
ALENA SHARP: I missed the fairway. The bunkers here -- when you get in there, you need to just chip it out. That's what I had to do.
MODERATOR: You had a pretty exciting round, because you had a good mix of birds and bogeys. What do you think of the golf course? Was it as difficult as you thought it would be?
ALENA SHARP: Yeah, definitely. I think it's getting really firm, especially on the back nine. The greens are brown out there on our second nine. The first nine they were kind of stopping; the back nine they were running out more. It was hard to adjust to that on the last nine holes.
MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. Did you just kind of compare these conditions and this course setup this week? Have you played anything anywhere like this, whether it was a browned out muni course or a championship anywhere?
ALENA SHARP: I have played in five U.S. Opens, and this is probably one of the harder tracks that we've played. You know, it all depends on the weather.
The other tough golf course I thought was Newport Country Club. The wind was blowing off the Puget Sound there, and it dried everything out. Again, it was like this. It was hard as a rock.
You just have to hit and hope that it stops. You know, there's carries out here. You have to carry the false front, and then it bounce as way from you and then you have a long putt. You just gotta be patient.
But, yeah, this golf course is spectacular. I really enjoy playing it. It's a challenge. When you get on the greens, you have to hit it down the fairway. If you miss it in the rough or in the bunker, they're penalizing. I think that's what a U.S. Open is all about.

Q. That suits your style of play?
ALENA SHARP: Yeah, I've been hitting a lot of fairways this year, so just keep it in the short grass. I had a lot of wedges in my hand today, which helps for a U.S. Open. That was kind of surprising. That was the only thing I was surprised about today was having so many wedges into my hand.
MODERATOR: It didn't play as long as you thought it might?
ALENA SHARP: No, because it was so hot today and it was just running out a lot.

Q. Speaking about surprises, you have an amateur tied for the lead of the U.S. Open after a round. How surprising is it to see someone who has never played in an Open before leading, particularly on a course like this?
ALENA SHARP: I don't think it's surprising at all. You just don't know who's going to play well. You keep the ball in the fairway, you have a good shot at doing well here. You keep the ball below the pins, obviously putting uphill all day really helps. I'm not surprised at all.

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