U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 4, 1999

Dottie Pepper

DOTTIE PEPPER: Well, I think I've continued to get a little bit more comfortable as each day has gone on; with the weather delays we had on Wednesday, I only played 8 holes. So I came in here thinking I had a leg up, because I had played so many rounds here, and all of a sudden I was a few holes short. But, you know, I've continued to hit the ball and my irons extremely well. I've driven the ball -- though I don't feel completely comfortable with the driver yet, I've driven it pretty well. I've played the par 5s particularly well. I think I'm taking advantage of the areas I need to take advantage of, and I'm still three shots behind Inkster. You know, I think you have to continue to be patient, because it's easy to get caught up with -- there's lots of red numbers on the board; I need to make this putt; I need to do this; I need to do that. Where I think the old mentality holds true, where you have to take it as it comes to you; and if you hit some great shots, go ahead and make some birdies. But there are some holes out there where par is really a good score on.

DOTTIE PEPPER: 26 putts. A little -- I don't know that it's completely indicative, but most of the greens -- the only green that I missed and could not put from the fringe was the green I missed at the 6th. I don't know how many others. I don't know what it says I hit in total, but every other green I did miss, I putted from; so by and large I hit some pretty darned good iron shots. And you know, speed has been great. Most of them have -- if they have not gone in, they have gotten to the hole; so I had a read coming back, and most of them have been tap-ins or two-footers coming back. Nothing horrible.

DOTTIE PEPPER: I think you have to look a lot at the weather. To be that far under par and have only a one-shot lead, I think you've got to have a lot of things cooperating. Number one is the weather. The amount of rain we had on Wednesday really softened the golf course, and it not only makes the greens softer, but it also makes the fairways played wider. So your misses are not quite so bad, and the greens were not horribly fast yesterday at all because they were so wet. They were growing so quickly. On top of that, the wind has not blown. I think we had a half-a-club wind at one point today, and that was really about it. You know, Mother Nature is dictating a lot more of this than what has been termed an "easy" golf course; not something I agree with.

DOTTIE PEPPER: I think it was a little tougher today. They had some pins that were in the hole -- I think some pretty tricky spots. Just barely over crowns, or just, you know, if you missed it just 15 feet to the right, it would have slid back down like it did at the 16th. But it's still rewarding good golf shots. I think you've got pretty good ball-strikers on the board, and I think that's part of the reason why you're seeing some numbers like this as well.

DOTTIE PEPPER: Greens were definitely quicker today. Definitely.

DOTTIE PEPPER: It's only Friday. I can't speculate. But Juli is a really good front-runner. Really good front-runner. It's not whether it's Kelli or Juli or whatever. I think Juli is just a really good front-runner. We'll have to play hard. But it's only Friday.

DOTTIE PEPPER: No, I don't think so. That's been the big beat of the media over the last however many months since the Dinah Shore in preparation for this. And no, I don't think so. It's a major. That's all there is to it. Everybody is trying to play hard.

DOTTIE PEPPER: I think the conditions being just a little softer is letting you think like: I can make some birdies. You're not necessarily playing front yardage all the time. We are playing long irons to release 20, 25 feet; when normally if we had no rain on Wednesday, it would have been a lot more than that. So I think the conditions are letting you play a little more aggressive and as you need to maybe think a little more aggressively.

DOTTIE PEPPER: It wasn't as slow today as it was yesterday. We had our annual USGA picnic on the 7th hole yesterday with two-and-a-half groups there. It inevitably happens every year on some par 3. You feel like you're getting ahead of the ballgame by getting an early tee time, actually on Thursday or Friday.

DOTTIE PEPPER: I think it's probably the most difficult of the par 3s. The wind is crossways in the trees, because you can't really get a real feel for it, and shots that missed the green with a difficult pitch.

DOTTIE PEPPER: Exactly.

DOTTIE PEPPER: I don't know. I think the weather forecast is probably going to dictate more than anything. If the wind blows, I think the scores are going to go up. I'm really not trying to put a number on it. I'm trying to go out there and make as many birdies as I can and get as far into the red as I can and see what happens on Sunday.

DOTTIE PEPPER: You know, people have asked me that question, and I'm in this for the big picture. I'm not in it to just win majors or X numbers of tournaments. My goal is the Hall of Fame, and it's going to take more than two Dinah's to get in there. I'll take whatever -- whatever it takes to get in there, and it can be eight more regular tournaments. It could be four more majors. But if an Open is amongst them, that would be great. But I'm not going to freeze frame myself to think that's the only way I'm going to get in it is by winning an Open.

DOTTIE PEPPER: 15.

DOTTIE PEPPER: I think there's a trust factor between the golf swing I have right now and myself, and with the putter and myself right now. And I think if you can go out there and trust that what you've done in preparation to get here is going to be good enough, then just go ahead and try not to get in your own way and let it happen, and that's -- that's kind of where I'm at right now. Trust that all the preparation I've put into this -- and it's not just for this tournament. It's for the entire year. It's really got me on the right track.

DOTTIE PEPPER: Thanks.