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LPGA STATE FARM CLASSIC

June 8, 2011

Cristie Kerr

SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS

MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome defending champion Cristie Kerr into the interview room. First off, talk a little bit about how well you've been playing coming into this tournament. Two straight runner-up finishes, and seems like your game has really been where you want it to be.
CRISTIE KERR: Yeah, I played great. Um, you know, can't complain. Couple of putts on the back nine on Sunday go in, and I'm winning, you know, two tournaments in a row.
You know, it's encouraging, a little bit frustrating, you know, but it's a good problem to have. So glad to be here.
MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Last year there were rain delays and you had to come back on Monday. Obviously you have some good memories from all that. (No microphone.)
CRISTIE KERR: Absolutely. You know, I can remember even waking up on Sunday morning looking at the radar and thinking we were done, and then coming back and finishing on Monday. You know, on the 9th hole I had a birdie putt to make. It was outside left putt. I still remember all that.
I have good memories coming back here, and I'm looking forward to the tournament. I've been playing great.

Q. I am going to write something about the future of this tournament going forward, and I wondered if you had a thought or two about that. I don't know how many years you've played here. A lot players at an event like this will stay with a host family or something, and so they develop some really strong ties. Just wondered if that's the case for you.
CRISTIE KERR: I was going to say if you're writing about the future of this tournament, you know a lot more than we do. But I have great ties in this event. I've played almost every year that I've been on tour here.
I don't stay with a host family, but I have great friends that are here that have little girls and little boys that follow me.
It's great. This is a great tournament for me. Great course for me. You know, I know that they're actively looking for another sponsor and the players are keeping their eyes and ears open, so hopefully it comes back.
It would be a shame to lose this market for us. Everybody loves us here in Springfield.

Q. Kind of along those same lines, there is some uncertainty this week. Is this kind of like Williamsburg a couple years ago in terms of there was some uncertainty? I think you won, if I remember right. But just kind of that -- a little bit of uncertainty?
CRISTIE KERR: Yeah, I mean, I think there's a lot uncertainty. They are look actively for another sponsor, but with the economy going the way it is and everything, all you can do is hope.
They have been looking for a number of months now since State Farm announced they weren't going to return. It's hard. We're 100% sponsorship driven, our tournaments and the tour. We depend on sponsors to provide opportunities for us to play.
So when a long-standing sponsor like State Farm goes away, it I think it really hurts us. Not just the fact that we're potentially losing a tournament, but we have partners that have been with us for a long time, and they decided for whatever reason not to reup.
I think the LPGA is one of the best investments out there. There is unlimited upsides to what our tour can deliver, not only from a standpoint of customer entertainment, but the value we bring to any community that we play in. So having partners that stay with us and continue to invest in us...
Obviously every company is different and their balance sheet is what they have to look at for their own survival. But we're definitely not a bad investment. Hopefully somebody will decide to reup with us.

Q. (No microphone.)
CRISTIE KERR: Well, I think it's hard to win out here. You can see how well I've been playing the last couple weeks, and have come away with two second-place finishes. There's only one winner every week, so you have to just be that one or two shots better than the field.
You know, sometimes that just amounts to a little bit of luck. Hopefully I have that luck this week.

Q. 22-under last year here. Having seen the course so far - and I know it's only Wednesday - the temperatures we've had, and it is supposed to cool off, looking at the rough, looking at things, does the course seem like it's favorable to go really low again this year just from what you've seen out there?
CRISTIE KERR: Well, I think the rough is actually probably the worst I've ever seen it here, you know. Around the greens you can just get some nasty lies.
There are some spots just off the fairways that you might not be able to advance but a 7- or an 8-iron, so I think that will effect scoring. I think somebody's going to hit it straight and shoot some low numbers.
But over four days, I think you'll hit it in the rough a little bit and see a little bit of an effect in the score because of that. Hopefully the storms can stay away. I know we're forecasted to some tonight and some tomorrow.
But I think the course is in great shape. The greens are great. The course is not playing overly firm and fast, so it might play a little longer. But they have done a good job with all the rain they've had.
I mean, I know when I called in for my media day that they had had like nine inches of rain in that period of time, in that month. So there was a lot rain that fell, and that's probably a contributing factor to the high rough.

Q. Americans are up and down the leaderboard a lot more often than they were six, seven years ago. Any explanation for that? Was the Asian Invasion kind of an incentive that brought up a lot of the American players? What happened?
CRISTIE KERR: Well, I think that things go in cycles. We have a very international tour. You know, I think the Americans, I mean, I don't have the exact figures in front of me, but I think there are -- at one point, I think 10 years ago, the numbers of Americans that played in 10 tournaments or more were like the majority of the tour.
You know, up until recently, I think the numbers of Americans playing in 10 tournaments or more recently on the tour has fallen way down. So I think you're just seeing that we have a lot of Asian players, a lot of European players, a lot of Australians.
Americans, we're just fewer numbers than we used to be. But I think there has been a resurgence, especially in Solheim Cup years when people are trying to make points and get on the team and there's a lot of incentive for Americans to play well.
It's good. I'm glad we're seeing the Americans perform well. It's good for our tour and good for the USA.

Q. Another topic, couple majors coming up. Do you prepare for major championships any different, different mindset?
CRISTIE KERR: Well, I think that depends on the golf course, you know, what the challenges will be for the week. But you have to be patient in majors, and you have to -- you know, there's not going to be generally seven or eight birdies around out there for players, so you have to work on your short game a lot more and you have to kind of work on your patience in a way.
So I'm working on my game a lot, working on my short game, and so then when I get to the majors I don't feel like I have to cram in trying to prepare for them. I feel like I'm ready when I get there, and it's just sort of prepare and go.
MODERATOR: Thank you very much, Cristie.

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