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EVIAN MASTERS PRESENTED BY SOCIETE GENERALE

July 21, 2011

Cristie Kerr

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, FRANCE

MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome Cristie Kerr into the interview room. Thanks for joining us. Congratulations on your round today. Can you talk just a little bit about the conditions out there this morning. You guys had a lot of rain, yet you were still able to shoot 4-under.
CRISTIE KERR: Yeah, I think we probably played in the worst of it. It rained pretty heavily up until the 11th hole. Walking up to the green it started to lighten up. We were so sick of hearing the umbrellas.
But I managed to play really well. Had a 3-putt and missed a couple short putts that I don't normally miss, so there is stuff to work on for the next three days. Played well though.
MODERATOR: The last five tournaments, three top 10 finishes. Three straight runner-ups and tied for third and then a third place. Does your game feel like it's at a great place right now?
CRISTIE KERR: Yeah, it does. It's just a matter of being able to save those shots the next three days, and that probably might be the difference, one or two shots. I mean, it's a very fine line at this point. It's a good place to be.
MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. This course normally can play pretty hard and fast. Did you find given the fact obviously you had heavy rain, it played a little bit wider, a little bit easier approach to the greens because it's softer, or was it just that the conditions were so really difficult that you didn't really take advantage of those conditions?
CRISTIE KERR: Well, I think -- I don't think it actually played easier. I think it played longer. Usually we have an 8-iron or 9-iron into 10, and we had 6-iron and I was the last to hit. So I think it's playing longer and it's a little bit softer, so you have a lot short clubs into the greens and it's kind of hard to judge the spin.
The pin position on the 18th hole today, I wouldn't say there is gonna be a ton of birdies there. You can't really get to the green in two unless you're one of the longer players like Maria.
I hit a very good drive and I still had 245 to the hole. The same drive last year was hitting up in the rough and bouncing out another 20 yards.
I think it's playing longer. The par-5s that are more reachable, like 9, are not reachable right now. The course is going to play a shot harder than it has in the past, I think.

Q. How close are you to winning? Is it just really one or twos putts here and there? Is it hitting one more fairways? Hitting irons closer? Can you pinpoint it?
CRISTIE KERR: Yeah, it's one or the other. One day might be a shot, another a putt.
At the Open I had one bad iron shot at the wrong time. Had I made that swing into the 18th hole instead of the 10th there probably would've been a bogey instead of a triple, and had a couple 3-putts that day. It's just a very fine line at this point.
Just trying not to put too much pressure on myself and execute well and make as many birdies as I can on this course.

Q. How are the greens with all the water and everything? How are you finding them?
CRISTIE KERR: I think they're putting quite well.

Q. Not wobbly or anything?
CRISTIE KERR: No, probably the best I've ever seen these greens. Hopefully they don't get too much more rain because if they get softer they get footprints. Very good this year.

Q. That's why I thought maybe there were some problems with the water when you missed a couple putts.
CRISTIE KERR: No, not on the greens. No, I had a putt on the 5th hole that I pushed. I was the last to putt and it wasn't raining before -- you know, it was lightly raining, and then when I went to putt it was pouring. That probably had something to do with it, too, the timing of it.
Then one of the other ones was a tricky read. You're going to get some of those on this course.

Q. Coming back to yesterday's presentation, for some reason they left your quotes out of the notes. You talked about it being a recipe.
CRISTIE KERR: Well, I just said this tournaments has everything that goes into making a great tournament a major, you know. You know, the biggest purse.
They're changing the golf course to make it a more major golf course where you don't have such short clubs into greens. Because if it doesn't play soft, you have a lot of really short clubs into greens here.
Really great sponsors, you know, great feel to the week. It's got everything.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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