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SAFEWAY CLASSIC PRESENTED BY COCA-COLA

August 17, 2011

Cristie Kerr

NORTH PLAINS, OREGON

THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome Cristie Kerr into the interview room. Thank you for joining us today. Can you just talk a little bit about how you feel coming into this week and coming off the last two events that we had last month?
CRISTIE KERR: It's great to be here. Just got done with the Pro-Am. It's beautiful weather here in Portland. I feel like I'm ready to have a good week. You know, I struggled with my ball striking and my swing overseas for a couple of weeks, and my coach and I are working it out now.
You go through periods of time when you kind of struggle with stuff, and ball striking it's hard to struggle with because you're constantly getting up and down, and it's kind of -- it feels like a lot of work at times. But we're working on the swing, and things feel better and I'm ready to have a good week.
THE MODERATOR: In terms of even though you were struggling maybe in Europe with your swing, before that, you were playing so well. Is it just one of those things that sometimes you get in a little bit of a rut and you feel this is something quickly you can get back out of?
CRISTIE KERR: Yeah, absolutely. I've been working the last couple of weeks here really hard. So, yeah. You get a little complacent sometimes when you finish in the top three five weeks in a row, and it's just that way sometimes.
THE MODERATOR: Can you talk a little bit about Portland in general? It's the 40th year here at Safeway. You're a former champion at this event. What has Safeway meant to the LPGA and just being part of this tournament for so long?
CRISTIE KERR: Well, it's a staple on the LPGA Tour. Players love coming to Portland. I always have. It's a place I've always wanted to win. I won over at Columbia Edgewater, and I've been close here. I'm working with Coca-Cola and (Indiscernible) now, so it's a family. It feels good.

Q. How's the wrist treating you? How did you like playing this course? And how would you describe this course for those who have never played it?
CRISTIE KERR: It's different for every golfer, but I really like this golf course. It's a shot maker's golf course. You have to shape the ball both ways. You have to have a good short game and a good feel around the greens. The grass around the greens is tough. I call it sea grass because it's kind of clumpy and fluffy and you never know how the ball's going to come out, so it's hard to judge at times.
But it's a fun course. It's visually very pretty, and it's always in great condition. So people who have never played here, should come play. It's a great course to play.

Q. Can you talk about the tee back on number 9?
CRISTIE KERR: That's an interesting one. I think the goal was to speed up play because there were so many groups on the hole the last couple of years. But it's just kind of a quirky hole because even if they move the tee up, most people are going to lay it short of the hazard, so you're going to have a long shot in. So it's not going to really change the hole too much.
But they've turned it into a par-4 in an attempt to speed up play. But even from the very up-tee, you're going to have people land short of the hazard or try to hit it over, and there are out of bounds and water there. So I don't know if that's necessarily going to speed up play.
I don't know if a lot of players like that change. You know, we'd like to go for par-5s in two, especially they moved the 8th hole back, so it's going to be interesting.

Q. How do you regard this year? You've obviously done very well, but no wins. How do you take it?
CRISTIE KERR: A bit frustrating. I've worked really hard on my game and I've been close a number of times. Even at the end of last year I was close to winning again. So it's not a good feeling not to have any wins on the board at this point in the season, but I still have ten or 12 events left, and I have to focus all my energy on getting that win.

Q. You had a tough finish here last year. How difficult is to sort of let that one go?
CRISTIE KERR: I think almost immediately. It's tough to finish the way I did. But I made like a 20-foot putt for bogey which made me finish second, I think, on my own. So I left it all out on the course. I was down by a shot. She had just birdied the 17th hole, to be down by two shots. And I had to try and go straight at the pin. I only had a pitching wedge, so it wasn't a great swing, but I had to go for it.

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