DU MAURIER CLASSIC

July 31, 1999

Cristie Kerr

CRISTIE KERR: Played pretty solidly today. I made a couple crucial key putts for par, which kind of spurred the rest of the round on. I hit a lot of good shots, I knocked about five or six shots probably within twelve feet. I didn't make some of those putts, but they were pretty close to going in. Just played really solidly today.

CRISTIE KERR: Yeah.

CRISTIE KERR: Yeah, I know probably if I were to win, I would probably have to definitely shoot in the 60s. Probably pretty low. Tomorrow is a new day. I don't know what the conditions are going to be like, but to win in my case, I would have to shoot in the 60s for sure.

CRISTIE KERR: I was tied for the lead at the end of the second and third round, and last day I shot even.

CRISTIE KERR: Probably not tomorrow. But it depends on the conditions. Who knows. It is supposed to rain tomorrow, I think. I looked at the weather forecast. It rained this morning; it kind of moved out. We were pretty lucky. Hopefully, it will do the same thing tomorrow. But it might be bad weather, so you have to kind of look at the day and the situation. I mean, par could be different on a day like that too. So a score in the 60s to be even par. It just depends on the conditions tomorrow.

CRISTIE KERR: The cold weather was a factor. Trying to keep warm; trying to keep your hands warm, you lose a little bit of touch on the greens when you don't have all your feeling in your hands. So -- especially on the longer putts, to get it close and nestled up near the pin, it is harder. There wasn't really any wind to speak of. It was pretty calm.

CRISTIE KERR: The rough is still growing as we speak. It is really thick. I mean, I was on some of the par 5s, and normally where, at a regular tournament, where there is not much rough, you can get to the green in two. You can't even think about it here. You can't even think about it, because if you knock it in the rough again, then it is going to be hard to save your par on a par 5. So you have just got to knock it back on the fairway. Same thing on the par 4s; just try to hit green. The rough is really tough this week. It is just a question of how well you can manage your game when you get into the rough, in those.

CRISTIE KERR: It is an adjustment. I think McDonald's was hot, the Open was hot. I mean, a lot of places we have been playing -- JAL two weeks ago, hot; Giant Eagle, hot. To come here, the first two days were pretty pleasant to play in. This morning was quite cold. You are not used to playing with the layers of clothing that you are wearing that I wore today. Adjust your swing a little bit for that as well.

CRISTIE KERR: My dad is in the back with the Royal Canadian Mountie Police hat on.

CRISTIE KERR: Yeah, it is a very nice feeling, and it is nice to see my dad. I haven't seen him in a while. He actually has been in Calgary for two weeks, a week and a half. At the end of the tournament, it will be about a week and a half. He went horseback riding and white water rafting. He went up to Banff. He went on a vacation. Unlike me, I have to work.

CRISTIE KERR: Michael.

CRISTIE KERR: I haven't had time. I have been working really, really diligently in the gym for an hour and a half, hour 40 minutes. I plan to go and do at least a half hour of cardiowork later after I am done practicing, which will be my fifth workout for the week. But I figure, I heard it was hilly up here. I felt I have got to get in shape for these hills. I am trying to condition my legs and try and lose a bit of weight so it is easier to walk around the course.

CRISTIE KERR: Sure. I started on the first hole. First birdie was at 3, par 5; made about a 7-foot putt. Hit sand wedge, just kind of a shot with a sand wedge. 7th hole, I actually got really lucky. I was in the left rough off the tee and the pin was left in the gully, and I pulled it. I am just like: Please just get over the bunker. So I saw it fly over the bunker. I am okay, fine. It is just short of the green. Everybody started getting louder and louder. Oh, I guess it is on the green. Finally, it got even louder. Well, I almost holed it out, which I got pretty lucky there, which is nice.

CRISTIE KERR: 7, hit tap-in. Next birdie was, actually, I bogeyed 13. We were debating between 5-, 6-iron there, and the wind was in our face a little bit. I think I had 169 yards to the pin. So normally it would be pretty -- I'd have to hit a 5-iron pretty decently to get it there. We decided to hit 6, because we didn't know whether the wind was switching or not. And you have to hit it short to get it close. I hit 6; told it to get up, because I thought I needed the ball to get up. It flew over the pin and onto the back of the green, and I 3-putted. It was a really good shot and not a great result as far as what I scored on the hole. 14, birdie. Hit a good 8-iron in to about 15 feet - probably 18 feet, 20 feet. Downhill left-right putt. That was a really good putt. Just parred in from there. I missed -- let me see. Really good 2-putt on 9 today. I was below the tier on 9 and on 16, really good. Eight foot parts, down a little sliding hill. Made those. 17, I knocked it stiff and missed it. About four feet. It is that new sod of green that it didn't roll very well back there. Tapped in for par. 18, just hit it a little too hard; tapped in for par. I hit 8 fairways, 14 greens, I had 30 putts. Made a really, really good save on 8. I kind of came out of my shot. I hit it in the right bunker, hit an excellent sand shot out and about probably about eight foot putt for par, right-to-left, pretty fast putt.

CRISTIE KERR: Getting closer everyday.

CRISTIE KERR: If I am going to shoot in the 60s and especially mid, even lower whatever, I am going to have to make some of those putts that I have missed the last three days. If I am going to shoot in the mid-60s or the high 60s, I am going to have to at least make a couple more of those putts that I missed last couple of days.

CRISTIE KERR: I was nervous at McDonald's the night before and I was fine once I got on the course. I am just -- I don't think I will be nervous tonight. I have been there. I know what it is like. I know there is no reason really to get too nervous. It is good to be a little nervous to get a little bit of adrenaline going into your system. But I don't think I will be too nervous. I think I am just go to have a nice dinner, go work out a little bit, and maybe catch a movie, relax and go play golf tomorrow. I will tell you what, though, the people out here are great. The people out here are great. You have to take a bus all the way out here and back. That has got to be at least an hour by bus, half hour up, half hour back, and the crowds are tremendous out here. Everybody is so nice. My Pro-Am group was great. I have been having a great time since I have been here.

CRISTIE KERR: I like the crowd. I do. I play to the crowd a little bit because it is entertainment and I know that if I am having a good time, they are going a good time and that is generally how I am. I don't really get down in the dumps too often. I like to kind of entertain a little bit and that is what my job is. Very few people get to do it, and to take that for granted, it is a shame, so I don't.

CRISTIE KERR: No, I have been to Canada, it is probably my third year, yeah, this is my third year in the du Maurier and every time it is the cleanest country I have ever seen, hardly any trash laying around anywhere. Everybody pretty much has got a smile on their face and a song in their heart and the rest of the story.

CRISTIE KERR: Yeah, it's an exquisite golf course. It is tough, it is really tough, but it is fair. You hit good shots, you will be rewarded. Still got to grind it out on the greens and watch your speed on all the putts. If you hit bad shots, you are going to have to manage and you deal the best you can. Sometimes just kind of back down a little bit and take it as it goes.

CRISTIE KERR: Well, it is kind of both. You plan to play aggressively. You have to see how you are hitting it, and what opportunities present themselves. I mean, you can't - a straight down-hill putt, even if it is two feet, you can't knock the teeth out of the hole. You just have to -- I think I am just going to have to go out tomorrow and go for the pins I can go for; play smart when I have to play smart; hit the ball in the fairway, definitely hit a lot of greens and just you have to have the right opportunities to make birdies. You can knock in a putt from across the green or a really hard putt sometimes, but you need to position yourself on the greens to give yourself those opportunities. So that is what I am going to try and do tomorrow.

CRISTIE KERR: I always knew it was in my heart and always had the love and support of my parents and my family and my Godfather in Miami and the people that have taught me over the years. And I have known in my heart the quality of your life is determined by the people in your life. I am largely here because of them.