ASAHI RYOKUKEN INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

September 20, 2001

Vickie Obegard

VICKIE ODEGARD: That's exactly right. We passed just outside of Denver going down on 25. So all the players that took the charter, I'm sorry. It must have been the way to go was to drive.

VICKIE ODEGARD: Well fortunately today they all seemed to be pretty good for me. No bogeys. I had five birdies. I birdied No. 2, 6, 8, 10, and 16. Hit the ball pretty well today. I hit 14 greens in regulation. So I think that's the key to playing this golf course. The golf course isn't playing easy, I was just fortunate today to hit really good shots and hit them fairly close to the pins to make the putts.

VICKIE ODEGARD: Well I mean the whole ordeal last week was sad in itself. I'm not a big flier. That's why we chose to drive. And we didn't really know if flights were going to go. We drove really hard the first day. We went 34 hours without stopping. That wasn't intentional though, we tried to stop four times and I guess everybody else had the same idea and we couldn't get a hotel room. So we just kept going for 42 hours. I live in North Carolina. So I got home for one day. I got in on Sunday spent 24 hours there and then came down here Monday night. So I think that being home, when I'm home for one day it seems like a month. So I really enjoy that. I think doing that helped me quite a bit.

VICKIE ODEGARD: We're an hour west of Ashville. So we're up in the Smoky Mountains. So I sat on the porch looked at the mountains and just relaxed. I did nothing. Just looked at the Smoky Mountains.

VICKIE ODEGARD: It was 41 to get to my house then I drove Monday to Charlotte, the airport there. Picked up my car where I was supposed to fly back into, and then drove down here. So actually on Monday I still had a six hour drive.

VICKIE ODEGARD: Absolutely. No. 2 I had a 7-iron in. I hit that about 10 feet. Number 6 I had a lob wedge, a little short shot in there. I hit it about four feet. Number 8 I had a pitching wedge. That was into about two feet. So I stuck that one pretty good. 10 was a 7-iron and I hit 10, that was about 12 feet. Then on 16 that was just a little pitch shot in there to three feet.

VICKIE ODEGARD: Well thank goodness for shuttles or we would be playing in six and a half hours here. The course did play awfully slow today. I started on the back side and it was really slow. When we made the turn it picked up. So I don't know what the difference was in the back and the front today, but it was extremely slow to start off with and then it picked up.

VICKIE ODEGARD: Well, when we made the turn was actually starting on number one. So people were speeding up at that point. So when they were playing their final holes they were going faster. I have an indication that someone obviously was being timed out there a couple groups in front of me. That's the only way we picked up as fast as we did. But this course is not going to play fast. With the rides we have to take and the walks, it's just going to be a slow golf course and you just have to be aware of that. Actually, I don't mind it because I can rest.

VICKIE ODEGARD: I wouldn't call either side easy. I think you have a lot of more birdie opportunities on the back with the par-5's especially. But calling it easier, I don't think so, no.

VICKIE ODEGARD: Well, there were four in that van that I kept passing. So I don't know who all else drove. Like I said, it was just a whole sad situation last week in itself. I played the Pro-Am out there on Thursday and was very pleased I was able to do that for charity. But it was not a normal Pro-Am it was not a normal Thursday. It was just a tough week.

VICKIE ODEGARD: It was very hard for me to pack up and come down here. Exactly. I'm fortunate that when I was out west in Portland my mother and husband were with me so they drove back with me and we drove down here together. So to have three of us come down here it makes it a lot easier than being down here by myself. If I were away from my family I think I probably might have stayed home.

VICKIE ODEGARD: When we're on the east coast I drive as much as I can. I'm fortunate to have Continental Airlines as a sponsor, so when I do fly it's strictly with them. And I feel confident flying with them. But no matter who I fly with I'm not the best. But I drive as much as I can, especially on the east coast. When we go west, I fly. I have to. It's my job.

VICKIE ODEGARD: It's difficult. Just to fly is difficult for me. But it's my job. It is my career, I don't have a choice. So I do it. And try to get through it the best I can.

VICKIE ODEGARD: No, I would never do that. I truly think it's probably going to be safer now to fly than it's ever been. So that fear, you just can't have it. It's something in the back of my mind, but I step on that plane, I go to my job and I do my work. That's what I have to do.

VICKIE ODEGARD: Ask me that question on Sunday. Not the way I should be, no. I've been on a somewhat of a, not strict diet, but I've been trying to watch what I've been eating. I gained a few pounds over the last winter. Tried to take that off. I think the few extra pounds off this week's going to help. But you're right, when it comes down to Sunday, the people that have done cardio all year long that have been in the fitness van doing their workout I think is really going to benefit them. Especially this being our last event of the year. It's been a hard year anyway, and then to have to see these hills on our last four days. Thank you guys, very much.