U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 3, 2003

Lorena Ochoa

Q. What a crazy round. A lot of birdies.

LORENA OCHOA: I did have a crazy round. I made five bogeys and five birdies. I missed some of the fairways and got some bad lies. I made two bogeys on two par-5s. That was really bad. You try to make a par and, you know, keep it only a par. But I'm happy. I'm very pleased with the way I finished.

Q. Do you feel like maybe you got a little lucky, only hit five fairways all day and shot even par. You're two shots off the lead right now.

LORENA OCHOA: Yes, I missed the fairway and it was in a good spot. So that was helpful. I think with shooting even par and missing fairways was a really good round and hopefully tomorrow I'll hit some fairways and I'll do really good. Because I'm hitting my irons very good. I'm putting very good. I made like two long putts and I have many, maybe five, six feet and I make pretty much all of them. So I feel very comfortable on the greens.

Q. Were you missing the same direction with the driver today?

LORENA OCHOA: No. Both sides.

Q. How many times did you hit driver today?

LORENA OCHOA: I hit my fairway wood just on two holes. I think the wind was switching around today, it was hard to tell. And I played my round in the morning, so I thought the greens and fairways would be a little bit softer. And I went through the fairway a couple times hitting good shots. And I missed a couple left, one right.

Q. Will you hit fewer drivers tomorrow, do you think?

LORENA OCHOA: Definitely, because I play in the afternoon. The fairway's going to be a lot harder. And today I hear that we have just maybe two or five miles per wind. That's nothing. So, yeah, definitely I will have to play more with my 3-wood.

Q. It's hard to hit the ball close on these greens, were you making some good-sized putts out there?

LORENA OCHOA: I hit it pretty close, actually. On the par-3s -- I played really good on the par-3s. On number 5, I put it really close with my 4-iron. And I make an uphill putt. On number 15 I put it really close with my 6-iron and I made a maybe downhill putt, maybe 10, 12 feet. That was for birdie.

I think I played very smart my second shot. I was in good positions on the greens, except number 12. No, sorry, number 3. I hit over the green, just on the fringe, on first cut. But that's a really tough green.

Q. You said you made a couple of long putts today?

LORENA OCHOA: Not really long. Well, yes, one. Number 6. I was past the hole, maybe 15, 20 feet and I made a downhill putt. That was a long one. That was probably the only long one. The other birdies were eight, 10 feet uphill.

Q. And as hard as conditions are, how tough are those downhill putts?

LORENA OCHOA: They are. I actually got the chance on my birdie chances. And I had two putts for par. I had a really easy put uphill and I left it short. You just touch the ball on the downhill and it goes really fast. And then on the uphill you get a little bit confused.

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