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LPGA CORNING CLASSIC

May 30, 2004

Michelle Estill

CORNING, NEW YORK

PAUL ROVNAK: Michelle, thanks for coming and joining us. You had a great run out there. I think we all enjoyed watching it on the television in here, it was a great tournament. So just give us your thoughts and we'll go from there.

MICHELLE ESTILL: I had a great time today. I didn't play as well, but, boy, I had a lot of fun. It was fun to battle with Annika out there and kind of keep up, and she played better today, and it was fun to be in the hunt.

PAUL ROVNAK: Questions?

Q. Didn't win, but to stay in the hunt for 72 holes with the best player in the world, what does that do for your confidence?

MICHELLE ESTILL: Yeah, it really helped because I feel like I was kind of back in the groove, and I can do it and hang up there. And today was kind of the test, and it was up and down, but still, I hung in there, so I'm very happy.

Q. Was there kind of a turning point in that final round battle between you guys?

MICHELLE ESTILL: I think probably the birdie on 14 kind of i knew we only had three or four chances after that, so I knew I kind of needed to get a little there, so I think the birdie she had on 14 was key.

Q. If you compare her weekend to a race, it seems like she ran a good race, kind of stayed close?

MICHELLE ESTILL: That's why I knew on the front side when I was making birdies that you can never ease up because she comes alive and I knew she she hit it good on the front side, and I knew she would hit it better on the back side.

Q. Michelle, it seemed like at 16 you struggled to save a par. At the same time Vicki was struggling to save par at 17 and she did. And yet, after all that work, Annika just drilled a birdie at 16 to take a two shot lead. It seems like that's how her game is and that's what she does. Talk about what it's like to go up against that, all the work you do and then she just

MICHELLE ESTILL: You guys look at it differently. I don't look at it that way. I get out in the middle of the fairway, my ball is in a divot, like from the Pro Am, so I'm struggling not to throw away another stroke, to be honest.

You assume she's going to get close on every hole. I never think, oh, she's grounding it into the ground. I'm just thinking, keep it going, you never know.

I can't control what she's going do. I'm always under the assumption she's going to have a chance for birdie on every hole, so I was just out there. There was a perfect example. I hit it awful on 15, it was long, but I felt good on 16, got down there, and it was a divot, so now I'm just trying to get it up there, maybe have a chance, maybe not. She knocks it close you know, you expect her do it, she has a sand wedge in her hand, so it goes about the way you think. You got to pull out your own side of the deal.

Q. (Inaudible.)

MICHELLE ESTILL: I knew I had to birdie, no matter where it went. I mean, she hit the shot I thought she hit out of the trees.

Q. When you birdied on 11 and 12, and especially when Annika only hit par on the first one there, how were you feeling there? And then follow that up with the thought after you got way left under the trees on 13.

MICHELLE ESTILL: I felt good after 12, I felt like I kind of hit a bad drive, but felt good on 11, and felt really good on 12 after that up and down, and hit a bad drive, and, of course, I find that one little bush. I don't get that. All that grass out there, and I find the one bush, but she should have made birdie on that hole.

Q. Is it more of a matter of she just won today? I mean, to put it another way, you played a very good game for you. I mean, this was another consistent round, a few ups and downs, but nothing radical, while she just put it together right at the end?

MICHELLE ESTILL: Right. When I started the day, I thought you had to get at least 18 or 19. I knew I had to shoot under par to really have a chance at beating her because I knew she was going to shoot under par, so I'm not thrilled with the way today went for me, but she played exactly the way I thought she would every day.

Q. How many different times did this even happen where you were up or down thinking, okay, I can win, and then maybe she came back a bit, or you went down a bit and thought, okay, second is pretty good; did you ever think that?

MICHELLE ESTILL: No, I there is so much golf out there. There's a lot of birdies, even after the bogey on 13. Vicki played a great round, so I know she's up there, and, in fact, after 13, I'm like, you got to get to 18 to have a chance. To be honest with you, after 13 I was trying my darndest to get to 18. That was the number I had in my head and that was what I thought I had to do.

Q. Would have been a nice upset. What's your favorite sport story upset of all time?

MICHELLE ESTILL: I don't know. I mean, the person that come to my mind is the USA hockey, I still remember it like it was yesterday.

Q. Michelle, after the struggle of the past two years, talk about what this second place money will do for you. It sets up the rest of the year, pretty much, I would think. I mean, it could put you in a good position, at least.

MICHELLE ESTILL: It's a start. When I started after the last years, when I started the year, my goal was to finish in the top 90 once again so I didn't have to worry about it, and it's a good start, and it keeps me rolling. It won't change my status from this week on, I'll still have to play what I can play and play good, so it helps, but I have no complaints.

Q. After you and Annika put some distance on the rest of the field after the second day, did it almost seem like the last two days was a match play event between you and Annika?

MICHELLE ESTILL: A little bit. I mean, kind of, especially on the front side where we kind of got going, until Vicki caught up, I was trying to just keep pace, but even though it's definitely a horse race when you looked at it on paper, but I was still just trying to give it good shots and give myself chances all the way through.

Q. We've asked other golfers what it was like to play, seeing you and Annika so far ahead early on. When Vicki started coming up, were you doing any score board watching?

MICHELLE ESTILL: Yeah, in fact, I watched i saw where she was on maybe the 13th tee or so. I knew at that hole maybe it was the 13th green that she was at 16, or 15 at that point, so yeah, I like i enjoy, that's half the fun to me is the big race of the thing, you know, big challenge. How many more do I have to knock in?

Q. (Inaudible.)

MICHELLE ESTILL: A friend of mine owned a gas station and one of his workers was pregnant and I helped her out. It's just a job. I do over the years I've done a i work every off season. I like to be around people. Sitting around for six months, to me, is a drag.

Q. The theme of the post match comments, Annika says she's coming back, Vicki said she's coming back. Do you expect to be here next year?

MICHELLE ESTILL: Yeah, sure. I like coming to Corning. Over the years I come more than I don't. I like the people and I like the golf course. Like I said, it's in the best shape I have seen it in 14 years.

End of FastScripts.

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