home

jobs

	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

LPGA CORNING CLASSIC

May 28, 2004

Michelle Estill

CORNING, NEW YORK

PAUL ROVNAK: Well, Michelle, thanks for coming and joining us again. You're 13 under, you're the leader by one, after a brilliant 64, which ties your career low. You got off to a great start, four straight birdies. Tell us about the day, and we'll go from there.

MICHELLE ESTILL: Okay. Well, I hit it just as good as I did yesterday, and I got off to a really good start, but today I just made a lot of putts. Yesterday I hit it close, almost all my putts were inside of 12 feet. But today I made a couple of long ones and just got off to a good start and managed to just stay afloat, made some good putts coming on the backside, too. It was a lot of fun out there, I'll tell you.

Q. When's the last time you were in the lead after the second round?

MICHELLE ESTILL: God, probably never (laughter.) Seriously, I won in Portland, and I wasn't leading after the second round there, either.

Q. Do you look at the leaderboard while you're playing?

A. No, sure, that's half the fun, if you don't watch what everybody else is doing, why be out here.

Q. You have the lead, you have a one stroke lead but it's against Annika Sorenstam, does that put more pressure on, than maybe it would if it was some other players?

MICHELLE ESTILL: Well, I think it always puts pressure, but obviously playing with Annika, I think she's the best woman golfer, and it's lots of fun. Two days left, though, it's a little different than going into Sunday. Two days is a lot of golf on this golf course. Maybe just go out and hopefully try to do the same. I was telling somebody out there, it's kind of fun to play with Annika. Her tempo is so smooth it's fun to watch and you know she's going to shoot some birdies. It's get out there and try to match her, so it's fun.

Q. Seems like today the key was after you made the turn you pushed your drive pretty far left, and you were fighting kind of negative energy after your bogey?

MICHELLE ESTILL: No. 2 was begging me to eagle it. If you bogey, No. 1 is the one to bogey. On the front side you have two par-5s, that you can almost get there. If it happens you have plenty of holes to go.

Q. On the last putt coming in, it had to be nice to watch that fall?

MICHELLE ESTILL: I was hoping to birdie one more. On No. 7 I thought the ball was going in the hole there. I thought I was going to birdie there. I was a little disappointed. I had to make a good 2-putt on No. 8. On No. 9 I hit my putt too hard. This guy said we haven't seen anybody make that, and I said nobody is dumb enough to hit it that hard.

Q. You mentioned you probably haven't been in this position. Has it really sunk in? Probably a lot of people saw Annika Sorenstam four shots up halfway through the day, and figured she was there to stay. Has it sunk in that you bumped her out of that?

MICHELLE ESTILL: No, you're so used to seeing Annika's name on top, and she's going to be right up there tomorrow, no matter what I do. To tell you the truth, I'm so excited to be hitting it great and having a chance and back to playing normal. I know she's there, but I wasn't concerned about it, because she's -- her name is always going to be up on the top.

Q. Is Annika the favorite?

MICHELLE ESTILL: I think so, the record proves it.

Q. Is this your fourth or fifth tournament this year?

MICHELLE ESTILL: Fourth tournament this year. I lost my card last year for the first time, and I'm playing off my tournament winner category, and been fortunate to play -- actually four in a row next week, also, it's fun to be on a roll. It's fun to be back to my normal swing and hitting the ball really good. My caddy this week, Tim Atsedes, he used to be out here for awhile, caddied for Brandie. He's an Ithaca boy, I've been staying with him and his wife and baby. And it's like being home with family. It's been fun this week.

Q. Will you face different pressures tomorrow?

MICHELLE ESTILL: I'm sure. I think every time you get towards the leader, it's a little jittery, nerves are different. The Corning fans are fabulous, and I'm sure it will be crowded tomorrow. It will be totally different. The last two days I played with Sherri Turner who I've known forever. Out there with Tim, he's like family, and he's been a help. So kind of out there by yourself, nobody can really see you. So it will be different. But I think it will be fun. God, I hope so (laughter.)

Q. What was the defining shot of your day today, made you think, okay, this is going to be my day?

MICHELLE ESTILL: I think the first four birdies. When I birdied No. 13 I was like holy cow, I hit it close, I made a great putt on 12, and I thought this could be good. I've been hitting it good. Even when I struggled on a few holes I always knew since I've been hitting it good I always had a chance. Last year I didn't hit it good, I couldn't dig myself out of a hole. I just think starting off with the four birdies helped.

Q. What are your memories of your win?

MICHELLE ESTILL: That was nerve wracking, whenever you're in the lead coming down the stretch, it's nerve wracking with all the fans and everybody, that's part of being an athlete.

Q. What happened last year?

MICHELLE ESTILL: I had gone through a swing change, which helped my back to change it. But this winter, to be honest, I took six months off, didn't hit a ball for six months. And when I started hitting again it was kind of back to the little fade that I hit. And I hit it real solid, like I used to always hit it and it just came natural. So I haven't had to really work at it. Just a couple of little tempo thoughts that I got from the lady that I work with from Arizona State and it's really helped.

Q. You've been battling back problems?

MICHELLE ESTILL: Anybody that's seen my swing over the years, I always had a real upright swing, and it was just getting to my back. So I wanted to make a change to try to get that. But it's not meant to be. That's just not me. So the six months off helped. At least so far it's helped.

PAUL ROVNAK: Take us over your score card. Start on one or ten, whatever is easiest for you.

MICHELLE ESTILL: We'll start on 1. I bogeyed 1. Obviously hit a bad drive, 4-iron up pin-high and missed the putt coming back about a 10-footer.

Eagled No. 2, hit 6-iron, probably had about a 25 or 30-footer.

Birdied 5. I hit 4-iron just to the front and 2-putted. The first putt was 30 feet and the second putt was about six feet.

Birdied 9. I hit a pitching wedge, I don't know, it was 15 feet, something like that.

Birdied 10, hit a pitching wedge, hit it about 12 feet.

Birdied 11, hit an 8-iron to about six feet.

Birdied 12, I was just short, chipped it up, I was probably about 15, 18 feet there.

Birdied 13, hit a 6-iron, hit it to about five feet.

17, I hit an easy 9-iron, made about a 20-footer.

I birdied 18, hit a 9-iron, probably to about ten feet, somewhere in there.

Q. Did you bogey 16?

MICHELLE ESTILL: Bogeyed 16. I hit a pitching wedge kind of short left in the bunker, chipped it out to about 12 feet and missed that putt. 17 was a birdie.

Q. Can you describe the putt on nine?

MICHELLE ESTILL: Just above the hole. It was into the wind and so I thought it wasn't going to break much. Like I said when you hit it that hard it doesn't. The wind on the backside was pretty strong and it swirled. So it even kind of affected the putts a little bit. It made it kind of tough.

Q. That eagle on 2, how far did you say that was?

MICHELLE ESTILL: About 30 feet. I had a couple of little -- it had a little double break and it held its line. The greens are really putting good, wherever you put them.

Q. When you start off on several shots back from the lead when you tee off, is your focus catching Annika or playing your game and see where it takes you?

MICHELLE ESTILL: Well, for me, I mean I just want to get out there and continue to hit it solid. You can chase Annika all you want but you'll grind yourself into the ground. I don't want to sound pessimistic, but I want to go out and strike it good like I did today. She's not going to falter, so you're going to have to make putts. But there's a lot of players -- 36 holes is a lot of golf out here.

Q. You've mentioned back injury, you missed the cut last year and not great rounds, not horrible rounds, but not great, but this is your 12th Classic, you've missed five cuts and you've made six over the course of all that time. Can you talk a little bit about was it always the back and the changing swing, so what's different [] --

MICHELLE ESTILL: Corning for me is a feast or famine. I either shoot 68 or I shoot 75. Like I said yesterday, it tends to be that way round for round, too. I say like if I'm hitting it pretty good, and I don't get underneath any of the trees out here you hang on. You can't give away too many strokes, but there's so many opportunities to make birdies.

Q. Is that because of the way you approach the tournament?

MICHELLE ESTILL: No, I think it's my style of play. I'm known as a pretty good ball striker. But if your ball-striking is off and you hit it in the trees you're going to be making bogeys or some doubles here and there.

End of FastScripts.

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297