SPRINT TITLEHOLDERS CHAMPIONSHIP

May 4, 1997

Tammie Green

TAMMIE GREEN: It is just nice to be back in the Winner's Circle again. I tell you, to be able to win wire-to-wire is something special and to maintain four good rounds, that is big for me. I have put some good rounds - run some good rounds in some different tournaments, but was never able to put 4 together or 3 together and playing 14-under is my personal best. I tell you, the Sprint Titleholders is even special to be in with all the great names that are on this trophy here, and everybody that really got the game to where it is today. I guess a lot of them were adding up how much they have made over their careers and some of them didn't come up to $180,000 and I made that today. But, I have to thank those ladies for all that they did for me to have this opportunity. I would say the golf course played tough today; (laughs) I don't know if it was just me being nervous. I hit a lot of woods into par 4s, and it was a grind. It was tough, tough conditions out there with the wind.

TAMMIE GREEN: I will tell you, they just kind of asked me to say hello to my family and I looked into the camera and said hello to Mom and everybody in Prairie County. I tell you, I just got this lump in my throat. I was fighting back tears to hit that shot, actually. And just a great feeling. It is an overwhelming feeling to know that all the people that were behind you all this time, that stuck with you, and you are able to thank them on national television. And any time you can say hello to Mom and thank Mom, that is special.

TAMMIE GREEN: Walking up the fairway, of course, you know, they are right on you, but that was all right. That was okay. It was different, but-- (Audience laughter.) I had a lot of emotions going anyway. So my concentration was real good all day. And, I had a good yardage. I laid up just perfectly for what I call my red wedge, my third wedge.

TAMMIE GREEN: Actually, I saw it a couple times. I saw Karrie coming up and Annika. Those are two great competitors. I knew I couldn't let up at all. It was a grind out there anyway. The golf course -- I hit a 3-wood into 16, and I felt like I hit a good drive. And I busted a 3-wood just to the back of the green. And any time you have conditions like that, you can make bogeys coming in. And I just didn't want to have any letups, and I just kept grinding.

TAMMIE GREEN: I was nervous.

TAMMIE GREEN: I guess that is one of the great things about winning is to be able to control your emotions to a certain point. I think it is nice to have a little bit of adrenaline and nervousness going, as long as you can focus it in the right direction. And I was able to do that and stayed pretty well relaxed overall.

TAMMIE GREEN: A big impact. The way I putted all week and -- I just had a little -- somebody noticed that I was moving my head at the beginning of the week, and I played the ball a little more forward. I think with the addition of the new putter, I just felt comfortable over the putts all week. After I made a few, I felt like I could make everything. I had a couple putts coming in that I lipped out that were pretty big putts, and it would have been nice to see those go in, to be able to birdie the 18th, the way I did was -- that made up for all the lip-outs.

TAMMIE GREEN: A gentleman by the name of Bill Parker. Just an amateur that watches me out here.

TAMMIE GREEN: Yeah.

TAMMIE GREEN: Well, since it has been such a long time since I won, and to win a championship such as this one, and, you know, I feel like it is a major championship - our largest money tournament - and again with the Titleholders behind it, that makes it even more special. And, it is really hard to describe. After last year and not really being able to have the strength to play full tournaments, put 18 holes, put 72 holes together, 54 holes together, it was sort of frustrating. And to be able to get rid of some of that frustration, knowing that I could win again and having won again, I just feel like it is going to be a plus for the rest of the season.

TAMMIE GREEN: I was pretty well aware of that, yes. In fact, there was a leader board that sits just off the 15th. And, you know, I have been putting well all week, and I looked at the putt and I knew what I had to do. I just kind of stuck to my guns and went through my routine and kept the emotions out of it and was able to make it.

TAMMIE GREEN: That was probably about a 10-foot putt. I don't know. They seem longer sometimes.

TAMMIE GREEN: It was a lot longer than 5. It might have been eight foot. We will compromise there.

TAMMIE GREEN: I worried about my career at a certain point. I think any time that you have emergency surgery, you kind of get a wake-up call to your life and what you are supposed to be doing and I just -- it was kind of frustrating just not winning. I played good tournaments, but just not put everything together. I kind of lost my thought there. Time for a drink (laughs) I don't want to talk too much about that frustration. We are just going to let that go and go on to next week. Hopefully, I won't have that.

TAMMIE GREEN: Yes.

TAMMIE GREEN: Actually, we were put on the clock early on. Chris had a little bit of trouble early, and I think we fell behind, and that was kind of frustrating to a certain point; I got out of my rhythm and a little bit, my pace. I felt like I was rushing shots several times. But Travis was real good about that. He said, "Now, just calm down. Just slow down." So, he was a big help out there.

TAMMIE GREEN: That will be nice - a nice thought when it sinks in, but each week we have to play against those players, and they are such great competitors, and it is getting better and better every year, all the younger players that are coming out, and they know that they can win from day one. And, you know, when I came out I was struggling to win, and I was thinking about making cuts. These girls are coming out and they are saying, "Well, I am just going to beat everybody and win everything." And they have the confidence, and it is great to see because it is days like today, me winning, it makes me feel like I have done something great. It is not just so-so. It is -- those players make me better.

TAMMIE GREEN: I did. Actually, on No. 2, was a long save. That was probably a 25-footer, and then on the par 5 -- 5th hole, I had probably a 20-foot saving par-putt. Those were big; especially with the wind conditions, and actually the conditions -- so many more holes to play and with such great competitors on my heals.

TAMMIE GREEN: Hey, I am Tiger Woods (laughs). (Audience laughter.) That is a great feeling to have so many fans and so many people hang around so late after the tournament. That is just a good feeling.

TAMMIE GREEN: I will tell you, that was tough. Didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night. Finished late and came out real early. It is tough to do. It is tough to get into any kind of a routine. Your morning routine is off, let alone -- I always plan on three hours before I play any tournament, and to get up that early, it was pretty difficult to come out -- but it was all worth it. I played real well for those three holes and was able to make a turnaround in the score a little bit.

TAMMIE GREEN: I think it made a little -- I can't say it made it easier, but it is nice to have a couple shot lead starting out in so, you know -- with the conditions, there are going to be mistakes. There are going to be bogeys made out there. And, that was nice to have that lead.

TAMMIE GREEN: I guess I finished up about 8 o'clock or so or 8:15 and teed off at 11:05.

TAMMIE GREEN: I got up at actually 5-something, about 5:15, I believe.

TAMMIE GREEN: Yeah, I had to go out and pack, pack up my clothes. I didn't really get to pack last night. I just wanted to get to bed and get some rest, went back and packed up and checked out of the hotel.

TAMMIE GREEN: Yes.

TAMMIE GREEN: Actually, I have to go to West Point, Mississippi for an outing tomorrow and then on to Nashville.

TAMMIE GREEN: Actually, George Brian, who is one of the presidents for Sara Lee, built a course in West Point which is going to host the 1999 U.S. Open, Women's Open. And, there is about 20 of us going down for an outing for the Palmer Home which is -- abused children, they set up homes and families to take care of these children. Wendy's is sponsoring it, which is right up Dave Thomas' alley with the adoption program.

TAMMIE GREEN: If I continue the way I have been putting, and I am just going to get more confidence with iron shots, I don't feel like I have to get the iron shots, you know, within a 10-foot circle to make birdie. I made a few long ones early in the week. And, if I can keep the putter rolling, I think my game will just improve overall. I even started driving the ball a little better last couple of days, and I have been struggling with the driver as well. So, hopefully, it is going to just be built on success.

TAMMIE GREEN: Well, I am always looking to be the Player-of-the-Year. I think everybody that joins the LPGA dreams about being the No. 1 player on the Tour. And, I have got a long way to go, but this certainly is a great start for it. And, it would be nice to be leading money winner this tournament; that is a big bonus for this tournament. And, there is just a lot of goals with the Solheim Cup. I have gained a lot of points this week, and it is just -- it is just really nice to be back in the Winner's Circle and know I can win again.

TAMMIE GREEN: Well, you know, those are just basic goals that -- I don't know how it is as far as my lifetime goals and how long I am going to play, if I am going to have children and all that. I have to look at that before long because I am 37. But, you know, right now, I am concentrating this year on golf and see how everything goes and I'd like to play the Solheim Cup because it is at Muirfield which is about hour and a half from home. Pretty much the same goals that I have always had.

TAMMIE GREEN: Certainly I wonder about it. You get a little nervous. But, you know, I guess that is one thing about winning, you have got to get through all that; try to get the negatives away from you and try to think positively. And believe in yourself and have the confidence that you can win and you are good enough to play against these players. And, I just can't tell you how great it was -- great a feeling to hit that wedge so close on the last hole. I just felt like well, you know, I got to make par. But, to hit it so close, and figure you are going to make birdie, worrying about making my two shots, instead of just hanging on - win by one shot or beat the other competitors instead of -- it was sort of a turnaround in my thinking even then. I was trying to make par and I hit it close and I should be thinking I am going to knock this close and make birdie, so I even learned something on the last hole, just attack sometimes.

TAMMIE GREEN: Well, did I answer that question before? Yeah, they are great competitors and I can't say enough about the players that we have on our Tour and with Annika and Karrie chasing me, you look at that, but I was able to maintain what I was going from the start and the conditions made it so tough that -- it was rewarding.

TAMMIE GREEN: Actually this is really the first -- I played the one round in Atlanta. I just -- with a Ping and the second round I picked this putter up.

TAMMIE GREEN: I call it my red wedge. It's got a red shaft. It is a Wilson wedge.

TAMMIE GREEN: It is a 60 degree.

TAMMIE GREEN: No (laughs). No. Well, I might think of it that way.

TAMMIE GREEN: No. Not at all. I really didn't know what it would take. I knew I had to "golf my ball," as they say. I will tell you, with the wind, this golf course, with the wind blowing from that direction played so long. I hit a lot of woods into par 4s. And, you know, I think I started out hitting 4-iron, 5-wood, 4-iron. And, when you start a course like that, you know you are in for some long holes.

TAMMIE GREEN: What was happening behind me?

TAMMIE GREEN: I didn't really care what was happening behind me. We were in the last group, so --

TAMMIE GREEN: That is okay.

TAMMIE GREEN: I really don't pay too much attention to them. But they are right in front of you and you see them and they are constantly giving you updates, volunteers - thanking volunteers - and I have a tendency when I am just waiting to hit a shot, I will glance over at the leader board. But, I don't really go around watching what is happening because I think that takes a little focus off what you should be focusing on, which is playing golf.

TAMMIE GREEN: I hit driver on 18, yes. I felt like -- I gave it some room (laughs). I thought, you know, the worst thing that could happen is put it in the water there and I felt like with it being downwind, even if I put it in the bunker, I could hit it out and have a wedge into it. Sometimes if you drive the ball just well enough on 18, to go for that green is a little tough because it gets a little close over there on that left side. And, if you put it in that front bunker, you have a long bunker shot. And, I knew my nerves coming into 18 probably would go for a long bunker shot. That is a tough shot and I haven't been playing too well on the bunkers. I think if there is any weakness in my game right now, I think it is the bunker play. So didn't want to put myself in those sort of situations. So, I hit driver, hit it wide.

TAMMIE GREEN: Okay. No. 1, I put it in the green-side bunker and had an awkward stance. I didn't quite get it far enough into the bunker and one of my heals was just kind of against the fringe and I didn't get the ball up -- left it about 30 feet beyond the hole. Did not make the putt coming back, but it was a fair bunker shot. It just didn't checkup. No. 2, I hit 5-wood and I had -- didn't get in the bunker again on the right side and had just a -- I haven't had a lie like this ever. It was sitting up probably like three inches and had a big lump of sand behind it, so I hit it like a bunker shot; left it about 25 feet but was able to make that putt which was big. Peggy Kirk Bell out on the 18th green, she even said it was big, so I believe her. Let me see. No. 3 --

TAMMIE GREEN: Just want the birdies?

TAMMIE GREEN: Saves. No. 3 was a save. Short of the green and chipped up within three feet. Made that. No. 4 -- got to think of these holes. I think that was pretty routine. That was pretty routine from the fringe. No. 5, was a good save. Was short with a wedge and; ran it by. Probably the next shot ran by about 15, 20 feet. Made that putt for a save. Pretty routine. No. 7, I hit a 9-iron to probably 20 feet, made the putt. Routine on 8. Routine on 9, 10. 11, I bogeyed. 7-wood into -- I just came over the top of it pretty badly and it was -- was unable to get it up-and-down. 12, I felt like I missed an opportunity on 12. I hit 4-iron to probably six or seven feet, missed the putt. 13 was routine. 14 just lipped out the putt. 15 was a good save. I sort of chunked -- just kind of stabbed a 6-iron short of the green, past -- chipped past about eight feet and made it. 16 played tough. Driver, 3-wood. Off the fringe, left fringe. 17, 5-iron, routine and then on 18, wedge about 2 feet. So made that.

TAMMIE GREEN: I hit a 7-iron out of the bunker.

TAMMIE GREEN: 89 yards.

TAMMIE GREEN: The red wedge goes approximately -- I use it for 70 yards. Usually I can push it to 80. But being downwind, I just knocked it down a little bit. It was perfect.

TAMMIE GREEN: 60.

TAMMIE GREEN: Thanks for everything all week. I appreciate how nice you have been.

TAMMIE GREEN: Thank you.