ADT CHAMPIONSHIP

November 21, 2003

Meg Mallon

MEG MALLON: Just because you have a couple of good rounds, you have to be consistent for two, three years before you can be considered in there sort of category.

No. 2, I hit a 5-iron to, call it, 25 feet, made that.

No. 5, hit a sand wedge to we'll call it about two and a half feet, missed it.

Then came back on 6 and hit a sand wedge to, oh, five feet, made that.

And then No. 7 hit a 7-wood on that tee, hit it left of the green and hit kind of a poor flop-shot out of there, left it about twelve feet short and I 2-putted there.

No. 8 I hit a 7-iron to 15 feet, made that.

No. 10, hit a 6-iron. I had 40 feet and 3-putted. I hit my first putt probably, oh, three and a half, four feet by.

11, I came back and hit a 6-iron to about a foot. That's it.

Q. What was the club on 5?

MEG MALLON: On 5, I hit a 4-iron.

MODERATOR: Another 71 today, was it completely different than yesterday's 71 or similarities?

MEG MALLON: Some similarities. I actually felt like I hit the ball a little bit better today. And putted better. Actually my touch was a lot better today except for that 3-putt that I had on 10 and then missing the short one on the par 3, sometimes I get caught up in the grain on these greens and those were two examples right there where I just played the grain and it didn't do it. It took off, it took off the hole. That I had to be careful of this weekend, you know, the Botays (sic) seem to be matching birdies and bogeys and I have got to stop doing that because I am not going to win this tournament. I am playing too good to make the little mistakes, the 3-putts, and missing the, you know, the 3 , 4, 5-footers that you need to make to win.

But overall, you know, I feel pretty good about how I am hitting it. The tee shot I hit on 18 is a shot that shows up every once in a while that makes me a little nervous, I come up out of it and I got a little lucky there in that it didn't go in the water. Which was the benefit of them growing the rough there this year, I am thankful for that. Years past that was kind of shaved down and that probably would have gone in. Overall, though, pretty happy with where I am right now.

MODERATOR: Talk about the difference how the course played today as compared to yesterday.

MEG MALLON: I really thought it was for the taking more so today. The wind was not as difficult, you know, I saw Rosie post a 5-under and I thought for sure, a few other players would do that too. But that's the testament of how good the course is. It's not easy to make putts because of the grains and they got very quick this afternoon, so you know, maybe we'll get used to it a little bit more this weekend and see more of the 3 -, 4-, 5-under rounds this weekend.

Q. How do you like pairing with Laura?

MEG MALLON: We're contemporaries. We pretty much came out on Tour at the same time, and I love playing with Laura Davies. It is always interesting, always fun, always a great conversation, and you never know what is going to happen with her out there. You couldn't see too more opposite games in our two games, but we certainly are very complimentary of each other and enjoy playing with each other.

Q. Give us an example of something unusual that happened when you played with her before?

MEG MALLON: Oh, gosh every round -- Laura is a go-for-it mentality. On a course like this that's going to be a lot of fun to watch - it's a make or break type mentality, and -- but she's been playing well all year. I think she's actually quite frustrated she hasn't won more this year. She's won in Europe. Because she is playing better and it's good to see her playing well.

Q. When you say couldn't ask for two different games. You are more conservative?

MEG MALLON: Well, yeah. I hit it a lot shorter than she does. I probably hit more fairways, although she takes the 2-iron a lot out now which is -- I probably hit about the same distance as her 2-iron. I have been known as a good putter. That's certainly something she's struggled with over the years and so we kind of have opposite -- I think we're both creative players and I think that's why we like to play together.

Q. (Inaudible)?

MEG MALLON: Those are good finishing holes. You walk off 16, 17, 18, even par or better you feel pretty good about that. And there's real truly not a hole that you get a break out here. You see Lorie Kane make a triple on 8 and you know, doubles it, you just see some big numbers so you really -- it is a relief to walk off the golf course -- especially when you come under par it feels pretty good.

Q. Laura is a little frustrated about how her season has gone. How are you with your season?

MEG MALLON: Pretty much there. Although, I don't feel like I have brought my best game together this year. I have played well in spirts and that put four completely solid rounds together, the two times I finished second I had that one 1-over par round that kills you in a tournament. So that has been frustrating. You know, hopefully I won't have that this weekend.

Q. (Inaudible)?

MEG MALLON: I don't know if you call it a dual. We were paired together at McDonalds a couple of times. She just completely kicked my you know what when she won it. We played matches together, I beat her in Minneapolis last year and then we had a concession this year, we played both Singles matches back-to-back against each other as the most recent, we played quite a few matches in Solheim Cups and other type of instances and have always had good matches.

Q. You played well here just about every year. Just talk about this course, what you like?

MEG MALLON: I think I respect it so much and I don't let down on any hole because I know what is out there. And it just keeps me really focused and you know, I enjoy playing golf like that. I enjoy playing challenging golf courses.

Q. One thing Laura said was that she likes obviously like being the big fish in a small pond or something, I don't know if you heard that. With all the other players that are coming up, does that (inaudible)a little bit, do you feel like you still get your due?

MEG MALLON: I am not sure --

Q. (Inaudible)?

MEG MALLON: She's a little fish now, I wouldn't consider her a little fish, but yeah, (laughs), oh, yeah, well, there's a good and bad to that. You don't have all the outside stuff going on either. But certainly you take that winning golf tournaments and it is getting more difficult with those three that are playing so well and winning a lot of golf tournaments. That's a good challenge, I think, you know when you beat them, you played good golf.

Q. A little bit on the same lines, the game has become a lot more international, but how important do you think it is for like a younger American to ---

MEG MALLON: You are asking someone that doesn't want to be beaten, so (laughs), that's a tough question. Ask me when I retire. I don't know, you know, Greg Norman made a great living and was a very famous golfer and he's from Australia, so I really don't think you can say an American is going to carry one Tour or the other, and I think it's more about how good the golf is and the fact that we have got the best players from every country playing on our Tour week-in and week-out, and you don't get that on any other Tour, so I think we have a unique situation. It pretty awesome to watch when you are not thinking, well, what if so and so were here this week. Like you have the European Tour for the men and you have the Asian Tour and you have the Australasian Tour and they are all spread out. We're pretty much the only show in town. So I think it's great. You are never wondering you know, who is the best. We're all here at once.

Q. See any other younger Americans?

MEG MALLON: Yeah, I am encouraged by our young Americans coming up. I think they are going to do just fine. Cristie Kerr, she's going to be a fantastic player out here. Laura Diaz, she has got health problems, so it's hard to say that -- she's had a difficult year because of dealing with that. You all don't realize how much pain she's been in all year playing. So you got to give her a little bit of a break on her year. But I think the last couple of Solheim Cups we have seen some of the younger players playing and Juli and Beth and Rosie and I have kind of taken them under our wing. We really, you know, we need them to be strong players.

Q. Laura almost doesn't practice. Is that almost a marvel when you look at --

MEG MALLON: Nancy Lopez didn't either, so, you know, you can't mold one way or another in what makes a player great. What makes Laura great is that she goes and tees it up and she is fresh and ready to play. She tried to practice, I don't know, it was about 6, 7, eight years ago. She even got lessons, it just messed her up. Some people it comes more mentally than physically and I think that's Laura.

Q. (Inaudible)?

MEG MALLON: She and Pat Hurst who played together today are really quick. She is probably one of the fastest players out here. More slower players than there are faster players. (Laughs).

Q. When you get in a position like you are in this weekend would you say when you are out on the course do you think about winning or do you just think about seeing the next ball trying to make the next shot?

MEG MALLON: I am thinking about what I need to do to win. I am not making my acceptance speech on No. 2 tomorrow or else everyone is going to pass me. You know, I have been in this position a lot in my career, and it's all different ways I have won, so I have that experience and as does Laura and Annika is only a shot or two back. So that you have a lot of experience up there, but right now I am thinking about what it is going to take for me to win the golf tournament.

Q. Rosie was in here earlier and she swears next year is her final year.

MEG MALLON: She's told us that too, yeah.

Q. Do you understand the reasoning of someone who is so ostensibly improving and yet just had enough?

MEG MALLON: All athletes talk about when is the right time to let go. What it comes down to is the individuals who know. Every athlete I have talked to has said I just knew when it was time to go. That's what Rosie said. It will be interesting to see what happens to Rosie because she may get that Solheim Cup bug. It's going to be an off year and she will have another good year and she will be up in third, fourth in points and everyone will say Rosie you can't quit now, you have got to play in the Solheim Cup so we'll see what happens. She seems pretty serious about it and content about it, which is, you know, you can't fault her for that. Good for her.

End of FastScripts.