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U.S. WOMEN'S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 5, 2005

Maru Martinez

ROSWELL, GEORGIA

RHONDA GLENN: What did you hit to the 18th green?

MARU MARTINEZ: A wedge.

RHONDA GLENN: What do you normally hit on that hole?

MARU MARTINEZ: It depends, with the tees where they are, usually hit like an 8 or 7.

RHONDA GLENN: You hit a wedge?

MARU MARTINEZ: Yeah, I went down the hill.

RHONDA GLENN: That was the shot of your match today, wasn't it?

MARU MARTINEZ: Yeah, it saved me. That one, and the third shot on 10. I had a tough shot. I had 175 yards.

RHONDA GLENN: What did you hit in there?

MARU MARTINEZ: I hit 9 wood.

RHONDA GLENN: And was the putt pretty straight in?

MARU MARTINEZ: It was downhill. It had a little break. So I was in between, you know, aiming to the edge of the hole and straight, but it kind of started to break but it finally went in.

RHONDA GLENN: What did you think when it fell in?

MARU MARTINEZ: Well, this is it. You know, you either make it or not. You know, it's tough to be in the position to win. That's where you want to be and, you know, to go to another hole, you never know what can happen.

I didn't hit my driver very well today. I was in the rough all day.

Q. On the first playoff hole, you hit your driver in the left rough?

MARU MARTINEZ: On the first, yes. And then I hit a 7 iron because my ball was buried in the rough, and I hit it pretty well, then I had 175 yards.

This tournament, you've got to take one shot at a time, one hole at a time. You never know what can happen.

RHONDA GLENN: Now you've been in the semifinals in the past and didn't quite get past that. What are you going to do tomorrow to try to get past that?

MARU MARTINEZ: Well, I think I have learned a lot in college to be patient. You know, I'm a very emotive person. Sometimes I just get too much ahead of myself and I've learned how to be patient, you know, do the same thing every shot and that's the thought I'm going to have tomorrow. It's worked for me, at least for this tournament, so that's what I'm going to do.

RHONDA GLENN: When you say do the same thing every shot, what do you mean?

MARU MARTINEZ: Just stay in the present. Just don't worry about the next hole; don't worry about the next putt. Just hit that shot as good as you can. I mean, hopefully my putter will start to get hot.

RHONDA GLENN: How are you different as a golfer now than when you played in the last semifinals?

MARU MARTINEZ: I'm more mature. I've had good rounds and I've had bad rounds, and I think I've learned from my mistakes. So I think that's going to help me tomorrow.

Q. You've had a pretty good college career, but why are you able to step it up that much more in match play events? Why are you a better match play player?

MARU MARTINEZ: Yes, I think I love match play. It's a great it's a great kind of golf, because you don't have to worry about, oh, you know, if you make 6 on a hole. You don't have to worry about it. It allows you to just focus on the shot a little bit more. In medal play, you're more kind of worried about, oh, I want I don't want to have a 6 on a hole.

Sometimes it helps to be aggressive and I'm an aggressive player, and, you know, I have to be aggressive even in medal play. So for me, it's a matter of getting that balance between too aggressive and not too aggressive, you know what I'm saying.

Q. So that shot you hit on No. 8 was pretty aggressive.

MARU MARTINEZ: Yes, I was in the rough, again. And I had a pretty tough shot because I had to hit it low, below those trees. I hit it well.

Q. Did you plan to do that?

MARU MARTINEZ: No, of course not. I was expecting the ball to just hit in the rough before the pin and then roll. You know, I didn't care if I had a long putt. I just wanted it to be on the green, and it turned out to be better.

RHONDA GLENN: How close were you?

MARU MARTINEZ: I wasn't very close. Actually it was like a 10 footer, 10, 12 footer.

Q. It hit the water and skidded up?

MARU MARTINEZ: I hit it pretty hard so it wasn't just going to fall in the water. You never expected it to do it. I was very thankful for that one.

Q. Talk about how important No. 10 is; two reasons, for the first time around, for you to halve the hole No. 10, did you not halve it with a bogey?

MARU MARTINEZ: Yes.

Q. You hit it in the water and you still halved it?

MARU MARTINEZ: I hit it in the rough, and then I hit it in the water.

Q. And that's pretty big there to halve that, because she hit her ball over the back.

MARU MARTINEZ: She didn't have a very easy chip. My putt was so fast on the afternoon, I knew when she was up there, because I practiced, you know, I knew it was not going to be an easy shot. So whenever she went over the pin, I said, oh, well, I have a chance. I can knock it close and make, you know, just make one putt. 6 is not going to be a bad score.

Q. How far did you knock it?

MARU MARTINEZ: It was like a 4 footer. I hit a good shot.

Q. How fortunate do you feel considering what your situation was on the 17th hole?

MARU MARTINEZ: Well, you know, golf is a crazy sport. I was leading the match and then suddenly I kind of lost it. And, you know, you never know what's going to happen in match play, or in golf in general. You know you have to keep trying your best.

I'm very fortunate to be able to be here. It takes to play well, but it also takes a little bit of luck. I am very grateful for the way I have played and I'm very happy with my performance so far. So I'm hoping tomorrow will be a little better than today.

RHONDA GLENN: A couple other players said they were really tired today. How about you?

MARU MARTINEZ: I was tired, I have to admit it.

Although, I didn't play many holes yesterday, you know, it's been a long week. I also walk very fast on the fairway, so I kind much have to show it down a little bit. I was definitely tired today. I think that had something to do with the way I played on the final holes today.

RHONDA GLENN: Your match was quite slow today. They were timing you, or did they warn you?

MARU MARTINEZ: Yes, that was another thing. On 14, I went in the rough with my driver and then I hit it in the rough again. Then I hit a good shot and you know, it was very it was not a very easy shot and it took me a minute to hit it. And the lady came and told me that, you know, warned me, next time there's going to be a loss of hole. I didn't have much time to really study my putt, and, you know, she made a par and I just tried to putt it so that I wouldn't get a bad time.

RHONDA GLENN: Thank you so much for being so gracious.

End of FastScripts.

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