MCDONALD'S LPGA CHAMPIONSHIP

June 24, 2000

Wendy Ward

WENDY WARD: Started with a bogey on 7. 7, that was my little 3-putt. I hit it to about 40 feet left of the pin and missed a little 4-footer coming back. I thought I made a really good stroke and didn't find the hole. I came back with a really nice birdie on 8, about 18 feet. Hit a 4-iron. It was probably a little downhill there 18. No. 9, 18 feet. That was a little sand -- lob-wedge to 18 feet. 18 feet was a good range for me today apparently. Made the turn, No. 10. It was 131 yards to the hole, a little dripper 8 in there to four feet to keep the birdie string alive. And then we carried it on one more hole, the par 5. Hit a wedge in there from 100 yards; and 18 feet, how about that. And then, let's see, 15. 15 was a nice drive. I was still 30 yards behind Laura. Had a little pitching wedge in there from 115 and hit that to three feet above the pin. That was a nice, slick putt. 16, really made my only bad swing of the day. I was trying to cut it around the corner, which is not any natural shot, but I practiced it specifically for that hole, and I've just been too close to the tree limb. And today, I caught it and it dropped right down. Still made a nice 6 from there. Nothing fancy. Like I said, I pushed my drive into the trees right around the corner. I need to take it five yards left tomorrow. The ball drops down and I've still got 300-plus to the hole, and knocked a little 4-iron to what I thought was going to get it in the fairway and it ended up right on that first cut. Hit a 7-wood down that I thought was going left out of the rough; it didn't do that. It was a fairway bunker, not the green-side bunker had a 65-yard shot out of the bunker -- and we all practice so frequently -- and put that about 15 feet from the hole and just missed my par putt.

WENDY WARD: Probably the most consistent round I've played. I would say it's one of my Top-5 best rounds, just in ball-striking, and just made a lot of solid putts. I made a solid putt on 18. I don't know if any of you were out there. If you were wondering what the delay was., I had a little bird poop in my line and -- I don't know, is there a more professional way to say that? Laura Davies' caddy told us, "Well, if you don't know what it is, you just taste." We passed on that. (Laughter.) It was right in my line, and so we called for a ruling. And you could move it. So I graciously asked my caddy to move it for me. And I really thought that putt was going to be a little more downhill. It was about 40 feet, and I left it about six feet short. I knew what the rest of it was going to do. Just a matter of hitting a 6-footer in the hole. That was probably my only par save put of the day.

WENDY WARD: A lot of times she uses her 3-iron, and I can match my driver up with that pretty well. I really enjoy watching Laura play. Today, I made sure that I stayed focused on my game. I know there's no way that I'm going to keep my driver up with her, so there's no reason to attempt that. She's got her own strategy for the course and takes it on different lines and paths than I even think about. So I just kind of watch for the entertainment and just go back to my own game.

WENDY WARD: Well, I hope so, but I think she's probably a little more focused on what she needs to do for tomorrow.

WENDY WARD: You know, I didn't look at the scoreboard there. A lot of times, who you are playing with is not your closest competitor. It was for most of the day. I know that was a little shift in momentum at that point, but I didn't peek at the board again until I think it was 14.

WENDY WARD: Yes, in a major.

WENDY WARD: Juli is one of my favorite players on Tour. I've always said that she's probably one of about three that I really look up to. She's always, you know, embraced me, the rookie, the new kid on the block a few years ago with open arms and just very encouraging. You know, she's a player that you can just start feeding off of, because she's probably the most competitive player you'll meet out here. I'm now working with her same instructor which makes it fun, too. We work on some of the same things, Mike McGetrick, Juli is one that I think she's pushing everybody else on Tour. You know, we hear about Karrie and we hear about Annika, but Juli and Betsy King, they are pushing us, too. They have definitely won their fair share of tournaments and for valid reasons. But I think it will be a friendly match out there. Both of us have the same goal tomorrow. There's no doubt about that. But there will be a lot of sportsmanship out there, too.

WENDY WARD: Oh, sure. And I don't say that cocky, but I was telling my caddy this today: Every time I come to a golf course, whether it's this one or Portland, Oregon is another example where we play Columbia Edgewater on a tough golf course, if I bring what is my best possible game to the course, I know I can compete with anybody. When I don't bring my good game, that's when I start pressing and forcing things. You know, I think I've got just as good a shot as anybody else to win tomorrow.

WENDY WARD: This week I'm pretty satisfied, yeah. But no, I mean, I set as high of expectations for myself as anybody possibly could, and those expectations at times are kind of too high and -- but they are what pushes me forward. You've got to take -- I'm a Christian, and I believe that there's a plan laid out before me, and sometimes I don't agree with the plan or I think I should be further along than I really am. And I've just got to accept the fact that God is pulling back the reins for me at times to learn things; and He is not going to let me progress if I have not mastered the stage I'm at. We're working one week at a time and one tournament at a time, and I've got big goals, and whether they come true this year or not is not for me to say, but I'm certainly focused on me.

WENDY WARD: No. I think expectations are good. They make you work hard.

WENDY WARD: That was a tremendous experience. As a senior in college, to have that opportunity was an honor, and it was a great experience to now fall back on. I learned a lot of strategy that week that, you know, hitting the ball far -- Laura actually won that week. So it was a plus for her. But you learn to play your own game and not be intimidated by anyone.

WENDY WARD: I think it probably validated the direction and the goal for me to, you know, to look to play on the LPGA TOUR. It was more validation; okay, I can play out here, than increasing my expectations. A little confidence-booster going into the NCAA that year.

WENDY WARD: You know, I never saw them once in two years. Partially, I think that's due to the fact that we are all Tour players and we're all going 100 miles an hour in different directions. I grew up in San Antonio. I didn't really grow up in Austin and there was really no connection to there and having gone to ASU, and I have an Aggie for a sister; so that works against me, too.

WENDY WARD: It's a little tentative. Just the pace of the greens on the course are just a little bit slicker than the putting green we get to warm up on. Yesterday, I had too many 3- and 4-footers. Just from an 18-foot starting putt.

WENDY WARD: Yeah, I rolled it coming back. I think that was just a natural reaction in my mind to take a little bit off the pace of the ball.

WENDY WARD: The hole is a little bit further away, so ...

WENDY WARD: Yeah, yes.

WENDY WARD: We expect Juli to do things like that.

WENDY WARD: It just depends on how the flow of the round is going. If everybody is just steady and playing fairways and greens and making pars, you know, it's going to be even to 1-under. But I have a feeling with Juli and some of the other players that are creeping behind us, I think you're going to see a couple of low numbers up there. And it's all about momentum out here. And that's what you really enjoy when you play with a top player like Juli, you know, is she's going to create momentum. She's not going to make a whole lot of mistakes. You hope you can feed off of one another. And honestly, that's where low rounds come from. Generally, you have somebody pushing you.