MCDONALD'S LPGA CHAMPIONSHIP

June 23, 2000

Wendy Ward

WENDY WARD: Birdie on 14. That's where I started my run yesterday. Yeah, I hit a good driver right down the middle of the fairway, 149 to the pin. Hit a little 7-iron to about six feet. Then 15, good drive. Had a little bit more into the green, 165. Tried to hit a 6-iron and it was pin-high, about 50 feet left of pin. 17, that was another little 35-footer. Hit a 6-iron in; it was playing 153 yard to the hole, into the wind. That was about 35 feet. Meg was helping me with that read, too. Then I made bogey on 2. That was the first green of the day that I missed, left of the green. Had about a 25-foot putt. I didn't make a good chip there. I wasn't real aggressive there. I came back with a birdie on 3. Hit a little 6-iron there, 164 yards to about 18 feet. Then bogeyed on 8. I pulled my shot, my approach shot, 7-wood. I had about 190 yards. Pulled it pin-high, left, right up next to a tree stump. Made a really good chip shot to about 15 feet and didn't make the putt. But I was happy with the chip.

WENDY WARD: You know, I made a lot of 3- to 4-footers, 5-footers for par. Just real solid with my putting this week. I worked with my coach last weekend, and we kind of changed my putting routine around to give me more attuned with the distance of my putts. I used to take my practice strokes six to eight feet behind the ball, looking down the line, and Mike thought that my eyes were seeing, you know, six to eight feet further of what I actually had to hit, so now we're back to what I would say would be conventional, taking it right to the sight of the ball. It's helped me with pace, but it's also helped me come in tune with my line.

WENDY WARD: When the birdies started dropping. It's more trusting it than anything. The first couple holes yesterday, I had to stop myself from taking my strokes from behind the ball and just committing to the new routine. I had 26 putts yesterday. I didn't count how many I had today. 30 putts today; so I think we'll stick with it.

WENDY WARD: I actually liked the conditions a little bit better this morning. The greens, you know, we played on the greens that have been beat up pretty good after all the players had played them yesterday, and the greens were pretty fresh this morning. But they were fast. You can rest assured that the rough is still nice and healthy.

WENDY WARD: I think so. I consistently hit my putts about three feet by the hole today. I definitely feel like they were quicker.

WENDY WARD: I would say as far as consistency, I was more consistent today, but I tend to play the back nine a little bit stronger than the front nine, and I made five birdies yesterday, four today. But all in all, the first 36 holes of this tournament have been the most consistent that I've played since Dayton.

WENDY WARD: Finished 4th.

WENDY WARD: I had some great pairings. I remember playing with Donna Andrews the final round and she finished second. I tend to play better when I'm obviously enjoying myself, but I enjoy the people that I play with. Meg and I kind of tend to feed off each other. You can't control pairings, but they certainly make a difference. When I won my first tournament in '97, I had great pairings all week, and that's something that you just look forward to when you're playing with a good friend.

WENDY WARD: I guess. I don't understand?

WENDY WARD: You mean like Betsy King and Patty Sheehan? That lights our fire a little bit. But the group ahead of us; Pat, Beth Daniel, Betsy King, had 100 victories between them. They obviously know what they are doing out there.

WENDY WARD: It's been inconsistent, which is what Mike and I are really trying to focus in, figure out what we can change to eliminate big mistakes. You know, this is a week where you can digest a bogey every now and then. But it's the big numbers that, you know, kind of take you out of either contention or out of the tournament. So we've really been trying to work on consistency and trusting what we're working on, confidence-building, and knowing that you can have a -- kind of an imperfect day, ball contact and swinging-wise, and still get to 1- or 2-under par. I'm still not quite where I want to be with my ball-striking, but I'm making it work: And I think I look across the board, Juli Inkster, Meg Mallon, the players that consistently play well, you watch their rounds that they shoot under par; they don't hit it great every day. And that's what I'm finally learning. That's one of their little secrets they don't share too often.

WENDY WARD: I am. That's another thing that Mike and I are trying -- I would not admit to that except for the fact that he told me that I am. That's another thing that we're learning, that perfectionism doesn't win tournaments. Improvement and staying positive does.

WENDY WARD: I think there will need to be one more low round in there, or a low round. But this course is probably the healthiest we've ever seen it, as far as rough. And the greens are rolling very swiftly. So I think, you know, 2-, or 3-under par every day is a pretty good score. But we've got enough depth and talent out here on Tour that there's going to be somebody that throws a number up there. I saw Rosie Jones, I think she was on her first nine, and she's a pretty hard chaser. There's definitely good talent to go low this week.

WENDY WARD: I'm pleased because it's consistent; and I'm worked on being consistent, not working on being a perfectionist, so ... right? I'm working on playing the game versus playing golf swing. The smile will come out eventually.

WENDY WARD: You know, I've told my coach, I've told several people who have asked what my secret is, and I feel more uncomfortable when I'm not in contention, and I don't say that in an arrogant way. I push extra hard when I'm either trying to make the cut, or trying to finish Top-30 or something. But when I'm there, I carry a little bit more confidence, and this is what you work so hard to be in. And I enjoy it when I'm there, definitely.

WENDY WARD: Yeah. I mean, I do think that there is a lot of strategy to this course. There is a lot of maneuvering of the ball on this course, which I like to do. There's a lot of times that I hit 3-wood out here. 18, I don't have pull out driver. If we had a 40-mile-an-hour gust in our face, I might consider it. But there are definitely times I will take an extra club into the green and hit 3-wood. Strategy is huge out here. You know, you commit to a gameplan and you stick to it, and if you don't hit the ball where you had planned to go, then you adjust. But definitely, strategy will pay dividends at the end of the week.

WENDY WARD: Well, now that I'm not a perfectionist -- (laughter). I'm not nearly as affected because, you know, there's a lot of funny bounces that we get with this game. And I'm starting to learn that, you know, when a ball looks like it's working away from the hole, it hits the side of a mound and goes right to the hole, I can't control that either. You take the good bounces where they fall, and, you know, you just make the best of whatever your situation is.

WENDY WARD: It's good. It's even better now that he travels again out here. He took a year's sabbatical, went back to school. The poor guy, he's getting old, he's 33, and he had some surgery done on his shoulder and a knee. And he's back out working for Jackie Gallagher Smith; so I love traveling with him again.

WENDY WARD: Billy Prentice. We've worked together just a couple weeks, and we're having some fun out there. Bill is from the south. He's from Alabama, and he's as low-key and easygoing as they come, so that's good. Very positive, though. Very encouraging.