Post-Round Quotes - Day 3
May 23, 2002
Louise Friberg, Washington
On the course record:
On her round:
"I've had some trouble with my putting before, but I've been
hitting the ball really good. Yesterday, after my round, my teacher, Joe
Thiel, I pulled him aside and asked him, "What do I need to do?' He said,
"Your first mistake is that you're trying to make the putts, rather than
picking a spot and rolling over it.' He said, "All you can do is roll the
ball to where you want it. If you have accomplished that, then that's a good
putt.' That was all I wanted to do today. There were a lot of putts in the
first couple of holes that I didn't make that I could have, so I paced
myself and hung in there and they started dropping."
On whether she thought about how well she was playing:
"I didn't think of it
until there was a wait, and we had to stand on the tee. Then I started
thinking about it, and I think that's maybe why I wasn't hitting the par-3s
so well, because I was thinking about the result and not focusing on the
present."
On any changes in her game:
"I walked in with confidence and I didn't change
anything about what I did. I felt good about my two other rounds too, it's
just that I didn't score good. I had a lot of confidence, I just didn't make
the putts."
On the turning point in her round:
"I felt last night that today was going
to be a good round. After I hit my first shot, I told coach, "I want you to
be happy with whatever I do today, because I am going to be.' She said,
"Alright!'"
Mary Lou Mulflur, Washington head coach
On Louise Friberg:
"I'm happy for Louise, that's a great round for her."
On the team's struggles:
"305 will drop you like a rock. We just want to
come out tomorrow and do our best. We have to be realistic. We just want to
end our season on a good note, because whatever we shoot tomorrow we have to
live with over the summer. We feel like we've had a good year, so let's end
it on a good note."
On Paige Mackenzie:
"Paige tripled the very first hole she played, then
played the rest of her round 1-over. I was pleased with the mentality she
showed after starting off really rough. You can go either way when that
happens - you can shoot 86, or you can come back."
On the tenth hole:
"We didn't play well when we started on 10 the first day.
I don't know if that's just a tough starting hole for us mentally, or what.
It's just the tee shot, when your nerves are going pretty good. When it's
your tenth hole, you've hit a lot of shots by then, but it can be a little
intimidating."
Heather Zielinski, Purdue
On the third day:
"I didn't hit the ball very well, I didn't putt very well.
I played the front fine, and then played the back pretty bad."
On birdie-ing hole 15 on each of the first three days:
"I think it's kind of
a scary hole, so maybe I just focused a little bit more."
Martina Gillen, Kent State
On the third day:
"Yesterday I kind of got the grab end of the stick because
it rained in the afternoon I wanted to play better today. I hadn't been
putting very well the last couple of days. Today I started off bad again but
I picked it up at the end."
On playing bogey-free golf on the front nine on days two and three:
"There
are opportunities out there on the front nine to make birdies if you can get
it straight and not go crazy on the green. It's not necessarily easier
though, the front nine I think is tougher."
On her game on the third day:
"On my tenth hole, which is hole number one, I
missed a three-footer for birdie. Then on the next hole I holed a 25-footer
for birdie, and then I holed a couple more 15-footers on the way in."
Meredith Duncan, LSU
On her round today:
I was just kind of steady. I made a lot of pars, and I
made one bogey on the front and two birdies on the back. Yesterday, I just
couldn't make any putts or birdies. Today, I still missed some birdies that
I should have made, but that happens and you just have to keep going."
On any adjustments she made from yesterday:
"I was just concentrating on
making it into the back of the hole ? not really doing anything with my
stroke, just concentrating on hitting it firm."
On going out aggressive tomorrow:
"I definitely want to go out aggressive. I
need to start off better than I have been with a couple of birdies. I've
started out par, par, par and that gets a little boring after awhile, so I
need to just come off number one and make some birdies."
Bess Bowers, Michigan
On her three-under par round:
"I just tried to stay focused on every shot,
because I knew I was playing well, and I had made two birdies in a row. I
was thinking that I just need to finish it out ? hit the fairway, hit the
green, just get it close and the putts fell. The last hole, I was pretty
sure I was two under and I wanted to shoot under 70, because I had never
done that before, so I just went all out. I was really aggressive and went
right at the pin and knocked it close. I've shot two under before and 71 a
few times, but never in the 60s. I tried to stay pretty calm, because this
is my last tournament ever since I'm graduating. I figured I might as well
go out with a bang. I'm just hitting the ball, so I can be really aggressive
with my shots and go at the pins. These greens are amazing. You just look at
the putt and it goes in the hole. I feel really comfortable with the greens
and with 10 to 15-foot putts for birdie or par."
On her last round tomorrow:
"I don't have any expectations. I'm just going
to go out there and do the same things I did today ? fairways and greens and
hopefully I'll get lucky and make some putts."
Mikaela Parmlid, Southern California
On hitting above par today:
"I'm hitting the ball really well, but today I
couldn't putt at all. I missed three or four short putts and didn't make my
birdie putts on the back nine, even if I put it up really close. It's all
about putts."
On the strengths, weaknesses of her game so far:
"I've hit my irons so
solid, it's been unbelievable all week. Yesterday, I had 11 within 15 feet
and my irons are just nailing the pins, but I just need to make the putts.
It's hard to read the greens, but I hit my irons, my driver really well, so
I'm going to work on my putting for two hours."
Danielle Downey, Auburn
On her third round:
"I was really happy with the way I played except I
doubled my first hole. The next 17 holes I was really happy with the way I
played and I actually birdied (holes) two and three to get back to even."
On double bogeying the first hole:
"I just got in front, I missed the green
short and I just messed around on the green for four shots. All of a sudden
I had made a double. I just wasn't thinking. I gathered myself, got two
birdies in a row and got myself back to even."
On bogeying the 14th hole:
"Usually I play par-fives real well but 14
doesn't set up real well. It doesn't look good to me. I hooked my second
shot and hit it awful wide. It was a tough hole but I felt comfortable with
the next four holes coming in. Actually 15 was a tough shot. You had to land
it in the perfect spot. I did, thankfully, and rolled it in.
On her missed putt for birdie on the 18th hole:
"I wanted that real bad. I
thought I had that, it looked like it was going right in. It wasn't that
hard. Maybe with a little more speed it would have went, but I thought I had
it."
On the individual competition:
"Lorena (Ochoa) and Oui (Virada
Nirapathpongporn) and Summer (Sirmons) are playing great, are great players.
Right now we're just trying to get our team back in this thing, and we made
a big charge today, (scoring) three under. We did what we needed to do
today. I'm proud of every single one of us."
On her feelings about tomorrow's round:
"I'm fired up. I'm ready to go. I
really feel that we have a chance to win this. Diana (Ramage), Kingsley
(Barrett), Courtney (Swaim), Celeste (Troche), they're great players and
they showed it today. They can put up some numbers tomorrow and that's what
we're going to try to do."
On what's taken Auburn so long to get going:
"Just mental mistakes. We've
made some big numbers. We talked about it yesterday afternoon and everyone's
striking the golf ball. We're hitting real good, hitting the post, but
there's one or two holes where we're making double or triple instead of that
bogey and moving on."
On today's team effort:
"I don't think the mental mistakes happened today.
There were a couple doubles I know, but we made up for it. We didn't
continue on the double path. We made up for it with birdies."
On entering the tournament ranked number one:
"We didn't think about it
because we know that Duke and Arizona and Tulsa and teams like that, they've
just got great players and you can't (let the number one ranking effect
you.) We're not number one until we win this thing, that's the way we look
at it. We really haven't done anything all year unless we win it. The number
one team will win tomorrow."
On Kingsley Barrett:
"Kingsley, our freshman, said, 'I have this calm about
me that I've never felt before.' I was so proud to hear that from her,
coming from a freshman."
On birdie-ing hole seven on each of the last three days:
"I like that hole.
I think the way to play it is to hit an iron off the tee to have the pole
shot in there. The pin has been left the last two days. If it's left you
cannot blow it down the left side because you have no room to work with. So
I just laid back and hit a four or five iron off the tee and today I hit a
nine iron in. Yesterday I hit wedge to six or seven feet. It's just a flat
putt."
On what it will take for the team to win tomorrow:
"Well they have to be
patient. Tomorrow's the day and there's going to be some nerves out there.
It takes a team that has the patience. If you make mistakes, you don't have
to go up and get it on the next hole and do something miraculous. Today I
had a double and a bogey or two bogeys and I made six birdies. So the
birdies are out there. You just have to go get them. The team that wins
tomorrow will have the least mental mistakes and the putters rolling.
Lindsey Wright, Pepperdine
On her third day performance:
"I wasn't really nervous on the first few
holes. At the start I just couldn't find my focus. I just bogeyed those
first few holes. Then I just got into it. I hit a great shot on the third
hole, par four, I nearly holed out for an eagle. I got within two inches, so
I tapped in for birdie and that kind of set my round going. It gave me a bit
of confidence. I made another birdie on seven, which was a nice 15-footer
putt. On eight and nine I parred in too. I made a good up-and-down on nine
to finish the first off. Going into the back nine I was hoping to make a few
more birdies and finish it up solid. I think I put too much pressure on
myself. I kind of battled my way through it. I made a lot of up-and-downs
from around the green. I made some good solid par putts too. It was a bit of
a stressful round today. It wasn't as simple as the first two days. I played
with my eyes shut through the first two rounds but today I just kind of
struggled, my tempo was out."
On her mindset coming into the final day:
"I like (the fourth round) better
than the third round because I know it's all-or-nothing. I can just go for
it tomorrow. It's the final round and I can look at the leaderboard and know
where I stand. I like being in the position I'm in. Coming from behind is
better than being in the lead. I'll just do what I've been doing the last
three rounds. I've just hung in there and been patient, really patient, and
it's really paid off."
Marcia Wallis, Stanford
On her performance on the third day:
"I had some big numbers with two
doubles, which hurt me, but I countered with some birdies, which was good."
On her mentality entering the final day:
"My mentality, not only for the
title, but for the team title, is to go so low, to try to push tomorrow
because we all need to go low to be able to win it. The team played well
today and I know we're all fired up to try to shoot well tomorrow."
On playing with Texas:
"I like the Texas personality. They're a really nice
team and it's always nice to play with a team that's not necessarily the top
team, but a team that you match really well with personality-wise."
Angela Jerman, Georgia
On her round:
"I shot 71, pretty much nothing out of the ordinary. I kind of
just hit fairways, hit greens, and didn't hit them really close. Towards the
end, I gave myself more birdie opportunities and made two of them coming in,
but unfortunately, bogeyed this last hole (nine)."
On recording three birdies on number 11:
"I like that hole. It's basically
like my favorite club and just sets up well. I hit it close, today I had a
five-footer, yesterday I had a two-footer and the day before I had a four or
five-footer."
On the first half of the course:
"I think I started to hit it better, when I
was on that side yesterday, I wasn't hitting it well. I was just trying to
get around the course with as least amount of strokes as possible. I like
both sides equally. I played both equally well. I played the back three
under one day and I've played the front under."
On her goals for Friday:
"Depending upon how the rest of the field goes, I
want to have a good round and put myself in contention. I want to help the
team, and have the team come out and do what we did last year as much as
possible."
On if her team will be able to challenge for the title:
"I think so. We can
all play well and all together at the right times. We did it last year in
the fall at the Auburn tournament, which is basically this field. We know
we're capable of it, it's just putting it all together in the same day."
Dan Brooks, Duke coach
On Virada "Oui" Nirapathpongporn's performance:
"I think Oui has always had
an ability to keep things in perspective. I know she feels nerves. I know
she had some nerves today but she would never tell me that. Despite the fact
that she had some nerves, she has disciplined herself to know that you just
have to take the steps and play process golf, not results golf and keep your
mind focused on the task.
On heading into the final day:
There is a lot going on. There is a buzz in
the air about who's doing what. You have to divest yourself of all that and
play one shot at a time. That's the name of the game. That's what the team
needs to do."
Leadership from Candy Hannemann:
"You're not with one another out there, so
you don't really have a leader in the respect that they are talking it up on
the court, that type of thing, but she has such a presence on the golf
course. I think it's known somehow when she is playing well. It does have an
affect, I think."
Virada "Oui" Nirapathpongporn, Duke
On her round:
"It's always been my plan, to keep everything in perspective,
keep things as they are. Don't get caught up. That's my theme for tomorrow
and for the team.
On playing with Lorena Ochoa:
"Playing with her is fun. It helps me. I learn
a lot. There are always crowds, clapping, noise. It's always a good
experience. She is a good player, a great player.
On her start:
"I just try to take it one shot at a time. Fifteen and 16 were
tough holes. I was three under and then all of the sudden I was one under.
When did you stop feeling nervous?:
I knew I couldn't wait to hit a good
shot to stop feeling nervous. I was eating lunch in the pavilion and I knew
I had to walk out of there feeling calm right away."
Heading in to tomorrow:
"Coach keeps telling us, it doesn't matter when we
walk out tomorrow, if we win or lose, if we play like we can, as we are
capable of playing ? that's all we want to do. We are who we are."
Greg Allen, Arizona Coach
On finishing strong:
"We had five birdies and an eagle to finish our last
four holes. I preach and preach until I'm blue in the face about finishing
strong. They actually listened today. I'm actually more proud of the team
today than I was after the round on Tuesday. They showed so much heart out
there, the way they hung in there and kept battling. I know how frustrated
they were getting by not making putts.
Lorena Ochoa, Arizona
Did you feel your lead slipping away?:
"After I hit the ball out of bounds
and I made a double bogey, I forgot about the others and just tried to come
back and finish even for the day. I just wanted to finish even par and be in
good position for the last day. Coach kept telling there are a lot of holes
out there. You can do it. I just tried to keep my head up."
Greg Allen:
"I kept telling her about the former Wildcat coming from 10
down last year in Los Angeles, to win. I think her name was Annika
(Sorenstam).
Ochoa on heading into the final day:
"I am super excited about tomorrow. We
feel very good. After the way we finished today, we feel strong. We have
momentum going. I think we are in great shape. We know there are other
strokes out there where we can get better.
"I know I only had a 71 today, but it feels like a 63. I'm going to bed happy. Tomorrow I'm just going to go for every pin and be really aggressive."
Summer Sirmons, Georgia
On her round:
"It was kind of an up-and-down day. It's funny; I don't feel
like I played any differently than I played the past two days. I hit some
putts that didn't go in. I hit them where I wanted to and they just didn't
fall. It's hard to be angry at yourself for shooting 73 when you're pretty
happy with the way you did things."
On her putting:
"I missed five or six from about seven feet that really
hurt."
On scoreboard-watching:
"I don't read magazine articles, I don't watch the
leaderboard. I don't think it makes a big difference. I'll glance at it, but
it's hard to tell what's going on from the leaderboard. They're usually a
couple of holes behind and you never know what's really going to happen
until someone finishes. I looked at it today, but I'm not going to sneak
over and watch other players to see if they're bearing down on par or
anything. I'm just going to play my own game and hope that things go well."
On the weather:
"The weather's been wonderful. I'm very pleased with the
weather this week. I was expecting a lot worse, based on the Preview. It
scared us. We came out here prepared. I brought three towels, all my rain
gear, double-bagged. I was expecting rain, and I've been very surprised that
it's not raining."
On the key to winning:
"The golf course is good in the sense that the best
player is going to win. Sometimes you don't see that; some golf courses
don't let that happen. I think also that the person that can not let, 'Hey,
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Susan Watkins, Texas Head Coach
On her pep talk after day one:
"I expected a lot more out of them (after the
first round), and I know they did too. The talk that I had with the team
started when the last person stepped of the 18th green and didn't stop until
our eyes were shut that night."
On whether she had any doubts on whether her team could come back:
"Without
sounding arrogant: No. I've had faith in this team for the entire year, and
I wasn't going to back down now. There was no reason to. That night I wanted
them to understand it. I wanted them to realize it and understand it."
On the team:
"We're a very cohesive group, we're all really close. The thing
that had to happen was that we needed to get five scores, not just four but
five. Which is obviously what we did today. It was nice to see Perry
(Swenson) come back from a difficult couple of days and be able to
participate. The whole idea is, as close as we are, the energy that this
team has runs from top to bottom. We all know how it feels, we all know
what's going on, and that kind of energy going through this team is a huge
plus."
Kristin Dufour, Texas
On the team being in the position where they had to come back:
"I think
we've put ourselves in the position of having to come back a lot. At this
point we're like, 'Ok, there's nothing to lose, let's go and do it.'
Unfortunately we were almost in a comfort zone. We were like, 'Ok, now we
can attack.' I think that these last couple days that's what our golf's been
about."
Andrea Vander Lende, Florida
On her round today:
"It was pretty up and down. I had three birdies and an
eagle, so that was good, but the eagle was a bit of luck. I hit a good drive
and then my second shot, I hit it pretty far, and I was like, be right, and
it went in."
On her plan for tomorrow:
"Just take one shot at a time and whatever
happens, happens. I think if we just all stay patient going into tomorrow,
we'll have a chance."
Jill Briles-Hinton, Florida Head Coach
On her team's performance:
"They had a great round today. We left a few out
there, but overall, we did pretty good. Everyone's playing pretty
consistent. Andrea (Vander Lende) is playing well, and I'm thrilled for her.
We just hope for a great round tomorrow."
On if this is where she though her team would be:
"We started the year off
with goals, and we try to stay within those goals. We're within one of those
right now."
Leigh Anne Hardin, Duke
On her round:
"It went pretty well. I had a lot of birdies today and had a
lot of bogeys, too. I was just kind of up and down. For the most part, I
thought I hit it well, putted well and I'm pretty happy.
"I putted well and gave myself chances for birdies, so it all fell into place. It wasn't like I did anything differently. I've been solid the last two days and have been knocking at the door, but my putts just didn't drop."
On her team:
"I'm happy that we're in contention ? that's all you can ask
for going into the last day. We'll just tee it up tomorrow and bring the
best we've got and see what we can do."
On teammate Virada Nirapathpongporn:
"I knew she got off to a really great
start and that actually fired me up. I looked at the scoreboard, and she was
two-under and I was like, you know what, Oui looks like she needs a little
help. So I went, birdie, birdie, par, birdie, birdie, birdie."
