ADT Championship
Trump International Golf Club
West Palm Beach, Fla.
November 20, 2008

First-round interviews: Katherine Hull | Ji-Yai Shin | In-Kyung Kim | Annika Sorenstam | Lorena Ochoa

First-round notes

ADT Championship underway, Hull leads at 4-under. The 2008 ADT Championship has one round in the books and players already anxious for the cut to the top-16 players after Friday’s second round. With 18 holes complete, Australian Katherine Hull – who gained entry into the ADT Championship via her first LPGA career win at the CN Canadian Women’s Open – leads the 32-player field at 4-under-par 68 (34-34). This year is Hull’s first time competing for the only $1 million first prize in women’s professional golf. She holds a one-stroke lead over 2008 Tour winners In-Kyung Kim (Longs Drugs Challenge) and Korea LPGA member Ji-Yai Shin, who won the RICOH Women’s British Open and Mizuno Classic as a non-member earlier this season. Kim (34-35) and Shin (33-36) are tied for second at 3-under-par 69.

The trio knows, though, that any lead they may hold after 36 holes is irrelevant as a cut to the top-16 players (via a playoff, if necessary) is made after Friday’s second round. Scorecards are wiped clean for Saturday’s third round. The field will again be cut to the top-eight players for Sunday’s final round, which will begin with clean scorecards for all eight players, so the $1 million is anyone’s for the taking.

Eleven making ADT Championship debut. Among the 32-player field, 11 are first-time participants in the $1 million-to-the-winner ADT Championship this week. Leading the way is ADT Championship rookie Katherine Hull at 4-under-par 68 (34-34).

Player 1st-round score/rank Qualified via LPGA Playoffs 2008
Katherine Hull 68 (-4)/1st Winner Event – CN Canadian Women’s Open
Ji-Yai Shin 69 (-3)/T2 Winner Event – RICOH Women’s British Open
In-Kyung Kim 69 (-3)/T2 Second-half ADT Points
Ji Young Oh 70 (-2)/T4 Second-half ADT Points
Eun-Hee Ji 70 (-2)/T4 Winner Event – Wegmans LPGA
Na Yeon Choi 70 (-2)/T4 First-half ADT Points
Karen Stupples 71 (-1)/T7 First-half ADT Points
Yani Tseng 72 (E)/T10 Winner Event – McDonald’s LPGA Championship Presented by
Coca-Cola
Helen Alfredsson 73 (+1)/T17 Winner Event – Evian Masters
Song-Hee Kim 75 (+3)/T26 First-half ADT Points
Shanshan Feng 78 (+6)/T29 Second-half ADT Points

Ochoa tied for 26th. After the first round of the season-ending ADT Championship, Rolex Rankings’ number one and defending champion Lorena Ochoa is in 26th-place heading into round two. Ochoa (40-35=75) finished the opening round at 3-over-par, which puts her seven shots back from the leader Katherine Hull (-4). This season, the player from Mexico has played in 21 events, winning seven of them, along with 17 top-10 finishes. With a win this week at the ADT Championship, Ochoa would match her eight wins she earned a year ago in 2007.

Ochoa will be honored later this evening as the 2008 Rolex Player of the Year and Vare Trophy winner. This marks the third-straight year the 27-year-old received these two awards. The Vare Trophy is presented each year to the player who finishes the season with the lowest scoring average.

Sorenstam six strokes off lead in final official LPGA event. The 72-time LPGA Tour winner Annika Sorenstam ended Thursday’s first round tied for 23rd at the season-ending ADT Championship with a 2-over-par 74 (39-35). After bogeys on holes five, seven, nine and 10, she turned her round around with back-to-back birdies on holes 14 and 15.

This week’s event marks the final official LPGA tournament for Sorenstam, who is a member of the LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Fame. In her final season before stepping away from competitive golf, Sorenstam has won three times with 10 top-10 finishes.

WD: Inbee Park withdrew during the first round of the ADT Championship.

First-round interviews: Katherine Hull | Ji-Yai Shin | In-Kyung Kim | Annika Sorenstam | Lorena Ochoa

Katherine Hull, 34-34=68 (-4)
Hole 2, 370-yard par 4: birdie – 6-iron chipped in
Hole 5, 183-yard par 3: birdie – hybrid to six feet
Hole 10, 388-yard par 4: bogey – second shot short of green, two-putt to 16 feet
Hole 11, 158-yard par 3: birdie – 6-iron to 28 feet
Hole 13, 407-yard par 4: birdie – 6-iron to eight feet
Hole 14, 374-yard par 4: bogey – missed 6-iron to second shot, two-putt to four feet
Hole 15, 494-yard par 5: birdie – pitching wedge to five feet
Hole 16, 369-yard par 4: birdie – 9-iron to 12 feet

JASON TAYLOR: Nice round here at the ADT Championship. You are 4-under-par for the day. If you would, just talk about your day.
KATHERINE HULL: Overall, pretty happy. Yeah, I didn't have really any expectations going out there, just tried to execute the game plan and have fun. My caddie and I did that today, so it was a good day.

Q. Since you know you're going to have, obviously, a bit of a cushion to make top-16, when you play is there anyway this is just a regular round tomorrow? Do you find yourself playing, would you expect to play much more conservatively? Can you change your game? Is that possible? Or is it just 18 holes, go out, have fun and relax knowing that you're probably safe?
KATHERINE HULL: I probably won't change my game plan at all. And I won't play any less aggressive or any less conservative or any more aggressive. I just try to hit as many greens as possible and make as many birdies as possible.
I'm not one of the longer hitters out here, so I really kind of go for par 5s, and I probably have a more conservative game than most players. And it's been working this year. I'm just going to stick with what's been working. Yeah, same game plan tomorrow, and, yeah, go have fun as well.

Q. It's almost been like two seasons in one for you. The start was not what you wanted since the Canadian Open, I guess?
KATHERINE HULL: Uh huh.

Q. It seems like every week. Was it just a matter of one win is sometimes all it takes to get clicking? Did you make changes? How can you sort of explain this run you've been on the last three months?
KATHERINE HULL: There's been a culmination of things that turned this last part of the season into a great year for me. I think in terms of golf it was just a matter of time for my game to come around.
I worked hard with my golf coach in Australia though last year on mechanics and technique and that sort of thing. It's just kicked in. We've worked a lot more on the mental approach and the way I practiced this year. Like I said, it was just a matter of time.
Then, obviously, Canada was a turning point for me in my faith life, in my spiritual life. I've got that back on track now. That's kind of given me a different perspective on golf. I'm not just kind of out here playing for nothing. I'm playing for God.
I've worked harder on my fitness, too, this last half so that's helped me stay in contention more come Sunday. If I don't have to worry about my fitness, I've got more energy and more concentration come Sunday.

Q. With this Annika's farewell LPGA Tour event, are you paying more attention to her? Do you notice when she's around? Do you check what she's doing on the scoreboard? Does it matter?
KATHERINE HULL: We have so many great players out here that, you know, anyone can win any week, really. Obviously, Annika's a great competitor and won more tournaments than all the current players. So, yeah, I mean, you always expect her to be a contender, for sure.
But in terms of kind of watching leaderboards and looking out for certain players, I don't really do it. I just try to focus on my game and play.

Q. Not just purely in terms of where she is on the leaderboard, but just the fact that this is it for her, as a fellow player, does it matter that you're saying goodbye to her, too?
KATHERINE HULL: I don't think she's retiring, actually. I think she's just stepping away for a little while. I think she's too much of a competitor to really walk away from the game. I think she wants to win a few more. But I guess time will tell.

Q. Do you like this format, and does the $1 million dollars get your attention?
KATHERINE HULL: The format is very interesting. I kind of like it, because I mean, there's no other week like it in golf. Yes, yeah, aside from maybe a match play tournament here and there, it's a nice concept and something different.
So the million dollars always is very appealing, but my caddie and I are just about trying to win a golf tournament. If it happens to be for, you know, however much money, then that's kind of the bonus. I certainly don't base my schedule on prize money. I don't, you know, hope I win a bigger purse or whatever. I'm just trying to win as many golf tournaments as I can.

Q. How'd you end up going to college in the states for the males out of Australia, they don't usually take the college route. I'm wondering what your options were, and whether that was considered flipping the switch right out of your equivalent of high school and ended up in Malibu for four years?
KATHERINE HULL: My parents always stressed education, and I'm really glad they did, because college golf was a great experience for me. I think it was the perfect stepping stone for coming out here.
Australia, unfortunately, we don't have the population of the world to have intercollegiate athletics. So really coming to the States was the best way to get the education and get the golf experience.
You know, I actually left Australia when I was 17 to start over here. It was very fortunate to go to a great school. We had an awesome coach and great golf program, great team. It was just a huge blessing to go there. Kind of learned how to travel week in and week out with the team, and learned what the States is all about, but also get the degree at the same time.

Q. What is the state of the women's pipeline coming out of Australia these days? There for a while it seemed like we had quite a few players. It seems like it's slowed down to a little more of a trickle lately?
KATHERINE HULL: Yeah, golf in Australia has taken a huge hit in participation. I think that's why you're seeing it happen in the profession world, too. The guys have always been really strong.
We've got great developmental programs in Australia. We always do well in the Olympics, and it's because the government and schools put a lot of emphasis on developing junior sports.
But my rookie year I think we had 12 Aussies out here with some type of status, now I think we've only got eight. I could be wrong on that.
But there are a lot of girls still over in Europe and Asia. I think it will get better. I hope it gets better, because golf is such a great sport, and Aussies are typically great athletes.

Q. Are the women here feeling more nerves and pressure in the first round than you do in a normal round because of the prize money, and the fact that only 16 will advance?
KATHERINE HULL: Oh, I can't speak for anyone else, but my nerves were not there today. I'm just trying to treat it like a regular golf tournament where I go out and do my best. I'm sure some of them probably approached it a little differently, but like I said, I can't speak for anyone else.

Q. Further to that question about Pepperdine, what did you find Southern California to be like? Is it like Australia in terms of climate and topography?
KATHERINE HULL: Yeah, pretty much. Actually, I grew up in a place called Sunrise Beach, just north of Brisbane, right on the coast. So it was nice for me to go to Malibu and kind of still have that beach feeling.
Obviously, the weather is great in Southern California. Yeah, it's kind of hard to beat Malibu.

Q. I realize it's a little early to think about this, but what would you do with a million bucks if you just had it thrown your way?
KATHERINE HULL: Well, I'd have to pay my caddie, first. And I'd definitely tithe. I don't know if I'd put all 10 percent into a particular organization or project, but it's something I'd obviously pray about.
I have a close relationship with World Vision and sponsor some kids that way, so I'd probably look at doing definitely something through World Vision. Yeah, invest the rest, maybe. Nothing extravagant.

Q. Bury it in a can in your backyard, you'd be better off.
KATHERINE HULL: I might be.

Q. Not to say you didn't think you could play with the big girls, so to speak before Canada, but did that cement in your mind that you belong in the top echelon, you were, this week in particular, among the top-32, if not higher up the totem pole than that if there was any doubt whether you could hang?
KATHERINE HULL: Yeah, winning in Canada definitely gave me a confidence boost. It's funny, my caddie, my trainer, my coach, they all probably believed in me a little more than I did. For the first part of the season, and when I finally won I think I was like, ‘Okay, now I get it.'
You know what, I don't think I ever doubted that I had the talent, but I never really matched up the work ethic and the goal setting and motivation until really this year. I think that's been one of the other differences in my game and in my results.

Q. Are you going to Kilimanjaro?
KATHERINE HULL: No, unfortunately. I have strict orders from my team that I have to take time off.

Q. Do you know if anybody is going with Betsy?
KATHERINE HULL: I don't think so. I don't think there are any other players. I'll probably go, or I hope to go next year. Or at least in the next couple of years, because it's something I'm obviously very passionate about. I'm going to try to make a difference down there.

Ji-Yai Shin, 33-36=69 (-3)
Hole 1, 384-yard par 4: birdie, 6-iron to 25 feet
Hole 6, 335-yard par 4: birdie, pitching wedge to 25 feet
Hole 7, 176-yard par 3: birdie, 7-wood to one foot
Hole 13, 407-yard par 4: bogey, second shot over green, missed chip in from three feet
Hole 14, 374-yard par 4: birdie, 7-iron to 15 feet
Hole 16, 369-yard par 4: bogey, second shot over green, missed 6-iron to three feet, two-putt
Hole 17, 166-yard par 3: birdie, 23-degree hybrid to two feet

JASON TAYLOR: Ji Yai, thanks for coming in. You're tied for the lead right now at 3-under for the first round at the ADT Championship. If you would, just talk about your day.
JI YAI SHIN: I'm first group. Then today my drive was good. So, I never missed the fairway. And then, I was good at playing so good today, so very comfortable play.
Then I back nine to make a bogey. But, today's pin location is too hard. It's very tough. I think number 15, if somebody made a birdie, I think there's the big news. It's really tough, yeah.

Q. Do you like the format?
JI YAI SHIN: Yeah, sure.

Q. It's different?
JI YAI SHIN: Yeah, it's different. I really – no, I don't like. I don't like, sorry. After two round, cut. Sixteen top players, and then so just finish top-eight players. I think it's very tough. Yeah, only survive with eight players play final round.
So then final round is just even start every players. It's, I think, very funny, but, yeah, really funny because never tried at this tournament. It's my first time, so I want to try to just survive to last.

JASON TAYLOR: Make it to Sunday?
JI YAI SHIN: Yeah, make it to Sunday.

Q. You could have taken up membership on this Tour last year, correct, the LPGA?
JI YAI SHIN: No, I'm non member.

Q. Non member?
JI YAI SHIN: Yeah. Just actually I played seven or eight tournaments play U.S. one year. Just invites, because I'm Korean money rankings number one, so some tournaments invite to play. So I am still non member now.

Q. How come you didn't go to qualifying school here last year and decided to start the year in Korea versus coming over here?
JI YAI SHIN: No, just invite. I'm never tried to qualify school.

Q. Why didn't you do qualifying school?
JI YAI SHIN: Actually my main tournament is KLPGA, Korea Tour, and I can play some tournament playing in U.S. So I'm just – I'm thinking maybe next year I try the qualify school. But this year in August I already win, so I get the –

Q. Automatic.
JI YAI SHIN: Yeah.

Q. How has your life changed since winning the British Open?
JI YAI SHIN: Oh, I think it's a big change, yeah. One thing is that no qualifying school. It's a direct journey to member, yeah.
Yeah, it's a big change for me because I just dream of the LPGA tournament, and then I won. So actually the feeling is I can't believe really, yeah. Because I'm thinking always dream for LPGA tournament.
But I can make it, and now I get the more confidence, and then very comfortable to this year, yeah.
I'm talking about my father. We're talking about for this year I might get success really good this year.

Q. Was there any doubt in your mind whether you were ready to play here yet, whether you were good enough to play here? Is that why you stayed in Korea another year?
JI YAI SHIN: No, next year I'm coming to here for full season I'm playing here, maybe.

Q. You're only what, 21 years old?
JI YAI SHIN: Twenty, 20 years old.

In-Kyung Kim, 34-35=69 (-3)
Scorecard: Hole 1, 384-yard par 4: bogey – 7-iron out of the rough, two putt, three-foot putt for bogey
Hole 3, 482-yard par 5: birdie – chip from 25 yards to six feet
Hole 4, 364-yard par 4: birdie – 8-iron to six feet
Hole 9, 513-yard par 5: birdie – 52-degree wedge from 85 yards to seven feet
Hole 14, 374-yard par 4: birdie – 8-iron to 30 feet
Hole 16, 369-yard par 4: birdie – 8-iron to 13 feet
Hole 18, 420-yard par 4: bogey – 4-iron missed the green left, missed the up-and-down

JASON TAYLOR: Thank you for coming in. Nice opening round, 3-under; tied for the lead early in round one. If you would, just talk about your day.
IN KYUNG KIM: Well, I really had a good day today. I hit many fairways and greens. And I had some good birdies out there. I made two birdies on par 5s, so that was good. The wind wasn't really a gust today, so I think I was fortunate to have 60s round.

Q. Do you like the format?
IN KYUNG KIM: The format?

Q. Well, tomorrow you're looking at let's say going into tomorrow with the 16 players survive. Are you looking at who is in 17th place right now and how many strokes you are ahead of them?
IN KYUNG KIM: No. No, I'm just trying to get in the 15 spot, you know. I'm not trying to winning the second round. But certainly I'm trying my best out there. Trying to, yeah, play well. Didn't think about 17th or 15th. Trying to be in that group, yes.

Q. Is a million bucks to the winner, is that a number that gets your attention? I mean, is that a life changing number?
IN KYUNG KIM: Winning is more important to me then it comes together. But I think this is really fun, you know. I've never done this before and in this position have a chance to play well next couple of days, and I'm done this year. So pretty much, just, yeah, look forward to it.

Q. I don't know how much you've paid attention to the bottom half of the leaderboard, but there are a lot of very recognizable names down there. I'm wondering what your thoughts are about the struggles of Annika and Lorena and Cristie Kerr and Inbee Park?
IN KYUNG KIM: I didn't know. It doesn't show after tenth spot, so I wasn't paying attention to that.
But this golf course, I think last couple – today, this is my first tournament to be here. But the course is very difficult. The greens are really sloping, and with the wind, it was really tough yesterday.
So I think the wind effects more, you know, the next couple of days. Depends on the wind. I think it's very tough. Like par is good on this golf course.

Q. Did you watch this tournament on television last year? And what have you heard about playing in it and what it's like to play for a million dollars?
IN KYUNG KIM: Actually, everyone, everyone of the players are trying to get in the ADT, you know, for the last. Maybe not top players, they're just going to play it. But I tried very hard to get in this tournament.
And I watched on TV. Even I wasn't on LPGA Tour, I still play well with ADT and Granada and Lorena, it's just in my memories. But I'm really happy to be here, and yeah.

Q. When you were preparing to play on the LPGA Tour and learning the game, did you bet on the golf course? Did you like to play for money?
IN KYUNG KIM: Oh, I don't like to lose, so if people ask it's money, yeah, I'll do it. Yeah, I do betting moneys, you know. Yeah, I think it's fun, you know. Not big money. It can be really big, you know, if you're losing. But yeah, certainly, we play with the money, yeah.

JASON TAYLOR: Not a million dollars?
IN KYUNG KIM: Not like one buck though, you know.

Q. So you bet for $5 or $20 or $100 or whatever?
IN KYUNG KIM: Yeah, we played that when we were younger. Now we do for like dinner, lunch, drinks, you know.

Q. What is the biggest bet you ever won on the course?
IN KYUNG KIM: Won on the course?

Q. Yeah, that you won for sinking a putt. Not prize Monday. Practice rounds or whatever?
IN KYUNG KIM: Practice rounds? Before my coach in Korea, he tried to make me to like motivate myself. So this is $400 dollar. But I don't think he's going to give me, but it was $500, yeah. But I didn't give.

Q. Did you win?
IN KYUNG KIM: I won every time, but he bets on me more and more and more. So once you get there, you're going to lose once, and it's done, so.

Q. So he finally won one?
IN KYUNG KIM: Yeah.

QUICK QUOTES

Annika Sorenstam, 39-35=74 (+2)

Q. On the green on the first tee, it looked like the way you've looked at so many other tournaments. Was there anything like extra nerves?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I was a little nervous, and, you know, I feel like I'm playing good. I'm excited about the week. It's just, I'm telling you, nothing went my way today. It's just very frustrating that way.
I'm just trying to enjoy it. You know, you have so much competitiveness in your blood, you can't just shut it off. I'm here to win. I'm here to do my best, and I'm hitting the ball as good as I can.
So then you start getting into the mode of scoring, and when you don't score, it's tougher to enjoy it. When I should really just come in here and absorb everything because it's wonderful.

Q. You've been in this position before in the first round in this format when you had to make a shot or two to get to Saturday. Does your approach change at all?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I think the scores are tough enough, you just have to be patient on the fairways and greens, I mean, as far as the formation, I'm really not going to change it.
I just have to make my putts. The greens are fast. Extremely fast, actually. Some you can be aggressive on, and some you just can't. So I just have to place the ball in good spots so I can give myself a good chance.

Q. Is it a lot better being a couple of shots back?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I'm not really sure. I mean, you can't really practice this format. I mean, it's once a year. You just have to go out and play your best golf and see where you stand.

Q. Is it the speed of the greens that's the big problem today?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: They're just really slick, and they're really tough. You know, some of the pins as you can see are in tough spots. And if you're not close, it's more about lagging than having a chance to make them. I had some chances early on, I just didn't take advantage of them.

Q. Golfers are creatures of habit, usually. Did it take away from anything in the round?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: No, it's been like that the last six months. You would think I'd be used to it by now.
On the contrary, this is the last week and the last tournament. You know, I want to do well. I've done well here in the past. I really don't have any excuses other than I just didn't perform today. I'm disappointed about that.

Lorena Ochoa, 40-35=75 (+3)

Q. What is your explanation or evaluation of your play today?
LORENA OCHOA: I think it was easy. We didn't have much wind. It's important to take advantage of that today and get a good start. I'm going to need to work harder.
There are some tough pin placements. Some different than last year, so we have that out of the way. Of course, we're going to be playing here for the next few days.

Q. Had a couple of doubles on the card today. It was kind of frustrating. Is it hard to make up those shots, I guess?
LORENA OCHOA: Yes. You know I have nothing to complain. I still have a chance. I'm not too far from the top 16 to make it to the next round. So I'm just going to be positive now and play good tomorrow.

Q. Tell me it works in your favor when you come off just like you said. You're not chasing the lead, you're chasing the top 16?
LORENA OCHOA: If you make it, it works in your favor, so we'll see tomorrow.

Q. How important is it going to be to get off to a good start so you don't have to come 16, 17, 18?
LORENA OCHOA: I don't want to do anything crazy. I think I'm only two shots back. So tomorrow just play a normal round of golf, and enjoy myself all day, I should be in good shape.

Q. Did you have a wedge go right under there early on? What was that?
LORENA OCHOA: On the eighth.

Q. Just undercut it?
LORENA OCHOA: Yep. That's it.