ADT Championship
Trump International Golf Club
West Palm Beach, Fla.
November 22, 2008

Third-round interviews: Live Draw | Suzann Pettersen | Angela Stanford | Paula Creamer | Seon Hwa Lee | Jeong Jang | Eun-Hee Ji | Karrie Webb | Doug Brecht

Third-round notes

And then there were eight. Three rounds are in the books at the LPGA’s season-ending ADT Championship, but not before Wegmans LPGA champion Eun-Hee Ji and LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Famer Karrie Webb outlasted Sun Young Yoo to advance to Sunday’s final round and their chance at the $1 million winner’s check. The trio fired even par, which was the cutline for the final eight players, who will begin the final round at 9:30 a.m. (EST) in twosomes with all scores starting over.

Sixteen players began the third round with fresh scorecards after a clean cut at 3-over-par 145 after Friday’s round. Leading the third-round charge toward the $1 million winner’s check was Suzann Pettersen with a 4-under-par 68. Pettersen overcame a triple bogey on the fourth hole to rally with eight birdies on holes three, six, seven, 10 and 13 through 16 before a bogey on 17 to close out the round.

Pettersen’s debut in the ADT Championship via LPGA Playoffs 2008 was last year when she accumulated her five LPGA Tour victories, but was eliminated after Saturday’s third round. This year, she has not won, but has tallied nine top-10 finishes and advanced to Sunday’s final round.

Player Qualified via Appearances via LPGA Playoffs (best finish)
Paula Creamer First half ADT Points 2006, 2007 (third), 2008
Jeong Jang First half ADT Points 2006 (T9), 2007, 2008
Eun-Hee Ji Winner Event –
Wegmans LPGA 2008 (n/a)
Seon Hwa Lee Winner Event –
Ginn Tribute Hosted by ANNIKA 2006, 2007 (T9), 2008
Suzann Pettersen First half ADT Points 2007 (T9), 2008
Ji-Yai Shin Winner Event –
RICOH Women’s British Open 2008
Angela Stanford Second half ADT Points 2006 & 2007 (T17), 2008
Karrie Webb First half ADT Points 2006 (third), 2007, 2008

Birdies on 18 keep players alive. Three players managed to make birdie on the 18th hole during the third round of the ADT Championship to secure their advancement into Sunday’s final round. Jeong Jang (34-37) and Ji-Yai Shin (37-34) both ended at 1-under-par 71 and tied for fifth. Meanwhile, an 18th-hole birdie for Wegmans LPGA champion Eun-Hee Ji put her into a three-way tie for the final two spots with Karrie Webb (37-35) and Sun Young Yoo (36-36) at even par 72. Webb and Ji advanced to round out the top-eight players in the hunt for tomorrow’s $1 million first-place check.

Jang’s and Shin’s rounds were not without excitement, either, as Jang sat at even par through 16 holes due to a double bogey on the 16th. Shin was completely out of the race through 14 holes, but a final run of three birdies on the final four holes (15, 17 and 18) put the two-time season champion and Korea LPGA money-list leader in line for her chance at Sunday’s prize. She would be the first non-LPGA professional to win the ADT Championship and three events in one season.

Webb goes for $1 million at ADT Championship. LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Fame member Karrie Webb has successfully made it through the first three rounds of the season-ending ADT Championship, and looks to take home the largest first-place prize in women’s professional golf – $1 million. Webb needed to survive a three-person playoff to secure the eighth spot for the final day, and about a three-foot putt for par on the 17th hole did the trick.

Webb was the first-ever winner of the ADT Championship back in 1996, and won again five years later in 2001. Since playing with the current format (2006 to present), the 12-year LPGA Tour veteran from Australia has qualified for the final round each time, with a third-place finish as her best. One year ago at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., Webb posted an eighth-place finish.

Creamer battles through illness to advance. American Paula Creamer has been ill most of the week during the ADT Championship, but her scores imply just the opposite. She has advanced to Sunday’s final round of eight players for the third year in a row on the strength of a 2-under-par 70 (34-36). Her first two rounds were similar with consecutive 71s.

At Creamer’s first victory of the year – the Fields Open in Hawaii, she started off the week under the weather, but rebounded for the win.

Third-round interviews: Live Draw | Suzann Pettersen | Angela Stanford | Paula Creamer | Seon Hwa Lee | Jeong Jang | Eun-Hee Ji | Karrie Webb | Doug Brecht

Live Draw

DAN HICKS: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this special and unique tee-time draft, one of a kind in all of sports, and here to celebrate this season-ending ADT Championship, I am Dan Hicks with NBC Sports, and we will be televising the finale tomorrow of this race for $10 million, actually $1 million. The purse has been reduced. I've been doing the FedEx Cup way too long.

$1 million and eight lucky finalists will be parading out here in just a moment. They'll get a chance to pick their tee time, and actually figure out where they want to be in this race for $1 million.

Before we get to that, I want to introduce three distinguished folks up here. First of all, the Commissioner of the LPGA Tour, Carolyn Bivens, is with us. The President of ADT North America, John Koch is here, and the host, who needs no real introduction, Donald Trump.

So without further adieu, let's go ahead and bring out the eight finalists, and we'll bring them out in order of seeding by virtue of their play today.

In another round that began at scratch and leading the way on this third-round Saturday, Suzann Pettersen. Followed by the second-seed Angela Stanford, who got in the win-column again this week. Third-seed, Paula Creamer. Fourth-seed, Seon Hwa Lee. The fifth-seed, Jeong Jang, followed by the sixth-seed, Ji Yai Shin, seventh, Eun Hee Ji, and also, involved in this final eight of the playoffs is Hall of Famer, Karrie Webb.

For those of you not aware of how it works, again, these eight will start from scratch tomorrow in the final round, and begin the chase for $1 million.

Just a reminder, that the NBC telecast, which will run from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. eastern time tomorrow will be slightly tape-delayed, so therefore make sure you get out here early in the morning, because play will be starting at 9:30 in the morning, and going until 2:00 in the afternoon. Again, it will be shown on NBC from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. eastern time.

Here's how this works. They will have the opportunity to put themselves exactly where they want, some will, if they're the No. 1 seed as Suzann Pettersen is, she will have exactly all the spots open, so she'll determine exactly where she plays and will go all the way down to the eighth-seed.

And if there was a tie, they went back to the second round yesterday to break those ties. But again, they've been seeded one through eight.

So without further adieu, let's go ahead and bring up Suzann Pettersen for the first spot here. Interesting. Suzann, before you go, that was an interesting strategy there. Some might believe that you'd want to be in the final group and know exactly where you stand. But you want to get out there in the first group, why?
SUZANN PETTERSEN: I don't know. I just do.

DAN HICKS: Is it the less you think in this format chase for a million dollars, the better?
SUZANN PETTERSEN: No you still got to get the job done no matter where you're playing, so I'll start the show.

DAN HICKS: You'd like to post a score early and have them chasing you, huh?
SUZANN PETTERSEN: Yeah, I mean, yeah. I don't know. It's like whatever.

DAN HICKS: Well, good luck tomorrow, and congratulations on leading the pack today.

Second seed is Angela Stanford is coming off the big win last week at the event in Guadalajara, Mexico. Where will she go? She wants to go in the final group. Unlike Suzann Pettersen, you feel better about going out last, why?
ANGELA STANFORD: Well, lately we've been close to the back on the weekend, and I think my caddie and I are pretty comfortable back there right now, so might as well keep going. It's going well.

DAN HICKS: Angela Stanford had a number of high-finishes lately, so he's used to finishing at the end of the pack. Good luck tomorrow, Angela.

All right, next, is Paula Creamer, the third seed. And she's going to go into that second group.

Paula, first of all, I know it's been a bit of a struggle out there. For those of you who don't know, Paula has not been feeling well. She has had flu like symptoms. She's going to go to the hospital after this to have further tests to determine what exactly is going on. But, she is feeling a little bit better today. But still this has been an interesting week for you, hasn't it?
PAULA CREAMER: It has, but only one more round, so no, it should be good. You know, you can't really control how you feel, so you've just got to get the job done like Suzann said.

All the groups are so close together, I don't think it makes a huge difference of where you're at, so. We'll go second group.

DAN HICKS: Wish you the best of luck. Thanks, Paula. The fourth seed, Seon Hwa Lee. And she's going to get things started with Suzann Pettersen.

Good luck tomorrow in the first group.

Fifth seed, Jeong Jang, and where is J.J. going to put herself? The options dwindle here the more we get into the picking. But she's going to go in the second group with Paula Creamer.

Do you get along with Paula? Is that one of the reasons why?
JEONG JANG: No, obviously, she's got a big gallery, so I like to play with a big gallery, so (laughing).

DAN HICKS: Good luck, J.J. You're going with the big gallery, and going for the big cash, and the big gallery.

All right, Ji Yai Shin. She is the RICOH Women's British Open champion, by the way. And she's in the second to last group. The suspense here is getting less and less as we get deeper, and the microphone doesn't work.

Seven seed, Eun Hee Ji. Does she go in the second to last group or the final group with Angela Stanford? She wants it. She's going right after Angela Stanford in that final group. And that will leave Karrie Webb with pretty much one option there.

Karrie, you've been a part of these final Sundays here in this race for a million in the past. What have you learned from your previous experience, if anything, in this unique format?
KARRIE WEBB: Well, I haven't won it yet, so I haven't learned too much. Hopefully I've saved my best round for tomorrow, and I'm just happy to actually be in the final eight, and go out and get them tomorrow.

DAN HICKS: Now, you've won virtually every championship and tournament there is to win in this world. This is a pretty nerve racking format, isn't it? And just even to get here to the final eight and have a chance of the million dollars. What is the biggest difference in this tournament versus all the other ones around the world that you've played and won?
KARRIE WEBB: It's definitely a different mindset, especially if you're coming into the end of the round when you're on the bubble for the cut. Rather than, you know, in a second or third round of the tournament, generally. You're trying to finish as strong as you can to move up the leaderboard.

But when you're on the cut line, you're sort of playing to make sure that you're playing the next day, rather than it just doesn't really matter what score is, it's good to move on to the next day. It's a bit of a different mindset. And Sunday is an 18-hole shootout, and anything can happen then.

DAN HICKS: Got to watch the leaderboard just to see how aggressive you have to be, don't you?
KARRIE WEBB: Yeah, you do. Or not be aggressive on this golf course. I think that's the scariest thing of this format is actually playing the golf course (smiling). If you can tame the golf course, you've got a pretty good shot.

DAN HICKS: If the greens are getting too fast, you can have a conversation with Mr. Trump over here, who might be able to slow them down a hair.

But you don't want to slow them down too much, I'm sure. It's just too much fun watching these balls glide all over the greens.

Karrie, thanks a lot. And congratulations to you all, the eight women who have a chance at a million dollars tomorrow.

Again, if you're not here at the golf course, you can tune in 3:00 to 6:00 on NBC, and again, reminder that things get going here in the morning at 9:00. The play will go until at least 2:00 in the afternoon.

Thanks for coming, everybody. Enjoy the show tomorrow. Once again, good luck to all eight women. Thanks for coming.

Suzann Pettersen, 36-32=68 (-4)

Q. Are you relieved to know that you're playing tomorrow? Was that the first thing? Just a relief?
SUZANN PETTERSEN: At least I'm in the hunt for the million dollars prize. But what can I say? I mean, I'm very happy the way I played today. I had one bad hole, and I'll try to manage to come back, finished quite strong. We're used to seeing the ball hop in the holes on the greens, so it gives me confidence for tomorrow.

Q. You had 131st out of 135, you had a bunch of them today?
SUZANN PETTERSEN: That was the plan. No bogies, two birdies on the first couple of days and a bunch of them on the weekend.

Q. What was it just you made putts or did something change?
SUZANN PETTERSEN: I've been playing very good for the last couple of weeks. Just the score just hasn't gone. My game of golf is weird, sometimes you might play great, you don't score, and the score is matching my field which is very nice. Very nice time, and I still think the best golf for me this week is ahead of me.

Q. Is it a normal round tomorrow, or can it be normal with a million bucks sitting there in a box on the first tee as you start off?
SUZANN PETTERSEN: I don't think any of us are actually play planning on going out there tomorrow thinking of the money. We all go out there to be competitive. We all want to win.

At least you've got a position where you're capable of winning. You could have been eliminated. But now you're in the best position, and you've got to play well again tomorrow.

Q. Did you play more aggressively than you otherwise would have?
SUZANN PETTERSEN: No, but I kept saying there's tons of birdies out here, not that I've had too many before that. But I mean, I'm hitting the ball good enough to make birdies out there, so it was nice to finally see some of the putts drop.

Q. Still looking for your first win this year, is that right?
SUZANN PETTERSEN: At least I have a chance.

Q. Well, I guess my question is you talked about timing being weird or being everything. I suppose timing would be great?
SUZANN PETTERSEN: It's my last chance, so I might as well try to grab it.

Q. Can you take us through the triple bogey and the 7 birdies? Is that what you made?
SUZANN PETTERSEN: The triple bogey I hit left of the tee. Got a little lucky. Actually had a shot from a little different angle than I'm used to. Just tried to hit a little bit too high, and the wind took it.

I mean, I'm up in the water, and the cheap three putt. So I should have probably gone off one or two less. But it happens out there on the greens. I mean, 17, if you look at that pin, you could hit a perfect shot pin high.

Q. Make 7 birdies today?
SUZANN PETTERSEN: 7 birdies today. No, 8 birdies today and the bogey on 17.

But, I mean, it's just nice to kind of get in the flow. Tomorrow's a new day. We all start from par. So it doesn't really matter what you've done today, all that matters today is that you get in position and job completed for Saturday.

Q. You won what five times last year? Three seconds this year and you've made a ton of money. Would it be a disappointing year? Is this already a good year in your estimation?
SUZANN PETTERSEN: I've already had my two wins in Europe. Which probably means more for me than it does for anyone else, because when you go there people expect you to win. You play with a little different pressure.

But like I said, I'm in contention all the time, just able to pull the trigger at the right time and the right place. That's all can you ask for. That's how you can get better. Just keep grinding and keep working.

The more often you put yourself in that position, finally it's going to come to you.

Q. If you're picked first tomorrow, will you choose to go in the last group?
SUZANN PETTERSEN: I heard about that yesterday. I don't know. Of course it would be nice going out first, try to post a score. If you're all the way back you know what's going on ahead of you.

I haven't given it too much of a thought. But you've got to go out there tomorrow and try to play your game. Of course you're playing for a million bucks.

Q. I guess you have about 45 minutes to decide what your strategy is.
SUZANN PETTERSEN: We'll see.

Angela Stanford, 35-34=69 (-3)

Q. Karrie Webb said those are the toughest greens that she's ever putted on here that she's never putted on as fast. Can you just talk about how tough the conditions were because it's supposed to be windy again tomorrow?
ANGELA STANFORD: Well, first off, the wind was blowing from a different direction today, and that made it tough. It was blowing harder, I think.

And these greens, they're the fastest Bermuda I've ever played on in my life. When you have to say, well, into the grain really isn't that much slower, you know you're on fast greens.

Q. How much scoreboard watching will you do tomorrow?
ANGELA STANFORD: Not as much as I did today. I don't know if they even had them on the front nine. But I'd look just to kind of get an idea where I was. Just glancing here and there.

Q. You have the No. 2 selection in this thing. Are you an early person or late person?
ANGELA STANFORD: I'm a late person. I'll probably choose to go last.

Q. Be like a regular Sunday?
ANGELA STANFORD: I'm not concerned about who is in my final pairing. You know I like to sleep in. I like to have my mornings. Lately we've been playing close to the back, so...

Q. As being in there tomorrow, you're going for a million dollars, is that exciting a little bit?
ANGELA STANFORD: It's pretty cool. You know, it's a chance of a lifetime. You don't get to say I'm playing for a million dollars today or if I win today, you know, I get a million dollars.

So it's a chance of a lifetime. It's pretty special.

Q. Do you look differently at a scoreboard, if you've seen the scoreboard, you're two back, but it's 4-under to 2-under versus 14- to 11-under. Does anything seem a little different?
ANGELA STANFORD: No, and I wondered if that would be the case today, but it's all the same.

It seems like just you're trying to make birdies and regardless of what that number is, you just try to catch it.

Paula Creamer, 34-36=70 (-2)

Q. I want to be clear, are you going to the hospital or just going to get checked out here?
PAULA CREAMER: I'm going to go talk to the doctors here first and then see. I might get a cat scan tonight, and that's how you know if it's appendicitis or not.

So depending on that, we'll see what it feels like. I just want to go sit down for a little while. It's been kind of a long day, especially with the wind. It just makes everything more difficult.

But at the same time, you know, when I'm done playing, it feels ten times worse, because I'm not – now I'm thinking only about that.

Q. What have your symptoms manifested themselves as? Stomach ache, cramps?
PAULA CREAMER: It's just pain. I have a lot of pain in my stomach you know, it's not the best – the best position for me is hunched over, so every time I follow through they stretch, and that's what kills me.

You know, like I said, I'm not a big complainer, but one more day, that's all I keep telling myself.

Q. The money list makes it that much harder, doesn't it? Though it doesn't seem to have affected your numbers, too much. Two pretty solid rounds in a row.
PAULA CREAMER: Yeah, I've been playing well. I have been hitting it well, I've been putting well. It's just tomorrow, you know, I'm going to kind of go out and have 18 holes and see what happens.

But, you know, the money list is what it is.

Q. I suppose it's been 15 years (since another American won the money list title), why do you suppose it's been 15 years? Other than depth of global talent for the obvious reasons?
PAULA CREAMER: I think American golf is becoming more and more popular. You only have so many great junior programs. I have to give a lot of credit to the people that have gotten me here to where I'm at. Just so many opportunities, being able to play an LPGA sponsorships and things like that. It's just becoming bigger and bigger.

You know, I think a lot of Americans know that we have to work hard. We're not the only country out here that has sports. I think that's basically the main thing.

Q. When did you start feeling bad?
PAULA CREAMER: Wednesday.

Q. Were you on the course?
PAULA CREAMER: Wednesday night, I'd say. Thursday was the really bad one.

Q. If there were no money title on the line, would you be playing right now? If you weren't in contention to win that money title would you be out here?
PAULA CREAMER: If I was going to withdraw, it would have been earlier in the week. So, no, given the money title or not, I'm just out here. I love the game. I want to win this event. You know, like I said, if I was going to withdraw, it would have been earlier.

Q. Has it gotten progressively worse or is it the same?
PAULA CREAMER: No, it was really bad on Thursday was the worst. Yesterday was bad, and this is just different. I felt the chills and sweats and everything yesterday.

Q. Are you able to keep some food down?
PAULA CREAMER: I can't eat. I eat toast on the course. I've had two pieces of toast and a bagel today and three bites of a banana.

Q. So solid food is a problem?
PAULA CREAMER: No, I like bland better, bland foods.

Q. So two days of that?
PAULA CREAMER: Yeah, and I had a little chicken noodle last night.

Q. Were you close at all to withdrawing?
PAULA CREAMER: Yes.

Q. How close?
PAULA CREAMER: I didn't know if I was going to be able to get out of bed on Friday morning, so. And I did, and then I tried to – I think the last two days my warm up kind of has been about 30 minutes. Today was about 30 minutes, my warm up, which is normally about an hour and a half. So I've considerably cut down. Just like I said, I am trying to conserve energy.

Q. Are you staying at Mar-A-Lago?
PAULA CREAMER: Yes.

Seon Hwa Lee, 36-34=70 (-2)

Q. How exciting is it to play for a million dollars tomorrow?
SEON HWA LEE: I'm so excited. And then I played very good today; very solid play. And I'm really excited about tomorrow for the million dollars.

I never think I can get a million dollars for one tournament, so I'm really excited.

Q. What is your game plan for tomorrow? Is there anything you want to change, like picking your partner or anything like that?
SEON HWA LEE: If it is like this windy day and really hard to play. But some holes are really aggressive like par 5's, you know. But I just want to play really calm and just try best on every hole.

Jeong Jang, 34-37=71 (-1)

Q. Can you talk about getting there?
JEONG JANG: I was super nervous. That was like super nervous time I ever, ever had. But I made it, so I'm just proud of myself. Now we'll see what happens tomorrow.

Q. Now tomorrow you're playing for a million dollars?
JEONG JANG: Yes.

Q. How exciting is that?
JEONG JANG: I think actually I missed it after today last year, so I can play Sunday this year, so even I'm happy with that. So I'll try the best I can tomorrow.

Q. Can you talk about the format and the million dollars, I guess we talked about the million dollars. What is it like starting over on your scorecard?
JEONG JANG: Well, I feel like it's not really fair.

One round, 18 holes and one million dollars, that's kind of like bonus time, so, see what happens.

Q. Is there a key hole out there for you?
JEONG JANG: You know, the last couple of holes were really windy. And I think 16, 17, 18 are really key. Tomorrow I think to pay attention.

Eun-Hee Ji, 35-37=72 (even)

Q. Can you just talk about today and your first time playing in this kind of a format?
EUN HEE JI: I'm seeing just my cut first, so my time play relax a little bit.

But today just a little putt missed, so I'm just play good. But I don't know today.

Q. What's it like to, you know, do, I guess start over with new scorecards? So you played yesterday, but your score yesterday doesn't count?
EUN HEE JI: Oh, yeah, I know. That's okay, but I'm yesterday I played full nine very good, but last three were bad play. But I'm just make cut and Saturday I just play.

Q. What's it like to play in this kind of wind?
EUN HEE JI: This kind of wind?

Q. The wind?
EUN HEE JI: I don't know.

Q. Is the wind tough? Does it affect your clubs? Do you pick different clubs?
EUN HEE JI: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Pretty much wind today. I play more three clubs different.

Q. Three clubs different?
EUN HEE JI: Yeah, but it's pretty difficult today.

Q. Are you looking forward to maybe earning $1 million tomorrow?
EUN HEE JI: I want to do that (laughing).

Q. What would you spend it on? What would you buy?
EUN HEE JI: Maybe a car. I like cars.

Q. You like the cars? What kind of car?
EUN HEE JI: Just sports car. Fast car. I like speed.

Q. What color?
EUN HEE JI: Color?

Q. Yes.
EUN HEE JI: Maybe red or black.

Q. The par save on 17 when the first putt would not stop, how relieved was that for you to get that to save par there?
EUN HEE JI: I'm saying just make putt, I'm just trying more last hole, but I don't make cut. But I don't try chance, so I'm just thinking just straight the ball.

Q. And your second on 18, what was the yardage?
EUN HEE JI: 155.

Q. What did you hit?
EUN HEE JI: A 6 iron.

Q. How close?
EUN HEE JI: Five meters.

Karrie Webb, 37-35=72 (even)

Q. Even holes up, do you think it's a playoff?
KARRIE WEBB: I don't know, I'll just sit back and wait and see.

Q. How unnerving is that?
KARRIE WEBB: I can't do anything about it now. What I can control is done, so we'll see what happens.

Q. It was blowing pretty hard in the morning, and just never stopped?
KARRIE WEBB: It's still blowing pretty hard right now.

Q. How hard? I mean, it would be like the holes were set up easily to begin with?
KARRIE WEBB: No, not at all.

Q. Was this the toughest of the three?
KARRIE WEBB: Oh, yeah, by far.

Q. You play here all the time. On a scale of 1 to 10, how tough is the course playing, do you think?
KARRIE WEBB: This is as tough as it ever is. None of the banks are shaved for the members. And the greens probably are two or three feet slower for the majority of the time, unless they have a club championship or something. But never even get them up to this fast.

I got the putt on 16, and I was uphill almost straight into the green, into the wind, and just touched it and went three feet past.

So, you know, it's almost sometimes I think a disadvantage that I play here so much, because it doesn't play the way it does when I play it the other 99% of the time.

Q. Yet you still seem to get to the Top 8. You're there?
KARRIE WEBB: Yeah, it has a little bit of personal knowledge helps me a little bit.

Q. The other ADTs that you've played here under similar different type of situations, how would you rank the conditions today?
KARRIE WEBB: I would say it's one of the tough days. We've never played with the greens this fast, so it's hard to get good distance control on a day like today. And you don't want to be on the putts today so that make it's even harder.

Q. With everybody in contention to play tomorrow, there's only you and Paula left that have any experience playing in that 8 for 1 format. Any significant edge, do you think, if you get there?
KARRIE WEBB: I don't think so. It's just 18 holes, and everyone knows how to get the ball in the hole, it's just whether or not you can do it on that given day.

Q. Do you stay at home this week?
KARRIE WEBB: Uh huh, yeah.

Q. Are you disappointed to see this event move from this course?
KARRIE WEBB: Of course, I am. I love playing the tournament where I can stay at home. It's the end of the season, too, so, you know, I have some friends down, and we have a good time. So I'm disappointed.

Doug Brecht, LPGA Vice President of Rules and Officials

Q. Can you please introduce yourself, first?
DOUG BRECHT: My name is Doug Brecht. I'm the Vice President, Rules and Officials of the LPGA.

Q. What happened?
DOUG BRECHT: On hole 18, Helen Alfredsson hit her second shot into the water. (She) Determined the point where the ball last crossed, measured two club lengths and dropped the ball. Dropping it twice, both times having it go back into the hazard, she attempted to place it. When she attempted to place it, the ball would not stay at rest, so she, therefore, then called for a ruling.

Jane Reynolds, the official, came down and got her to place the ball where the ball would stay at rest. Helen then attempted to play her next shot, and the next shot was not hit far enough, was in the process of coming back towards her. When she saw this happening, Helen went to Jane and said, ‘Jane, can I stop this ball before it goes into the hazard?' Jane made a motion nodding her head like this. Helen took that to mean yes, you can do that.

Q. Stop the ball before it went?
DOUG BRECHT: Stop the ball before it went into the water. Jane was unaware that there was … okay. After all that happened, Helen proceeded to play out the hole, wrote ‘7' down, and went to the (scoring) tent.

We heard from TV that a player had stopped her ball with her club after she played a shot before it went in the hazard. That's a violation of Rule 1 2. A player exerting influence on the ball while it's moving after a stroke.

At that point in time we told Jane to go to Helen in the tent and explain to her what happened. At that point in time, Helen said, ‘No, you told me it was okay. You nodded when I asked you the question.'

Jane never heard Helen ask her the question. Jane did make a motion like this (nod head). Both Helen saw it and Helen's caddie in a separate conversation that I had with him saw it. Both of them were under the interpretation, because of that, Jane had said it was all right for her to do that.

Okay, so because of that, under Rule 34 3, we deem this to be a committee error, and no additional penalty was given to Helen under Rule 1 2 for that violation.

Q. She'd already signed her card, too, right?
DOUG BRECHT: She hadn't left the tent though. Doesn't matter if she signed her card, she had not left the tent.

Q. When did she ask Jane?
DOUG BRECHT: She asked Jane while the ball was in motion.

Q. We're getting sketchy information. She stopped it with her hand after it rolled across the hazard line, it was clearly still moving. Grabbed it?
DOUG BRECHT: Granted

Q. Looked up and got whatever message she got. Did she look up for some sort of validation after she had stopped the ball? Did she look up like that, right?

Q. She might have gotten the validation while the camera was on the ball. Camera's on the ball, ball went up, it's still on the ball, and the ball started to roll down, so during that time she could potentially have said, ‘Can I catch this,' or ‘Can I stop it?' She (Jane) never said anything verbal? They took the nod as ‘OK'?
DOUG BRECHT: Correct. I got the same story, you guys from all three of them independently. It's not like I was saying Helen, ‘Tell me the story. You guys listen to see if it's right.'

Q. Jane knew the rule?
DOUG BRECHT: Jane knows the rules. Jane never heard Helen say anything. Helen interpreted this (head nod) as meaning yes.

Q. You said a minute ago it didn't matter whether she signed the card as long as she's still in the tent?
DOUG BRECHT: As long as she doesn't leave the tent area, she's fine. It doesn't matter.

Q. Is she disqualified either way?
DOUG BRECHT: The worst that's going to happen is she's going to get two shots and record the score as a ‘9.'