Weetabix Women's British Open
Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club
Lancashire, England
August 1-2, 2006

Pre-tournament interviews: Annika Sorenstam | Karrie Webb | Laura Davies | Gwladys Nocera | Michelle Wie

Annika Sorenstam

Q: We have world No. 1, Annika Sorenstam, the recent winner of the U.S. Women's Open and also the lady who won here in 2003. There must be some good memories you have here.
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I do. Especially when you walk on the golf course and I can remember some shots I hit and saves I made and tee shots I hit; it's a great feeling to come back to a place where you've done really well. I'm excited to be here and really looking forward to the week.

Q: How is the course compared to how it was in 2003?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, today it was quite windy. I don't think the conditions we had last year was as bad as this.

You know the course is in great shape. You know, it's similar I would say. It's so nice to come back and play links courses. We really don't do that very often and to me, typical links course, you can putt from anywhere. You land 20, 30 yards short of the pin, play to the center the green.

Q: How does it compare to links courses you've played elsewhere, is this one of your favorites?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: It is. I love this golf course. I mean, I really favour a lot of links courses, but this is one of best, one of the toughest, one of the courses where you can expect anything. It seems like you can have weather like all four seasons in one day, so I think that makes it even tougher.

Q. Do you have the necklace with you from the last time you won here?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: No, I'm not wearing it. It did have some magic power I think. I remember telling you I had received it from a lady in California that braids necklaces with different kind of powers and I really don't believe in those things but I came here and I wore it and I won. But I really don't think it's going to work more than once, so I think I have my own this year.

Q. Do you still have it?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Oh, I have it at home, yeah.

Q. Laura Davies was saying that you're one of the greatest golfers of all time, male, female, compared to Tiger and Jack, and what you think of that?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I mean, I want to thank Laura, that's quite a compliment. I mean, it's tough for me to think in that's such a big compliment.

Really when I come out, I play golf and I enjoy what I do. I do have some lofty goals and I practice hard and I like to achieve that. It's very tough when you compare with men and women and different generations. Obviously I'm very flattered and Laura is a good friend of mine, and obviously she's a lot better friend now. So, what can I say, I'm flattered.

Q. Trying to analyse why you haven't won as much this year but you won the U.S. Open after
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: It's been a little bit of an up and down year for sure. I started out well in Mexico winning my first event and didn't again until the U.S. Open. It's ironic, a tournament I haven't won in ten years, I come back and win it this year. It is ironic. It's golf.

To be honest, I just haven't played as well. I haven't been as consistent as the previous years. I think the stats stay the most. Something I'm continuing to work on and hopefully improve and this will be a great week too.

Q. Patty Berg has a record 15 majors and Kathy Whitworth has a record 88 wins. Which record would you rather break?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, the 15 majors, but obviously that would be something very, very special. I think so, yeah. But hopefully before I get to 15, I'm up at 90.

Q. You're also one behind Tiger, is that something you think about?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: It seems like I'm trailing him and it doesn't take long until I get another text to remind me who is ahead, so that is another little fun game that we have and a little bit of a motivator I guess. I watched him play and I thought he played fantastic and that was very inspiring.

Q: Very different conditions, as well.
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I would say so. Obviously depends on what we get tomorrow. But I think these are the conditions you expect when you come over here.

Q. Did you watch the Open?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I did watch a lot of it. I actually watched the whole round on Sunday. What I thought was impressive was for his power and his strength to play so disciplined with irons off the tee even though, you know, he was leading pretty much the whole tournament. That takes some strength mentally to just stick to your game plan. I thought that was impressive.

He really maneuvered around the golf course. He played safe when he needed to and he used longer irons to get to the center of the green and let the other people make the mistakes. Sometimes that's what you have to do on a links course I think.

Q. How do you deal with
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: That's a nice thing to have to cope with in not winning for a few weeks. I just think, you know, I didn't really play as well as I have. If you don't play the best, it's going to be hard to win here. I just kept working on my game, trying to figure out, how can I hit it straighter, how can I hit more greens. I'm looking at my game rather than looking at the results all the time. I just felt inside it wasn't really there and I was just hoping it would turn around sooner rather than later.

Q. When people mentioned the work slump to you. Did you think it was totally ridiculous or what -
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I mean, you know, it's kind of funny when people think you're in a slump when you haven't won in two or three events. I think that's a compliment rather than taking it as a negative. I know inside I just haven't played up to my potential from what I've done in the past.

You know, when you've been on such a run and on such a high for so long, I would say it's a matter of time, but you are going to hit a plateau. And I've hit a plateau right now and hopefully with a little more practice I can get to the next level and get another run, so that's really what I'm waiting for.

Karrie Webb

Q: We have Karrie Webb here. She comes into this tournament having won last week at Evian and in very good form considering she's won twice this year.

You must be looking forward to this week.
KARRIE WEBB: Yeah, I always look forward to the British Open. It's obviously one of my favourite tournaments. I said earlier to a couple of people, it's where I won my first tournament as a pro, so it's always got special memories for me, and I've traditionally played pretty well here over the years.

So obviously, feel good about my game this year and feel good that I played great last week to come into this tournament with a lot of confidence.

Q: You've won this title three times, both on inland courses and the links course at Turnberry; which do you prefer? Do you like the challenge of links?
KARRIE WEBB: Yeah, I do. There's not many days that we get weather like we did today and you feel like you had a pretty enjoyable day. I don't think I'd like to play in weather like this all the time, but it really gets my creative juices flowing.

I really like the fact that there's probably ten or 15 different ways you could actually play the shots if you so chose. That's what I had to get back no my game this year was getting back a little bit more of that feel and creativity and, you know, I really feel like the work that I've done on that, it's really made these first two practice rounds and Pro Am really good because I've tried out some really creative shots. I wouldn't be too bothered if it blew this hard for the next four days.

Q: You had a great year. What's changed?
KARRIE WEBB: Obviously the ball is getting in the hole a little sooner. I've been working on a few things in my game and I think what it boils down to is just the mental side of my game, getting it to the level where I was trusting myself on the golf course and backing myself every time I stood on the first tee.

Q. How much did you win in that first tournament?
KARRIE WEBB: I think it might have been 90,000 pounds. I was loaded after that tournament.

Q. By six -- ?
KARRIE WEBB: Yeah, it was, I think six or seven shots I won by.

Q. What was the last couple of years like?
KARRIE WEBB: Well, I don't think it was as bad as a lot of people think, but obviously I set standards pretty high. Yeah, I changed a few things technically and it took me a while to just even get a grasp of what I was trying to achieve there. I was getting it down on the golf course, but I lost a little bit of confidence and belief in my game that probably was why I didn't because I started out the year last year thinking that I would have a similar year to the way I played this year, but just mentally I wasn't there last year and I didn't have a lot of trust in my game at all.

So I did a lot of work end of last year and beginning of this year.

Q. When would you say was the turning point?
KARRIE WEBB: When I holed a 116 yard wedge on the 72nd hole at Kraft Nabisco.

Q. That would be the one?
KARRIE WEBB: Well, I had in the tournament before that in Phoenix, I set myself a goal that week to shoot all four rounds under par and I hadn't done that for I don't know how long. It's been a while.

The last round, I think I turned at 3 over and I shot 4 under on the back nine, holed a 20 footer on the last hole to shoot 1 under. Even Mike knew that that had been the goal at the start of the week so he even gave me a pat on the back. I still finished like 25th or something. So I was torn between giving myself a lot of credit for actually achieving that goal or being satisfied with 25th.

I knew that was a turning point. I had made a few putts. The mental stuff I had been working on, I changed my routine at the start of the year, I started to feel comfortable with that. Mission Hills is a course that I've played well on throughout my career. I knew I was going to a course that I was familiar with and that I had played well on, so I was really looking forward to that.

But, you know, I put myself in there after two rounds with a chance to win and had a very bad mental day on Saturday. Started off really well but a couple hiccups on the 7th and 8th hole and that was pretty much it for me mentally that day and I decided that I wasn't ready yet to win but I knew that I still had a good opportunity to win the next day, or have a good tournament at least.

I don't know if you read, but the one thing that got me going that morning was that in the locker room when I read the paper, which I don't normally do, but I read that the writer of the article was suggesting that Annika still had a chance to win because she was only nine shots back. (Laughter) I was seven shots back, so I figured that if she could swap me two, I would still have a bit of a chance, as well.

And at that point it there was only three people ahead of me, so it's not like you had to jump 20 people in the field. So when it's only three and I got off to the start that I did I really believed then on the back nine that I had a chance to win. You know, obviously, holing that shot will probably be the memory. Unless I do something more spectacular than that for the rest of my career, I think that will be the shot that I remember for the rest of my life.

Q. Were you starting to think you would never win again?
KARRIE WEBB: No, it was never like that. Every week I felt like I could win because my practice was so good.

Traditionally when I play my best golf, my practice was very poor. For whatever reason, I was able to heighten my senses and play really well when, you know, the gun went off.

But last year, my practice was so good that I believed every single week that I could week. It's just I would get on the first tee and the gun would go off and just wouldn't be the same person I was when I played a practice round.

So that's when you know that it's more mental than physical, because I believed that I still have the physical ability last year to win. I was doing all the right things and practicing and preparing myself as well as I could. I just went out and there was no trust or belief in myself.

Q. Do you feel you're a better player now than before?
KARRIE WEBB: Yeah, I do. I think I'm just a bit more of a complete player. Because I didn't hit the ball as well for a couple of years, my short game has gotten a little bit better. And then the work that I've done on my swing, I feel like I can work the ball a little bit better both ways. I think I always I think I've always been able to well, when I was playing my best, I traditionally only could hit a draw. I mean, I could hit a fade, but I had variations of the draw and that's how I played.

But now I can hit it both ways and you know, I feel like that gives me a better advantage. It gives me a great advantage when it's windy like this that I can hit shots against the breeze, which is what you've got to do when it's blowing as hard as it did today.

Q. Inaudible?
KARRIE WEBB: Well I made a double bogey on the 7th hole and it should have really just been a bogey, but I missed a 2 footer coming back. And then I just didn't shake it off and I bogeyed the next hole.

I got up and down from dead on 9, as well, to stop another bogey. So just there wasn't any freedom in my swing. I felt really tight. None of the shots that I tried to pull off were I lose a little bit of distance and I don't hit it as far because I'm a little bit tight, and that's all mental than physical because I could go to the range at the end of the day, relax off the golf course and get my distances and hit my shots.

It was just a poor and I still have days where mentally I'm not as good, but it's probably because I don't feel like my swing's as good. So then most people have a hard time trusting their thing when they don't feel like it's good. My swing was good and I wasn't trusting it.

You know, I feel like I've gotten over that hurdle, for the time being, anyway. I did a lot of I was actually really proud of the way handled myself mentally on last two rounds last week because we had a lot of people out there with cameras and there was quite a bit of noise and stuff. I did a really good job mentally there, too.

So you know, those sort of things I really take notice of now, whereas before when I was playing well, I sort of just did it. I didn't question why I did it. I just went out there. I think that's probably why it took me so long to understand why I wasn't playing as well. It's because I didn't have anything to draw upon. I had all of these great moments in my career and all of these great wins, but I couldn't say why I did it. I just went out and did it and didn't stop to take notice.

Q. Your chances to finish on top of the Money List and to win Player of the Year?
KARRIE WEBB: Well, I know I'm in a position to win the Money List. I know that I'm capable of being No. 1 in the world because I have been before. But both those things can be stopped by someone else's golf and I can't control how anyone plays. But I definitely have given myself an opportunity to do both of those.

I think I'm still a long way off of catching Annika for No. 1. But in the short term future, obviously I'd like to finish off the year strong and have a chance to win the Money List and Player of the Year at the end of the year.

Q. Playing with her at Evian, what do you see in Michelle's game
KARRIE WEBB: I think she's definitely coming along. You know, it's only time before she wins. She's definitely very, very talented. And as far as you know physically talented, she's probably the most talented person out here as far as the gift that she's been given as far as her height and strength and everything like that. Because she's been given great coaching at such a young age, she's got all the shots.

And she's learning to win the hard way, where we learned to win golf tournaments as juniors and amateurs; she's getting that experience, just at the biggest level in the world.

So I think it's all good learning experience for her. I think that like I said, it's just a matter of time before she wins. And she could have won. She played very well on the last round last week and she could very easily have won. That's the thing with golf and what a lot of people don't understand is if you go through a few years where you win everything, people think it must be pretty easy to win. But it's such a fine line between winning and finishing second or even fifth, 10th.

You know, I have no doubt that she'll be a force to reckon with throughout the next ten, 20 years.

Q. Can you compare Michelle now with what you were like at that age?
KARRIE WEBB: There's no comparison. I was playing junior golf and represented Australia for the first time at 16 but I wasn't even thinking about turning pro or competing against the best women in the world, let alone competing against the men as well. I don't think there's many 16 year olds that you can really compare Michelle to.

Q. You said there is a big gap between you and Annika. Is that is the official rankings or in your personal rankings?
KARRIE WEBB: Yeah, probably both I would say. The golf that Annika has played over the last five or six years I think is, you know, has been really undervalued. I don't think it's been appreciated nearly as much as it should have.

Before the U.S. Open, she was having a horrendous year according to a few people, and now she's probably only having an okay year because she's only won twice, which is just silly. She's set such high standards, but you know, I know that I have the ability of maybe putting one or two years together that I mean, I can't say I could never do it for five or six years, but I find it very hard to believe that I could sustain that sort of golf for five or six years. So you're judging who the best player is over the last two years and that's Annika hands down.

Q. When you say she's undervalued, any idea why?
KARRIE WEBB: Well, you guys could write about her more and say how good she is.

Q. Undervalued in
KARRIE WEBB: Well, I don't think her golf is underappreciated by the players out here. I think everybody understands how difficult it is to produce one of the great years that she's had, let alone the five or six in a row that she's had.

Q. Does it bother you when people write about Michelle Wie and not this current superhero Annika?
KARRIE WEBB: Well, what I've really loved watching over the last ten or 11 years is the control that you guys have over what people people go and find Michelle Wie. If you didn't write about her, she'd still be the same talented player that she is, but she wouldn't draw near the attention that she has. People only follow because they read what you write.

Yes, I think Annika has not been written about enough and been appreciated enough. She gets appreciated to the point where, each year, okay. But then it's very easy then to say that she's not having a good year this year and I think that's really unfair.

Q. When you talk about the fine line, what do you mean by that?
KARRIE WEBB: It's something that only get experience by doing. I had my worst year as a professional by what you see in my results. But I didn't feel like I was that far away. Some of my shots if I had finished two shots better over 72 holes that would have given me a fifth place finish instead of a 15th or a 20th. It's hard.

And golf, too, it's a momentum thing. So sometimes you're playing really well the first six holes, you give yourself, you know, six birdie chances inside 15 feet and you don't miss the fairway, and seven you miss the fairway, you make bogey, and you're 1 over through 7 and you're really not playing that badly. It's not necessarily just having all of the right things going. It's everything else.

You have to have a bit of luck. You've got to make some putts. Sometimes it's just momentum. Instead of making bogey, you make a par and you feel, all right, let's get things going. It's hard to explain to someone that, you know, even for someone that only plays, if they play five tournaments a year, it's hard when you're doing it 25, 30 tournaments a year, those one or two shots here or there tend to add up to a lot at the end of the year.

Q. Can you talk about some of the swing changes that you did?
KARRIE WEBB: I think if you looked at my swing when I first came out to now, you would be able to tell the difference.

I used to have a really big turn off the ball and a big head move back. I'd say it probably moved at least three inches, maybe four inches off the back of the ball. And now it's probably maybe half an inch. And I used to swing a lot with have a lot of leg drive and a lot of up and down movement as well. You know, that's all minimized, and I swing a lot more with my core of my body now.

Laura Davies

Q: We have Laura Davies, the 1986 champion. You probably don't want to be remembered it's 20 years ago.
LAURA DAVIES: Fine by me. At least I won it.

Q: You came into this week, finishing second at Evian and a couple other good second place finishes. You must be feeling very confident.
LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, very pleased obviously. It would have been nice to have won last week to have taken the pressure of actually winning one again off. Had a good par, eagle, but she played very well. All three of us played well on Sunday. But my confidence level has gone through the roof, just being in that pairing and having not had such a great year is lovely.

Q: What's turned things around for you?
LAURA DAVIES: I think Switzerland, I went to Switzerland on a really low note. I had just missed seven cuts, I had made one cut in America, went over there, got off to a good start, shot 66 and since then I've been playing really well.

Q: I happened to notice, odds are 80 to 1 on you. Are you surprised by that?
LAURA DAVIES: Well, might be a nice prize.

Q: Did you change anything before you went to Switzerland?
LAURA DAVIES: No. On the driving range I've been hitting it fantastic. It's not like I've in the been playing well ball striking wise. It's just the confidence just drained away from me over those seven weeks, and it just got from bad to worse even to the point in Atlanta where I withdrew for the first time in my career after the first round. I couldn't take going back out for the second day. So there were some low points there. After last week, you sort of forget about it. Dinah Shore was another low point, I shot 84 the second round and missed the cut. It wasn't a lot of fun.

Q: What did you do after that?
LAURA DAVIES: Just went down to Florida and got ready for the next week and tried to get ready. You have to play through it. I'm not one of these that sits back and hope it changes. Tournament play is tournament play. I can stand on the range and hit any shot I want, but taking it on to the course was becoming a real problem. So you just have to battle through it. Taking the club back was quite difficult for a while.

Q: Was that as low as you've ever been in golf?
LAURA DAVIES: By a mile, yeah.

Q. When you say battle through it
LAURA DAVIES: No, that was on the day. I shot 84 and the cut was going to be not 84. I had shot I had 11 over, to 83 and the cut was going to be 3 under. So I wasn't going to go out and shoot 14 under. So I was better off getting down to Orlando and getting ready for the next week and play again.

Q. So just hard work?
LAURA DAVIES: Hard work, really difficult. It's almost laughable now because I'm standing over shots that are really hard last week, immense pressure and no worries at all. Just looking to make a good swing rather than make a bad swing.

Q. What was that like
LAURA DAVIES: Just miserable, just horrible. You're terrified of doing what you know you can do it the only thing I've ever really been any good at and all of a sudden I wasn't any good at that, so a bit of a shock.

Q. Inaudible?
LAURA DAVIES: Well, you see it. Ian Baker Finch, David Duval; David is coming back and it's nice to see him, but I'm sure he has the same sort of feelings that I had. You're scared to where you don't want to hit it I don't know this, I haven't seen David, but I've stood on the driving range next to Ian Baker Finch and he hits it absolutely magnificent.

Q. Inaudible?
LAURA DAVIES: No one can say anything because everyone is an expert. Unless you've stood over a shot terrified, you can't be an expert in that position. So, I don't think, I don't think anyone can particularly help. I think you just have to eventually say the hell with it. It's embarrassing.

Q. Inaudible
LAURA DAVIES: That was just with the driver. That was with the driver. This is with everything.

Q. Inaudible?
LAURA DAVIES: No, it was an amazing day. I think a lot of it is to do with the fact that you go from the LPGA which is obviously difficult, so I turned up on the first tee and I wasn't really thinking about making the cut for the first two days. I was immediately starting to think about getting in position to try and win. And maybe just the mind set changed of playing in a European event which is obviously a slightly weaker field just changed my attitude enough where I could hit enough good shots again to feel good again about it.

Q. Karrie was saying how Annika is undervalued
LAURA DAVIES: Undervalued? I think she's great.

Q. In the media.
LAURA DAVIES: You don't realise how good she is? Well, I think if she was Tiger, she'd be treated like Tiger. Because if she was a man, she'd be Tiger.

So if she doesn't get the recognition that Tiger gets, yeah, I would agree with that statement. She's quite simply hands down the best golfer that's ever played the game.

Q. Man or woman?
LAURA DAVIES: Pound for pound. You can't compare Jack Nicklaus and Tiger and Annika because Annika wouldn't have her record on the men's tour. But the way she dominates us is better than the way anyone has ever dominated any other field over the same period of time. Her mind set, her game, she's just

Q. Pound for pound the best golfer?
LAURA DAVIES: The best I think that's ever actually played. Win ratios I don't know anyone else's win ratios, but I guarantee it's the best, without doing the math, I think she has the best. I think she walks on to the tee on a Sunday, and I mean I know Tiger does the same thing. He dominates people in the mind as well. But it's hard to distinguish between the two of them because they are almost freaky how good they are.

Q. Inaudible?
LAURA DAVIES: Basically, yeah. But I don't necessarily I don't know if Annika would even agree with that. I think she could do with less publicity more. I think she likes the quiet life more. I don't think that sort of thing worries Annika.

Q. Inaudible?
LAURA DAVIES: Annika, you know, you're not going to get any change out of her. You know she's going to she's great to play golf with. I enjoy being paired with her. But you know that mistakes wise, there are not going to be many mistakes. She's going to make things happen when she has to, and you know, you've got to be your absolute best or else you may as well not bother. That's where I think Annika has I mean, unfortunately I haven't played well enough when she's been at her very best. I'd like to go at her a few times. It would be nice to have a crack at her.

Q. When someone like that is playing as well as she is
LAURA DAVIES: Oh, absolutely. I just wish I'm playing at my very best, between sort of '94 and '97 when I was No. 1 in the world. I wish I was playing like that along with Annika because it would have been fun to see. I know I could not have beaten her over a year long basis because she's too consistent. It would have been fun going toe to toe with her. It's just a pleasure to watch her in action.

Q. Do you think Michelle Wie inaudible?
LAURA DAVIES: Absolutely. I'd like to see Michelle, although I didn't want her to win on Sunday because I wanted to win, but as it turned out neither of us won; obviously Karrie won.

It would be nice to see her kick on now and win a few tournaments and see if she can come to terms with some of Annika's records. Her win percentage, she would do well to ever match that.

Q. Inaudible?
LAURA DAVIES: She's a great girl, she's good fun, she's enjoying what she's doing, fantastic talent. Short game is probably the only thing that I could say she could get better at because her driving, her irons, the way she sees shots, very impressive.

Q. Inaudible?
LAURA DAVIES: I'm not criticising her short game. I'm just thinking if she wants to be really dominant for instance, Tiger, where he can imagine a shot and he can pull it off out of nothing, that would be the only thing I could say she could even get close to getting better at because everything else at 16 is extraordinary.

Q. Inaudible?
LAURA DAVIES: Well, it's nice to get drawn with someone like that because it means you're starting to play well again. Probably if I had not finished second last week and moved up the Money List I haven't been in Pro Ams all year, it's been a tough struggle. It's nice to get a really good draw with the top players.

Q. Inaudible?
LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, I was speaking to Lewine at the Dinah Shore and I don't think I was ever actually considering packing up, but miserable enough to want to give up apart from the stubbornness and the realisation that I think I'm still good enough. While you still think you're good enough, you've always got a chance. As soon as you don't think, despite of all the really bad stuff, I really did think I mean, I haven't won one yet. Last week was great but I didn't win. Bottom line is I still didn't win one, but I still think I can.

Q. Getting back to Michelle Wie, do you think it's better
LAURA DAVIES: Personally I do. If she wants to play in the men's events, I do, it's brilliant, she should get on with that.

If it was me advising her, I would say, right, pack up with that for now, play against us, play as many tournaments as you can on the LPGA and maybe even play a few European Tour events. If she goes to Denmark, Finland, Norway, a few of those tournaments she would have a very good chance of picking up a win, I would suggest, because of how good she is and it would be an ideal stepping stone. But for whatever reason I don't think that's going to happen. It would be nice for the Danish Open if Michelle Wie turned up just to try to gain a bit of experience winning.

Q. Did you say that to her?
LAURA DAVIES: I did actually. I said, "Why don't you go to Finland and play the Finland Open? I think first prize is about 20,000 bucks, that's all right, isn't it?" She didn't seem too impressed. (Laughter) Hopefully we'll talk her into coming and playing one because I honestly think it would be good for her golf experience wise.

It was more a flippant remark. We were walking up the stairs and we were talking about her schedule because she's off to play this week and then she's off to the Swiss Open, the men's Swiss Open and she's got a few weeks off or something. And that's when I said, "Oh, well, if you've got some time off, come over to Finland," but I don't think she will.

Q. If she's going to Crans
LAURA DAVIES: That's where she's playing, she's playing in that one. Hopefully she'll make the cut in the men's tournament but doesn't really matter at the moment, does it.

Q. When you say you think you can still win
LAURA DAVIES: Well, last week, the field doesn't get any stronger than it does last week, and the players that were up there on Sunday I mean, yeah, if I can hold my own in that environment, then this is no different to be honest with you.

Q. Do you think these conditions play into your hands?
LAURA DAVIES: I hit the ball very high, so, no. Some of the harder holes, 16, 17, are going to be very pivotal holes. We're all starting off at the first so the end of every round, if it's glowing a gale, it could be a serious problem for us. I think the wind has died down, though.

Q. How much wind today?
LAURA DAVIES: It was at least a three club wind today.

Gwladys Nocera

Q: We have by far and away the No. 1 player from the Ladies European Tour, Gwladys Nocera. You've won three times and you're obviously got to be fairly confident coming in.
GWLADYS NOCERA: Well, you're never confident enough but I'm feeling good. Hopefully I can play good again this week.

Q: You were a fairly consistent player before but suddenly you've come out and won three times. What do you think has made the difference this year?
GWLADYS NOCERA: I think it's just work has been paying off and I did good last year, I just didn't have any wins. But I was playing good.

Q: Have you been working on anything specifically that helped you to improve?
GWLADYS NOCERA: No. I just work on everything the same for three years now with my new coach. So the same every day, like a magician that works on his piano, so it's the same, work, work, would.

Q: You're obviously one of the leading players on the LET at the moment. Does that put extra pressure on you coming in this week against players from America?
GWLADYS NOCERA: It was the same thing last week at Evian. But I guess that's what we call experience and hopefully I will get that one day and I won't be so stressed in front of these girls.

Q: Have you much experience playing links golf courses?
GWLADYS NOCERA: Yeah, I've done a lot. When I played the junior golf, British Junior.

Q. Inaudible?
GWLADYS NOCERA: Maybe the game but I don't have the experience of being with these girls all the time, which maybe if I go to the U.S. next year, I will be like, okay, I can play next to these girls and play as good as they do. Right now it's kind of difficult so I just try to play my game and enjoy it.

Q. Inaudible?
GWLADYS NOCERA: Why, because they are all so good and they have done so many good things in golf. They have won so many tournaments, their golf game is just close to perfection, so of course I am intimidated.

Q. Inaudible?
GWLADYS NOCERA: Well, that's the way it is, I'm not going to lie about it. I mean, if I say, no, I'm not intimidated, it's not true and I will be on the first tee box.

Q. I think some other people would not
GWLADYS NOCERA: I don't know, that's just the way I am. Maybe that's bad, I don't know, that's the way I am. As long as you know, you know, who you are that's fine.

Q. From what you were saying, you're almost saying as if The European Tour is not quite as strong as the American tour. Is there any shot differential, one shot or two shots?
GWLADYS NOCERA: It's not about one tour being better than another one. It's just that obviously the best players in the world are competing in the U.S.

So when you play all the time in Europe and you see these girls coming, you feel intimidated because they are so good and they are so used to big tournaments like this one. But I will never say that one tour is better than another one.

Q. Inaudible?
GWLADYS NOCERA: Well, I can't say. I have no idea.

Q. Inaudible?
GWLADYS NOCERA: I don't know, it's hard to tell, I have no idea.

Q. How strong do you think the Ladies European Tour is at present?
GWLADYS NOCERA: I think it's getting stronger every year. I think it's getting really good. There are a lot of girls competing to win every week and I think it's really good because it makes the Tour look competitive. So it's really good.

Q. Are there more good players than there used to be?
GWLADYS NOCERA: I think so.

Q. About half an hour ago, Laura was in here and she was saying that Annika pound for pound is a better golfer than anyone, the best golfer that's ever been. What do you think?
GWLADYS NOCERA: I don't know. I haven't been here for long enough to say. But I think Annika is great. She's one of these great champions. She's so good playing golf and such a nice person, too, on the course and off the course. I think she's human wise, she's a great person. That makes her even a greater golfer. But golf wise, I played with her last week and it was intimidating.

Q. Did you have any role models or heroes when you were coming into the game?
GWLADYS NOCERA: Yeah, Meg Mallon.

Q. Why Meg Mallon?
GWLADYS NOCERA: Because I love her swing and she's a nice person and she won so many tournaments. She's great.

Q. Your goals for this week
GWLADYS NOCERA: I said this last week at Evian I wanted to do Top 10, Top 15, which last week I totally failed. So this week

Q. The whole year before any tournaments started?
GWLADYS NOCERA: No, my goal was just to win the tournament. I won three. So now, yeah, my goal is to play well this week now.

Q. Inaudible?
GWLADYS NOCERA: Well, of course, they are really hard. I think what she did is once in a lifetime or golf lifetime or whatever, nine tournaments, it's pretty much impossible now. But, you know, I won three and now I think about four. I win four, I think about five. But I think one step before another one, don't look too much, too far.

Q. The way she plays
GWLADYS NOCERA: The way she plays is very simple. She doesn't miss shots, fairways, greens. She plays and then she makes putts sometimes and sometimes she doesn't. She keeps going and going and going. But I think what I learned the most is if you can't be myself, you can't be good and that's what I learned from last week. I couldn't be myself, couldn't play my game.

Q. Inaudible?
GWLADYS NOCERA: Well, maybe except that I'm one of the good players. That's probably one of what's going to be the hardest.

Q. Inaudible?
GWLADYS NOCERA: Like once I do it, yeah. I believe in what I see. So the day I will see it, I believe in it.

Q. Do you believe that you're one of the best golfers, close?
GWLADYS NOCERA: Almost.

Q. Could I get an explanation of why you think Annika is so good?
GWLADYS NOCERA: First of all, she's doing her own thing. She has her own plan and she is doing it no matter what. She is very consistent. She has been working on the same things forever and she works every day, she's always here, she never complains, she does the job, and she does what she loves.

So when you see her and when you play with her, it's just simplicity. It's just like, you know, this machine that goes on the rod and makes the rod flat, you know, this thing that rolls, very slowly but then you know, everything is flat and perfect after. That's how I feel. She just does things the perfect way.

Q. Have you played with Michelle Wie?
GWLADYS NOCERA: No.

Q. Are you intimidated by her?
GWLADYS NOCERA: Of course. All of the players are intimidated one way or another.

Q. Would you be intimidated if you were playing your best golf?
GWLADYS NOCERA: It depends. At the Solheim Cup I was very intimidated. But I don't know, playing for the team, something came to me and I just played very well. Sometimes it does bad things to me like last week. It really depends. I guess I have to work on that. I'm doing it. So I guess I need more time.

Michelle Wie

Q: Michelle, welcome to the 2006 Weetabix Women's British Open. You come in here after a tie for third in America followed by a tie for second last week at Evian. You must be feeling pretty good about your chances.
MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I mean, I feel good about my game. Obviously it's like 30 degrees colder and like ten times windier than last week.

But, you know, I'm really excited for this week. This golf course has so much history on it. I played it; it must have like 20 bunkers on every hole. But it's a fun golf course and I really enjoy playing links golf. And I'm going to have a lot of fun this week.

Q: How difficult was it out there today?
MICHELLE WIE: It's just hard physically because the wind is so strong and it beats you up. It feels like someone's slapping you around. It's fun out there. I'm used to the wind, you know, and it makes the golf course what it is. If there's no wind, it wouldn't be like this.

Q: How many holes have you managed to play now?
MICHELLE WIE: I actually played 17. I went to the 17th fairway and I was very hungry because I haven't eaten LUNCH, And eating for me is very important. So I decided that I couldn't that I had to go back in and eat lunch.

Q: How is the golf course playing, is it what you expected?
MICHELLE WIE: It's very nice. It's not as brown as I thought it was going to be, looking at the British Open for the men. But the golf course is in great, great conditions. Obviously you can get very good lies and you can get very bad lies but that's just the way it is. The greens are rolling very nicely. It's a very true roll. Obviously it's going to be totally different of how the weather changes. But you know, that's the beauty of it. You never know what's going to happen.

Q: How was the wind affecting your club selection?
MICHELLE WIE: Well, I mean, there were a couple holes where I had like 150 and I'm hitting a 5 iron because you can't really hit poor shots in here. It's a lot of feel. It's very extreme from into the wind and downwind.

Q: What difference
MICHELLE WIE: Well, I'm not really sure. I mean, downwind, I mean, I hit like I was hitting like they are not really hitting full shots. I mean, if I had like a like a 5 iron would go like 200, 180.

Q: How frustrating is it to finish so high every week, but not be able to break through for a win yet?
MICHELLE WIE: Well, you know, obviously it's very frustrating right after you finish playing. It's like, oh my God, I was close again.

If you look at the overall if you look at overall year, I feel like this is the best I've ever played. And obviously I wish I could have won a couple of events, but hey, at least I'm not winning one event and then missing the cut in another. I'm consistently being up there. I'm consistently playing good golf.

I think a win is coming. It's just depends on how lucky you are that week and how good you're playing. I feel like I'm playing very solidly. You know, obviously it's been a little bit frustrating that I haven't been able to, you know, go up to the next step but I feel like it's happening. It's not because I'm lacking anything. It's just when you look back on a week, it's just a shot here, a shot there. By doing this, I feel I'm learning how to win. I feel like I've been playing the best I ever have, you know, consistent wise.

Q: When do you go back to Hawaii and what's been your favorite tournament after
MICHELLE WIE: Well, after that, I'm going to New York and L.A. and finally I go back home. But I think that I just had a lot of fun this summer, going all over the place, going to Korea this year, going to where did I go, to France, all over the United States. I mean, it's been a lot of fun. I can't really pick one tournament that I can that I like the best. But I just love the traveling part of it, going to new places: Oh, who am I going to meet this week; what am I going to be able to eat. You know, it's exciting.

Q: Your own expectations or the expectations of others?
MICHELLE WIE: You know, it's my own expectations. I don't really care when people say about my game. Last week, I was frustrated well, I think not frustrated. I think disappointed is a better word. Like, oh, I wish I could have done that.

But looking back on it, I played really good golf. I played solid golf. I played solidly until the end. You know, it's not because people expect me to win that I get frustrated. It's just because I expect myself to win. You know, getting second, getting third every week, I mean, I think that's pretty good. I think that's pretty consistent but I'm ready for a win now.

Q: Does it bother you when people say you have not won yet --
MICHELLE WIE: Well, I don't care. People have their right to talk. I mean everyone is going to have their own opinions. I have my opinions of everyone else. But, you know, it's just that's the way the world is.

Q: What are some of your opinions about everyone else?
MICHELLE WIE: Well, I don't want to say anything.

Q: How did you enjoy playing with Laura Davies last week?
MICHELLE WIE: She's remarkable. I love playing with her. I played with her before. You just see that she has so much experience and it's just unbelievable, some of the shots that she played in the final round. I just love how she, you know, uses the club to make the tee for a driver, as well. I think that's pretty funny, that's pretty cool. I did that for some of my wedge shots but to use a driver on that, I think that's pretty cool.

It's just like the shot that she hit on 16 was pretty cool. I mean, she just hits these kind of shots; that's what makes Laura, it's pretty cool.

Q: Are your parents here this week?
MICHELLE WIE: Yes, they are.

Q: Some of the people that voice their opinions, do you wish they would keep them to themselves?
MICHELLE WIE: No, some people keep them to themselves. Some people voice them. You need some gossip. I think that's what makes the world interesting. I mean, it's here and there, and I mean, you need it.

Q: What hole did you find the most interesting today?
MICHELLE WIE: I'm not really sure. I don't remember. (Laughing).