Rolex Rankings No. 2 and 14-time LPGA winner Cristie Kerr was caught by surprise Monday afternoon when she found that she had lost her No. 1 Ranking. Kerr, who ascended to the top spot after winning her second tournament of the season at the LPGA Championship Presented by Wegmans, held the position for three weeks. Kerr is enjoying a stellar 2010 season. In addition to winning the LPGA Championship and the LPGA State Farm Classic, she has posted three other top-10’s. She currently stands second on the LPGA money list and is ranked second in scoring, tied for first in rounds in the 60’s, and ranked first in greens in regulation putting average. Kerr hosted the media Wednesday at the Evian Masters Presented by Societe Generale and talked about the Rolex Rankings, the tournament this week, her new wine label and her relationship with Lacoste. Kerr has finished tied for third and tied for sixth in the last two editions of the Evian Masters Presented by Societe Generale.
Q. If you won Evian, would it be very different from the U.S. Open or the LPGA victory?
CRISTIE KERR: I think it would be very different. It would be amazing for me. One of my primary sponsors is Lacoste, and they're a major sponsor of this event. We get to see the whole family here this week. It’s going to be a great week. It would be very exciting for myself and for them. Hopefully we can pull it off this year.
Q. How it happens you have a French sponsor? Not so many American wear Lacoste.
CRISTIE KERR: We got introduced to the Lacoste family through a mutual friend. As you may or may not know, the Lacoste brand in America is a very hot brand. It was fitting that they wanted an American to represent that facet of their business. So I was honored for them to choose me.
Q. What was your feeling to be No. 1?
CRISTIE KERR: It's amazing. You know, it's kind of weird for neither myself nor Ai to play a tournament and then for me to lose the ranking. It's fun for me to try and get it back now, so I'm looking forward to that. I've dreamed about it and worked for it my whole life to get it No. 1. Certainly don't want to lose a ranking by not playing, but that's the way the divisor for the points system works. But it was a great feeling. That's where you want to be, at the pinnacle of your sport.
Q. Your bringing out your own wine. Can you tell us about that? You're in one of the great wine-producing countries of the world, about how you got interested in wine and when it's going to be available?
CRISTIE KERR: We just released our 2006 vintage in the United States, and finally making some headway with getting distribution set up to get it to consumers and distributors to be able to put it in those high-end clubs and restaurants. Overseas is going to be a while probably. It takes a while it to get things set up in the United States. We didn't make that much wine to begin with, so I'm hoping to get it over here. I think it would be difficult.
The wine is called Curvature. It's a Napa Valley cabernet we're making with the people from Pride Mountain, which is a world-renowned winery. The winemaker, Sally Johnson, is a woman, and Suzanne Pride, the co-owner of the winery is a breast cancer survivor, and 100% of our profits are going for breast cancer. So it's a passion project for me and for Suzanne.
I first got into wine when we had the Samsung World Championships of Women's Golf in Napa Valley. We stayed the heart of Napa Valley. I think that was maybe 2003, 2004, and I would I would play early practice rounds and go around and wine taste and go with some of the other players and just fell in love with the area. I found out that I have a fairly good palate, and that's how it all started.
Topics: Kerr, Cristie, The Evian Championship, Notes and Interviews
