An interview with:

SHANI WAUGH

INTERVIEWER: Shani is 32 years old from Bunbury, Australia, and she has matched her lowest under par round with a 3-under par 67. We might mention that in 2000 she shot a 69 in the opening round on a par 72 course, so that's a wonderful opening round, Shani. Are you surprised?

SHANI WAUGH: Yes. Anytime you shoot under par in a U.S.  Open I think  -- i should be a little surprised, but I've been playing well coming into this tournament the last two weeks on the LPGA, so it's a nice surprise, but it's  -- i'm not shocked, put it that way.

Q. All right. Tell us a little bit about how the course played today as far as the conditions, whether or not they were what you expected, and then we'll try to go over your card.

SHANI WAUGH: I think going back to Monday when you first saw the golf course, it was really windy, and I think you develop a fear in a way of the golf course because it played so tough on Monday, that when it's not as windy, it let up, and you think "It's not as hard as I thought it was."

It gave me confidence, and I went in today knowing it was pretty calm, and the golf course was going to play easier than what it did on Monday, that gave me a lot of confidence before I even teed off.

There was a little bit of breeze around, but maybe a club wind, and the greens were quite receptive, great speed, and rolling well, and the fairways are in great shape. So if you hit the fairway, you got a great lie. It helps a lot.

Q. Can you recall your birdies for us, what club you hit into the green, and the distance of the putt?

SHANI WAUGH: My goodness. First birdie was on 14, I think. Yeah, it was on 14, I hit a wedge  -- 101 into the wind and wedge to about 10 feet, and made the putt. Then on 16 I missed my tee shot -- it was still in the fairway, I had 201 to the pin, I had hit a 3-iron to about 15 feet, made the putt.

On the first I hit 7-iron to 12 feet, and made the putt. The third I hit a sand iron to 8 feet. On 6 I missed the green pin high left and had a difficult chip, and managed to sink the chip  -- make the chip.

On 7 I hit 7-wood from 243 yards just short right of the green and chipped and made a 2-foot putt for birdie. That was it.

Q. Bogies?

SHANI WAUGH: On 11 I had, I think, 174 to the pin, missed the green left with my 5-iron, and chipped too far, and didn't make the putt -- that was my first bogey of the day. I missed the 15th green left, chipped to about 30 feet and didn't make it.

And on 9 I hit it right onto the front edge of the green and 3-putted from 60 feet away.

Q. Questions for Shani? And please wait for the microphone before you ask your questions.

You've had no victories yet on the Tour. This would be a great way to start it out.

SHANI WAUGH: I don't know if I could handle that. I won a tournament in the European Tour in '96. Pretty lean on the LPGA as far as being in contention, but a few tournaments where I've been in contention. I'd love to win. I don't know whether it's going to happen or not. It's only Thursday.

Q. Shani, can you talk a little bit about the par putt on the last hole, you were sitting 4-under. Did you feel any extra pressure trying to put that one down?

SHANI WAUGH: Not really. I was nervous over the first putt because it was so far from the hole. I was putting really well, and I thought, if I get it within 8 feet, I get a great chance to make it. I got nervous on the second one, didn't hit it as hard, and it took too much break and I hit it left.

Q. Shani, you mentioned before that you sort of needed a couple calm days during practice rounds to realize it wasn't that tough. Is there a tendency among players going through this tournament to psych themselves out, saying it's going to be tough, and they sort of put themselves in a negative mind-set before they tee off on Thursday?

SHANI WAUGH: I think it works both ways. If Tuesday was the first day of the tournament, I would have been in that situation, but Tuesday and Wednesday practicing on the course, realizing it wasn't as hard as I thought it was, helped me today.

After Monday I thought, if I shoot  -- if I shoot four rounds of 3 or 4 over each day, I'm going to have a good tournament, but after playing Tuesday and Wednesday, I thought it's going to take better than that. I was more aggressive today than I would have been after seeing the course on Monday.

Q. Were you pleased to have a morning starting time today? And if so, why?

SHANI WAUGH: It didn't really bother me. I knew it was going to blow at stages this week, and you have to have one morning tee time and one afternoon tee time, and normally on the LPGA I prefer to tee off in the afternoon on the first day, but I'm going to try not to make an issue out of that, but when I woke up this morning and I saw a very, very slight wind, I was pretty excited about that.

Q. Shani, the Media Guide says you live in Bunbury. Is that accurate, or do you have a base over here?

SHANI WAUGH: I live in West Palm Beach. Actually, Jupiter, in Florida.

Q. How many days a year would you spend back in Western Australia?

SHANI WAUGH: I go back for Christmas every year, three or four weeks. I don't do much golf when I go back there, but it's nice to get back and see the family and that sort of thing. Do you know where Bunbury is?

Q. Where is it, for the rest of us?

SHANI WAUGH: Two hours' drive south of Perth on the West Coast, so I don't think I've spoken to many Americans who have been over there -- it's so far away -- and Americans go to Australia to see (inaudible) and they forget about Perth. They fly right by us. It's nice and quiet over there.

Q. You and Karrie joined the Tour both in 1996. Before that, did you guys play a lot of golf together in Australia?

SHANI WAUGH: Not really. She's five years younger than me. So I turned pro  -- I was an amateur when she first started to make a name for herself playing amateur in Australia.

We played together on the European Tour before we came here, but I've probably played two tournaments as an amateur in Australia, and she was beating me then, so I was glad to turn pro and get away from her for a couple years.

Q. Was there a difference between the front 9 and the back 9? Did the front play a little bit easier?

SHANI WAUGH: I think the front 9, it's more you're going to hit the ball  -- distance is more the concern on the front 9, trying to get longer drives on the par 4s, but the Back 9, there is a lot more placement required, a couple tricky holes on the Back 9. If you don't hit it in the right spot, you can't get to the green.

But the front 9, it's pretty much hit your driver as far as you can, and try to get the next one on the green.

Q. One more question. how would you summarize your play in the U.S.  Open?

SHANI WAUGH: Pretty bad. This is my 4th year so I think it take takes a little while to get used to how tough the U.S.  Open is. It's tough  -- usually a tough golf course, and mentally for some reason it's a completely different tournament. It shouldn't be, but it is, I think, because it's such a big event. The atmosphere is incredible. Tough golf course.

I think it takes a while mentally to get prepared. Two years ago when I played well at the Merit  Club, I was  -- i played so bad in the first U.S.  Open I had no expectations whatsoever, and I think that helped me a lot.

This year, I played so badly last year in the U.S.  Open that I come here not expecting a whole lot, and I think that helps me.

Q. Thank you very much, Shani, for all your time today. Great round.