An interview with:

HILARY LUNKE

RHONDA GLENN: Ladies and gentlemen, Hilary Lunke with a round of 3-under par 68 has a 1-shot lead in the Women's Open. She just said to me, she said, "What do I do? I've never done this before."

Hilary, congratulations, you played great golf every single day. How does it feel to be in this position, leading going into the final round.

HILARY LUNKE: It feels great. This is why we play golf. This is the feeling that we want to have. And I just hope I keep hitting the ball well tomorrow and hopefully a few more of those putts will go in.

RHONDA GLENN: You hit 82 percent of the fairways today. That has to be one of the great keys to your success this week.

HILARY LUNKE: Yeah, absolutely. I tend to pretty much hit the ball straight most of the time. If I miss it, it goes short, it doesn't usually go too much sideways. So that's definitely what you want in a U.S. Open.

Q. If I'm not mistaken, you almost didn't make it out of your sectional qualifier, you shot 80 your first round. What did you do that next round to get here?

HILARY LUNKE: Well, the first round I think I had like 6 or 7, 3-putts. The greens were really bumpy, and I kept getting on the wrong side of the greens. I kept 3-putting. I didn't feel like I was playing that bad. I did feel like I was out of it maybe after the first round, but my husband just said, "You never know, you're hitting the ball well, just keep doing what you're doing, and if a few putts start going in, you can make it. It's just as hard out here for everyone else". You see everyone missing short putts. So I said, "Hey, it's not just me". And luckily I stayed in it and had a good afternoon round.

Q. You had the bogey on 13, a good bogey putt on 14 and then you've got like a 8 to 10-footer on 15. I wonder if you could talk about the importance of the putt at 15 and then what ensued on the 16th?

HILARY LUNKE: It was definitely an important putt. That was probably one of the key points in the round. I felt like I had hit pretty good shots on 14 and 15. The wind just kind of switched around on us, and the same thing kind of happened to Mhairi. I was a little frustrated, but I thought if I hit good shots, don't get too upset, even if you walk out of here with bogeys. That happens in the U.S. Open, you can hit good shots and they don't necessarily turn out good. I was thrilled to get the bounce I did on 16 and have a 5-footer for birdie.

Q. How are you feeling about the season in general, and why is this week so special?

HILARY LUNKE: This season I'm so excited just to be out here and have my exempt card. Last year I was a conditional player, and it's a whole different thing when you're exempt and you can go to any tournament that you choose to go to. I was very disappointed with the way I started out this season. I felt good about my game the weeks leading up to the first event. And for some reason just didn't play well and maybe got into a little bit of a slump. But I took a lesson in Chicago, and felt like my game was kind of turning around slowly but surely. And really the biggest key has been for me, I've played well the last three weeks that I've played coming into this event. And having my husband on the bag has been a very calming in influence on me. And I just tried to play smart and play my game. My game is well suited to difficult courses. So I think that's why I've performed better the last couple of weeks.

RHONDA GLENN: Who did you take the lesson from?

HILARY LUNKE: I took lessons from both Ron Benson up in Minneapolis, and Todd Sones, a teacher in Chicago. I took the lesson from Todd Sones in Chicago.

Q. How much do you feel like your degree in psychology will maybe -- is something you'll tap into to handle this situation. And what's your mindset tomorrow, being the leader, knowing that somebody named Sorenstam is a couple of shots back?

HILARY LUNKE: I don't think I'll draw too much upon my degree tomorrow. I didn't really take many sports psychology classes. But what I will draw on is just my faith in God and knowing that he put me here and that I'm just so thankful to be where I'm at. And no matter what the outcome is tomorrow, I know that he'll still be there, and my family will still love me. And my game plan going into tomorrow is the same as it was today, just go out and play golf and have a good time and be thankful that I'm here at all.

Q. Much has been made this week about the young group that we have in here, and someone who is a teenager is not far behind you, Aree. Can you talk about your impression of the teenagers and what they've done here this week?

HILARY LUNKE: I'm just incredibly impressed with all the teenagers play. I think when I played here in 1997 I was 18 years old and I was the youngest player in the field. And now we've got something like a dozen teenagers that are here this week. So it just seems that they keep coming out and playing great younger and younger. I think it's a fantastic thing. I've been impressed with their play. I've played with both Naree and Aree, and I've played with Michelle Wie a couple of times, as well. I'm impressed with their games and just amazed.

Q. Have you ever found a situation where -- especially the younger teenagers don't know proper etiquette or doing things maybe the professionals have done on the golf course as far as walking certain places or hitting --?

HILARY LUNKE: I haven't really had any firsthand experience with that.

RHONDA GLENN: You played against Michelle Wie when she was 11.

HILARY LUNKE: Right.

RHONDA GLENN: Tell them about that experience.

HILARY LUNKE: She was very courteous. She played fantastic, basically flawless golf. She was a real pleasure to play with. I don't have any firsthand experience with them having any problems with etiquette.

Q. Is it a little more comfortable playing with someone you know like Angela; and is it intimidating having Annika right behind you?

HILARY LUNKE: I'm glad that she's going to be playing in the group in front of me and I can be watching her play. I'm thrilled to be playing with Angela. My husband was saying to me walking off the 18th fairway, he said, "Let's just hope Angela pars the last hole, so we play with her tomorrow". And she did. It's great to see. I'm thrilled to be playing with her tomorrow. As I said before ,she inspired me so much with her play last week, and the fact that she came out and won and was such a gracious winner. And I'm thrilled to be where I am right now and we're going to have a great time tomorrow.

Q. Would it be more difficult if you had been paired with Annika?

HILARY LUNKE: I think it would be more difficult. I have played with Annika twice before, once in a U.S. Open, and it was a heck of an experience. I couldn't breathe for the first 7 holes. So hopefully I would have been able to have learned from that experience and been fine, had I been paired with her tomorrow. But I think it is a little bit of a relief to be paired with Angela, just a good friend of mine, and just be like any other round of golf out there.

RHONDA GLENN: Did you get to know each other better when you were Curtis Cup teammates in 2000?

HILARY LUNKE: Yeah, we did. We'd always heard each others names at junior and college golf. I played a match against her in a U.S. amateur before. But we were roommates at the Curtis Cup, and we did have a chance to get to know each other better. We had a great time over in England, and I'm very happy that I'll be playing with her tomorrow.

Q. With the focus on length so much, your numbers are on the bottom end of the driving stats. Do you feel a disadvantage at all with that?

HILARY LUNKE: Normally I do. In a U.S. Open not necessarily, especially with the fairways running as firmly as they are. It's all about accuracy in a U.S. Open and I really don't feel disadvantaged by that at all. Maybe a couple of times if some pins are tucked and I can't hit the real high, soft wedge and fly it over. But I'll play my game and play out to the right and 2-putt. And when I do have a "go" pin, I can play to that. I play to my strengths. Would I love to be longer? Yes, absolutely. But I just try to play my game as best as I can and as I said, a U.S. Open tends to be well suited to my game. I don't really feel I am disadvantaged out here. Any advantage I give up in my length I gain back with my accuracy, I think.

Q. What's more surprising do you think, 14 teenagers in the field or someone with a Master's Degree?

HILARY LUNKE: 14 teenagers in the field.

Q. Why did you spend so much time at Stanford? Most people when they have a great amateur career, they go to the pros?

HILARY LUNKE: I didn't start playing golf until I was 13. When I started I just loved it, I was obsessed with it, I wanted to get as good as I could as fast as I could. And I wanted to be a pro, that's all I wanted to do. When I finished high school and went to Stanford my game was still good, I was still excited about golf and still wanted to be a pro. But as I got part way through college, my goals and motivations changed a little. I didn't know if I wanted necessarily to turn pro. I loved playing amateur golf. I loved being on the Curtis Cup and World Amateur teams, and that was something I wanted to do again. At that point I was questioning whether I wanted to turn pro or be a lifelong amateur. And pretty much had decided that I was leaning towards being an amateur. And my senior year in college I knew I was going to finish early and I had the option of not taking classes my last quarter and just strictly playing golf or taking some classes. And I decided, well, I've never just really done only golf. So I don't know how that would be. So I want to take a couple of classes. Once I decided to do that I thought maybe I should apply for this Masters program, to give me something to do rather than just taking any kind of courses. I applied to that and got accepted. And I decided to do the first quarter of that Masters program while I was playing. Subsequently, that summer, when the USGA changed the rules of amateur status to go to Tour school without having to forego your amateur status, where if you made it you could turn pro and if you didn't you got your amateur status back. I thought that's just a free swing in the batter's box, if I make it I can turn pro and if not I'll go back to the original plan to be an amateur. When I made it through Tour school the season didn't start until March and I was going to be done with my degree at the end of March. So I thought, well, this is fine, I'm always used to practicing and playing golf at the same time, I might as well keep doing it. I stuck with it, finished out my degree. It was very tough at the end. I was taking finals in Tucson last year, trying to Monday qualify, and running home and getting faxes and trying to finish my exams. It was a little hectic, but I'm glad that I did it.

Q. You had a birdie run into the front 9 there to take the lead. Can you describe what that was like and what was your best shot?

HILARY LUNKE: What was my best shot? My best shot was my drive on 9. That's just like threading a needle out there pretty much. And that was my best shot I think in that three hole stretch. It felt great. I was just trying to play short of the hole, have uphill putts. And I was watching Juli ahead of me, and I thought she was making all kinds of putts for birdie and I just was trying to match her. And when I got to the score board at 10 I think I realized that maybe a couple of hers had been for par or something. So then I thought, gee, I'm leading, I didn't even know. But it felt great. That's the kind of feeling you want to have out there when you just look at the target and hit it right at it.

Q. If things keep going the way they are, are you going to tell Tylar he can't go out to school?

HILARY LUNKE: I'm thinking about it. I've got to think of a way for him to defer a year, so he can keep caddying for me. He's been the ticket for me this last month.

Q. What is it about having him on the bag that helps you play better?

HILARY LUNKE: He's a player, himself. He knows a lot about the game. He's very good at reading the greens. I think I'm generally pretty good at reading the greens, but sometimes if you and your caddy aren't in sync, it's difficult. We tend to agree most of the time, and that gives me more confidence with my putting. And he's just a tremendous calming influence for me. We have a lot of fun and try to joke around. All he keeps saying to me this last month is just fairways and greens, fairways and greens. It sounds so simple, but that's what I've been trying to do. Play my game, keep getting it in the fairway, get it up on the greens, and hope the putts go in.

Q. Mhairi was the leader the first two rounds, and we talked a lot about Stanford. She said she's staying with Stanford friends, Coach O'Connor was here. Have you been doing the Stanford Mafia thing? Are you hanging out with Caroline and Mhairi and friends?

HILARY LUNKE: Yeah, we had a little reunion on Monday night. I don't know if Mhairi talked about it. One of our former teammates, Jenny Pippin lives in the area, and her family invited us all over. We had a great barbecue and had a lot of fun. It's a ton of fun to see your teammates up on the leaderboard with you. Yeah, I got on the bottom of my bag it says, "Go Cardinal". And I'm just happy for all the Stanford girls.

Q. I didn't realize you went so far back with Michelle Wie so I have a question for you. What do you make of her as far as her potential? I know the reporters are using all the superlatives, saying she could be the woman equivalent of Tiger Woods, do you think she has that potential?

HILARY LUNKE: I think she has that potential. When I played with her when she was 11 I was impressed as I possibly could have been playing with her. She literally played flawless golf. And even when she would hit a bad shot she would recover solidly, she had tremendous course management. She has tremendous ability, just her fundamentals in her game, and mentally she seems to be sound, as well. I think she has incredible potential. Someone asked me when I played with her, what's the one thing she needs to work on, and I said she just needs to be able to last 7 years until she even has the chance to go to college. I mean just -- she's just got so much time, and I just hope she doesn't get burned out. I think that's the only thing that could possibly hold her back, otherwise I think her potential is limit also.

Q. Do you have a suggestion where she might go to college?

HILARY LUNKE: I would tell her to go to Stanford. When I played with her in that match she was asking me all about Stanford. I think her uncle might be a professor there, she's got some kind of a tie there. We played a practice round together this week, and I said, "Do you still want to go to Stanford?" And she said yes. Yeah, that would be great.

RHONDA GLENN: As I recall, Hilary, you did something when you played in that same championship with Michelle, which was very unusual. You and your father came out to gallery her after you were eliminated in the championship.

HILARY LUNKE: Yeah, I was just -- I was pretty much stunned after I had played her and I just thought, this girl is going to win, and she's just going to kill everybody. And I wanted to go out and witness it firsthand. I wanted to say I was there when she did it. And unfortunately she got beat either the following round or one after that. But I wanted to have a firsthand witness of her game. And I think she went all the way to the 18th hole in that match and she was buried in the bunker, and we had just waved the white flag, it's over, and she's got to surrender. And she nearly holed out the shot. I walked away, "What happened? How did you get beat by an 11 year old?" I said, "You've got to see it, you just wait, you're going to hear more about this girl", and luckily I was right.

RHONDA GLENN: Thank you so much for being so gracious, Hilary. Good luck tomorrow.

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