April 20, 2003

“Today was one of those days,” said two-time SEC Individual Medalist Kristy McPherson. “The wind was a factor in that it affected my putting more than anything. I felt like I didn’t hit the ball that poorly today. It started on the front and I made three three-punts and a four-punt on the front nine. I added a couple of three punts on the back and then it started getting in my head. I kept confidence in my game and in my putter all day. Maybe I started trying a little too hard after that. I felt like I putted it well but I kept missing them. The putts kept lipping out a lot.

“Hopefully, we’ll learn from today and go on to win the NCAA’s this year. The SEC Championship will always be a special memory for me. I feel like I played eight solid rounds over the last three years. I just picked a bad time to have a bad day. Years from now after my college days are over, I’ll remember my junior year SEC Tournament when we won the team championship. That was special.

“I’m going to rest up this upcoming weekend and try to catch up with my schoolwork. In two weeks, we’ll go to NCAA Regionals and I’m hoping that we are sent to the East Regional in Winston-Salem. We’ve played that course and we like that course. And my family could come up and watch.

“After the season is over and hopefully after we’ve captured the NCAA title, I’m going to take a week off and then go play the Futures Tour. I qualified for that in November as an amateur and I’m ready to start that in early June.

“Obviously today was a huge disappointment but as someone just told me, today doesn’t take away from what I accomplished in the last two years. I felt like I played well Friday and Saturday and didn’t think that I hit the ball that badly today. As bad as my score was today, it was all due to my putting. I still feel like I had a good SEC Tournament in each of my last three years so I’m satisfied.”