Cristie Kerr is going to defend her first major this week. What kind of emotions will she deal with?

There is always a lot of pressure, but she'll deal with even more of it. There seems to be a lot of hype around the Open. I love Cristie. She was on my Solheim Cup team and she is a really sweet girl who wants to do the right things and always wants to play well. I think she has always struggled with that, but I hope she does well and can set her title. It would be fun to see that happen. But she will deal with a lot of pressure trying to defend the U.S. Open.

Will it be the same pressure that Paula Creamer will face, being called the best player without a major? How is the pressure different between Cristie, who is trying to defend, and Paula, who is trying to win her first?

Paula puts a lot of pressure on herself. But she is a player who really knows her ability. She knows that she should have won many more tournaments than she has, and she's frustrated that she hasn't. She has to ignore that label of herself as the best player without a major. There are a lot of great players who have never won the U.S. Open and she is going to play the best golf that she can. Paula is struggling with her putting and she needs to find that, since putting is a premium in the U.S. Open and something that you need to be able to do. I hope she can do that since she is such a great golfer. She needs to work on her putting and get back her confidence so she can be among the top players in the U.S. Open.

What do you think about Lorena Ochoa's failed attempt at a Grand Slam this year? Is it going to be tough for her to bounce back at the Open?

I think she will play well. She has a lot of confidence to move forward. The way she is playing is awesome. She has developed such strength and is so strong. I think she will do great. I think she was disappointed to not be able to win all the Majors, but she still has a lot of years ahead of her to get even better and to be able to accomplish that.

Any players flying under the radar who will do well at the Open?

A lot of the players don't have enough patience. You have got to be very patient to play well at the U.S. Open. I think that Lorena and Annika probably have the best chance to win, because they are the most patient golfers out there. Even more so than Cristie — although she is a great player and won last year, she probably doesn't have as much patience to win this U.S. Open. She has not played as well as she has in the past. So to me, Lorena and Annika are the two that are going to be the most patient players and will fare well this week.

Does that patience just come from experience and winning?

It definitely does. Players need to set themselves up knowing that they are not going to play a perfect round of golf. You have to make the most of the day, because it is that tough to play in the U.S. Open. No other player, besides Annika and Lorena, really come to mind right now who has that kind of patience.

Speaking of Annika, this will be her last U.S. Open. What kind of hurdles will she face knowing that this is the last time she can compete for the Open title? What did you feel like going into an Open knowing it was your final one?

You kind of agonize internally because you know you can still play. I felt anxious at the 1997 U.S. Open at Pumpkin Ridge, when I lost to Nicholas. I felt that it was going to be my Open. I was feeling really good, playing really great. So I know with Annika, knowing that she can still play, she definitely wants to win the U.S. Open. It is going to be tough when she walks onto the green on that last day. She is going to have a lot of emotions going on, because she loves competing. Her walking away is very, very tough. Knowing that I was going to retire and not going to play very much at all, I felt very empty walking down the 18th fairway toward everyone and to the fans. She has a very big fan base that adores and loves her. I am sure that she will feel sad and experience a lot of deep feelings as she is walking away.

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