Pressel targets better time management for 2008

PACIFIC PALISADES, California (Reuters) - American teenager Morgan Pressel has set her sights on better time management next year after a 2007 campaign highlighted by her first major victory and a glittering debut at the Solheim Cup.

The 19-year-old, who became the youngest winner of a women's major at the Kraft Nabisco Championship in April, plans to adjust her playing schedule to maintain form throughout the season.

"Winning my first major was a big deal but, since then, my life has just been so busy," Pressel told Reuters at Riviera Country Club on Monday.

"I've had to learn how to deal with the extra demands on my time and I didn't handle that quite as well as I could have because my game kind of suffered towards the end of the year.

"Although it's been a lot of fun, you still have to work on your game otherwise it's gone really fast," added the Florida resident, who lies 10th on this season's LPGA money list with earnings of $946,863 from 23 starts.

"You've got to look at what got you there in the first place, and that's your game. Next year, I need to schedule my events a bit better to maintain a high level of performance throughout the season, and not just in the beginning."

Pressel, who birdied the final hole to win the opening women's major of the year, accepts she needs to make better use of her practice time outside tournament weeks.

"I practice a lot when I am out on Tour so when I get home, I'm pretty tired," she said before teeing off in a Callaway Golf Foundation pro-celebrity tournament raising funds for the Entertainment Industry Foundation's cancer research program.

Pressel's mother Kathy died of breast cancer four years ago.

"I need to work on changing my practice schedule a bit, just take a little bit of a break and then really work hard for the last few days of the week when I'm home."

BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT

Although victory at the Kraft was the biggest achievement of Pressel's career, she rates her Solheim Cup experience in Sweden two months ago as possibly even more special.

The youngest Solheim player at 19, she helped the U.S. beat Europe 16-12 in the biennial team competition with a 2&1 victory over local favorite Annika Sorenstam in the last-day singles.

"It was one of the best weeks I've ever had," Pressel said. "That, winning the (2005 U.S.) Amateur, winning the Kraft and finishing second at the (2005 U.S.) Open were all awesome experiences but the Solheim Cup is almost above all of those.

"It was really special because these are players and team mates who you play golf with but, when you spend a week together, you really get to know people and make some great friends. It was really cool."

Pressel, who lists photography, computers and her beloved Blackberry among her favorite hobbies, loves to shop when she is away from the course.

"I enjoy going shopping every now and then and spending way too much money, I am good at that," she said with a broad smile.

She concedes she probably spends too much time on her Blackberry e-mail device, a communications lifeline for movers and shakers from the White House to Wall Street.

"We should surgically attach it to my hip, or to my hands actually, but then it would be kind of difficult to grip the club," she said.

"It's always on, although I put it away for tournament rounds and stuff like that."