Pressel targets better time management for 2008

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

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.