ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer Wednesday Notes and Interviews
Michelle Wie hits her tee shot on the third hole during the final round of the ShopRite LPGA
Classic Presented by Acer at Stockton Seaview Hotel and Golf Club on June 2, 2013 in
Galloway, New Jersey.
Stockton Seaview Resort - Bay CourseGalloway, New Jersey
Wednesday Pre-Tournament Notes
May 28, 2014
Rolex Rankings No. 1, Inbee Park
Rolex Rankings No. 10, Michelle WieRolex Rankings No. 12, Lizette Salas
CAREER YEAR BUT WIE STILL HASN’T PEAKED
Michelle Wie’s got a win to go with seven top-10s in only 10 starts this year and her worst finish of the year is tied for 16th. But in her mind, this is just a start to where her game’s heading.
“I definitely feel like I haven’t peaked yet,’ Wie said. “I definitely want to get better and better. I just want to take small steps every day, just get a little bit better each and every day and definitely don’t slack.”
Wie said she’s enjoyed playing well even more because after experiencing what she considered a low point to her career in 2012 that she’s had to work back from. Even though she first played this tournament 10 years ago as an amateur, it’s easy to forget that she’s only 24 years old.
“It’s fun when you work hard and practice hard and you see results. So this year it’s been a lot of fun and definitely motivating me to work even harder just because it’s fun to play well,” she said.
Rolex Rankings No. 10, Michelle Wie
THE MODERATOR: All right. It is my pleasure to welcome in Rolex Rankings No. 10 now, Michelle Wie, here into the interview room at the ShopRite LPGA Classic. Michelle, congratulations on such a great year so far. You moved up two spots into the Rolex Rankings cracking into the Top 10. There's been a lot of highlights for your year so far, but what have you been most proud of so far?
MICHELLE WIE: I'm just going out there and working hard, and I just want to get better and better every week. And it's fun. It's fun when you work hard and practice hard and you kind of see results. So this year it's been a lot of fun and definitely motivating me to work even harder just because it's fun to play well.
Q. Korda just became the eighth American to win on tour, really staggering statistics, so everybody's been saying what's wrong with the Americans the past couple of years? Where do you think this resurgence is coming from?
MICHELLE WIE: I just think we have a lot of great American players; all of the young American players, you got Lexi, Korda, Lizette, and you know, I just think that we ‑‑ I don't know. I think we motivate each other.
It's nice to see some people win. It makes me want to win, and I think we just definitely push each other, definitely. You know, when we play well, we definitely congratulate each other. Definitely a big team. We're definitely excited for Solheim.
THE MODERATOR: Now, you played well here last year; tied for ninth. It was your best finish at this event. You opened with a 68. You feel comfortable on this course? How does it feel coming back here to Seaview?
MICHELLE WIE: It's a great golf course. My caddie and I were talking about this a lot, too. It's almost a good practice for Pinehurst, because they're both Donald Ross, and I'm definitely taking that into consideration playing this golf course, kind of getting a feel for Donald Ross golf courses.
It's a great golf course. It's tough. It's not your really easy golf course. The heather is up this year. The rough is up. It's in great condition this year again. It just depends on the weather. But I'm really excited for this week.
THE MODERATOR: Questions for Michelle.
Q. Michelle, how much work has it taken to get your game to this point, and how rewarding is it for you after the struggles you went through after getting out of college?
MICHELLE WIE: Yeah. I just ‑‑ I put in a lot of hours, put a lot of sweat ‑‑ cliche, sweat tears and blood into it. But you know, it's fine. I definitely feel like I haven't peaked yet. I definitely want to get better and better.
I just want to take small steps every day, just get a little bit better each and every day, and definitely don't slack. I just want to keep working hard. I'm really enjoying it, so it's been a lot of fun.
Q. I know you probably saw the news about Lucy making the U.S. Open cut, beating your record a couple of weeks ago, I guess, for the U.S. Amateur Public Links by about a week as far as the youngest golfer. What do you think about having such a young golfer?
MICHELLE WIE: She did? Really?
Q. Yes, she did. By seven whole days. I'm sorry to tell you.
MICHELLE WIE: I'm crushed.
Q. Only seven days. Only seven days. But you've been in her shoes, so to speak. You were just talking about the young golfers coming up. I mean, one, I guess, how young is too young, but also what advice maybe would you have for her as she's coming up? So young in this world?
MICHELLE WIE: I think it's great. It's really funny. I watched the Drive, Chip and Putt, and I remember I was like ‑‑ then I saw her I was like, hey, she looks familiar. But I think it's really cool. I'm really excited for her. I think she's going to have a great experience.
You know, it's almost like I just want her to go out there and just absorb it all in and just have fun, you know. I think it's a great age to go out there, just play without any pressure, and you know, she's a great player. Hopefully I can meet her. But it's going to be great.
THE MODERATOR: Someone said she should be paired up with Laura Davies for the U.S. Open, maybe get a 50‑year‑old and an 11‑year‑old.
MICHELLE WIE: Throw Juli in the mix? (Laughs).
Q. Michelle, a lot of people put expectations on you. I'm sure you had high expectations for yourself. How did you deal mentally when you were struggling a little bit to not maybe meet those expectations?
MICHELLE WIE: You know, it's tough. You know, I definitely had ‑‑ I have very high expectations of myself, and then also everyone had expectations of myself as well, too.
But you know, there's really nothing you can control. The only thing you can control is how much effort you put into it, how hard you work, and you can only really control yourself.
And you know, a lot of times when you're struggling it's tough. You know, it's hard to kind of keep working hard at it, but I just kept believing in myself. My coach believed in me. My family believed in me, my fans and everyone supported me.
You know, just go out there and just live your life and have fun playing golf. You know, it's a great game. I'm really lucky to be able to do it for a living. So I just go out there, count my blessings every day, and I'm just so grateful that I'm healthy and playing golf and out here having fun.
Q. Is there a specific part of your game that's better now than it was a year ago? Just everything? What's been the biggest change, the biggest thing you've improved on?
MICHELLE WIE: You know, I've just been improving on everything. That's kind of what I've always been working on. If I work on one thing too much, then the other thing kind of fails, so you just have to kind of work on everything at all times.
Q. Michelle, so does it feel like a decade since you first came here and played in the Pro‑Am as an amateur?
MICHELLE WIE: Feels like a million years ago. But I mean it's pretty cool. I mean last year I came here, they're like, oh, happy ten‑year anniversary. I was like, excuse me? (Laughs). But it's pretty cool. There's a lot of great memories here, and it's good to come back.
THE MODERATOR: I think they ran an interview with Kay maybe?
MICHELLE WIE: I don't know.
THE MODERATOR: Yeah. It was cute. I'll put it that way. (Laughs).
Q. Obviously you've been in the spotlight for half your life really. How has being in the spot light and getting so much attention at an early age, how has that affected you through your life and how has it influenced the woman you are today?
MICHELLE WIE: I definitely think I grew up a lot faster, but at the same time I kind of have like two sides of me, like when I was at school, I was completely immature, like immature 13‑ year‑old, and when I was out here, you know, you learn to speak in front of the press and to be around older players and be around pro am partners and everything, so definitely felt like I grew up, it was kind of like this where I was becoming more immature off the golf course and more mature on the course.
But it was fine. I don't really pay attention to any of the media or anything. I don't read anything. I still don't.
But you know, it was tough at times. It wasn't all easy. But at the same time, you know, I think that being in the spotlight at such a young age, it definitely gave me a lot of opportunities, and I'm forever grateful for that.
Q. I also wanted to ask you how things changed after you graduated from Stanford. What did that four years, how did that affect you? In a positive way, obviously.
MICHELLE WIE: Yeah. I mean going to Stanford, it was the four best years of my life, definitely. I learned so much about myself and got to meet so many cool people. And just being able to achieve one of my biggest dreams, going to Stanford, getting my degree from Stanford was one of my biggest dreams growing up and just to be able to check that off my checklist was pretty amazing for me.
Q. When you look back and having so much of your career still ahead of you, would you change anything, if you had a do‑over?
MICHELLE WIE: No, I mean no. I mean I'm not saying that every decision I did, everything I did was perfect and I made no mistakes. I've made plenty of mistakes, but at the same time, you know, I'm glad I made those mistakes just because I learned so much from them.
I think they're all experience. Everything happens for a reason. And you know, I think everything happened for the best. Even my downs and my ups, you know, I think that I appreciate everything so much more just because I went through such a big low. So I'm not taking anything for granted. You know, just playing well, being healthy, you know, everything, I'm so much more grateful for it.
So you know, I'm probably going to make a ton of mistakes in the future, but there's really nothing I can do about it. I'm just going to take risks and just try to live my life.
Q. Looking ahead to Pinehurst, what are your thoughts on the double dip, both tournaments playing back to back?
MICHELLE WIE: I'm excited. I'm really excited about it, because I think hopefully we'll have a lot more galleries out there, a lot more fans will stay through the men's event and kind of into ours.
I think that it's going to be very interesting. I think that if it is successful, it definitely opens up the door for us for the future. Maybe we can play Merion, play Beth Page. It opens the door for us. I think it's a really interesting concept, and I'm real excited.
Q. What are your thoughts on the tournament itself? Do you love it? Does it frustrate you? Just the demands of the Open.
MICHELLE WIE: I love the Open. The U.S. Open is definitely one of my favorites out of the year. It's definitely one of the tournaments that I put the most pressure on myself. I get the most nervous for it. So this year I'm going to try not to get nervous about it, try not to feel so much pressure, but definitely winning the U.S. Open is definitely one of my biggest goals.
Q. And sort of sticking to Pinehurst, the greens, the way the ball runs off, if a lot of people miss greens in regulation, that's usually the case. Does it help you, does that hurt you that style?
MICHELLE WIE: I think length always helps at U. S. Opens, but at the same time it's all about placement, I think, especially because of the Donald Ross golf course. The greens may be big.
I talked to a lot of the guys about this. They said the greens are really big, but the places where you can hit it on the green are really small. So I think it's just being accurate, being really accurate, being consistent all week.
And I think U. S. Open just kind of have to like par is a great score. USGA always likes to trick it out with long par‑3s or difficult pins, but I think it'll be very fair, and I think it'll be a fun, challenging week. It's going to be a long week.
Q. Michelle, looking back on it, just how difficult was it to be ‑‑ to go to Stanford, get a degree and be a professional golfer at the same time and now that, you know, you've got that degree, is it easier for you out here now without having college in the back of your mind all the time?
MICHELLE WIE: Yeah. When I went at school, I didn't think it was that difficult, but looking back on it now, I have no idea how I did it. I mean it was pretty ridiculous of me to do it.
But you know, it was fun. I definitely learned ‑‑ I think I was very fortunate that I never ‑‑ I never procrastinated ever in school. Ever since middle school, elementary school, I was always get my homework assignment, I do it that day. So that really helped me in college.
But you know, professors helped me out a lot, and it was fine. It was okay. But looking back on it now, my life is so much easier now not having to study or not having to go to school and just kind of molding my schedule however I want to.
Q. Michelle, back to Pinehurst, do you have any concerns, though, about playing on the course for the second week, the condition that it might be in or divots? Have you thought about that?
MICHELLE WIE: No, not really. I think that, you know, the USGA told us that ‑‑ well, they want ‑‑ if they want the men to hit 7‑irons into the greens, they want us to hit 7‑irons as well, which puts us in different landing areas completely.
There may be some divots around the green, but for the most part I don't think we'll be hitting a lot of flop shots. I think we'll be putting from off the green or bump‑and‑run, so there won't be that many divots, I don't think.
But who knows. This is definitely the first time. So I don't know what will happen, but it's definitely going to be very interesting.
Link to Article:www.lpga.com/golf/news/2014/5/shoprite-wed-notes.aspx
