ARAMCO TEAM SERIES - BANGKOK ROUND ONE MEDIA CONFERENCE

April 26, 2022

Moriya Jutanugarn

Ariya Jutanugarn

Thai Country Club

Preview Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Thank you to everyone for joining us today, especially to our two guests, Moriya and Ariya, the Jutanugarn sisters, calling in from LA. We're absolutely delighted to have you on the call today ahead of the first ever Aramco Team Series Bangkok event taking place in the city, at the Thai Country Club, May 12th to the 14th. I'll just open it up and ask you both some questions about the tournament, and after that we'll open up the questions to anyone on the floor.

Moriya, how excited are you to be playing in next month's Aramco Team Series Bangkok?

MORIYA JUTANUGARN: Well, for me I have experience playing Aramco Team Series like in Spain last year. I think I had a great experience at the tournament in Spain. I loved the event.

I really liked everything. I really enjoyed it. It's one of my favourite weeks last year actually. Especially like we had a tournament in Thailand in our home country in a very nice golf course, nice conditions, in the same format as a team. Actually I'm very excited to play in Thailand this time.

ARIYA JUTANUGARN: It's just like really easy this time for me to be one of the players to play in this event because since last time my sister went to play in Spain, and she told me how is everything. So I'm like, wow, I'm so excited. I told her since then, one day I want to have a chance to play the event, and this is really special for me. It's going to be the first time in Thailand, and that golf course is such a great golf course. We've been playing that like a few times every year.

I think it's going to be one of my favourite events to play, of course, and from what I heard from my sister, I can't wait to be there.

Q. Playing back home, does it feel any different to you both? Obviously you play around the world. You play in the States. When you're back playing in Thailand, is your mindset in any way different? Are you more relaxed? Are you a bit more nervous? How do you feel when you play back home in Thailand?

ARIYA JUTANUGARN: I would say I feel more excited to see all the fans in Thailand. We always know the support from the fans that they've been giving to us since we played in Thailand like 10 years ago, and we always feel that. I just feel like it's really home-home. You feel home all the time when you play in Thailand. They just keep showing you the support. That moment can't get away.

MORIYA JUTANUGARN: Yeah, for me same. When you play in Thailand, it's more exciting about -- of course seeing all the fans that give us support since we are younger, and of course like to see friends and family, they come and support you at the tournament. It's just like that kind of thing makes us feel like home.

Q. Just on that, Ariya especially, you've had great success in Thailand with your win at the Honda event. What has it meant to you to achieve success like that as a Thai player in Thailand?

ARIYA JUTANUGARN: I would say to me like one of the tournaments that I really want to win is like really in my home country, and that one is my dream. Last year is like my dream come true because I feel like I've been waiting for so long, since like 2013, and finally I've been able to win in my home country. That is like really special for me.

Q. Just on the different format of the ATS events, Aramco Team Series events, two days of team golf but at the same time three days of individual golf. Moriya, you've obviously played in one of these events before. Do you go in with a different mindset? Obviously you play week in, week out as an individual player. What kind of mindset do you go into those events with?

MORIYA JUTANUGARN: I guess it's like you get on a team and you have an individual, as well. As a team it's like -- basically individual spot, like you just do everything. But this has two different formats. But most of the time you have (indiscernible) help the team. So I think it's more like you get along with your team, trying to help each other, but in this time just focus on what you have to do.

ARIYA JUTANUGARN: To me I never played this format before, but I find it's pretty fun because you have a chance to play with another professional and you have a chance to play with the amateur. I think it's going to be a really fun format, and you have to kind of make like a bit of team leader, you have to focus on what you want to do for the team also, so that's really interesting for me.

Q. It's obviously something you don't do too often as professional players, but how much do you enjoy playing team golf?

ARIYA JUTANUGARN: I would say we have really good experience playing team golf. We played team events last year together and we won. To me I think it's just a different experience but it's so much fun. You have to think about what's going to be good for your team, good for your partner. I think we just have to plan it and you have another strategy to deal with it.

MORIYA JUTANUGARN: Yeah, I think playing as a team is like you have to support your team. You have to support each other. But you know, in a team event it's more like a major, as well; sometimes they actually help us a lot, they support us. That's the fun of this event.

Q. As part of the event, as part of the Aramco Team Series Bangkok, I think you'll both be team captains and do an NFL-style draft. If you were recommending each other to other potential captains, Moriya, why should someone like Ariya as a teammate?

MORIYA JUTANUGARN: Well, I don't know. If you're going to pick her as a teammate you have to like make sure you have a lot of patience. Out there it could be really fun or like it's going to be crazy golf.

Q. Ariya, what does Moriya bring to a team?

ARIYA JUTANUGARN: You know, she's really consistent. Like if you really want to go for it you're going to have a good teammate because she'll have your back. She's not going to really make much bogeys. She always knows how to get up-and-down from pretty tough situations, whatever. But she's really consistent. I think that's the really best thing from her. So I think if you have her you're not going to have to worry about anything, just play your own golf game.

Q. The Aramco Team Series is a new format. It's a new way of doing things. As two big-name golfing superstars, do you like to see new ideas and new approaches and innovation? Do you like to see stuff like this coming in as a way of growing the game?

MORIYA JUTANUGARN: I mean, of course. Like playing tournaments every week, and every week it's the same. It's kind of like we've been doing a lot of that. But it's to do something different, get to play as a team. And like as a captain for the team you have to like take responsibility for your team, you have to support them and you have to kind of give them some -- like a tip or something to make this team good.

I really like the format. I really like what's different about this tournament, about the team series.

I just feel like I really enjoy it from my experience last time, and I still really think it's a good format.

ARIYA JUTANUGARN: I feel like we're pretty lucky that golf we can do so many things with it. You're not only like play individual and like this is going to be the only one format for the rest of the golf tournament so we can do something different. Like as a partner we played last year or as a team. So I think that's a really interesting -- like with golf because you can do so much things with that.

To me I think this is one of the good ways to show that we can do so many different ways to have a golf tournament.

Q. Ariya, I just wanted to ask you, I know winning tournaments is very important and you have been able to win tournaments in Thailand. But how about inspiring other youngsters and players, and how do you guys feel when you know youngsters like Atthaya (Thitikul) and other people, even male golfers, come up and say that we are inspired by Ariya and Moriya? How important is that part of the game to you that you are able to inspire other players?

ARIYA JUTANUGARN: I want to say growing up with like I want to be able to inspire the kids in Thailand, and right now when they say, oh, I'm really inspiring them, to me it's like Atthaya, Patty (Tavatanakit), I feel like they really inspire me to be a better golfer, to be a better person, the way they work so hard to actually -- they go, they do everything they can to be great golfers. To me that is really inspiring for me.

Q. Ariya, I know a year ago after you won in Thailand you said you'd seriously thought about quitting the game. Fast forward a year, I wanted to see where your head space is at now. How are you feeling about the game at the moment?

ARIYA JUTANUGARN: I want to say of course I'm a bit of a struggle about my game, but I feel like it's kind of just another challenging for me because I feel like in my golf game it's always up and down, so of course it's not my best game or it's not my up right now, so I think a challenge is how I'm going to get myself back to where I want to be or like be able to play well.

I think it's kind of fun. The outcome is not the way you want, but it's just another one because I've been like fighting every day. I wake up with my little goal every day, what I'm going to make myself proud today to reach my bigger goal. So I think I'm kind of in that way right now. So of course I'm not my best right now, but it's just try to improve myself every day.

Q. To both of you, there seems to be a lot more successful female golfers come from Thailand than male golfers. What do you think is the secret to success behind women's golf in Thailand?

ARIYA JUTANUGARN: Maybe secret, no secret. When you start to love this game, I feel like you can put everything and do everything for that. I think that's a key to be successful. You have to be happy first, and then as soon as you're happy you can do whatever.

MORIYA JUTANUGARN: I think just what she said. You have to love it. You have to love the game, and when you love it, you really want it. When it's become your dream, you just want to do everything to reach your goal and your dream.

I think it's not like a secret, I think.

Q. We've just had a mixed event on the Ladies European Tour and the Asian Tour where everybody is competing for the same title, same purse money. Do you think there should be more things like this where the boys and the girls are mixing it together?

ARIYA JUTANUGARN: Of course because I felt like we work hard, and I know the guys work hard, but we also work really hard. I think it's like everything -- but right now I think women's golf is getting better and better because lots of people try to support us and are helping us. I can see the way that it keeps going up and I really appreciate that.

Q. Obviously because you've got a bit of a sibling rivalry, do you guys try to outdo each other, or do you always help each other?

ARIYA JUTANUGARN: I would say both.

MORIYA JUTANUGARN: Just kind of both.

ARIYA JUTANUGARN: We try to help each other a lot, but also we're really competitive. When we practice I want to beat her, and she wants to beat me. Some tournaments it's like I'm going to play better than you, before we go out, and I'm like, if I beat you today you have to -- but that's kind of like for fun. But I think most of the time we help each other because we kind of have like same -- I feel like no one understands me more than my sister, so that helps.

MORIYA JUTANUGARN: It's not like helping but it's more like support. You know, to play, to be a golfer, a professional golfer, you're on the road all the time, travelling a lot, and you're not always home. You're not always -- I feel like when you have support from who you love or who really close to you, it's very important. I think that's very -- I think I take it it's very lucky of me having her support her on the road. Because our careers are pretty much the same, we do the same thing, we play professional golf, so if I need help or I need someone to talk to, no one is going to understand me more than my sister for sure. So I think that's what I think I'm really lucky about.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you all very, very much. Moriya, Ariya, thank you so much for your time today. It's been fantastic speaking to you, and thank you for taking all our questions and the questions from our Thai media. I'm sure I speak for us all in saying we can't wait to see you at the Aramco Team Series in Bangkok.