U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 21, 2014

Michelle Wie West

MIKE TROSTEL: Welcome back to the 2014 Women's Open. Michelle Wie, a 2-over 72 today. Three birdies, three bogeys, one double bogey, for a 54-hole total of 2-under, 208. Tied with Amy Yang for the third round lead heading into tomorrow. Michelle, you were tied for the lead through 54 holes in 2005 and 2006. And here we are a little bit later, just talk about what you're going to be thinking about tonight going into tomorrow.

MICHELLE WIE: Well, I'm going to try to sleep as much as I can. But, yeah I'm excited. I'm just so grateful for the opportunity that I have, just to have a chance to. I feel like I'm in a really great spot. So, yeah, I'm just really happy. I'm excited for tomorrow.

MIKE TROSTEL: Let's go through the card. You bogeyed 1 for the second time. Take us through what happened there.

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I hit a good tee shot, just over cut -- I was kind of in a sandy area, just over cut it a little bit. Then had a really good chip. Then I had about like a five foot putt and I played it left-to-right and it went dead straight, so missed it.

MIKE TROSTEL: Then you par 2, go on to 3 and you made a nice putt there.

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I hit a four hybrid and then I hit a wedge to about 15, 12 feet and then I made that one.

MIKE TROSTEL: Then a string of pars. And you go to the ninth hole and make a birdie there as well.

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I hit an 8-iron in there. I had about probably about like an eight foot putt.

MIKE TROSTEL: Then 10, the par-5, reached it in two.

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, hit a driver and then I hit an 8-iron to the green. And then I had about like a 60 foot putt and 2-putted from there.

MIKE TROSTEL: Then the swing got away from you a little bit for a couple holes on the 11th.

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, just a driver got a little shaky for a couple holes. I just went into places that I really shouldn't have gone to. Yeah, just made it really difficult for myself the next couple holes.

MIKE TROSTEL: But you really collected yourself nicely and ended up with four straight pars. Just talk about how you, how proud you are of finishing the round strong with four pars.

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, for sure. My swing definitely got away from me for a little bit. Tempo was a little bit off. I hit one left and next one I hit one right. But I just kind of went out on 13 and talked to my caddie and I was like, just start over, just focus on what I focused on on the front nine. And, yeah, swing felt really great coming in. So, yeah.

MIKE TROSTEL: Great. Let's open it up to questions.

Q. A lot was made about the reformation of the course. Has there been anything as you've come to play Pinehurst that's surprised you at all about the way the course has played?
MICHELLE WIE: No, not really. I never played Pinehurst before, I never played it before they changed it, so I really didn't have any expectations of what was going to happen. It's a great golf course. Every time I look on to the tee or have a moment to look back from the green, I just think to myself how awesome it is. It's a really great golf course. It's a tough challenge. You've got to hit good shots, but it's a fun golf course. It's really exciting that I got to watch the guys play on Sunday, talk to Mike and Tom about it and then they kind of followed us today. They were with our group. It's really cool just to see the whole circle of everything. So, yeah, I'm having a lot of fun.

Q. How helpful and/or refreshing has it been not to be under the radar the first, until maybe today because of the Lucy Li show?
MICHELLE WIE: I really didn't pay attention to it at all. I didn't even notice anything. I kind of just took a blind eye to everything. Lucy Li, she's just so great. I watched a couple holes yesterday and she's got a great game. She's got a really bright future ahead of her. I had a lot of fun watching her play. It looked like she came out and watched me play today, which was really cool. I kind of ran into her in the locker room, and talked to her for a little bit. Seemed like she had quite a bit of fun out there. So hopefully she will come out tomorrow.

Q. How much do you think it helps today, I mean this being a completely different tournament than Kraft in terms of what's required to have gone through somewhat of a cauldron today, how much does that help you tomorrow, do you think?
MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I think it definitely helped knowing -- just kind of getting that out of my system a little bit. I just grinded today, grinded really hard, I grinded the last three days. That's the way you have to do it on this golf course. Even when things aren't going well, you've just got to just start all over again and just make some pars, try and make some birdies, just keep grinding. It's a tough golf course, it's a battle out there. It's going to be like that tomorrow again, I'm sure. So I'm going to just keep grinding it out.

Q. Is it all surprising when you look up at a leaderboard and see Inkster who is like a billion years old in third place?
MICHELLE WIE: I wouldn't call it a billion years old, she's probably a million years old. (Laughter.) But I kind of read a quote earlier, I think, somewhere, heard someone tell me that this is probably her last U.S. Open. So I saw at 4-under today I was like, yeah, right. You know. She's got a lot of years left in her. She's definitely someone that I really look up to, especially in the fact that she's a fighter. Every time I play with her, every time I watch her play, she's just -- she's a true fighter out on the golf course. Even if she plays bad or well, she fights, she plays her heart out, and that's something that I really look forward to and that's something hopefully I'll take tomorrow and I'll do.

Q. What do you think you'll be doing when you're 53 years old?
MICHELLE WIE: I don't know. Probably not playing in a U.S. Open. I don't know. That's a long way from now.

Q. What's it like to hold a 54-hole lead or a share of it in a Women's Open? Is it fun or is it torture?
MICHELLE WIE: No, it's definitely a lot of fun. I'm really excited for tomorrow. I'm really excited that I have another opportunity. It's just fun. I love being in contention, I love feeling nervous on the first tee, I love that whole -- every shot really counts, whether you miss it or make it. I'm just -- I just love it. I love the feeling the nerves. That just means I really want it. It's fun. It's exactly why I started playing golf is to have these opportunities and I'm just really grateful for another one.

Q. Just curious on, it was on 11, I guess it was, was that your only play that was backwards or sideways, backwards, whatever that was?
MICHELLE WIE: The second shot?

Q. In the trees, yeah.
MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, that was the only way out.

Q. On 12, when you were on that little sandy path, could you have taken kind of a low chipper over the bunker and run it up?
MICHELLE WIE: Yeah.

Q. What was your thinking on going a conservative route there?
MICHELLE WIE: Well, if I had went low and over the bunker, then it would have gone way past the green. I just wouldn't have been able to stop it. It's just, the amount of how low I had to hit it and how much I had to carry it, it just would have left me a really difficult shot. I left myself a good position, and I just thought the chip was going to release a little bit more. But, yeah, it was a situation, I mean U.S. Opens are tough. I feel like maybe on a different golf course I would have taken that chance, but just, you just don't want to be too greedy out here. Even though you make bogey, sometimes you just don't want to make a double out here. I felt like I made the right decision there. It was just too low of a shot, the bunker was too far away. If the bunker was like maybe 20 yards closer then I would have had a chance to stop it. But it would have gone just way past the green.

Q. In the final round of a Major, in contention, I assume it's a little more difficult to try to stay in the moment and over the years have you, as you matured, have you come up with a mechanism to do that or in what way have you come up to deal with that in a better way?
MICHELLE WIE: Well, kind of created a new way after I turned 21, but I just kind of go out there and just try to sleep well. (Laughter.) But, yeah, just try not to think about it. Just like I said, I think that at Kraft, I talked to Meg Mallon the night before my final round and I texted her and I was like, I'm really nervous, I can't go to bed, I can't do anything. And that's when she told me how exciting it is. She's like, oh, well how, how exciting that you are feeling that nervous. So every time I feel nervous I just know that I'm excited and I just know that I really want it, but, yeah, I just try to watch movies, try to watch shows, just try not to think about it or I'll think about it for a little bit, but, yeah, there's really no real science to it, I guess there should be, but, yeah, just kind of just go with it, I guess.

Q. Sequel to his question, do you find it now as you become more mature, do you find it easier or more difficult to deal with the moment, pressure wise?
MICHELLE WIE: I think both. I think that just -- I think I'm better prepared. I think I know what to expect and how to handle situations. When I practice I try to create situations like this. Obviously, it's completely different. But, yeah, kind of just going back to what I said before, I'm just really excited. I'm just really grateful for another opportunity and that's really all I can ask for. I just put myself in a really great position today, I'm just going to go out there and I can't control the field, I can't control what anyone else does, but I know for a fact that I'm going to go out there and play my hardest and no matter what happens, I know at the end of the day that's what's going to happen.

Q. What did you say to Amy in Korean there as you came in?
MICHELLE WIE: I just told her that she played well today.

Q. And what do you know about her and her game?
MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, Amy and I are pretty good friends. We played a lot in tournament rounds. I played with her the first two days. She's just a really consistent player. She barely misses a fairway, she rarely misses a green, she's a great putter, she's really just really consistent. She was striking the ball really well this week, she's rolling the ball really well. I think she took some time off this year, she took four weeks off, so I think she's just feeling really fresh, really motivated. But, yeah, it's going to be a fun day tomorrow. I really like playing with her.

Q. Curious, you like your life? You're happy, you're having fun working hard, would you agree?
MICHELLE WIE: Yeah.

Q. All right. Just clear that up. So when you were say 15 or 16, is this where you always imagined you would be at 24 or did you have any idea what you wanted to be when you were 15 or 16?
MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I mean this is exactly where I wanted to be. That's why I work hard, I want to be in positions like this. I want to be in the final pairing of the U.S. Open and it's just great. It's really, I think it's more and more motivating that when I play well that I want to work harder. When I was 15 and 16 I think kind of the troubles that I came into when I was younger is that I tried to plan my life and a lot of times things don't happen the way they should or the way they should in my mind. So I'm just kind of going out there living it day by day. Just a lot of fun when hard work pays off. I'm really excited for tomorrow.

Q. Were you planning your life when you were 15 or 16?
MICHELLE WIE: Oh, yeah, don't you all? I did.

Q. How important to you was your Stanford degree and did it interfere with your game? Did it hurt your game or did it make your game better that you've, that you took the time to go to school to get your degree?
MICHELLE WIE: Going to Stanford was like one of my biggest goals growing up. It was my biggest dream ever since I was a little girl, ever since I can remember I really wanted to get into Stanford, I really wanted to get my degree. I won twice while I was at Stanford. Obviously now being away from school and having all this time, not having to worry about final exams, I have to say, my life is a lot easier. I made it really difficult for myself for a couple of years. But at the same time it's the best four and a half years of my life. The people that I met, the friends that I made, the professors that I had, everything that I learned, it was just -- I would -- it's a priceless memory for me, those four and a half years. I learned a lot. I definitely want to go back to school at some point in my life. Not any time soon, don't worry. But definitely want to go back and get my Masters or something. School is just something always that I love. I love studying, which is really weird. I love making PowerPoints. I love taking notes. I love all that. So it definitely made life a little bit difficult, but it's great.

MIKE TROSTEL: Michelle Wie, thank you very much for coming in, 2-under, 208, and tied for the lead.

MICHELLE WIE: Thank you.

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