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MARATHON CLASSIC PRESENTED BY OWENS CORNING AND O-IJuly 15, 2014Mo MartinSYLVANIA, OHIO MODERATOR: It's my pleasure to welcome in the newest major champion on the LPGA Tour and the Ricoh Women's British Open winner, Mo Martin. I want to say I'm sure it's been quite a whirlwind in the past 48 hours, but just give us a recap on what's been going on. I know you had some travel issues. I guess airlines don't have any bias towards major champs. Take us through the last 48 hours. MO MARTIN: It's definitely been a whirlwind. I didn't get done until pretty late on Sunday, and then I was headed into Manchester. So got packed up and ready to go Monday morning and flew into Canada. I hadn't even turned my phone on. When I eventually did get here ‑‑ I mean, my next flight was a little bit delayed so didn't get here until about midnight. Turned my phone on and it kind of exploded everybody just congratulating me. That was really, really nice to hear. I've been touched by so many people. It's been really nice. MODERATOR:  Any surprises on the reach or texts or anyone called that you that you thought, Oh, my gosh, I can't believe that? MO MARTIN: I said a couple times woodwork, so people have really come out and touched base that I haven't heard from in a long time. But that's been really nice, too. A lot of good memories there. The most surprising is I got a signed letter by Arnold Palmer, so that was super. I actually went back and found a photo of him and I. I think I must have been 10 years old in Pasadena at Brookside. I'm going to send that back to him and say... MODERATOR: Sign it. MO MARTIN: Yeah. He set a good example. He was always so kind and signed everything. Every time I saw him he had a smile on his face and time for everybody. MODERATOR: Very cool. Now I know on Twitter just from following, and outpour of congratulations from your fellow tour pros. I know everyone always says, Oh, my gosh, no one deserves this more than you and everyone was so happy. How does that come into play where you can just see how much the rest of the tour was happy for and your career at this point to have such a big win? MO MARTIN: It's been incredible to have that support. And then to have my fellow competitors come out and support me too on Sunday too on the back nine, that felt really nice. I think the respect is mutual. I respect everybody out here so much, too. I've had such a lovely time and everybody has been so nice to me. I think that goes both ways. MODERATOR: They said it was probably about an hour wait when you finished. Did it feel more like two, three hours? I know Kyle was in the range with you; you were trying to pass time. Take us through that almost 60 Minutes of your life, and did it really feel like 60 minutes? MO MARTIN: Well, I got done. I knew the eagle was going to be a big deal. When I got done, I was hoping at best for a playoff because I knew I had great competitors behind me coming down the stretch. I thought at best in a playoff I had a chance to win. I talked to Kyle and I said, You know what? I don't want to see any of the coverage. I don't want to look at it. I'm going to go to the back of the locker room for a couple minutes eat a bar, eat a banana and get ready to go get warmed up again. So that's what I did. Didn't turn on a TV, my phone. Just went and had about 15 minutes, and then I went to the putting green and basically started my warmup again. It was a little bit chilly, and so I wanted to stay warm. I really wanted to time it so I would be able to go right back to the tee in a playoff. My mindset was just going over 18 again. I didn't know if I was going to be in a playoff with one, two, three people. I didn't know what was going to happen. Just tried to stay in the moment. Kyle, my caddie, has been fantastic in helping me do that. I think that's one of the things we do the best. MODERATOR: Perfect. Open it up for questions. Q. What were you thinking on the second shot at the last hole? What was going through your mind? MO MARTIN:  Well, when I got down, I saw that the lie, it was a little bit downhill, a little bit left to right, so I knew the shot I needed to play. There was quite a bit of downwind, so I knew it was going to be a perfect 3‑wood. I aimed that shot very far left. So just committed to that line, held it up, a little bit of a draw. When I hit it, I executed it exactly how I wanted to, so I was happy with that. I thought it was going to be too much actually, so I said sit ‑‑ or I said, Go and then I said, Sit. It was just looking better and better. I heard it hit the pin. At that point I couldn't believe it was such a great result. I did everything I could to put the best swing on it I could, but worked out better than I thought. Q. How did you calm yourself for the putt and get yourself steadied over that? MO MARTIN: Still just very much in the moment, just focused on the next shot. Just trying not to think about what it was worth. I knew it was going to be a big deal, but just read it and put my best stroke on it and it went in. MODERATOR: Maybe with some good shots again this week we'll get to see that dance again. Maybe not the shot, but the jig. It was pretty spectacular. MO MARTIN: I have to admit I thought at that point that the cameras wouldn't be on me anymore. I looked at Kyle, I was like, Okay, this is my moment to celebrate. I don't know what that was, but I've got to admit I love to dance. It just came out. MODERATOR: It was perfect timing. Q. Have you kind of reflected on the win? Have your goals changed at all for the rest of the year? Trying to achieve maybe another major? MO MARTIN: Wow, that's a thought. No, I haven't had much time to process it all. Really just been this morning. Yesterday, travel day, I was exhausted and my phone was off. Just trying to get through the travel day. I don't think my goals will particularly change. They were set for the year. So just going to keep going and keep playing the best I can and see where that goes. I hope it continues to surprise me. Q. First a comment and then a question. I don't miss a swing on the LPGA Tour, whether I'm at a tournament or watching on TV, and I have to say that I don't think I ever remember‑‑ first I hate to admit that I had tears in my eyes at the end of it, but you had to. I don't think I ever saw such a sincere group of people come up to you at the end. You could just see how happy everybody was for you. It brought a tear to my eye, really did. MO MARTIN: Thanks. Q. Just a quick question: How does it feel knowing that you were No. 99 in the world one day and 26 the next? MO MARTIN: I actually just saw that a couple hours ago. That too is still processing. It's a mighty big leap. But my mindset doesn't change. I mean, I'm not much of a numbers person, so I'm going to keep doing the same things. I'm very lucky to have the support I do out here. I'm surrounded by phenomenal people and athletes. Everybody out here impresses me so much. MODERATOR: I know one of the themes last week, everybody said, 5'2" Mo Martin, one of the shortest ones off the tee. Your nickname growing up was Mighty Mo. I know there are a lot of monikers going around about how you're such a fighter and have such an attitude about bringing on any challenge. When did that attitude start that you were never too small or short off the tee, that you knew you could get to this point in your career and now a major champ? MO MARTIN: I think when it comes down to it, I'm incredibly stubborn. That's determined in another light. If there is something I want to do, I mean, where there is a will there is a way. I know that from experience, and so I think I'm just stubborn. That's what it comes down to. MODERATOR: Anything off the golf course that we would say, All right, super competitive, or stubborn in certain ways we would say, Let's not mess with Mo on this? MO MARTIN: No, I just feel like if I'm determined to get something done or if I make my mind up, I feel like my word should be gold. And it is. I've had wonderful examples of that. I think my grandpa was the truest example, and I saw that lived out ever say. If I saw I am going to do something, nothing is going to get in my way. I think it's just a general attitude I have towards my life. I think everybody out here is competitive. This is the most challenging game there is, so everybody out here is extremely competitive. Yeah, I am definitely, but I am also a huge fan of everybody out here as well. Just trying to do the best for me. MODERATOR: Cool. I know someone said you were one of the players that paid your dues. You went to college; Symetra Tour for six years. Do you think the experience of going through college and developing on the Symetra Tour, how much has that influenced your career up to this point? MO MARTIN: It's 100% made me the person and player I am today. That was my journey. Everybody has a different journey. Somebody asked me when did I think I was going to turn professional. I said, I don't ever really remember making that decision. I was kind of always going based on, okay, what's next. Going to college I knew I needed to get a scholarship and I knew wanted my degree. So I did that. Then I started becoming more and more successful, so it was like, Okay, well maybe if I find the funds, find a sponsor, maybe I can do it. So I did it. I remember going my first professional event, and I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't really have anybody guiding me through it, so I fumbled through it. I actually forgot to register at my first event, so it's a long way... MODERATOR: I was going to say, you made it a long way from that. MO MARTIN: That was just my journey. Q. You beat around out here for a couple years now, even longer with the Symetra Tour. Did you feel something coming at all before last week? Did you sense that your game was on the brink of something like that? MO MARTIN: This year has been progressing, getting better and better. You know what's funny? My caddie and I were meshing really, really the whole week. We were kind of making jokes about that. We accidentally held hands a couple times, so we were making jokes that we were just, I don't know, we had something going on. Clearly we made a lot of the good decisions together. Other than that, no. I was really just focused on the task at hand from start to finish. Q. You guys have anything to announce? MO MARTIN: No. His girlfriend is lovely. (Laughter.) Q. Do you remember 10 years old what the event was when you ran into Palmer in California? MO MARTIN: No, that was at Brookside. It may have been just an exhibition event. I would guess that's what it was. Yeah, I think Arnold and‑‑ not quite sure who was there. I was young. But I have that picture. I'm going to send it to him today. I was very touched by that. Q. You mentioned your grandfather. Two years ago, your first time here, he was here with you, 100 years old. MO MARTIN: Uh‑huh. Q. What would he have thought this past weekend? MO MARTIN: I mean, I think he would've been elated, extremely excited. But I think when it comes down to it, the most important thing for me is he would treated me exactly the same way. So absolutely nothing would've changed. That's how my whole family is. I think when I count my blessings, that's on top. Q. During this whole process, six years on the Symetra Tour, did you ever think maybe the end is here, I should just give this up? MO MARTIN: I created three criteria for myself, and that was my benchmark as to how long I was going to play. The first one is if I wake up happy in the morning. The second was if I am still contributing to the game as a whole. The third is if I'm still paying my own bills. I thought if I check all of those off that's what's important to me, and I'm going to keep going. So every year I was able to do that. Like I mentioned last week in a couple interviews, people definitely came forward at important times financially and emotionally. It was kind of like when I needed it most, when my bank account was getting really close to red, somebody would come around. And just even if it was just the offer of supported it was a sign for me to keep on going. MODERATOR: Talking about paying your own bills, and I read something that you're going to hopefully help out, restore Lincoln's Ranch out in California. Talk about that would mean to you and your entire family to be able to back it up a little bit for a place that meant so much even once you first met him and has played such a big role as a sanctuary for you. Talk about that. MO MARTIN: It is definitely a sanctuary. It's the most peaceful place I've ever been to. It's tucked up in the Sierras. So along with it just being a great place for our family to gather, you know we hosted my grandpa's 100th birthday party there and there were hundreds of his friends and people who he had met throughout the years. It's a wonderful piece of property and I have wanted to see that in the family for generations. This is definitely going to help maintain it. I have to give any Aunt Mary a lot of the credit for wanting to make that happen. She has made it happen in the most important sense, but now I'm going to be able to make sure it's taken care of and passed on. It's going to be really nice. MODERATOR: Cool. Q. You had three really good rounds but you seemed really comfortable playing in the wind. Is that something you work on? Do you feel like you're better in the wind? MO MARTIN: When the week started I reminded myself of my first victory on the Symetra Tour in El Paso. We had winds up to 40 miles per hour. It was actually canceled one day because it got into the 50s. But I do love playing into the wind. I think I my accuracy is even more important then. I like working the ball both ways as well, and I think holding it up in the wind is something that I find really fun. So that was my strategy all week, you know, playing a little bit of a fade right to left and playing a little bit of a draw left to right. So I did that all week. I think just my ability to be able to do that and do it confidently definitely helped. So I enjoy playing in the wind and enjoy the challenge. MODERATOR: It's back to work on Thursday. What are the keys to succeed here? What's going to be your game plan coming into Thursday? MO MARTIN: I really enjoy this layout as well, because off the tee you've got to work some shots as well. It's a placement golf course. I haven't seen it yet this week, but I'm sure it's in phenomenal condition. Has been for the last couple weeks. It's a fun week too because the crowd and fans really get into it. It's a very well‑supported event. It's nice to have a fun week to come back into. MODERATOR: The LPGA keeps seeing new events coming up and starting new traditions, but here it's pretty deeply rooted if the LPGA. Talk about the surroundings and the environment this tournament provides for you guys. MO MARTIN: I think it's a perfect community to host an event. It's small enough where it becomes a bigger deal than some of the bigger cities. I think that's a big recipe. Then financially, the city has put in a lot of its resources into the event, and so we definitely appreciate that. It shows in every way. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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