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PORTLAND CLASSIC PRESENTED BY CAMBIA HEALTH SOLUTIONSAugust 27, 2014Suzann PettersenPORTLAND, OREGON THE MODERATOR: All right. Well, you have to feel pretty good about coming into this week. Playing very well. SUZANN PETTERSEN: Yeah. I've been playing very good. Always exciting to come in here. A little bit more on the agenda than just golf. It's always nice to see all the people with Nike. Had a couple of meetings on Monday, photo shoot on Tuesday. So you really appreciate when you finally can get some time just out on this beautiful golf course and just play some golf. Can't wait to get started. THE MODERATOR: Tell us about the course. Everyone says probably the best condition it's been in a while. I know you love it here. SUZANN PETTERSEN: I haven't seen it. THE MODERATOR: You haven't practiced at all? SUZANN PETTERSEN: No. I'm playing the pro am, though. THE MODERATOR: Dang. SUZANN PETTERSEN: So I know what this course has to offer, and all you just gotta adjust to is the speed of the greens. But it looks in great shape, and everyone's been raving about it, so I anticipate it's going to be in good shape. Q. You know, you won here last year. You've won at Pumpkin Ridge, two really different kinds of courses. But is this a good fit for you because of your ability to shape shots? SUZANN PETTERSEN: Well, Pumpkin Ridge I never really liked, and this one I never really liked either (laughs) until I won. And I did the photo shoot over at Pumpkin Ridge, and obviously it brought some good memories back. Played some good golf there. I mean I lost in the playoff once and won once, and here I've been awfully close and then won last year. This is an old, traditional golf course. It's a driver's golf course, I would say. I mean if you find the fairways here, you'll give yourself a lot of great looks, and if the conditions stay like this, I heard it's a little bit firmer. I don't think there's too much rain in the forecast, so it'll be nice if it plays a little bit fast. So yeah. Q. If you win, you'll be the second three‑time champion in this tournament. SUZANN PETTERSEN: Yeah, Nancy Lopez. Q. Does that mean anything to you? SUZANN PETTERSEN: Thinking about it is cool. It's nice to be in a position like that, but you don't really want to get too ahead of yourself. But definitely a list I would be quite proud to possibly join. But we'll see what the next couple of days brings, and hopefully I can be there on Sunday and fight it out. THE MODERATOR: At this point last year when you won here, it kind of spurred an awesome finish to the season. You went onto win, including here, three times and closed out the season I think historically very well. What do you mostly attribute that to? Do you think stamina, pace yourself. SUZANN PETTERSEN: No. I don't know. I always seem to play well in the fall. This year the spring wasn't quite what I anticipated, and late summer, up until now I've been playing really good. Felt like I had an awful good chance of winning the British, and I was in a great position in Rochester until the last day when I kind of had a meltdown on Sunday. But I'm playing well, so I mean it's just about being patient enough to just let it come. It's kind of tough when you feel like you're playing some of the best golf I've ever played. I'm hitting the ball fantastic. I'm rolling the putts better than I have. So it's like‑‑ golf is a funny game because sometimes you can play. You can scramble and you can win tournaments. Other times you're so close and you're actually playing so much better golf. You feel like you're so much more in control of the game and you just can't kind of close the door. That's almost the tough part. So you just gotta work on being even more patient and just be as calm as I can, and I've completely lost it a couple of times on the course lately, which is not very helpful. THE MODERATOR: Then you've struggled with between frustration and taking it as encouraging that you've been so close. SUZANN PETTERSEN: Yeah. I've been playing solid. Last week I played as poorly as I could, and I was 13, 14‑under par. But every day felt like you could go out and shoot 8‑under par. So just been trying to keep it consistent and doing the work that I feel is needed. Yeah. THE MODERATOR: Do you treat title defenses any differently or just feel better, the same week? SUZANN PETTERSEN: Obviously you have good memories and you feel like you know the course. You kind of have a good strategy of how to get around. I feel like this is like a hometown to me with all the Nike crew and Nike people. It's just nice atmosphere here. Q. What was the time when you were out with the back injury like for you? SUZANN PETTERSEN: Awful. But to be quite honest, when it's so bad, you don't even think about golf. So it's almost worse being less injured and being semi close to playing, should I play or not play. I mean you probably could play through an injury. That's different than compared to when you just can't even stand up. So to be quite honest, it's almost mentally easier when you're so far from golf than when you're kind of getting closer. But it's been really good. Played three weeks in a row. This is the fourth. I'm feeling good, feeling no pain. So I recovered a lot faster than other players in this game from this injury, same injury. THE MODERATOR: Talk about I know you said you gained distance in some irons and even in your drives without lifting weights after you kind of took off. Any explanation of that or is that just kind of a freak incident? SUZANN PETTERSEN: It's a bullshit story. (Laughs). THE MODERATOR: Some exaggeration. SUZANN PETTERSEN: Yeah. No, I like to be fit. I work out. But keep it in moderation. I don't push the boundaries. I don't take the risk of doing something stupid. I know it's too fragile still to be complete blonde and do something you really shouldn't have done. The priority is golf. I mean when you come back from an injury like that, you kind of really focus on trying to just play as much as you can. It's almost better for me to play than be home a week practicing, because when you play, you actually practice less and hopefully you hit a few less shots on the golf course. So for me it's nice to play and I like to kind of play weeks in a row, get a rhythm. Q. What is it you don't like about this golf course? SUZANN PETTERSEN: Well, I never seemed to like it. But now I think it's fantastic. (Laughs). It's beautiful trees. THE MODERATOR: Scenery is great. SUZANN PETTERSEN: Scenery is fantastic. You've got the aircraft right over you. You know the time schedule after a couple of days in a row. It has some great holes. You've really gotta drive the ball well here, and I guess in the past that's‑‑ I remember it was always like the straight hitters who did well around this place, not necessarily the long ones, but like Rosie Jones played great here, Annika played great here. Some of the Koreans have played really well here. It's all about placement. If you can hit the fairway, I mean you'll have a lot of fun shots ahead of you. Q. This is a little bit off, but if I say the name Juli Inkster, what kind of pops in your head? SUZANN PETTERSEN: Juli Inkster, she is a legend out here. I think she is‑‑ I mean I wish I will be like her when I'm her age, that passionate about golf, what she does, so competitive, has such a fantastic sports like sportsmanship to the next level. I have a huge amount of respect of Juli. I mean even though I've gotten to know her, she's a great person, I can have a great laugh. She's really also one that I've looked up during these years during my career on the LPGA. And really fortunate that I've been able to play alongside players like her, Beth Daniel, Meg Mallon, Rosie Jones. I mean I was fortunate to be out here while they were still playing, compared to some of these young ones where they're not here anymore because they've kind of stepped back. So I think it's fantastic to see Juli so passionate still. All she wants to do is just go out and play golf. So I think that's a great asset to this tour. Q. What did you think of her as a TV interviewer? SUZANN PETTERSEN: I think she's great. I think she's actually asked me the best questions ever, of all the interviewers out there. She understands the game. She has the insight. She knows what we're thinking. She knows what to ask. So she has all the skills both on and on the air as a commentator. But I prefer to see her play still. Q. Two weeks until Evian, what makes that tournament different? SUZANN PETTERSEN: It's always been different. It's just a unique spot. I've always said if I wanted to get married like in Europe, that would be a fantastic place because it just has that scenery. It's just a romantic spot. You wake up every morning, you get stunned by the views. Not that I'm getting married anytime soon. (Laughs). It's just kind of‑‑ it's just a stunning spot and obviously the changes that they made to the golf course made it a little bit more challenging, a little bit more of a golf course. I was fortunate to win it last year, first time as a major. Definitely one of those tournaments that has been on the bucket list to win during your career. It's just a fantastic trophy, a nice spot, and yeah. THE MODERATOR: All right. Go have fun. SUZANN PETTERSEN: Good, thanks. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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