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SIME DARBY LPGA MALAYSIAOctober 12, 2014Shanshan FengKUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome the 2014 Sime Darby Champion, Shanshan Feng, into the interview room. Shanshan, congratulations. Great round today. You just came in today saying you didn't really expects to win this thing, did you? SHANSHAN FENG: Actually not, because coming in this week, I mean, I came from China. Last week I was the defending champion for the Reignwood Classic and I was playing in China and did so well last year and actually I struggled this year. I played really badly. Like nothing was going in the right way. So coming into this week, although I had very good record here, I didn't expect myself to do too well. So I was just going for top 10. I think I made top 10. Yeah. MODERATOR: The round today, 63, especially the eagle on 16, can you take us through that hole shot by shot, your mindset. You used that magical club that you used at Reignwood last year, didn't you? SHANSHAN FENG: Yes. It's the same magical 3‑wood, upper tee. I mean, they moved us up so it's upper tee, and it becomes like a two‑shot hole. So I hit my driver and it was really like that straight, like middle of the fairway, and left my like 206 and then 211 total. I knew it was kind of between clubs for me, so I was either going to go like small 3‑wood or very hard 3‑hybrid. I thought 3‑wood was better because I wanted to carry everything. So I kind of hit like a smooth 3‑wood there trying to hit like a 210 shot. It landed perfect. I think it landed just fine in the bunker. The rough actually slowed the ball down and kicked it left. Only had like six feet left for eagle. Accidently I saw the board and I knew I was tied for the lead. MODERATOR: At that point or before the putt? SHANSHAN FENG: Before the putt. Because the board was right there and I was reading and I was like, Oh, I saw it. I was putting for eagle and I was like, Maybe I'll just make this eagle and run away, you know, because I expected maybe she would be making birdies coming in, too. So I made the eagle putt. Was a little bit nervous on 17 and 18, but not bad. Like for both of the greens I took little upper clubs to make sure I would carry everything, carry the hazard, and leave it on the green. And if I make the putts I make it, and if I don't‑‑ like what I made was just two‑putts for the last two holes. I looked up and I'm three ahead. Didn't know that. MODERATOR: What is the mindset when you come back like that? Is it more sweet when you do secure the victory? SHANSHAN FENG: Well, of course. I would say I thought, you know, I didn't even know if I would be leading after I make the eagle. I knew I was 18 under, but she was at 16. The last few holes, you know, would be some birdie holes. I expected her to maybe make some birdies coming in, too. When I saw I was three ahead and I had that little cut left, like two‑feet putt left, I was like, I think I can make this. So I feel really good, especially after last week's not‑very‑good performance. I feel like I'm back here again. My goal was to win three times this year on the LPGA. Early this week the media asks me like, How do you feel about your goal? I was like, Well, I only have five tournaments left, so if I want to reach my goal I have to make something happen. I won this week, so now I have two more to go with four tournaments left. I am feeling good. MODERATOR: I have to ask one more. Your win this week propelled you up to No. 8 in the Race to the CME. If the CME Championship started today, would give you a mathematical chance at a $1 million. You had four career wins, but what would it mean to win that $1 million at the end of the year. SHANSHAN FENG: It means I will have a very good winter. Of course I would say I'm not going to retire even though I'm making that one million. I would say it's not only money ‑‑ I mean, it goes to one person at the end of the season for the whole tour. Actually from the beginning of the year I never thought about winning it or anything, especially when I'm defending champion for the CME tournament. So I know I will have more pressure coming into the CME. Now because of this week I'm feeling confident again. Hopefully it's going to put me up in the good spot. I did really well last year at the same course, so I think just like here, I have good memories and I play well. MODERATOR: Perfect. Questions for Shanshan? Q. Shanshan, congratulations on your win. Is there a particular reason why you've always performed well here? Is it the golf course? Atmosphere? SHANSHAN FENG: I think every year, I don't know why, but I'm so patient here. This course is set up for some low scores ever day. But like first, second, third day, there were like one people in my group that was making all the putts. I wasn't making as many as they were doing, but I stayed really patient. I was like, It's okay if they're just one really good day but I'm going to have four consistently good days. So I was really patient. I think course is set up very nicely to me because I'm a very good iron player. I think it's very important to get the balls close to the pins so we can have more birdie chances. I think I read the greens here pretty well. Even though some of them are hard to read, I think I do pretty well here. Need to thank my caddie. He has a better record than I do here. He has two wins, one second and one nine. The last win was with Jimin Kang. This is our actually third anniversary event, like three years right now. I met him here. So I feel really happy. We are very happy. MODERATOR: And your caddie's name? SHANSHAN FENG:  Mercer Leftwich. So we're both really happy. Need to thank him, because I think he helps a lot. Q. Like Li Na, you are now an icon in China. What does that mean to you in terms of the affect of golf in China? What advice would you give to our young Malaysian Angels who didn't do too well overall today. What would you say to them in terms of what do I do now? Do they just give up or keep going? SHANSHAN FENG:  Okay, so first question. I won't say that I'm an icon in China, but I would say that actually a lot of the juniors, they actually maybe‑‑ I'm like maybe like a model. I'm like a white mouse, so I am testing everything, trying everything out. I just tell them the right way to go and they just follow my path. This year we have another very young rookie girl from Guangzhou also, Xi Yu Lin, and what she said she was just trying to follow my path and copy what I did. So I'm really happy that I gave them confidence, because a lot of them ‑‑ like we thought that LPGA was like kind of far away, unreachable for us. Because now I'm kind of successful on the tour, a lot of girls think that Chinese can be on the tour and we're not that fair away. So this year we have four Chinese girls in the final Q‑School this time, and expecting to see more Chinese girls on the tour. I know they can actually do better than what I'm doing right now. And the second question, I will say the Angels, I think for them, playing in your home country you have more pressure. Like last week I was playing in China; I struggled. But it doesn't mean I'm not a good player. I think they are good players, because I played with Michelle, one of the Angels, in the practice round. Everything of her game was good. It wasn't that bad. I would say they had pressure, and also Kelly Tan, she's done pretty well on our tour. She saved her exemption, I think. But she told me she had so much pressure coming back. Before this year she was an amateur and nobody was paying attention to her and she enjoyed it. But this year like you see her picture all over, all around, and she told me she was really nervous. She was like scared. So that's why she didn't perform very well. But I would say everybody goes through that, and that's not easy. It takes time. But I do think that Malaysian girls can be better. Following Kelly Tan's path. So Kelly just need to do better. Q. As you win titles year by year, do your goals become bigger? What would be the biggest in the back of your mind really? SHANSHAN FENG: I don't know. I mean, I set goals like just every year, but I don't set like a really long‑term goal. Because when I was like 12 my goal was to get on the LPGA, which I already did it like seven years ago. So that was my dream at that time. But then after I qualified for the tour, I was like, Okay, now my goal is to win one tournament, which I did two years ago. It was the major. Then last year I said, Okay, I want to win two tournaments, and I did. So this year I'm like, Okay, people, you need to keep going forward. I won two already last year, so this year I want to win three. It's kind of like a tough goal, but I'm a tough person, too. Well, five tournaments left. I got one down and two more to go in four weeks. I just said that with Jason, Lydia Ko's caddie, You just need to take it easy. Slow down. I was like, I don't think so. And then I would say I don't have like maybe somebody that would think about to be world No. 1 or somebody. After I achieve one goal, then I set another one. MODERATOR: Any other questions for Shanshan? All right. Well, congratulations. (Applause). FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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