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BLUE BAY LPGAOctober 21, 2014Shanshan FengDexu GaoWang LiweiAnna NordqvistMike WhanMichelle Wie WestHAINAN ISLAND, CHINA WANG LIWEI: Similar to what Mr. Wang just mentioned, I'm very happy to see this event taking place in this place. Of course, this event is going to be organized by the LPGA and also (indiscernible) by LPGA, and it's really a great event that we look forward to.  Obviously a lot of high class golfers will be around here to compete and fight for the top prize, the price money of this event, which is about 2 million US dollars. Of course, it's also a great chance for Chinese female golfers to learn and also an opportunity to showcase their skills as well. From CGA, the top 15 Chinese female golfers will be here to compete in this event as well. Of course, we would like to congratulate Mr. Whan on his success to make this event happen here, especially when we talked about the possibility of this event, and now the dream has come to. So we'd like to send warm congratulations to Mr. Whan. Once again, he wishes this event a huge success down the line. MODERATOR: Right now, I would like to call up Mr. Mike Whan, if you would be so kind to share your remarks and thoughts with us, if you please. MIKE WHAN: First and foremost, on behalf of all the LPGA players and the staff, I want to say a heartfelt thank you, Chairman Wang. I arrived at 2:00 a.m. last night, so it was dark. When I woke up this morning, pushed a button and my curtains opened, I realized we had arrived in heaven. I just want to say thank you for giving us seven days in heaven. My staff back in Florida has informed me that we've already set a record for the most picture Tweets of any resort in 24 hours in LPGA history. Obviously the players feel the same way that I do. I think after this week, however, your secret will be out. There will be over 150 countries and fans from all over the world that will get to witness Blue Bay LPGA Classic. I think once they see what we've seen, you're going to be booked here at the hotel quite a while. It may be a first time event for us, but nothing about this feels first time. We've got 60 of the best 70 players on the LPGA Money List. From the minute we got off the plane to the minute we walk on the first tee, everything about this event already feels like a seasoned event. As a result, I think you're going to see some of our best golf because the focus, starting about 24 to 48 hours, is going to be all about playing golf. I also want to thank the China Golf Association and the China LPGA. While we are proud of the fact that we play all over the world, China is the only country where we play two events. There is a reason for that. The coordination with the CGA and the CLPGA makes us know before we get on the plane that everything about it is going to be first class. I say this many times, but women's golf is built on the shoulders of heroes, business heroes that want to give women in the game an opportunity to be showcased around the world. And I want to say personally we're having Chairman Wang as our hero in this because this is really a unique opportunity for women from all over the world to showcase their skills to fans all over the world. We all realize we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. Thank you very much. Q. I would like to call on Mr. Dexu Gao to share your thoughts with us. DEXU GAO: I've been a crazy golf fan. Years ago, when I had an argument with one of my subordinates actually, he actually took me to the (indiscernible) Golf Course and then from that point on I fell in love with golf. I joined a members course and 89 days ever since, actually, I got the result of my golf record is like 89 strokes. Ever since then my passion remains even stronger and gets even stronger and stronger. Ever since then actually this kind of passion takes off from (indiscernible) up to Blue Bay and up to the tournament itself today. DEXU GAO: Including CGA and CLPGA and also of course IMG, and of course the Hainan Provincial government and and so forth, all parties and concerns in a nutshell. Of course, I give my gratitude to Mr. Whan. We talked about this thing and also we translated this conversation into reality today. I had a great time in this little down of Blue Bay, and also perhaps you can ‑‑ we say word of mouth is very important. You can spread words around about this town here. To Michelle and also Anna, you may not win the tournament, you may still enjoy the ambiance, relaxation, loosen up a little bit and enjoy everything in this town. Thank you. Q. We will open the floor and ask our media to raise some questions. I think we will start with questions for our organizing committee first. DEXU GAO: Initially, it was not really for the business purpose to have this event really. It was Mr. Whan there, and we would like to bring back the LPGA to Hainan. For your information, the LPGA has took place in Hainan in the past, six years ago. So we wanted to bring back this event to Hainan. Q. In ChineseÂ… DEXU GAO: I think it's really something we cannot‑‑ if you try very hard to press it, you might not get it. We got this event early, coincidence in a way, that really was involved. That involved a lot of factors. As far as the future plan is concerned, as I mentioned to Mike and also to Mr. Wang, this is just the beginning for this tournament. We're looking forward to more down the line, perhaps what's going to happen next year and years to come down the line. DEXU GAO: More down the line what's going to happen next year and in years to come down the line. Q. Feel free to ask questions of our players as well. The question is to Michelle. Is this your first time to be in the Blue Bay area? This is my first time and I certainly was struck when I got here, totally impressed by the surroundings. If you are as well, would you feel that this is different from other resorts or golf courses that you have been to? If so, would you Twitter it, for example? Would you take some shots by yourself and send them to your friends? The second question is: I certainly would like to send my best wishes to you. Do enjoy your stay here? MICHELLE WIE: We all arrived in the nighttime and weren't really sure what's happening. Up in the morning, our room is facing the ocean, and I have to say I have never been to a resort this incredible. It is absolutely mind blowing. Yesterday I took a day off, and me and couple of friends on Tour, we were at the pool all day. It was absolutely perfect. We just were sitting out by the pool. We were laying out, and it's just we were taking so many pictures. It's showing the backdrop of the hotel, the infinity pool, the ocean. It's incredibly pretty. The food has been amazing as well, too. We went down to the Bay yesterday and there's food from all parts of the world. Played nine holes today on the golf course and was extremely impressed. I asked when the golf course opened, because the course is in perfect shape. It's incredible that the golf course opened maybe two months ago. It feels like it's been there for a long time. It's incredible what the staff has done. I'm excited to get started and I definitely want to come back. WANG LIWEI: Actually for the Chinese women's golf involvement, certainly LPGA's ‑‑ as far as Chinese women's golf development itself, we do have a plan and also a strategy. We have our own concept; however, we need high class competitors here. With this event itself, and within China right now we have up to 18 stops already. With this event in China, many Chinese female golfers don't have to go abroad. They can compete here with top‑notch or first class competitors in China, not to mention they can earn a ranking and also earn their points and of course earn their prize money as well. Several years later up to this point, within China now, we have two LPGA events. Of course, six years ago the LPGA was here on this island on the West Coast of the island. PANEL MEMBER: It was a possibility of getting sponsors, and if not they would like to do their contributions here. Of course this event is now reality. So I would like to give my congratulations once again to Mr. Wang.       SHANSHAN FENG (by interpreter): Actually, in Malaysia, before here, two weeks ago, she would get pretty well ‑‑ the reason was that she was totally pressure‑free, because before Malaysia when she was in Beijing, she was trying to defend her title at LPGA event; however, she failed. One of the key reasons was that she was not focused enough, even though she orally and verbally mentioned before the event she would like to do her best, she really didn't do that well. She was a bit disappointed. And after she went to Malaysia, (indiscernible) however, it was like her first experience ever since she turned pro to be in such a competition and travel by herself and she did very well, very focused and she really enjoyed the whole tournament. With that victory in hand, she was very confident. She felt that her confidence was actually picked up. Two weeks later, now she is back here. She feels that she doesn't have any pressure. She believes in herself. She feels that the media will put their attention on her. She will be careful that she could be pressure‑free to do better. Q. Anna- the question is to you. Any jet lag and what is your overall impressions of the overall surroundings? Also, you have two titles this year already, but what are your expectations of this tournament? ANNA NORDQVIST: I'm very excited to be here. Like Michelle said, I think we all got here at 4:00 a.m. in the morning. We woke up in the morning and realize we woke up in paradise. I'm ready to get started and I can't wait to come back here next year. Played nice today, played the back nine and was very impressed with the course. It's going to be a challenge, but it's going to be fun. I played in Korea and I've played in Malaysia, so I think I'm over my jet lag for now. But I have another week in Asia, and we're very fortunate to be here in Asia and I've had a great year. I had two wins early in the year, one in Thailand. So I certainly like Asia and hopefully I can have a strong finish to my year as well. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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