|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
HSBC WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSMarch 8, 2015Inbee ParkSINGAPORE, SINGAPORE MOLLY GALLATIN: I'd like to welcome the 2015 HSBC Women's Champions winner, Inbee Park, into the interview room. Inbee, it's your eighth time competing here, first win. How does it feel to hear those words? INBEE PARK: It feels great, because I thought Singapore wasn't the place that I could win a tournament, because it's just been‑‑ every year has just been really hard to me. Last year was the first year I actually had a good finish and that gave me a lot of confidence. And since they changed the golf course to Sentosa, it seems like I was posting a little better numbers. This week was just incredible. I don't think I can even believe myself that I didn't make any bogeys for 72 holes. I mean, if I thought about bogeys, when am I going to make bogey; if I was afraid of the bogeys, I'd probably make bogeys. But I thought, whatever happens, it's just meant to be. I just try to focus just on my game and just not think about so many other things. MOLLY GALLATIN: At the prize presentation, you brought up a bet between your dad and yourself, and it was $500 for every birdie. Can you tell us about that? INBEE PARK: Just because I always told him, this golf course is such a hard golf course, and I'm just happy if I shoot under par. That's what I said to them. And they said, okay then, if you make any birdie, then I give you $500, that's what he said. And then, "But if you make bogey, then you have to pay me double." So I just, you know, took the bet, thinking maybe even if I make bogey, he's not going to take my money (laughing). I think it ended up really nicely. It gave me extra motivation I guess. It's so fun and something other to motivate on and something else to concentrate on. Yeah, it's good to have a family here and they are big energy. This week just went so quick. I was just having ‑‑ after golf, I just have dinner with them and kind of chat with them. Every day went so quick, I didn't have to think about so much golf when I'm not on the golf course, so I think that was a big help. MOLLY GALLATIN: So your dad will pay up tonight. INBEE PARK: I don't think he will pay me today. He ran out of money since yesterday. It's like lending money. MOLLY GALLATIN: This is your 13th career win and the 13th time you've led or co‑led after three rounds, and now seven times, you've won in those situations. What do you attribute that to? INBEE PARK: What was it? MOLLY GALLATIN: 13 times you've led or co‑lead after three rounds, and you've won seven times. Those are good odds. INBEE PARK: Yeah, I think so. And especially being able to do it wire‑to‑wire this week. That's a big accomplishment for me, and I think I've done that probably once before only, and to have a pressure every day since Thursday, I think it's something that I should be really proud of. I mean, I think it's a lot harder to do wire‑to‑wire than coming from behind. So, I mean, sometimes I like to come‑from‑behind, but you know, like this week where I make no bogeys, I'm happy with where I was. Q. Could you just say how you felt, because you didn't look as though you were shaken one bit as you were caught by Ko. INBEE PARK: I've got to tell you that I wasn't that nervous on the golf course today. I was kind of expecting Lydia and Stacy to make birdies, and I kind of expected them to play well today. It was no surprise when Lydia made two birdies in four or five holes, or three birdies in five holes. So I thought it could definitely happen, and my birdie is going to come later. It has been for the last three days, so I was kind of really trusting myself to not rush anything; to catch Lydia or being caught by Lydia. She doesn't play well in the beginning, gave me a lot of pressure, but I think no bogeys was really helping me because I was just telling myself, I'm not making any birdies but I'm not making any bogeys. I'm not making any mistakes so that's a good sign. Just try to keep that in mind a little bit and just try to play my game. Q. Why do Korean women golfers, Yani, Lydia Ko, all wining all over the place ‑‑ but not the Korean men on the PGA TOUR. Why is that? INBEE PARK: I don't know. I really don't have a good answer to that. Definitely Korean men are definitely dedicated as women, but maybe they are much better players in men's golf, I don't know. Q. Can you talk about these four rounds, not making bogey, where does this rank in terms of your overall performance? Obviously you've won five majors, but just the level of consistency, where does this rank for you? INBEE PARK: Well, I'd say tee‑to‑green was probably ten out of ten. I didn't make any mistakes. I missed a couple greens, a couple greens every day, but I got up‑and‑down from there. Tee‑to‑green was just perfect. I think there's nothing‑‑ I don't think anybody else played better long game than me this week, that's for sure. But on the greens, I think many people putted better than me this week. I had a lot of opportunities. I think I probably get like, probably at least 12 looks at a birdie every day. I was able to only make six one day, four, two, three. So it's not that good odds, but that was enough to win obviously. Because my long game was so good this week, I think that was definitely why I was able to win this week. Putting I think still has a little bit to go, but probably seven, eight out of ten I think. Q. Have you ever won without bogeying a shot? INBEE PARK: If I don't remember, I probably haven't done that before. Or once before maybe in Mission Hills when I won last year, but I'm not sure if I didn't make any bogeys. But LPGA tournament, definitely this is the first time. Q. Yesterday I noticed that from six feet in, all of you in the group putted pretty much the same, and I noticed it was from six to 12 feet, between that distance, that you are marginally better than the others putting it in. Would you say that's true? INBEE PARK: I didn't make as many? Q. From six to 12 feet, that distance, you made more putts than the others in your group. Would you say that you were better at that? INBEE PARK: I did today, you mean? Q. Yesterday. INBEE PARK: Yesterday, oh, okay. (Laughter) yesterday I didn't think that I putted that well yesterday. And I felt like I missed a lot of putts that was about 12 feet to 15 feet all week this week. But I always thought that I'm pretty good at long putting and I was pretty good at distance control, but I thought I always have to improve in my 12‑ to 15‑foot range. Yeah, it's a surprising stat. MOLLY GALLATIN: Let's talk about that pairing today, also. Knowing what you had to beat for this title, does that make your 13th win any more special for you? INBEE PARK: I think it definitely gives me a little bit more confidence playing with Lydia and Stacy at the same time. It's probably like a dream pairing. We get this a lot in the first and second rounds, but it's tough to actually have that in the final round. I had to play better than them in the final round to win. It's not the pairing I really look forward to playing in the final round; I mean, it's very difficult and probably the toughest pairing that I probably have all year. Actually breaking out from that and winning from that situation, that gives me a little bit more extra motivation. You know, it's probably going to be a couple of girls that I'm going to see all year this year, so it's good to know their games. They are great players and we always really give each other motivation. Yeah, it was great fun. MOLLY GALLATIN: At the end of the day, does it make this win more sweet? INBEE PARK: I think so. Q. Do you think the manner of your victory here gives you a psychological advantage in getting the No. 1 spot back from Lydia? INBEE PARK: I think so, because you know, I thought‑‑ because I didn't play so many times with Lydia, especially in the final round. But I thought she doesn't make any mistakes. But I definitely saw her making a couple of mistakes today and thought actually she was a human, so that gives me a little bit of room so I can catch up to her a little bit. Yeah, I mean, everybody's human and everybody's playing golf, so yeah, I mean, that gives me a little bit of motivation to play for No. 1. This is just only earlier in the year; we have so many tournaments to come. Yeah, many more‑‑ I'll probably play a lot more with Lydia, a lot more often. I just can't believe that I'm playing with somebody who can't even drink (laughter). Q. Are you going to retire at the peak of your career like Lorena Ochoa or something like that? INBEE PARK: I mean, I would love to. I mean, if I can retire when I'm No. 1, I think that would be great. But I think it's going to be really tough to do. Obviously the decision Lorena made, she probably thought‑‑ I don't know, just that would be a dream. I mean, if I stay in the No. 1 spot for a long time and finish where I want to, that would be a dream. Q. Can I pose a hypothetical question to you? At the end of the round, all of you gave each other pat on the backs and I know you guys are all friendly with each other and all that. But when you are on the course, how competitive is it? Let's say if you are both level, do you ever hope the other person makes a mistake? INBEE PARK: Well, I think it's more of, we don't really expect them to make mistakes. We just try to play better than them. If they make par, you want to play one better than her, put a better spot than her. You can't really wish for somebody else to make mistakes. I think you've just got to play well to win. Q. On a scale of 1 to 10, how competitive is your spirit, 10 being like kill (laughter). INBEE PARK: I think, I don't know, like‑‑ I don't think I'm like 10. Probably like 8. Q. What's more important for you right now, getting back that No. 1 or adding to the five majors you already have? INBEE PARK: I think I definitely want to do the British Open win. I mean, if No. 1 comes before, that doesn't matter. But if I have to choose one in between the two, it's definitely the Grand Slam. MOLLY GALLATIN: Thank you, Inbee, congratulations. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|