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ANA INSPIRATIONApril 1, 2015Inbee ParkRANCHO MIRAGE, CALIFORNIA THE MODERATOR: We've got a fancy robe on the other side. What does that make you think when you come back here? INBEE PARK: I mean, it definitely reminds me of the good memories of 2013 when I won here. Yeah, it's a great tournament and has a unique setting and unique ceremony. I think it's like just really excited for the first major of the year, and it feels like it's been forever that we played in a major tournament. Yeah, we're finally here, and I feel like I'm in good form, so I'm very, very excited. Q. We just talked about this a little while ago with Stacy and yesterday with Lexi and also with Michelle. How do you get your mind ready for a major? I know you have a win already this year in Singapore, you're playing very good golf, but this is different, this is the big week. How do you prepare for that, you specifically? INBEE PARK: You know, I just try to do everything the same in my routine. I really don't try to change anything because it's a major. Before I try to do something special for the majors, do extra care in the major tournaments and try to do something special or different in the major tournaments, but every time I do that, it seems like I don't play as well. I just try to treat this tournament just like the same tournament, same kind of pressure if I can, and just try to do the same thing, same mindset. Just don't try to treat it too special because I've done that before, and it just gives you so much pressure. Q. Inbee, you've won five majors. What makes this one special for you? INBEE PARK: You know, I think this tournament ANA Inspiration is about the history, and I think everybody really -- this is one of the tournaments that really everybody wants to win, and I think jumping into Poppies Pond is very special for everyone, and looking at every past champions, going in the pond, you want to be in there. I know exactly how it feels because I've done that before. I know how good it feels. I think that's what this tournament makes special. Q. I remember '13, I know you remember '13 when you won three in a row to start the year. Obviously you were playing at a level at that point that nobody else was playing it. You were clearly at the top of the game, perhaps the most talked-about player in all of golf. How close are you today to that player in '13? Are you a better player today even though maybe you don't have the three majors in a row coming in this week? INBEE PARK: I think I've really got to be honest. That week my game was nearly perfect. I mean, some weeks I get my game to that level, and even this year, as well, but that year, that week -- I mean, this week, in 2013 this week my game was perfect. Right now I don't think I'm as good as that right now. I think I will get to that point sometime this year, but I think I was just a little bit unhappy with the ball-striking last week. I feel like my putter was getting back a little bit, but last week was just a little bit off and not where I wanted to be. But I saw the good signs with the putter last week, so yeah, if the putter works, I think I can still do it. Q. You don't like your ball-striking and you're No. 1 on Tour in greens in regulation? INBEE PARK: Yeah, it was perfect until Singapore, but then last week I had a little bit of a sore wrist last week, and a couple of shots that I didn't want to hit, obviously. I had a four-putt last week, as well. Q. You had a what? INBEE PARK: A four-putt. Q. You had a what? INBEE PARK: Yeah, I know. It's been like two or three years since I've done that, too. But I've made up my mistakes last week and holed some good putts, and it gave me some good signs. So yeah, took really good stuff out of the last tournament, and really excited for this week. Q. Getting back to that nearly perfect level that you played at in '13, is that something you can build up to or is it something that just shows up on the range one day? INBEE PARK: You know, you can't play like that all year long, obviously, but I think I averagely get that kind of week about two to three weeks a year. But I mean, you just can't get to that level all the time. It's hard. When your ball-striking and your putting and your short game and your mental is working perfectly together -- sometimes you get too out of the four there, sometimes you get three out of the four, one out of the four. It's hard to get everything in the same position, but I feel like I have at least two or three in good position right now. The golf course is different to when we played it in 2013. I think it's going to be playing a little bit easier this year with a little bit softer greens and a little bit less rough. In 2013 the rough was really long and the greens were really firm. I think it's a little bit different, but even if you're missing a couple of fairways, missing a couple of greens, you can still get away with it this year. It's maybe a little bit of good sign for me. Q. Looking at your past record here, the only top 5 you've had is the 2013 win. Is there something about this golf course that doesn't fit your eye, or is it something that it's just taken you a while to get accustomed to what they have out here? INBEE PARK: Yeah, I mean, this is a tough golf course, a really good test for the golf, I think. I think it really inspires a lot of people to play well. The year I won, like I said, I really played perfect, and I thought this golf course was tough, but I shoot 15-under. I've gone to golf courses where I didn't have results but I ended up winning some years. I think it's -- it really depends on the condition of that week, and the past history is very important, but I think a win can give me a lot of confidence going into this week, and even if I had bad weeks here and good weeks there, I think I can take some good positives out of there. I mean, it's a tough golf course, and if you hit a couple of bad shots, a couple of bad shots, you definitely get in trouble, so I think there is a lot of big numbers out here. Q. Is tougher better for you? Are you happy with the longer rough? INBEE PARK: I do like to see some longer rough and firm and fast greens for the major tournaments because we just don't get that every week. It's just good to have that from time to time. I think it's a good test because you have to hit the tee shot off the tee really straight and you have to judge the distance on the greens. I think, yeah, because it's a special and because it is a major tournament, we've got to have something different. Q. Inbee, when you were in your first few years on the Tour, do you remember any older players giving you some advice or some help in particular, and who were they? INBEE PARK: You know, I was hanging out with more like same age players. The older Korean golfers, they definitely gave us some good advice, and they kind of gave us a road to go. Just some advice on the golf courses, like where you should stay, like at the hotels, and what restaurants are good and that stuff, but I really enjoyed hanging out with my friends more. Q. Among the older Korean players, were there one or two that were particularly good about passing along advice to the younger players? INBEE PARK: You know, I think everybody was really nice, like Grace, Kimmy, Se Ri. Everybody was really friendly and they were trying to really help. I think for all the younger players, we are here because of them. We always have that thought in our mind. Q. Being who you are, how do you deal with all of the pressure? You have good days and you have your bad days; how do you overcome that? INBEE PARK: I think it's just -- I think for the ordinary people, sometimes you have a good day, sometimes you have a bad day, and I think it's the same for golfers, as well. Obviously it is tough because you have to see the results every day and you have to test yourself every day. But I think by maybe 10, 15 years of playing golf, you kind of get used to the bad days and you kind of get used to the good days. Luckily I had more good days than bad days, so I was able to handle my bad days a little bit better because I don't have to deal with as many as other golfers, obviously. Yeah, I think I was lucky in that case and just try to enjoy while you're on the golf course, and no matter what the result is, just try to take it and just try to enjoy the rest of your day. Q. Along the lines of pressure, you're No. 2 in the Rolex World Rankings. We talked to Stacy about this, and Lydia has got this streak of rounds under par which is just unbelievable. Does that come with pressure being among the top three, and is it your main goal right now to get back to No. 1? How do you feel about the whole big three talk between the three of you? INBEE PARK: You know, I think it's always good to be in that top three. Being in the company obviously what Lydia is doing right now is amazing, having 28 under-par rounds in a row. I think she's just been really consistent. I just don't think there is room for her. She's just really playing good golf. Just trying to follow up and trying to play as good as Stacy or Lydia, and looking at them and just trying to put myself in that kind of position. I think it just helps each other up, and obviously being -- going back to No. 1 is definitely a good goal for me for this year, but I see, because I've been there before, and if I had never been there before, then I'd probably really want to be there. But now I've been there before, and I think I'm a little bit more relaxed, and I feel like with good golf I'll get there, even if I don't want it. Yeah, I mean, that's not my only concern. Obviously the career Grand Slam is in my mind, definitely, and that would be the one that I really want the most. Q. Have you started to look at the Olympics standings at all, and the South Korean race looks like it's going to be unbelievable with two or three top 10 players not making it. INBEE PARK: Yeah, I think it's going to be the case definitely for next year. You know, who knows if we can be in top 10 or even not make it in the Olympic team. I just think that's unlucky. If you're top 20 in the world you should be able to play in the Olympic Games, but I think that's how competitive my country is in women's golf right now, and you've just got to play better. I think a lot of Korean golfers, their motivation is Olympic Games, and I think that's why they are playing so well this year and probably next year, as well, because they want to be in the Olympic teams, but they have to put a lot of work in it, and obviously for me, as well, if I stay top three, I'm definitely in, but if I get outside top three, who knows. Q. It was the same way with the International Crown; there were a lot of Korean-born players that weren't able to make that team of four, either. INBEE PARK: Yeah. Q. If you won here with the perfect game in 2013, did you win one of your other three majors without a perfect game? Take us through that. INBEE PARK: Yeah, I mean, definitely back then it was the Wegmans 2013. I didn't win with a perfect game. I didn't like my ball-striking at all that week, but I just putted so good that week. But U.S. Open, nearly perfect game but not as good as here. I definitely played the best at this tournament in 2013 and probably the worst in Wegmans, but I putted really good. I've won tournaments without the perfect games before. There's only probably two wins that I thought it was a perfect game, nearly perfect game, but rest of the tournaments you can win without the perfect game. Q. What was the other one, the other perfect one? INBEE PARK: It was the -- the U.S. Open was nearly as good as what I thought in 2013, but the other tournaments, this year like Singapore, I thought everything else was perfect, but my putts weren't perfect, but still, I ended up winning. Q. As someone who is one piece of the puzzle away from a career slam, will you find yourself paying extra close attention to Rory's quest next week to complete his career slam? INBEE PARK: Oh, is it the Masters he needs to win? You know, I think he's definitely close for being -- doing a career Grand Slam. I think he's playing really good golf right now lately, and yeah, I think he's always got a good chance. I mean, even if it's not this year, he has many years to come. So yeah, I think it's definitely possible. Q. Do you follow the men's game? INBEE PARK: Yeah, I watch the news. I mean, I don't watch the TV all the time, but I definitely watch the news, yeah. Q. Do you have many years to get the Women's British Open? INBEE PARK: Yeah, I think so. I mean, the earlier, the better, but obviously -- I think I'm just going to give it a try until I do it. Q. When a player like Lydia Ko is doing what she's doing right now, does that give you extra motivation, or does all of your motivation come from inside of you? INBEE PARK: Well, I think most of the motivation comes from yourself, obviously, but probably 20 percent of other motivation can definitely come from other competitors. Like when I watch what Lydia is doing right now, it can definitely give a lot of players motivation as well as me. Yeah, I think the consistent part about her game is something that I definitely want to follow. Q. When you won in Singapore, you fended off Stacy and Lydia, so the big three were in action there. Do you sense a rivalry developing now between the three of you? INBEE PARK: You know, it would be nice if there is only two other competitors on this Tour. If there is only Stacy and Lydia, it would be easy, but I think there is just so many players that it's so competitive out here that every player is -- so far this year, every winner was different. That definitely tells you that everybody can win out here, and even if it's not Stacy or Lydia there's a lot of players that can get in my way. I've got to watch out for whoever is playing better than me that week, and it can change every week. So it's good to feel the rivalry between Stacy and Lydia because that definitely inspires you to get better and better, so it's always good to have a rivalry and a good competitor. Q. I want to go back to that Olympic question for a second, and for those of us who don't understand the nuances of Korean culture, how much external pressure is there on players to, A, make the team, and B, to perform well in the Olympics, and since you've lived here for a period of time, can you tell us the difference between the cultural pressures that are involved there? INBEE PARK: Well, I've got to say the pressure between here and Korea is not that much of a difference. I think everybody really wants to represent their country, and obviously I know because this year there is a lot of good rookies from Korea came, and I know that the main reason is to be in the Olympic Games, that's why they came to the LPGA TOUR, to get their rankings up, and obviously it feels like they made a good golf. They've been playing really good golf this year, and it definitely gave us the pressure that we need to play well, as well. I think the pressure itself is -- I'm sure American players, they want to be on the team, as well, and they feel the pressure as much as us. You know, I think it's -- it depends on individual, how bad you want to be on that team and how bad you want to represent your country. I think it's probably a once in a lifetime opportunity that you get an opportunity to represent your country in the Olympics, and being an Olympian is just a dream for all the athletes. Q. I want to ask you on the topic of family and comfortable attitude that you might have being a part of the LPGA, you've been out here for a few years now and you've had great success and won tournaments, and winning makes you happy. But how are you adjusting to life in the United States? I know you've been here for quite some time, but do you feel more comfortable as a part of the LPGA as an Asian-born player? INBEE PARK: Yeah, I mean, all the LPGA and everybody in the States, they're really welcoming for us, and obviously the LPGA TOUR is a worldwide Tour and they are the best Tour in the world. They really welcome all the good players all around the world. It's almost -- if it was Korea and let's say like American players and all the other players from all the other countries were playing really good and winning all the tournaments, I don't know what Korean Tour would do. But American Tour, U.S. LPGA TOUR has been really welcoming, and they definitely had their minds open to all the people. I just felt like this is really the country of freedom, and really I felt like I do whatever I want here and I can really -- yeah, I think I've been really lucky to come here since I was a little girl, and everybody has been just really friendly and nice to me, and obviously this Tour, and I definitely feel like I'm home. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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