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U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPJuly 7, 2015Morgan PresselLANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA MIKE TROSTEL: It's my pleasure to welcome Morgan Pressel into the pressroom. Morgan is playing in her 13th U.S. Open, best finish a tie for second back in in 2005. Morgan, really nice start to the year, four top 5 finishes already this year, including a runner-up finish. How is your game coming into this week? MORGAN PRESSEL: My game feels good. I feel like I've certainly played well this year, had some good results. But I also feel good about the progress that I've been making. My swing probably this week feels the closest that it felt to when I played really well at ANA earlier this year. So I definitely feel good. I love this golf course, and I love the U.S. Open. So I'm definitely excited for the week and looking forward to getting started on Thursday. MIKE TROSTEL: Two top 5 finishes in both majors already this year. You mentioned how much you like the course. Putting has always been a strength of yours. How do you feel that your putting and the strength of your game, you can take advantage of those here at Lancaster? MORGAN PRESSEL: I've definitely spent a lot of time practicing my putting all around these green complexes. They're quite subtle, but also fast, especially back to front on certain holes. It's important to know where to leave the golf ball on some of these greens so that -- even things like the potential power lip-out that you could get that you could end up with five feet coming back after you've hit a really good putt. There's a lot of things with these greens that my caddie and I have been studying, been working hard. I spent a lot of time on the putting green yesterday practicing even putts from five feet that might break a foot, because you could potentially have that out here. So I'm sure they're going to get a little bit quicker as the week progresses. You drive for show, putt for dough. You've got to make the putts to win championships. MIKE TROSTEL: About a month ago at Chambers Bay, you did some broadcasting work for FOX. How did you enjoy that? Was that a one-time thing or would you like to pursue that as your career unfolds? MORGAN PRESSEL: I think I'm going to play golf for a little while now. It was a great experience. It was nice to join the FOX team to see how the tournament is covered from the other side, and learning how to ask an interview question, which you guys all know, have learned how to do, is not easy. I had to learn how to do that. But it was a lot of fun. And I'm not used to sitting down for that long. That was probably the hardest thing for me was sitting down for seven, eight hours a day. So I kind of needed a little bit of recovery time afterwards. I didn't get any practice. The hours were really long. But I enjoyed it. It was nice to watch the best in the world compete on that golf course. And it was fun to watch Jordan Spieth win. Q. Would you talk a little bit more about the golf course? It's a very traditional golf course. Do you like the look of the golf course? Just your impressions about it. And also, because we've had so much rain here, talk about what that means to the players. MORGAN PRESSEL: Yeah, I love this golf course. I love the way that it looks to my eye from the first time I played it a couple of months ago. It's just a really, really solid golf course. It tests every club in your bag, especially the way that it's set up. And as the way the USGA will move the tees around, it will continually keep us guessing and make us think on your feet. I really enjoy playing here. You've got to hit the ball in the fairway. The rough is extremely thick. There were a couple of times I dropped golf balls in the rough yesterday and you were lucky if you could get the club on the back of it. It kind of reminds me a little bit of the rough at Cherry Hills, where if you miss the fairway at Cherry Hills you basically had a wedge and you had to chip it back to the fairway. With some of the carries into greens on this golf course, that might certainly come into play, where you won't be able to go for the green if you hit it in the rough and you'll have to take your medicine. And that's just smart playing around a U.S. Open. I think one of the biggest things is course management. And that's a big part of what it takes to win on a golf course like this. The rain, when I played here, like I said, maybe seven, eight weeks ago now, the greens were the same firmness but the fairways were actually rolled out a little bit further, so the golf course played a little bit longer yesterday than it had. I hit maybe one to two clubs longer, into some of the par-4s, longer par-4s, especially uphill, and that can make a difference. Q. Is that because of the rain? MORGAN PRESSEL: I believe it has to be because of the rain, yes. And I know that there's supposed to be a little bit more rain. I think it rained last night, as well, and supposed to be a little more rain in the forecast. I don't see it getting much firmer. I think this is what we're going to see from the golf course the rest of the week, just with maybe the greens dropping down a foot or so. Q. Stacy Lewis and Michelle Wie were in here a little earlier talking about how much they feed off the big crowd, the big galleries here. I wonder how you do with the same situation? MORGAN PRESSEL: Yeah, I love it. I love -- I mean, the crowds even yesterday in a practice round, they just were out and really enjoyed watching some good golf. It was fun to -- they cheered for us even in a practice round, which is cute. I'm really looking forward to it. I think the ticket sales have been phenomenal for this week. And I know the community is really, really excited about this event being here and the players are, as well. So I think we'll see a ton of people come out. Hopefully the weather stays nice and encourages everybody to come out and watch the best golfers in the world. Q. Does it feel like ten years since you had your near win at the Women's Open? And looking back on that, Morgan, what did that week teach you? MORGAN PRESSEL: Does it feel like ten years? A lot has happened in the last ten years. I guess it does feel like -- I've changed as a person, I think I'm a different person, a different player. My attitudes have changed a lot. My swing has changed a lot. But what did that week teach me? I don't know. It was one of those things that it wasn't my week. You kind of take it as it is. You lose more than you win out here, even the No. 1 player in the world. That's just kind of what happens. I mean, I played really well that week. I can't be upset about that. And then went on to win the Amateur about a month later. It was just a great summer for me. And was it disappointing not to win? Of course. But at the end of the day, things were out of my control and I think it just maybe made me more determined, worked harder. Q. Are you ready to win another Major Championship? And how maybe has your good play prepared you to do that? MORGAN PRESSEL: Definitely. I think ten years later, at this point in my career, I kind of center my schedule and my preparation around major championships. I've been able to do that fairly successfully, especially this year so far with ANA and KPMG, and things like coming here in advance to practice. And maybe working a little bit more on my swing last week in northwest Arkansas so that I could play more freely here this week. So I think I schedule -- I prepare mentally differently, I think, than I did maybe when I first came out on Tour, with a lot more emphasis on the majors with wanting to win. Q. Cristie Kerr mentioned some of the stuff she'll be doing in the community, sight seeing with her family. Is there anything that you're interested in seeing in your free time just to try to get your mind off the golf tournament a little bit? MORGAN PRESSEL: Well, unfortunately, with this busy of a week, we don't have a lot of free time. I have a great host family. So just kind of relaxing in the evening at home with them. They've cooked dinner for me. They're friends of friends from home, so it's nice to be with people I know and to have a little bit of a home base here at such a big tournament and not just stuck in a hotel room like we are most weeks. So that's definitely nice being here with friends. Q. When you look at what's happened with Yani Tseng as a golfer, as maybe a friend, competitor, do you wonder sort of how you can go from being that good to sort of struggling week in and week out? MORGAN PRESSEL: Golf is hard. It's obvious, I would say, a confidence thing in her. And maybe some struggles. I played with her last week in northwest Arkansas, I don't think she's certainly hitting the ball as well as she did when she was on top of the world. And it can kind of snowball, unfortunately. Not to say she won't ever be back. She's an incredible talent and a great player. But golf is just not that easy. Just because you're No. 1 in the world, it's hard to stay there, we've seen that time and time again in golf. Q. Is that kind of a scary thought that all players kind of have in the back of their minds, that one day it can be there and the next it's not? MORGAN PRESSEL: The career is short, for sure. Nothing lasts forever. Golf is probably the longest sporting career that you can have as long as you stay healthy. But look at what just happened to Rory. You never know what life's going to throw at you, and what could prevent you from being able to compete at the highest level. So you've just got to take the opportunities when you have them and enjoy the moment. At 27, I still feel like I have some golfing years left ahead of me, but you never know, especially with family and things like that. I don't know what will happen. I don't know if -- maybe my back will go out and -- we've seen it from Natalie, all the struggles that she's had with her back. There's been quite a few players, Suzanne, as well, has had a lot of injuries, Michelle. That's a big battle out here on Tour. You've got to take what you have while you have it and appreciate it while it's here. Q. Four or five long par-4s, 10, 11, 18, 9, what are you hitting into those? MORGAN PRESSEL: Let's see, 10. 10, yesterday I had a 6-iron. 11, I hit a 7-iron. 9, I hit a 7-wood. And 18, I hit a 3-wood. 18 is definitely the longest hole out here if they play it from the back tee. Yesterday it played into the wind, as well. But like I said, if practice I think I hit a 7-wood into that hole two months ago. So you're getting really no roll, it's all carry. I think I had like 225 into the pin on that hole. So it's long, uphill and got to get it over the 15-yard false front. It's a great closing hole. Q. It took about six tournaments this year for you to really get going. Can you talk about what the catalyst was for you to -- I think you had a tie for 15th and then a third, what got you going? MORGAN PRESSEL: Well, I got off to definitely a rough start, but then I called up an old -- my old swing coach that I had kind of just taken a break from for about six months, eight months. And said, it's time. We need to start working again. And he's really helped straighten me out, Ron Stockton is his name. And it's been -- I really like what we're working on. I really feel comfortable with the changes that we've been making. And the best part is I feel like I can take it to the golf course. Q. Full swing or putting? MORGAN PRESSEL: Mostly full swing. Q. This seems sort of like the year of your reemergence. And obviously there's more to do with it than just working with your swing coach. Can you talk a little more generally about how it is that you sort of have come back to contend seriously for major championships when that didn't seem like it was going to happen for really a number of years? MORGAN PRESSEL: Well, I mean, I contended in a few, but I really struggled with my wrist quite a bit and that was not fun. I probably two years struggled with being able to practice, being able to compete where I wanted to. And then since coming back from that, getting married, my husband's been I think a big part of my success, as well, and his support. And just -- I feel like I've just been happier on the golf course, and that sounds kind of silly, but it's sometimes as simple as that. Q. What is your go-to shot for the driving the ball, is it left-to-right -- MORGAN PRESSEL: A draw, right-to-left. MIKE TROSTEL: Morgan Pressel, 7:51 off the 10th tee on Thursday, best of luck this week. MORGAN PRESSEL: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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