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CME GROUP TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

November 21, 2015

Inbee Park

Naples, Florida

THE MODERATOR: Inbee Park, thank you for coming in. 5‑under today, 9‑under through three rounds. Just a handful of shots back. Two birdies in the last three holes, pretty solid finish. What was the key to today?
INBEE PARK: It was the putter today. I holed a lot of really good and long putts today. Ball striking part wasn't as solid as the last couple days. I hit it left and right. Just I felt a little bit tight on my hip, left hip today. It was kind of tough coming in to hold my finish.
I'm going to work on it tonight and hopefully I can hit the ball a little bit better tomorrow and give myself a lot of opportunities. Today was a really good putting day out there. I didn't know I could putt this good on Bermuda greens. 16 and 17 was amazing.

Q. What putt stuck out? I know there's a few long ones, but which ones stuck out in terms of momentum changers?
INBEE PARK: I think definitely 16. Obviously I didn't expect 17 to go in. 16, I hit a good putt, but I thought it didn't have enough speed, but it just dropped.
Obviously, 18, almost holed it, too. I hit a really great putt. I feel like I'm putting a better stroke on it. It's tough to judge the speed here because it doesn't look like it's going to go. When it's into the grain, I can't hit it hard enough. That's kind of the problem that I have been having this week.
Today my only mistake was that 3‑putt. I only had 118 to the hole, hit a little fat on my iron shot and 3‑putted from there. I missed a 3‑footer. Expect for that, everything was pretty good. My driver was really good today. Just iron shots weren't pure.

Q. How long was it on 16, the putt?
INBEE PARK: They say about 30‑footer, 40‑footer. Same with 17.

Q. How comfortable are you with the position heading into Sunday? You have had plenty of wins coming from behind. Is that something you are comfortable with, being the chaser, not the chasee?
INBEE PARK: I've been in both ways, obviously. I always say the closer you are to the lead or if you are leading by a lot, that's even better. Obviously I did all I can do the last three days and this is where I am. I've got to deal with where I am. Obviously there has been a lot of good numbers out there in the last couple of days.
I don't know the weather is going to be tomorrow. I think they are expecting some thunderstorms and some rain. It can be somepatience. I think you've got to stay a little bit patient out there tomorrow. It can be a long day. I'm going to try to rest up and enjoy tomorrow. It's last day of the LPGA tournament this year.

Q. You, Lydia and Stacy are there once again. I guess, one, are you surprised? Two, did you find yourself peeking at the leaderboard every now and then?
INBEE PARK: Yeah, I look probably a couple times a day. Today I looked at it coming in the holes, like 16, 17. I just looked at the scores and I felt like I was playing really good. Other people were playing really good too. That got me going as well.
I tell myself I need to make a lot more birdies to give myself a chance tomorrow. Luckily a couple dropped coming in.

Q. Taking a little bit of a broader perspective, given the summer that you had, could you have imagined that every award known to man is going to come down to the final 18 of the final event of the year?
INBEE PARK: That was pretty unexpected, I think. When I won the British Open, there was so much gap in between me and the other players. I thought somebody had to win at least three or more times to even have a chance.
Obviously Lydia was one that was able to do it. I mean, Lydia is a very talented player and obviously it was something that was unexpected, but I just try to keeptell myself everything, the award and every title, it was never mine. It was just‑‑ it just looked like mine because the middle of year, I was leading and everything. I just keep telling myself it was never mine. You have got to earn your way to it. It's good that I still have a chance at it.

Q. To follow up on that, it's very exciting for us, very exciting for the fans, is it exciting for you?
INBEE PARK: I would rather have a big lead coming into tomorrow and just enjoy tomorrow. Obviously this is the way it is and I have got to deal with whatever I have.
We both had really, really good seasons and somebody is going to become 1 and somebody is going to become 2. That's just the way it is. I'm just trying to tell myself I had a really good enough season this year. I've earned what I wanted to earn, what I wanted to achieve. The rest is just a bonus.

Q. Taking a broader look, comparing the whole of this season with the whole of last season, are there any observations you wanted to make about the competition, the schedule, the players? This year versus last year, the whole season. The whole '14 season compared to this '15 season? Is the competition harder?
INBEE PARK: I think it has been pretty much the same for the last three or fouryears that I have been on the top. It has been two or three players that was going for No. 1 and two or three players are sharing a few wins together.
Obviously, since Lydia started to come play last year, it became Lydia and me this year. So sometimes players changed, but it has been a few players that's been trying to be on the top.

Q. As far as putting these Bermuda greens, did you give yourself a talking to at all last night about I am a going to putt better on those greens or was it a matter of working on technique? How did you approach that?
INBEE PARK: I think technique stayed the same. I think it was a matter of getting the speed right. I definitely felt like I'm putting the right strokes on it, but sometimes misread the grains, misread the breaks, sometimes misjudged the speed. Today was‑‑ I would rather put on the down grains here because they are a little bit less shaky.
The putts I holed today was mostly down grains. Yeah, just can't control it, but trying to have down grain putts and that's what I had today.

Q. You mentioned the weather. Did you find yourself or did you notice other players maybe speeding up, you know, going from hole to hole with the threat of rain today?
INBEE PARK: No, not really today. I just heard from the media that it was going to be maybe a tough day tomorrow with some thunderstorms. Not today, today was going to be fine. It looks bad, but hopefully it can hold.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you for coming in. Good luck tomorrow.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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