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SONY OPEN IN HAWAII

January 12, 2006

Michelle Wie West

HONOLULU, HAWAII

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Thank you for joining us after the first round at the Sony Open in Hawaii. We're just going to go straight into questions.

Q. What did you learn today?

MICHELLE WIE: Well, I still haven't really digested it yet. You know, the guys that I played with were awesome. I think I learned quite a bit from them. Also, just I went out there and things didn't start going as well as I want to. I think I learned a lot I guess from that.

Q. Did it feel like that last round at the U.S. Women's Open, any similarity?

MICHELLE WIE: I think so. I mean, it was just kind of it was almost the same. I mean, today it was like, wow, it's like I can't believe I'm doing this bad. The U.S. Open was also like that.

But I see a lot of similarities. I think that this will help me to realize that this can happen and I think I learned a lot from it.

Q. What do you think it was today for you?

MICHELLE WIE: It was just a combination of bad shots that turned out to be really bad, and just a lot of wasted strokes out there. I guess there was a lot of turning points I think in the round, and I don't think I got the momentum in any turning point, it was not my day.

Q. How much of that was mental?

MICHELLE WIE: Well, you know, it was kind of tough on me when you start at 3 over and stuff like that. It wasn't really mental. I felt like I stayed in myself while I was playing. But I guess I kind of got a little bit too aggressive at some times, but I just don't I don't feel like I lost it out there.

Q. Do you think you can get back into this, and if so, what do you think you have to do to get back into it tomorrow?

MICHELLE WIE: Shoot 61 tomorrow. Might make the cut, you never know. (Smiling).

Q. You've dealt with pressures week in and week out in your young life, were there any added pressures out there? Here you are sponsored by Sony, playing in a tournament with Sony as a title sponsor, what were you dealing with out there in the way of pressure?

MICHELLE WIE: I didn't really feel any pressure. The hard part for me was I haven't played in a tournament since November. And just going into this event, I know it's kind of a big event and just not being able to kind of put myself out there in a real tournament. The last time was in November. I know all of the guys out there, it's their first tournament. It's kind of hard for me just to go out there and not play in a tournament since November and play in this event. Since I have one round under my belt, I feel like tomorrow will be a better day.

Q. How do you approach tomorrow? I know you've said 61 would maybe help you make the cut, but how do you approach tomorrow and put this behind and you try to put up some red numbers tomorrow?

MICHELLE WIE: Try and shoot 61.

Q. You look like you battled pretty hard after that 17th hole, what was the hardest part of trying to hold it together out there?

MICHELLE WIE: Just that it was so darned hard out there with the wind and everything. I guess that was the harder part for me. It's not like you hit wedge into every hole. You're going into the green with 4 iron and 3 iron, so it was tough for me to get back on track. I think that motivates me to play better tomorrow.

Q. How much does the wind affect your putting? All of the guys say that particularly it's tough on a regular shot, but even standing over a putt?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, definitely the wind affects it a lot. When you're standing over the putt, the break looks like it's going this way, but the wind looks like it's going that way; you kind of almost doubt yourself a little bit. I think that's what I have to not do tomorrow. I think that I have to trust myself, even if the wind is blowing completely sideways, I think for tomorrow I'm just going to trust myself.

Q. Was there a point on the front where it kind of set in that "this really isn't going to be my day"?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, pretty much I just thought, wow, I'm not going to shoot under par today.

Q. When was that, was there a point, a certain hole, certain shot, certain break whatever?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, pretty much like 17th hole I thought today it's a little iffy. I just kind of kept on trying. I just tried to see how low I can get.

When I made that birdie, I was like, "Yay, finally made a birdie."

Just tried to cut down my number, I knew I wasn't going to get to even par but just try as hard as I can and tomorrow.

Q. What do you tell yourself after a bad shot?

MICHELLE WIE: What do I tell myself? That tomorrow is a whole new day and just wasn't my day really.

Q. Out there with that ball on 17, I know you were trying to get the official to deem it

MICHELLE WIE: I had a really deep crack on the ball and it just seemed a little didn't really just wanted to see if I could get a new ball because it was right where I wanted to roll the ball. It's a pretty deep crack, but it's all right. It's not really what I wanted on that situation.

Q. Did you have to do anything different in your preparation for today because of the wind? Was it last minute or was it something that you've already worked on?

MICHELLE WIE: Well, it's not really last minute. I mean, the wind has been pretty consistent here. Although the last couple of weeks, there was no wind at all. So I just kind of got used to the wind. I mean, I played in the wind quite a few times, so the wind is not really new to me.

Q. What positives can you take out of a round like this today?

MICHELLE WIE: I made one birdie. That was a pretty good hole, I have to say.

Then I felt like my shots were solid, although a couple shots went kind of bad. I just felt like I really got a long putt on the second hole, which I'm quite proud of because it was quite long.

Just playing with these guys out here, just being able to play in this tournament was awesome.

Q. Will you reevaluate your schedule now with the way you talked about having such a long layoff when it came to playing in this tournament; will you reevaluate that for next year?

MICHELLE WIE: I mean, I really don't have any choice. I still go to school. I'm only allowed two weeks a semester, so I can't really miss like four weeks in a row; although I want to, I might get kicked out, I don't want that. (Laughter).

Q. Can you talk about the bunker shot on 11? That was a long time ago.

MICHELLE WIE: Oh, that was a pretty good bunker shot. Yeah, that was another positive. (Smiling).

It was quite a long bunker shot. I just went up there and hit it and it just felt good.

Q. Are you committed to Kraft now?

MICHELLE WIE: I think so. I think I am. I feel like if they invite me, I'm definitely going to play.

Q. You didn't feel all that differently today, you just scored?

MICHELLE WIE: Made a lot of really stupid mistakes, like 3 putting, messing up on my bad chips. You know, just kind of you have those days where you know it's easy, but when you actually get up to the shot it's like, wow, I just can't believe I did that. A lot of shots were like that.

One thing that I learned that I'm thinking about now is that the guys even if they do struggle, they always just seem to end it with a bogey or less. I think that's what I learned.

Q. I know you said a 61 would be great tomorrow and that would certainly get you in on the weekend, maybe even a 65 or 66 would do it, who knows what the cut line is going to be, but do you feel you have it in you to fight back tomorrow and be real close, if not make it?

MICHELLE WIE: Definitely. I mean, you know, if I feel like I can do it tomorrow because if I do the opposite of what I did today, I think I'm pretty set.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Michelle, thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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