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SONY OPEN IN HAWAII

January 11, 2005

Michelle Wie West

HONOLULU, HAWAII

TODD BUDNICK: We'd like to welcome Michelle Wie, a sponsor exemption to this week's 2005 Sony Open in Hawaii.

Thank you for joining us today, Michelle. You played last year and missed the cut by just one stroke, a great experience for you. Talk a little about what kind of experience that was for you last year and what you look to do this year in your return experience.

MICHELLE WIE: Last year was so fun. You, know it was my first time at it, and I didn't really know what to expect, and it turned out to be great. And hopefully I learn from last year and hopefully I can do a lot better this time.

TODD BUDNICK: You got a little warm up last week playing at the Mercedes Championships at the Pro-Am there. You seemed very comfortable around these guys. Can you talk a little about that?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I mean, they are so nice. It's really easy to be comfortable out there. It's easy to get comfortable when you're having fun, and I'm having a lot of fun.

TODD BUDNICK: You practiced this morning with Ernie Els. Talk about the round today and what the course looks like.

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I mean today's round was great. We had a lot of fun and Ernie, I learned a lot of things from him, but the course was playing really hard today. The winds were completely different. It wasn't even Kona wind; it was strange wind.

TODD BUDNICK: You know this course probably better than anybody. So you could talk, outside of the wind conditions, is the course in good shape? I know there's been some rain out here.

MICHELLE WIE: We've had a lot of rain, but it's still pretty soft and it's drying up and getting pretty good. The greens are really running.

Q. Ernie Els won this tournament last two years and is coming off a great run at the Mercedes. What can you take away from someone like that knowledge-wise after a round like that today.

MICHELLE WIE: Well, I just see how he plays and I try to take some of his knowledge and his feel for the game. You know, I'm just trying to like look for things that I don't do and just have fun out there.

Q. Can you give an example of the things, the knowledge you picked up today?

MICHELLE WIE: Well, you know, one of the things I guess is like when he didn't hit a really good shot, you see how he bounces back, and, you know, just I can't really explain. Just the way he plays is just so phenomenal, I learn by just looking at him.

Q. Last year you said that you played a lot here before the tournament. How many times have you played here, say, in the last two months?

MICHELLE WIE: I'm not really sure. I've played a lot out here though. If I didn't play out here, definitely practice putting and just hit balls out here.

Q. Does that mean specifically to prepare for this week?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, definitely, all of my energy has going into this for the last, you know, four months.

Q. You schedule for this year, what tournaments are planned? Not just amateur golf, but what other tournaments do you have planned for this year?

MICHELLE WIE: I'm not really sure. It's going to be a lot similar to like last year I think, but I haven't really finalized my schedule yet.

Q. Will you do the Nabisco?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I think so.

Q. But not for sure?

MICHELLE WIE: I think I am playing, yeah.

Q. Ernie said he felt that your short game and your putting had improved a lot from last year. Can you talk about that?

MICHELLE WIE: Well, I practiced a lot of short game, my putting. That's been my main focus, because as you know last year, my putting wasn't very good. If I'm going to miss a lot of greens, then try to like make it higher, like my up-and-down rate, my up-and-down percentage higher. I'm working on my getting my short game more consistent.

Q. Do you have any shots this year that you didn't have last year?

MICHELLE WIE: I don't remember.

Q. The low drive?

MICHELLE WIE: Oh, yeah, the low drive. I mean, you know, like last year, just I used to be just all full-drive, even into the wind. But before the Curtis Cup, I tried to get that low drive and low knock-down shots, so that's been working really good lately.

Q. So I knock-down driver?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah.

Q. Anything around the green? Having played with Ernie last year, is there stuff that you can do now that you could not do last year around the green?

MICHELLE WIE: Like last year I could not spin it from the rough around the greens. And he's so fluid in his pitch shot. I learned a lot from that. I think I'm getting a little bit more fluid.

Q. Can we have your goals for this year with the beginning of 2005?

MICHELLE WIE: Well, you know, I'm definitely going to try to win some tournaments this year. Last year I was winless and that kind of made me mad. So this year I'm going to try to get some wins.

Q. You have a new caddie this weekend, Jimmy Johnson, someone with a lot of experience. How comfortable or how excited are you with having him on the bag?

MICHELLE WIE: Well, he already caddied for me once at Samsung, so I'm pretty familiar with him. He's a great guy. He's a really good caddie and has a lot of experience caddying for Nick Price and it's great.

Q. David Leadbetter mentioned that he thought the course was playing longer this year than last year. I wonder if you found that to be true and if you think that's good or bad for you?

MICHELLE WIE: Well, definitely it's playing longer right now. Because it's so wet so there's absolutely no roll, especially when I play that knock-down driver, got to get some extra roll on that. It's just drop-and-stop. It's playing longer. That means I'm going to have a lot more long irons into the green, middle irons. It's going to play a little tougher but hopefully it will dry out.

Q. Did you follow this tournament on the weekend last year?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I mean, I followed the tournament. After playing, I needed a little break.

Q. Do you remember who finished second?

MICHELLE WIE: I have no idea. (Laughter.)

Q. Do you know who Steve Flesch is? (Laughter.)

MICHELLE WIE: Now I do. (Laughter.)

Q. What are your expectations this afternoon playing with Adam Sandler as a partner?

MICHELLE WIE: I mean, it's going to be so fun. My goal is try not to laugh while I'm over the ball. He's a great guy. I mean, he's super funny. I love all his movies. I'm going to have great time out there.

Q. Are you the envy of your friends this week? And what classes are you missing this week?

MICHELLE WIE: Well, this week is semester exam week, so I'm missing all of the studying, cramming, all that. It's quite nice, actually. (Laughter.)

Q. Last year, of course, we all know how close you came to making the cut. Do you feel there are more expectations, maybe not just from fans, but the other players that you should make the cut this year?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, people always expect that if you're so close actually then you definitely should make the cut this year. But it has a lot to do with the luck and the way you're playing that day, and hopefully I'll catch a good day.

Q. What is the best score you've been posting at Waialae when you're practicing?

MICHELLE WIE: I think a 66.

Q. From the back tees?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah.

Q. Last year in the second round, you had a great day with the putter; right?

MICHELLE WIE: Mm-hmm.

Q. Was that because you think you know the greens well, or did you just have a day where the stroke felt good or both?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I mean, the first day, I hit the putts so well, but it was pretty much just, you know, that kind of day where none of the putts go in. But the second day, I mean, you know, I hit the ball the same, but, you know, the putts went in, and that putting tip that Ernie gave me was really helpful.

Q. When you see what some of the guys have done, be it Vijay and Tiger, the fitness part of it, and you see what Annika has done on the LPGA, how important is it do you think to be strong and powerful; does it matter? And if it does matter, are you excited about doing it?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, definitely. I mean, the thing is it's getting to be a big part of golf. You know, you have to be strong, you have to be able to hit the ball far, because if you don't, then it's tough. Also because of distance, but also because of the rough. You can't get the ball out of there if you're not strong enough.

I think it's also important because, you know, you'll be in shape and you won't get as injured. You know, I'm really excited of getting into it. I mean, I already kind of started it, but after playing with Ernie today and after seeing my drive be like 40 yards behind him, I think I'm really excited to be more fit.

Q. Did Ernie talk about his workout routine?

MICHELLE WIE: Not really, no.

Q. Are you working with somebody?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I've been working with Milton on body balance, just for like physical therapy and just light stuff. I'm hopefully going to get into like heavier stuff and bigger stuff.

Q. The first hole is playing really hard today, particularly with this hard west wind. You've got a 10th tee start on Thursday morning, is that an advantage for you, do you think? Is that where you wanted to start?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, definitely, because playing out here a lot, because No. 10 is a member's No. 1. So I've always started on the 10th tee. You know, I think it's an easier tee shot than No. 1.

Q. Can you drive 10?

MICHELLE WIE: I'm not really sure. I've never tried it actually before.

Q. You've never tried it?

MICHELLE WIE: No.

Q. Thursday.

MICHELLE WIE: Well, I've seen them playing it, it's so narrow up there. If I just hit my 3-wood, I'm going to have a wedge in my hand anyway.

Q. Do you far do you have left with 3-wood?

MICHELLE WIE: Today I had about 75 yards left.

Q. I wanted to know if your driving distance is longer this year than last year; did you improve on that?

MICHELLE WIE: I'm not really sure. I think I'm hitting it maybe a little bit farther, but I'm not really sure. I think it's about the same.

Q. Can you give us an update on school? What kind of grades are you making and what are you taking?

MICHELLE WIE: Well, last quarter, I had all A's except for one.

Q. What was it?

MICHELLE WIE: English.

Q. You know, we're disappointed in that in here. (Laughter.)

MICHELLE WIE: Oh, God, I'm sorry, but yeah.

And I'm taking Algebra II and conceptual physics, foundation art, Japanese and all that other stuff.

Q. With Korean being your first language, right, for the more part?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I learned them at the same time.

Q. Does that help with your Japanese?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I mean, it does, because the grammar is basically the same and a lot of words sound alike. You know, since I already like, you know, know the language, languages come easy for me.

Q. Do you anticipate being able to speak more than one by the time you grow up -- by the time you become an adult, excuse me.

MICHELLE WIE: (Laughter.) Like more than one language?

Q. Yeah, beyond Korean?

MICHELLE WIE: I'm going to take Chinese again next year. I took it for two years, and I think I'm going to take it again. And so I'm going to take two languages next year, Chinese and Japanese.

Q. I read that you really enjoy physics. Does that translate into your game at all?

MICHELLE WIE: No, not really. We had a chapter on power and I thought that was pretty cool. There's always an example of golf if the ball -- the teacher is always making fun of me, but it's fun, I like it. You know, I like it because you can actually see it happen even in real life and that's really exciting.

Q. How does he make fun of you?

MICHELLE WIE: There's a lot of physics in golf, so it always relates to me for some reason, I don't know why. But it's fun, though. It's funny.

Q. Is it conceivable that you might turn pro before you graduate from high school? Is that possible?

MICHELLE WIE: I don't know yet. I mean, I don't know. There's a lot of possibilities, but I'm not real really sure yet.

Q. What would be your amateur aspirations as you continue to play in the Nabiscos and these other things that have, obviously, a lot of importance in golf in general; does that lessen your enthusiasm for amateur events or not?

MICHELLE WIE: Well, you know, amateur events and professional events are very different. They have a very different like atmosphere, but, you know, I'm like really excited for amateur events like the USGA events. They are really great. But the Kraft Nabisco and all of the other LPGA tournaments, they are really fun, too.

I'm just going to try to learn as much as I can before I turn professional, you know.

Q. It's hard to do for a 15-year-old, but if you could look at the very end of your career, age 60, whatever it may be, and you could say -- I know, that's hard, I know school's out -- but "Michelle Wie, who is known for," what? Winning the most LPGA events? Winning, whatever? What would you like to be remembered for as a 15-year-old looking into the future?

MICHELLE WIE: Growing up I always -- I never really wanted to be known as winning 50-some-odd tournaments. I always wanted to be known as someone who did crazy stuff, like stuff that never -- doing like -- I always want wanted to be known as doing stuff that no one ever thought of. I just want to push myself to the limit. I want to be known as people that changed the world and people that change how people think.

Q. Good answer. You get an A for that one.

MICHELLE WIE: Thanks. (Smiles).

Q. Going along the lines of changing the world, there has been controversy in the past about women playing on the PGA. How anxious are you to prove that you belong here?

MICHELLE WIE: I'm not out here to prove anything. You know, I just want to do what I want to do at this point, and, you know, I'm just having so much fun. I'm not here to say, oh, we belong here. I'm not here to make a statement. You know, I'm just here to do stuff that no one has tried before and it's fun. Just think outside of the box.

Q. If you didn't have golf, what would you do this crazy stuff in?

MICHELLE WIE: Who knows? I don't know. (Laughing).

Q. When you say you want to do some of the stuff that people haven't done before, do you mean by that that you want to play the PGA TOUR full-time or do you mean something beyond that?

MICHELLE WIE: I'm not really sure at this point. You know, just think whatever nothing has happened before and maybe I'll try it. I don't know. I like to do exciting things. I never wanted to do ordinary things.

Q. We all sat and chatted with you last year, what's changed in that year for you? Would you just tell us, what was the highlight or what was the big changes for you?

MICHELLE WIE: Big changes, I turned 15. And, I don't know, I don't think -- hopefully there was some improvement in my golf game, but other than that, nothing has changed much.

Q. Nothing in your personal life? Forget about golf. What about on the social fun side?

MICHELLE WIE: No, everything is the same practically. Same old high school.

Q. Starting to learn how to drive yet, drive a car?

MICHELLE WIE: I'm going to learn how to drive in May, I think. Yeah, better stay off the road when I drive.

TODD BUDNICK: Thank you very much for coming in today, Michelle. Good luck this week.

End of FastScripts.

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