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SONY OPEN IN HAWAII

January 16, 2004

Michelle Wie West

HONOLULU, HAWAII

JOE CHEMYCZ: Michelle, thank you. I know you were grinding out there today, and down the stretch made a couple of key birdies. I know you found out what the 36-hole result was in the trailer. Just talk about your day and your feelings right now.

MICHELLE WIE: My day went pretty well. I started off with a bogey. I was like, "Oh, no, I started off bogey." But my game felt good yesterday.

Today, I think my first couple of holes, my ball was a wimp; he wouldn't listen to me. But I changed balls after two holes and he listened to me very well. I just told him to go in and he would go in. I had like about a 54-footer for a birdie and it went in. I made two really long putts.

I think I played really great today. Just one more shot and I would have made it, it's killing me now. I can't believe I was 1-under par.

Q. When did you find out? Did you know what you needed on the 18th or did you only learn afterwards it wasn't enough?

MICHELLE WIE: I thought I just have to make a birdie to make it. Even par, it usually makes it. I was like, I'll be very sad if the cut was 1-under par and it was.

I just wish I didn't like push that shot on No. 9. I could have made a birdie or made 1-under.

Q. Was that a 3-iron on No. 9?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, it was like a little bit downhill and I just pushed it. I had a lot of good saves today.

Q. What was your club for the second shot on 18?

MICHELLE WIE: I hit a 5-wood. It was about 240.

Q. SO ARE you disappointed or how do you feel?

MICHELLE WIE: I think I played very well. The first day, my putts didn't fall in. If they fell in just like they did today, I would have easily made the cut.

I think I did good. I struggled and I fought. I made a couple of really good putts. I made two birdies out of three holes, last three holes. I think I did pretty good.

Q. Watching you play, it's easy for us to forget that you're 14. At 14 years old, taking part in a PGA event, how thrilling was this experience for you?

MICHELLE WIE: It was very good, very thrilling, starting from Monday and Tuesday was very good, too. I think playing with Ernie Els, it kind of -- I was very nervous when I played with him. I didn't want to embarrass myself or anything. I played very well and that calmed me down.

So on Thursday, I wasn't really nervous. The course is just awesome. It was in very good shape. And the greens were really fast, so that was good. My playing partners were really nice to me. I think everyone out here was very nice to me. The food was great, too. (Laughter.)

Q. Don't most ninth graders like to have the weekend off.

MICHELLE WIE: I'm having the weekend off, so I'm happy.

Q. Annika said this was a one-time thing for her. If you were invited back next year, would you consider coming back again?

MICHELLE WIE: What do you think? (Laughter.)

Q. What about something else this year, if you were asked to play another PGA TOUR event?

MICHELLE WIE: If I had time I would certainly go.

Q. When you say "if you had time," would that mean that if it was against some other women's event, would you consider doing the Tour event before the women's event ?

MICHELLE WIE: If it conflicted with another tournament, I don't think I'd be able to play.

Q. You've already had invitations, haven't you?

MICHELLE WIE: No.

Q. Haven't you been invited to play in Singapore?

MICHELLE WIE: Oh, yeah, that one, but I don't know what happened to that one. I think it was school or something. I don't know.

Q. What do you think you walk away with from this experience?

MICHELLE WIE: I think it was a very happy experience for me this week. It was a very good learning experience, too. I learned what the PGA does. Like they make the sands a lot fluffier and they make the greens a lot faster, and I kind of know what they kind of do to the courses.

It was really good, because I got to know a lot of the players and very nice it this week.

Q. What's the rest of your schedule like for the next couple of months?

MICHELLE WIE: February I have the Pearl Open. In March, I have the Safeway LPGA tournament and Kraft Nabisco.

Q. Can you kind of take us through what happened after you walked off the green and into the scoring trailer and how it all came about that you learned where you stood?

MICHELLE WIE: I thought I made it because everyone was like congratulations and stuff like that. And then like I went to -- I asked the person what is the cut and they are like 139.

Q. Who did you ask?

MICHELLE WIE: I was very curious.

JOE CHEMYCZ: Johnny Andrews.

MICHELLE WIE: I think it was going in, I don't know. He said 139 and I was like -- I added 70 plus 70 together, and it equalled 140. I was like, no, no, this is not happening. I thought I made it after I made that putt.

Q. What was your thought process last night after going 2-over, knowing that you probably had to shoot 68?

MICHELLE WIE: I was confident that I would shoot 68 because I played very well yesterday, and just if my putts just fell in, I would easily have made like 67, 68.

Q. How does your result measure up against your expectations for the week? Are you disappointed, ecstatic?

MICHELLE WIE: Well, my goal was to shoot 2-under, 2-under, but I didn't shoot very well the first day.

But I accomplished my goal today, 2-under. So I'm pretty happy with how the week went.

Q. So your goal was to shoot 4-under, 2-under, 2-under; is that it?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah.

Q. I think you only hit eight greens today. Were your irons letting you down a little bit?

MICHELLE WIE: Oh, I guess. I don't know, it's just -- I guess I was a little bit more nervous than yesterday knowing I had to shoot a certain score. But I think my swing felt good. It's just that I guess I was a little bit tense, I guess, more than yesterday, and, I don't know.

Q. At Colonial Annika talked about she wished she would have been more aggressive in the first round, and like you, had to turn it on in the second round to score. Do you wish in the first round you might have tried to be a little more aggressive?

MICHELLE WIE: I wasn't really not aggressive. I was sort of aggressive I guess. I was hitting more middle of the greens but I wanted to hit it close. But my irons let me down.

I guess I think I made some good decisions. My irons didn't go as straight as I wanted to, but I was pretty aggressive, I guess.

Q. Annika said after the Colonial that she said: "I don't belong out here, I belong on my tour." Obviously you don't feel that way.

MICHELLE WIE: I don't think I would say I don't belong here; I do belong here; I belong on the LPGA; I belong on the PGA.

I think I belong in both.

Q. You got a lot of positive comments. Can you share what some of the golfers said when they saw you?

MICHELLE WIE: They said I shot really great yesterday. Everyone said that. They were very nice to me. They said that I have a really great future. They said I played awesome today and yesterday.

Q. Down the last 10, 11 holes, your misses with the driver tended to go right; is that a matter of tension, getting ahead of the ball a little bit?

MICHELLE WIE: I don't know. It felt like my swing was pretty good. It's not like some major problem and my knees were shaking or anything. I felt that I just didn't hit in the center, that's all.

Q. You made some decisions today chipping out at certain times that most people would say would be someone that was beyond 14 years old. How much did your caddie help you over these two days?

MICHELLE WIE: He helped me a lot. I'm usually the kind of person that if I'm in trouble, I go over the tree and like make it like a miracle shot. But he told me -- he was a very smart person, and he told me just to lay up and hit my wedges on to the green and they worked out perfectly. I think it made a lot of saves like that.

Q. Are you coming back out on the weekend to watch?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I think I'm going to come out.

Q. And then back to school on Monday?

MICHELLE WIE: No. No school on Monday.

Q. Holiday?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah.

Q. What do you think about all of this attention? Did you expect this kind of attention, taking on this endeavor?

MICHELLE WIE: No, not -- I didn't expect this much. Because I thought you guys would probably be used to women playing by now. (Laughter.)

I don't know, as much as Annika got. But I was, I guess, sort of expecting it, kind of wanting it to be this much, I guess. It worked out very nicely.

Q. So you're comfortable with all this?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I think I am.

Q. If you knew you needed a 139, what would you have done differently down the stretch?

MICHELLE WIE: I think I played very well the last few holes. I don't think I could have hit any better. It was the par 3, I wish I had hit like a little knock-down shot. It was a little straighter not, not a big pull to the left.

Q. Were you hitting a lot of knock-down shots down the stretch?

MICHELLE WIE: Sort of. Because I felt like my full-swing shots were going left and right. I hit pretty good knock-down shots, so try to hit it, push it into the green.

Q. What did you hit in on 16?

MICHELLE WIE: Pitching wedge.

Q. Was that 3-iron on the second shot at 9, is that the one you'd like to have back, thinking back on it?

MICHELLE WIE: The 3-iron, I wish I just -- I don't know. It was a little downhill. It was a really tricky lie. I just wish I didn't hit it that right.

Q. So you weren't trying to hold a chip, you were just trying to get it close for a birdie?

MICHELLE WIE: Which one?

Q. On 18.

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I wanted it to go in, if anything. I would be happy with an eagle. (Laughter.)

Q. How is this going to help you down the road, how do you look at this?

MICHELLE WIE: I think it's a good confidence boost. I think I did very well under pressure. Last few holes, I was very nervous and I had to shoot 2-under or 3-under par in the last three holes. I think it's a big confidence boost and I think that I could work on it a little bit. I think I can play out here one day.

Q. What kind of reception do you think you'll get Tuesday at school?

MICHELLE WIE: All of my friends came out here today. I saw a lot of my friends today. I think they got bored pretty fast. (Laughter.)

Q. Not big golf types, are they?

MICHELLE WIE: No, not really.

Q. If you could pick and choose what other tournaments would you like to play, what would be your top three or four tournaments that you would like to play?

MICHELLE WIE: I think I would really want to make the Curtis Cup this year. I really want to make that. And I think I'm really looking forward to Kraft Nabisco since I played there last year. Also the food is really great there. They have a really good ice cream bar.

I don't know, just looking forward to all of the USGA tournaments and a lot of the LPGA tournaments and hopefully next year, another PGA.

Q. At your age, most kids are trying to get their license, what's your next big goal?

MICHELLE WIE: Getting my license. (Laughter.)

Well, I don't know, I just take one tournament at a time. But, I don't know. I just hope that I play better than last year this summer and hope I make some really good decisions out there. I just want to win one tournament, I think, again, an LPGA tournament or an Amateur tournament.

Q. I saw a lot of your fans out there, and a lot of good comments from golfers that did play in the tournament; how did that make you feel?

MICHELLE WIE: That makes me feel very welcome and very happy. I'm so happy that they are welcoming me and very happy that all of the supporters are supporting me.

Q. How does today help you in USGA events and LPGA events in the future?

MICHELLE WIE: I think this kind of helps me with match-play, too. Because like I'm kind of fighting against the course. I guess that I did very well under pressure, and I know in match-play you have to do very well the last three holes, if you make it there.

I think it helps me on the LPGA, because since I played on the PGA, I think the LPGA will be easy, too. The courses are going to be a little shorter so I'm going to have more wedges.

Q. Did playing with Kevin (Hayashi) make things easier the two days?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, it did make it easier. Playing with him, it eased me a lot and gave me a lot of confidence. He was very nice to me and everything was great.

Q. After your performance here today a lot of exposure and national television, are you expecting to get a lot more calls or do you think you'll get a lot more calls, more PGA events or LPGA event?

MICHELLE WIE: I don't know. I really don't know.

Q. You said you want to get your driver's license. Do you think you'll make the cut before you get your driver's license, or which comes first?

MICHELLE WIE: I think so. I have two more years to get my license.

Q. Is there a sense of relief that this part is done; you don't have to worry about all of this attention you're getting and you can just go back to being a student.

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I think it gives me a lot less pressure, but school's hard, too. I'd rather be playing golf.

Q. Speaking of school, what happens now, Michelle? What's the school schedule like for the next couple of week?

MICHELLE WIE: I start a new semester and I have P.E. (making face).

But, I don't know. I'm taking really kind of hardish courses. School's really fun.

Q. What's your favorite course?

MICHELLE WIE: I have to say -- I don't know. They are all really fun. They are.

JOE CHEMYCZ: Michelle, thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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