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SHOPRITE LPGA CLASSIC PRESENTED BY ACERJune 2, 2016Gerina PillerGalloway, New Jersey Q. Coming back here, looking at your record the last three years, tied for fifth, third, you have to be excited to come back to a course where you're playing well recently? GERINA PILLER: Yeah, coming back here, I like the course. I think the wind definitely it protects the course. The greens are obviously smaller and it's definitely a ball-striker's course. You kind of have to be patient on the greens. They are poa annua and in the afternoon they get a little bumpy. I just feel like it definitely suits my game. It's not a long course but with the wind, I feel like I have a little bit of an advantage. Q. Just playing so solidly now this season, Olympics on your mind, 15th in the world; did you have a number in mind rankings-wise this year or was it ever -- just that you wanted to get on the team? Was that a main goal of yours? GERINA PILLER: To be honest, I didn't even think it was possible. And not that it wasn't possible. It wasn't like it was something I was trying to obtain. If it happened, great. It's kind of like a Solheim thing. You can't really focus on trying to make the team. It's more your focus is on being more consistent in golf and getting better at whatever I need to get better at. So to be 15th in the world, it's pretty cool for me because I've improved every year, and so to have an opportunity to play, obviously on the UL International Crown, that's definitely something that I would like to do. And to be at the Olympics is really awesome. I didn't really think it was something that could be attainable but now I'm sitting that I'm qualified, so it's pretty cool. Q. Are you counting down the days, I think it's July 11 is the cutoff. Did you know that? GERINA PILLER: I did. I was informed that it was July 11. But you know what, a lot can change. Rolex Rankings change every week, for the better and for the worse. So it's still early, and as cliché as it sounds, I've got to focus on what I can control and it's my golf game. Just keep doing what I'm doing. Try not to do anything special or different than what I've been doing. I'm a firm believer in if that's what's in God's plan for me to play in the Olympics, that's what will happen. For me to think that way, it kind of gives me a sense of freedom to just kind of go out there and have a mind-set of no matter what the outcome is, I have to be okay with that. If I play in the Olympics, great. If I don't, then that's okay, too. There's Olympics coming in another four years. Q. Are you concerned at all about if you go to the Olympics about the Zika virus and its ramifications? GERINA PILLER: It definitely is a concern. But I've been thinking about it, and I feel if it was a really, really big problem, I mean, there's Olympic Committees down there I'm sure that are staying. I haven't really heard of anyone getting it so far. So I would think that we could trust them and that they would not put us in a situation that would be detrimental or anything like that to us. Q. Has anyone had any discussions with you, whether from a national committee or just hearsay in terms of how to approach that and how to be safe down there? GERINA PILLER: I haven't. It's just been a week since I've qualified, so I have not been addressed yet but hopefully that will be addressed and we can hopefully prevent things from happening. Q. What do you think is the effect of women's golf in the Olympics, on the sport, on its growth, whether it's positive or if it's a nuisance, because it condenses the schedule for you guys, too; you come straight from the British Open before that. GERINA PILLER: It's definitely growing the game. I think that it's bringing more media attention and attention to golf in general. The men don't really need that help but for us, our tour, it's definitely on the upswing, and I think that having the Olympics is definitely to our advantage. Q. You were a multi-sport athlete before you started focusing on golf. Did you have any Olympic aspirations to play softball or anything like that? GERINA PILLER: You know, no, because I never really played a sport that was -- I played volleyball going up. I played baseball with the guys. You know, it would be cool -- I always thought being gymnast would be cool, but I've never done anything -- I can't touch my toes. So that definitely wasn't in the question. But you know, Solheim is definitely one of those goals I had when I started playing golf, and you know, any time you have an opportunity to represent your country, I think that's one of the greatest honors you can have. Q. You've played so well this year. Do you feel like you're getting close to that win or how do you sort of handle playing well but coming up a little short? GERINA PILLER: I've been playing well. I don't really consider it coming up short because you don't finish in the top 5 from not playing well. So I've always believed that you could hit every fairway, hit over green, shoot 15-under par and that's the best you had that week, but someone could come in at 16. So even though you don't win, it doesn't mean that it's not a winning performance. I don't feel like I've ever given it away. It's just I'm up there more often and I think maybe people see that as, I can't close a door or anything like that. It's just at the beginning of the year, my goal has been consistent. Even if it is, you know, being in the top five every week and not getting that win, then I'm doing what my goal is, to be more consistent. From fifth place to first place, there's a very minute margin there. Hopefully when, sooner than later, I will be on the top of that. Q. You mentioned the greens being poa, and they tend to freak a lot of players out; they go out in the afternoon and they have no way of knowing which way the ball is going to go. How do you manage to calm yourself down and say, hey, these are greens that I can play? GERINA PILLER: One thing is just reminding yourself that everybody has to putt them. Everyone's got to putt those 3-footers and that's the ones that you just can't control the bounce. You definitely have to put your patience cap on and really just pick a line and hit it on that line, and that's all you can do. You can't control which way it's going to bounce or anything like that. So just going out there I think with a good attitude about them and having -- just thinking, like there's probably going to be one or two that I miss, because of the greens, that's just kind of the rub of the green the way things are, and everyone else has to putt them, as well. Q. Has that served you well in the past here, and do you think that's why we've seen a lot of people have great Fridays and just blow up Saturday if the wind comes up or rain or the greens get a little quicker; do you think that's why you've been able to be so successful the last three years, just taking what comes? GERINA PILLER: I think so. And also, you have to be pretty precise with your irons. They are small greens and I really try to work on my speed. If you have good speed out here, you're not going to be far off. I think that's what's really helped me in the past is just going out to the practice putting green and not just killing myself about, you know, like, oh, this one broke right, this one broke left, and really trying to start guiding the putt. It's more of just hitting the putt and just really working on a good speed and a good space. With poa annua, you want to hit it with, I call it a positive roll where it gets on top. It's not like you're ramming the putts in, but you have speed with it and it helps hold the line. Q. What are the challenges for a woman who plays on the LPGA Tour, married to a guy who is traveling on the PGA TOUR; what are the challenges, issues, fun? What's that all like? GERINA PILLER: It just means more travel. I think that a lot of people think we don't see each other at all. But to be honest, I think with the fact that we are both professional golfers and we are both essentially our own boss, we have the flexibility to get up and go. If there's a week that I don't want to play, I can go where he's at and vice versa. So that's really nice. And also, we can definitely just talk about what we do. It's a lot of a mental game and it can get very draining and tiring throughout the year. There's not many things that he's done that I haven't done and vice versa, so it's pretty cool that we can share those experiences; or if I'm struggling, I can go to him and ask him what he does and how he thinks. Especially I go to him a lot for -- he's won five times on the Web.com, so I definitely go to him for that advice and kind of just bouncing questions off of him. I definitely learn a lot from him. Q. Did you meet on the golf course? GERINA PILLER: Ironically we did. It wasn't set up that way. We just had mutual friends and we played golf, and essentially, we actually practiced and went to the same church. Never knew each other and were introduced and I just thought, hey, I can learn something from him. He was on the Nationwide Tour at the time, so just started hanging out and here we are, married. Q. A lot of top players are skipping this week because of the major next week. Do you look at the field at all, who is here, who is not, or are you just focused on what you've got to do this week? GERINA PILLER: Definitely just focus on the golf course. You can't get caught up in who is doing what, and if I can beat the golf course, I'm probably going to be near the lead. Just getting out here, and what I like to do is definitely get the speed of the greens, how they are rolling, how they react when you chip on them. Poa annua is obviously different. When you chip on them, they are a little more spongy, and even how irons react to them. This year, I know there's been a lot of rain here. The course is very green. It's in great shape. In years past, it's been a little drier, so it's definitely playing different this year. But if I can go out there and beat the course; and I kind of call it Old Man Par. If I can beat Old Man Par, I'm doing pretty good. Q. Do you see many poa annua greens during the course of the year? Seems to have risen its head here more the past couple of years. I don't know if it's been the conditions out there or what it is, but it seems to be more of an issue, like the past two to three tournaments than it was in the previous ones. GERINA PILLER: I don't know if México was one, but I know San Diego and Portland have poa annua greens. I mean, it's just different. You have to, you're not always going to play those perfectly bentgreens or those hybrid bermudagreens. But I've always enjoyed playing here. I don't know what it is, but I just feel like this golf course really suits my game. Q. Just wondering, because of the Olympics, what is the effect of them on your schedule in terms of planning out your summer, because everything is more condensed because of it; just choosing which tournaments to play, not to play, and also, you need stamina if you're going to be playing more often. How do you go about planning that? GERINA PILLER: Well, Olympics really doesn't come into effect in the schedule as far as we have those three weeks off that the Olympics are, and our tournament isn't until the last week. So it was more -- my concern was more 11 in a row, just picking what's going to be best for me as far as rest-wise. For me, I don't know how other girls feel, but rest is just as important for me as practice. I have no problem with not even practicing on Tuesday and just showing up for the Pro-Am on Wednesday and then going and playing. Because I feel like I play my best golf when I'm excited to be out there and I'm excited to practice, and I have like that itch. I don't ever want it to be where I have to go out and practice and I have to play or practice. It seems like I don't have any fun and I never really get anything done productive that way. Q. So you deliberately are taking more days off? GERINA PILLER: In the middle of the summer, yes. Like Arkansas, it's a three-day event, and so I'm not pressing to be there on Monday, so I can play 18 holes on Tuesday, and then the Pro-Am on Thursday -- on Wednesday or Thursday. So definitely just kind of cutting back on just my preparation. You've played all summer, and your swing is not going to change overnight. Obviously if there is something in my game that I need to address and I need to work on, then yes, we'll address that. But I'm playing well, so right now, it's just a matter of keeping my stamina and resting up. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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