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SIME DARBY LPGA MALAYSIA

October 30, 2016

Shanshan Feng

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

THE MODERATOR: Happy to be joined by 2016 Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia champion, Shanshan Feng.

Shanshan, your second win here, how does it feel?

SHANSHAN FENG: It feels great. My record here is really good, especially the past four years. I came second, first, second, first. So even though I improved only one spot, I had a very fantastic week, every time I come back here, it makes me feel like I'm at home. I'm really relaxed and I love everything, love the food, love the people. So I'm really looking forward to come back every year.

THE MODERATOR: You mentioned the golf course. I heard you talking, trying to get yourself a membership.

SHANSHAN FENG: (Laughs.)

THE MODERATOR: What is it about this golf course that suits your game so well?

SHANSHAN FENG: I actually don't know, but normally I'm a pretty good ball-striker. So they have some very tough greens here that we have to be more accurate, and I think that's good for me. And also for somehow, I always read the greens here very well. So this week, I made a lot of putts. Maybe even more than like normal.

Q. Can you go through your round today?
SHANSHAN FENG: I played one hole this morning to finish my third round, which I made a par. And after the third round before I went out, I knew that I was actually leading. And then I was a little bit nervous actually, so I made bogey on the first. But then I tried to talk to myself. I said, don't worry about the others. Just be yourself and go for 5-under and if I get to 5-under, I think I'll still win.

The second hole there, and third -- I think second hole, I made a very easy par. Third hole I was lucky, because my second shot actually went long, but it hit the flagstick and stopped like maybe eight feet away by the hole.

So I made the first birdie of the day. That really helped myself to calm down and actually get back to normal and try to make birdies.

Then I made a few more, I think very important birdies were maybe 14 and 15 today. I made two very good birdies there. In the first round, actually on those two holes, I made two doubles, and on those two holes today, the third and fourth round, I made 4-under. So it actually evened out.

Q. Which of the holes was the hardest?
SHANSHAN FENG: I would say 18 is one, especially when the pin is on the right. Doesn't matter if the pin is on the front right or the back right. I think that they play really tough.

And also, I would say the 15th, the par 3. Even though it's a very short par 3, but there are not that big of a landing area, so we have to be really accurate. Even though it's maybe only 110 to the pin, a lot of people actually hit it in the water.

Q. Which is your favorite victory here?
SHANSHAN FENG: I won't compare any of my wins, but I would say this one is really important for me because my last win on the LPGA was actually two years ago right here, so I haven't won on the LPGA Tour for two years. Even though I've been winning on the European Tour and in China, but I really want to be on the LPGA.

After the Olympics, I started to actually get my confidence back and started to play better. So the media is asking like when I was in Beijing, they ask me, hey, you're always very accurate. So guess like how many weeks you're going to get this year, and I was like, well, if whatever I say will come true, I will say at least ten.

But I know I only had like seven tournaments left and I was like, you know, I really want to win one LPGA tournament this year, and I haven't. So I'm really happy about it.

Q. Is there anything specifically that you work on in the off-season?
SHANSHAN FENG: My off-season starts way later than the other girls do. The other girls, most of them, they finish after the CME, which is third week of November. But my last tournament is the second or third week of December. So I can only start my off-season maybe from Christmas. My first tournament is going to be Thailand. So usually I have eight weeks off.

So I'll take five weeks totally off. I don't even open my golf bag. So hopefully there's not anything (ph) in there -- hopefully not. And then I will actually go to Orlando, go see my coach. Work on, you know, mostly short game, because my ball-striking is usually pretty good.

So I'll work on a lot of chipping, putting, and just start in Thailand, which is a no-cut tournament, just like this week, so no pressure, and I don't need to worry about missing the cut in my first tournament of the year.

Q. Just wondering, the Olympics, a medal for China, it's very important for golf. How do you see your role now inspiring up-and-coming young girls in China? Do you see that as a role on your shoulder?
SHANSHAN FENG: I try not to think about it. Right now I'm still a player, so I think right now my focus is to play well, try to bring out my best. I always tell the media that I don't think I'm a pioneer; I think I'm a guinea pig. Like before me, there was nobody like trying, getting on the LPGA and actually experiencing tour life and all the others and Olympics, too.

So I do think that I'm a guinea pig, but I'm kind of a successful guinea pig. At least I'm still alive, because most of them will say -- I'm still here. After all my victories and of course I have the Bronze Medal at the Olympics, there were more people kind of focusing -- start watching golf now. Because before golf was only on special channels, like Golf Channels, but during the Olympic time, the golf event was showing like in all the main channels in China.

So even though the people, they didn't play golf, they were like, golf is on, and the Chinese player is competing, so why don't I just watch it. And actually a lot of people, they said, oh, it's actually quite interesting. So they thought -- they knew nothing about golf, but after watching the Olympic Games, they actually started to feel interested in it. So I'm pretty sure that it will bring more people into golf, and like I said, I'm still a player. So what I need to do right now, I think just focus on my game, and I think the better I play, it's going to help the Chinese golf more.

THE MODERATOR: You're one of the most exuberant players, you're always having a fun time. What's the celebration going to be for your first Victor any two years?

SHANSHAN FENG: I don't know. Well, I haven't talked to my parents, but pretty sure people in China now are maybe making noises. I don't know, I normally don't do any celebrations, but we'll see. But I'm pretty sure one thing I'll do though, is next week, we're going to Japan and I love Japanese food. So I think I'm going to go for maybe -- like normally I go to the second most expensive meat. I'll go for the meat. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to go for the most expensive meat next week (applause).

Q. Karaoke?
SHANSHAN FENG: Karaoke, maybe. Maybe I'll do it when we go back to China but that will be after the CME. There's going to take a while but I'm pretty sure we can find some karaoke rooms next week.

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