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BANK OF HOPE FOUNDERS CUPMarch 15, 2017Inbee ParkPhoenix, Arizona THE MODERATOR: I'm here with Inbee Park from South Korea. Could you tell us about what it was like after you won in Singapore, what celebration there was back in Korea? INBEE PARK: I was only there for six days. I was quite busy and I had already things planned out for sponsors and fans, so I was pretty busy. I couldn't touch a golf club because I was too busy. And still a little bit chilly in Korea. Obviously everybody was really happy that I'm back playing. Yeah, I had good time back in Korea. I went to see my dog, Rio, and took a couple days of break. A lot of days busy, but I think I'm ready to play, so... THE MODERATOR: After you won you kept talking about your dog and how much you wanted to see Rio. INBEE PARK: Yeah. THE MODERATOR: Great. This week is very special because we have a week where we're celebrating all 13 founders, and we have three on site this week. Do you have any stories or anecdotes that you've had with any of the founders? INBEE PARK: I just had couple holes with Marilyn Smith on the course today. Obviously she looked really healthy as well. I know the Founders done a lot of things for us, that we are here because of the founders. I had great time with the founders to thank them. She said she loves my swing and putting stroke. It was great to hear something like that from the founders. I was just proud of myself. Yeah, I'm looking forward to this week with the new sponsor, Bank of Hope, based in L.A.; Korean bank. Yeah, I think it's always exciting to start the season in America. This is my first tournament in -- first tournament for everyone in America. Yeah, America has always been my second home. I'm very happy to come here and enjoy myself here. THE MODERATOR: Who would you consider the founders of golf in Korea. We have Okee Kim on site as well today. INBEE PARK: Yeah, I think she would be definitely one of them. I don't know exactly which of the founders were in Korean LPGA Tour our Korean Tour, but obviously there has been somebody to start something like this. Obviously that's why we are here, so... THE MODERATOR: Questions from the press? Q. After you took such a long break and one at the Olympics, do you feel like that experience prepared you to come back from another long break and win immediately? Did it change your mindset of what's possible? INBEE PARK: Yes, I think so. I mean, I took about two months of break before the Olympics, and obviously that was not something I was used to doing during the season, especially during the summer season. Obviously I had to play in a big event after long break considering. Obviously I had proven myself I can do it. I know that I took even longer break coming to this season, and obviously that experience really helped. That gave me a lot of confidence that even if I take a long break, if I prepare well enough, I can still compete out here. But obviously that win was a little bit of a surprise to me as well. I thought I might take a little bit longer. I wasn't pushing myself at all. I was just really happy that I'm playing again, healthy again and playing tournaments. That really surprise me at first. Obviously first event back in Thailand, you know, I kind of knew that my ball striking was really there, but my short game skills were just not great. I had to improve. Yeah, I had to improve, but I didn't know it was going to happen that quick, like over a week. Yeah. Q. You putted so amazingly well on Sunday. At what point did you start to get the feel back on the greens? What does that feel like when you get into those zones? INBEE PARK: Yeah, first couple days in Singapore I feel like I putted pretty good. Obviously not an A+, but feel like it has improved a lot from Thailand. But the third round was a horrible putting day. Hit the ball really great but couldn't hole anything. I was thinking that in the first couple rounds, I think I'm doing pretty good. I'm going the right direction. Third round, I hit the third round and I'm like, Maybe I'm not ready yet. But you know what I was trying to do was that. I was thinking too much, too deep, thinking about what do I need to do with this stroke, with the short game, what do I need to improve, what's wrong? I think that thought was just wrong. After third round in Singapore I was just like, You know putting can just -- ball can maybe just not go in because it's just not my day that day. Just trying to keep the thoughts really simple. I knew I was putting the right stroke on. I just told myself to trust myself and just got to make it fall. Got to wait until it falls to the hole. It happens to be the day on Sunday, so, yeah. Q. What do you think makes you such a good putter? What is your secret? INBEE PARK: Secret? I think I got that question about ten times last week. Q. I'm sorry. INBEE PARK: No, it's okay. I get a lot of questions like that. I don't really have a great answer to that. I think I'm a good putter sometimes, but not always. Nobody is a good putter every single time. I just think that you got to take the fact that your putter can be inconsistent. It's a little different to ball striking. Golf is a very inconsistent game itself. I think putting can be a little bit more complicated and a little bit more inconsistent. You just got to take the fact that sometimes you just can't hole the putts and there is no reason for that. When I'm putting good I think just my concentration level is really good. Definitely feel like on the green over the ball I feel like I can hole this putt. I don't get that feeling every day. I'm sure that's the case with a lot of people as well. You just got to take the fact that you can't putt good every day. That's the mindset that I have been going. Be a little bit generous on yourself. You get a good putting day, and hopefully a good putting day happens to be a major championship or when it counts. Q. Following that up, and I know you've been asked this before, too, but was there someone who taught you a specific putting stroke or somebody that you modeled yourself after? INBEE PARK: No, not exactly. I mean, even my husband is my coach at the moment, and he doesn't really touch me on putting. Just look at the general things, but more into the ball striking than putting. Unless my putting stroke is horrible, he really doesn't say anything. Just really leaves it up to my feel. Everybody asks me how do you putt good? I say, I think I really try to rely on my feel. That's the obvious answer and I really don't want to answer that way, but it is true, that I really try to rely on my feelings. Obviously it is very important to get the speed right on the greens. If your feelings are not great enough, like if your talents -- I shouldn't say talents, but maybe with the practice and the talents together, you have to get the speed right. Yeah, it's few things combined together I think. Q. Last thing for the putting from me. I know I have this in my notes. What was the name of the putter again, the kind of putter you used when you won the three majors in a row, and what are you using now? INBEE PARK: That was the Sabertooth, Odyssey Sabertooth, and now I'm using the 2-Ball. Q. You've achieved your lifetime dreams playing competitive golf; everything you wanted to do in golf you achieved. Where do you get your motivation from now to keep playing tournaments? INBEE PARK: Yeah, I mean, there was definitely moments where I thought that I really don't have anything to motivate for. I achieved so many things in my golf career, a lot more than what I have expected on myself. So I'm very thankful for that fact. Obviously it's just nothing that -- like no titles or no championships, no title that can really motivate me anymore. No. 1 doesn't motivate any anymore. Being a money winner, Player of the Year, everything really doesn't motivate me as much as it did before. One thing I realized was that you got to have a motivation. Once you lose motivation that's really unlucky way to play golf. I'm trying to find the motivation, but the important thing is that when I took that long break I kind of thought I was taking everything for granted. You know, whatever I was given, whatever I have achieved in golf was getting boring, and everything in life I was taking for granted. That's what I realized in that break. Obviously just playing in front of the fans, playing golf in healthy conditions, get claps from a lot of people, a lot of those things I became really appreciative of. That really gave me a refreshment of my mindset. My dad does collection of the trophies at his company. I visited there when I was taking the long break. I went there and there were so many trophies and so many medals and so many things that reminded me of the whole career. I told myself, I think I need to erase all of this in me and start new. Obviously if I didn't have any of that, I can be appreciative of anything that I achieve, whether it's top 25, top 10, just a win. I think that's the mindset that put myself into this year. Just erase totally everything and start new, a new, clean piece of paper. I'm starting to write my career again. That's the mindset I try to do. Obviously I got one couple weeks ago, so just starting. This is my 11th year on tour. I'm taking that one out and just taking just No. 1, starting again. Q. Taking you back to the Olympics, for most of us watching it was quite the remarkable on two fronts, bit mentally and physically. Where did you get the strength from to go ahead and win that gold medal knowing you were under so much pressure from back home in Korea to go ahead and do that, and also physically to get through the pain you were going through? INBEE PARK: Yeah, I think my mental game really won that Olympic gold. I've never been so desperate of the good results if my whole career playing golf. I like to win golf tournaments, but I was never that desperate before. I really wanted to play good and make my country proud, myself proud. Obviously I really wanted to do well, and I never thought that, you know, I wanted to be good this much. That was a surprise to me as well. I know that you have that kind of thoughts when you're playing golf. It's usually negative. Most of the time it comes very negative. But I said the negative can happen because I'm wanting it too much, but I thought I can erase that by practicing and preparing hard enough. I've never worked that hard in my whole life, whole career. The couple months I had before the Olympics I was like, I think after this I --I seriously thought I can be tired of golf after these two months. That's how hard I worked. That's why I was able to build kind of a little confidence in my mind, I should say. Yeah, I think that's why I was able to handle those very tough situations. Obviously I had injury; I had a lot of pressure on my back; I had to do good. Yeah, I think only practice really got me through that. Q. How much of a support is your husband not only mentally, but sort of within your swing too? INBEE PARK: Well, I think it's always good to have somebody on your side when nobody is on your side. Whenever body says that -- like for example, everybody says that you shouldn't be playing in the Olympics. You're injured and should relax and give an opportunity to somebody else. You know, deep in my mind I had a thought that maybe I should because I don't want to be embarrassed with bad golf. I don't want to waste my reputation and all those things. When nobody wanted me to play and when there is one person that you really care wants you to play and wants you to not miss the opportunity, that really gives you the brave I think. Q. With your thumb injury, is it fully back now where you're able to do everything you want this practice, or do you have to be careful going after it sometimes? INBEE PARK: Well, I play couple weeks now and I felt pretty good. I'm not restricted to anything. I know it can happen maybe sometime later, but nor now I feel pretty good. I'm fully healed, so... Q. Could you describe for us what the trophy case looks look in your dad's office? INBEE PARK: He has like the stairways and hallways like in his company, and when people comes into his company there is entrance to like the stairway and big entrance. There is like trophies on like big stands, I should say. Yeah, there are few trophies there. Yeah. Q. All your junior trophies? INBEE PARK: Everything, yeah. Yeah, yeah, junior trophies. He's a big collector of my golfing, whatever I achieve in golf. He said he doesn't want money, you just wants trophies. Q. You said this is Year One. Do you have any idea in your mind how long you think you might play? I know that question was asked of you last year. Any different this year. INBEE PARK: Really no different. Until I feel good. And obviously, I don't know, maybe like big major injuries, unless that happens, I think I can play. Obviously I would like to have a family later in the future, but not really at the moment. Really can't guarantee about the future. I say maybe three, four years or whatever, but I can change my mind over a day. I have seen myself doing that. I really can't guarantee myself how long I'm going to play really. It's good that I'm playing right now. Doesn't matter how long, it's the quality that matters. Q. Are you enjoying it now as much as you ever have? INBEE PARK: Trying to, yes. Really has been a while that I forgot how much I enjoyed before and what kind of enjoyment it was. I'm definitely enjoying myself out here right now. I missed a lot of things that I haven't missed before. I am approaching things a little bit differently this year definitely. Q. You had your whole family out in Singapore and your grandfather who is over 80 was also with you. Who do you have onsite this week? INBEE PARK: I just have my husband and another coach. Yeah, we're a little small crew this week. THE MODERATOR: Last question: each of our 13 founders left a legacy and have their own reputation. As you embark on your second decade of you LPGA career now that you're in your 11th year, what type of golfer would you like to be known as? I think we all know you as the gold medalist, a great putter. Is there something else you would like to build out in your second decade? INBEE PARK: It think it would be nice if peoples remembers me as somebody that is not just a great player but a great person as well, obviously somebody that appreciates what we have, to give back to the communities. I think a great reputation like that. I think I'm going to have to think a little bit deeper about that because I haven't thought that deep on that. Yeah. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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