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KPMG WOMEN'S PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

June 28, 2017

Olympia Fields, Illinois

KELLY SCHULTZ: Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to this very special press conference. We are very pleased to be joined by three amazing guests that we have here today who are taking part in the KPMG Women's Leadership Summit in a little bit. Most of you will recognize these ladies as they are very, very accomplished in their respective sports. I would like to introduce them to all of you and all of you who are watching on Facebook Live right now.

First off, to my immediate left, we have U.S. Olympic gold medalist and the most successful American ski racer in history, Lindsey Vonn; to her left, we have five-time world champion and two-time Olympic medalist in figure skating, Michelle Kwan; and then we have a four-time member of the U.S. Olympic hockey team, including a gold medal in 1998 and an executive board member of the IOC, Angela Ruggiero. Ladies, thank you so much for joining us here today. I know it's very special for us to have you here with the media but also to have you as a part of this very special KPMG Women's Leadership Summit.

Lindsey, you guys are getting ready to speak shortly. You haven't been in to the summit just yet, but why was it important for you to come take part in something like this summit?

LINDSEY VONN: Well, I have a foundation of my own, and our mission is to empower and inspire young women, and I think what KPMG is doing with this Women's Leadership Summit is really incredible, not only in women's golf but in women's business, as well. I'm proud to be here, to be a part of it, and to speak with some truly amazing women.

KELLY SCHULTZ: Michelle, you played in the pro-am yesterday and you were at the party last night and got to interact with some of the people who will be at the summit today. What was that experience like and what are you expecting to take part in when you get to speak on this panel?

MICHELLE KWAN: Yesterday was absolutely phenomenal. I wish that they didn't announce me before I teed off because it wasn't so fun. I did practice and warn everyone that I haven't been playing a lot of golf in the last couple of years, so I was a little rusty out there, but by the 18th hole I was making really good contact with the ball.

But just having the opportunity to meet the incredible women and people in this summit and having incredible energy and environment, having sat through the last two hours with Secretary Condoleezza Rice and the other panelists just in awe of the experience and the knowledge and the ideas and how empowered I feel by being here and also by being here with Lindsey and Angela. It's an absolute honor, and when they asked, I said, okay, when is it, I'll be there.

KELLY SCHULTZ: Angela, you've had a lot of roles on a lot of executive boards and done a lot to help elevate women within sports, so what has this experience been like for you to sit there and listen, and how important do you think this message that KPMG is spreading trying to help young women get to those higher level positions?

ANGELA RUGGIERO: Yeah, I think we've all had success on the field of play, and I think it's been really inspiring talking about success off the field of play, and it's great that KPMG is giving that platform to have that dialogue because, you know, if you can see it, you can be it. If you can discuss it, you can understand it. There's so many reasons why bringing powerful women together surrounded around great topics and discussion I think will all leave here stronger and hopefully pay it forward. And all the organizations that we work on behalf of, I spent many years with the president of the Women's Sports Foundation, I'm sitting with the USOC and the IOC, and I just understand the power of sport, and this is one piece of that, the power of business and having women a part of any organization I think makes it stronger.

I'm pumped to be here. This gives me so much energy. I didn't get to golf. I hope I do before I leave. But it's just such a special moment, and again, the energy in the room is palpable.

KELLY SCHULTZ: One special thing about all of you is that you all do play golf so you can appreciate the impact that this has for professional golfers and also what golf can do for women in general. Talk in general about what golf has meant to you and how you think it helps women who get involved in the sport.

LINDSEY VONN: Well, I mean, I can't say I play golf very well. We've had a little discussion about this. I do have a hole-in-one. I am just going to tell you guys that. I feel like that just sets the bar. But I mean, I think women in golf, you know, they've definitely had a hard time being at the same level as men, and I think that what we're trying to do here and what KPMG is doing for women in golf, I think that's incredible, and it needs to be done. Women in any sport but especially in golf, they play just as hard and they play just as well, and they deserve more opportunities. So I think that for me it's incredible to see that, and for us to be here supporting that cause is definitely very important to me, and I think to everyone here.

ANGELA RUGGIERO: No, I love golf. I can't say that I have a hole-in-one or am very good, but I was a hockey player so I can drive the ball pretty far. No, golf is a great game. It's something I think that allows others to -- you test your limits. You learn about yourself. It's a great place to think. I mean, my experience at least, and learn, again, all the lessons as an athlete and to be able to translate those to the rest of your life. So it's great that, again, KPMG and this group has come together to elevate the status of women's golf and women's sports in general because so many young girls and young boys are going to be watching this tournament and will find role models in the women here and in the discussions we're having with this summit. The young women that are coming and getting scholarships, they're learning life lessons, so it's just so great to have this platform to learn about the sport but really to learn about yourself and human potential. So that's really why I'm excited to be here.

MICHELLE KWAN: I absolutely agree. You learn so much with the game of golf, and I think all of us here, you learn so much from playing sports. You learn about hard work, you learn about dedication, teamwork. In golf you learn a lot about patience, and I think what we experience in sports and I think the benefits of it is that it's not just on the field or on the ice or on the slopes. It's so easy to translate those skills and those life lessons that you learn in sports into other areas to succeed, as well.

Q. Angela, as a board member could you elaborate on the factors that caused to you recommend that golf be included in the 2024 Games?
ANGELA RUGGIERO: Yeah, the IOC executive board sort of overhauled our program, and golf was a massive success in Rio, as you know, and we're continuing to support having golf on the platform because it is a global sport. It has equal men and women in terms of playership, so we -- I think the IOC felt this is a no-brainer. It's something that is bringing a lot of value to the Olympics, it's providing opportunities for male and female golfers to get out there and use the platform of the Olympic Games to promote your sport globally, and I just personally love it, so not that that should be a main criteria, but no, I'm excited it's part of the platform, and that was really built off of the success of Rio, I think.

Hopefully the adoption of the players themselves and the enthusiasm will continue to be a part of that. I certainly saw that in my own sport with men's hockey or women's hockey when it came first on the program and men's professional hockey, just being a part of that energy. When the athletes can touch it and feel it, they kind of raise their hand the next time.

Q. You're obviously all Olympians from various different backgrounds, but what would you say are the shared qualities that all three of you have that have helped make you so successful throughout your careers?
LINDSEY VONN: Hard work.

MICHELLE KWAN: Grit.

ANGELA RUGGIERO: I would say having a plan to couple that hard work and determination and grit and surrounding yourself with a good team, as well. But yeah, there's -- I think the three of us could go on and on about the subject.

MICHELLE KWAN: And I have to say I have such admiration for Lindsey. We're retired now, but now, I mean, to see you overcome injuries and to pick yourself back up and to be at the top of your game over and over and over and have that resilience, I think that is something that she embodies, and you see that determination on the slopes, and you're just like -- you have no words for it. You're just like, that's just amazing.

ANGELA RUGGIERO: I would agree.

LINDSEY VONN: Thank you, guys. I appreciate that.

ANGELA RUGGIERO: You guys have seen her movie? What's it called, "The Climb"? "The Climb" is awesome if you haven't seen it. You have to watch it.

LINDSEY VONN: Thanks, Angela.

Q. Lindsey, we're obviously at a course that the men have played at before in the U.S. Open, and I'm sure you probably heard the stuff about Serena and John McEnroe this week. You've talked about racing against the men after Korea. Can you just describe what that plan is or where you're at in that plan and why that's important to you, and then also, too, just given the news about Tiger in the last month, I've wondering if you've talked with him or what your thoughts are on that.
LINDSEY VONN: Well, my goal is still to race against the men. It's been a struggle thus far, and it doesn't seem to be getting any easier. My coaches had meetings with the International Ski Federation Council this spring, and they said it would be very difficult to accomplish, but you know, if we still get blocked out in doing an official race, maybe there's potential to have some sort of exhibition, something like what Billie Jean King did. But for me it's a personal goal. It's something that I've always wanted to do. I feel like having trained with the men a significant amount over the last few years and being competitive with them almost every single day, I feel like I need that opportunity as an athlete to be able to see what my true potential is. And a lot of people disagree with that, but I think I deserve the opportunity, and the discussion is ongoing. Hopefully we can accomplish it. Like I said, if we're not able to do it in an actual race, then we'll come up with something different, because I really would appreciate the opportunity.

And not going to comment on the second question.

KELLY SCHULTZ: Ladies, I know that this entire theme this week is empowering women. When you hear the phrase "empowering women," what does that mean to each of you when you think about what it takes to have that female empowerment?

LINDSEY VONN: For me it feels -- when you say the word empowerment, it makes me feel like I can do anything. I can overcome anything. I feel strong enough and powerful enough to do or be whatever it is that I want to be.

MICHELLE KWAN: I think the room at the Women's Summit, I mean, just leaving the conference rooms like, wow, this is absolutely amazing where you collectively have these incredible women coming together. It's not empowering; they are empowered. And when you come together and you share stories and you share ideas and you lift each other up, that's what I sense in the room.

ANGELA RUGGIERO: Yeah, and I would echo both, actually. It's the energy that surrounds the tournament, that surrounds this conference of lifting people up I think at the end of the day, and giving a platform. Again, this sport, giving women golfers a platform to show what they're made of. In the business world, it's harder to see that because it's usually behind closed doors and people aren't watching on TV, so on, in the boardroom, but the same ideas there, of what are the elements it takes to be successful and achieve your potential. Yeah, empowerment to me is really how do you harness the energy that's in you and what are the ways to bring it out.

Q. Lindsey, we're less than six months out from Korea, and I'm just wondering how your preparations are going and how they've changed now having been to Olympics previously? What have you learned from previous preparations that you're taking into the preparations for 2018?
LINDSEY VONN: Things are going really well. You know, I'm definitely working extremely hard, and I feel like that has to do with the fact that this could potentially be my last Olympics, so I'm giving it everything I have. The way I approach the Olympics is very similar and also very different than it has been in the past. You know, obviously it's special. You work harder. You have higher expectations of yourself and your country has higher expectations of you, as well. So that's an extra motivator.

But you know, for me, I've been through it now four times, and this will be my fourth Olympics, so I know the routine. I'm not necessarily overly nervous about it. I'm just excited. I'm working hard to be prepared, to be as physically prepared as possible, and I know that mentally I have the strength to handle all of the media and all of the pressure because I've done it three times before. I think those are -- everything is going well.

Q. The skiing against men, how would you compare skiing the sport and the skills versus say a woman tennis player or golfer competing against the men?
LINDSEY VONN: I think the differences and similarities are very similar. You know, in women's skiing and women's tennis, we lack a certain physicality that the men do. The physical strength is not necessarily the same. Men definitely have that advantage. But we have the advantage of grace and a certain amount of finesse that the men don't always have, more tactics and a different approach, and sometimes in the long run that can end up being faster or better than what the men do.

It's different but yet very similar, and obviously it's hard to compare both head-to-head, but we both have our strengths.

Q. Question for all of you, being Olympians, with golf being included in the Olympics at least through 2024 and we hope longer, what would you say to young girls out there that are maybe looking to become professional golfers and hopefully future Olympics just about the experience or anything to encourage them to chase their dreams based on your Olympic experiences?
ANGELA RUGGIERO: The Olympics are amazing. I mean, I got to go four times, and obviously I loved every one of them for different reasons. And I didn't have an Olympics -- when I started playing hockey I didn't know I could play in the Olympics because women's hockey wasn't in the Olympics, so it's really exciting now, again, to have young girls be able to look up and say, I could pick up a golf club and actually compete at the highest level one day and maybe get a scholarship at a University, and one, I think it'll encourage parents to sign their daughters up and their sons, having that platform. But two, just the experience of going and what you -- you literally just change as a person, and your life is different when you get that opportunity.

So every young girl I hope watches. I hope they turn in to NBC and they get excited and pick up a club, and even if they don't go, because it's very possible that - we're very, very lucky - that you actually don't get to compete, but now you're an athlete for life. You're a golfer for life, and you have a skill in a sport that you can enjoy for many other reasons. Definitely pick up a club and try.

MICHELLE KWAN: Well, it was truly an honor to represent the country in both the '98 and 2002 Olympics. I think when you reflect back on your Olympic experience, it's so emotional. I remember I had a sticker that someone had given me of the Nagano Olympics and I had it for like six, seven years, and I had framed it and put it above my bed, and it was the first thing I saw every morning and the last thing I saw before I went to bed, just dreaming and having this like vision of one day representing your country.

Fast forward seven years later I made it to the Olympic Games, to zip up the team uniform outfit, and you're like, Team USA, bright stars and stripes. I'm only 5'2" but I felt like a giant. I was like, yes. I had a Team USA beret, handkerchief, I had everything Team USA. They tell you not to bring anything because you're going to get three suitcases full of stuff. But what an honor it is and a responsibility, also, to be an ambassador and represent your country.

So when kids, girls and boys watch television and are watching this week and seeing their role models, they are inspired. They have that kind of -- that switch, that lightbulb moment which I had when I was seven years old watching the '88 Olympics and watching Brian Boitano. I remember vividly going, mom, dad, I made an official announcement, I know what I want to do for the rest of my life; I want to be at the Olympic Games. I encourage kids to, like Angela said, pick up the club, go ice skating, go skiing, try it. You might shoot for the stars, you might make it to the Olympic Games, but if not, you have this incredible hobby that you're an athlete for life.

LINDSEY VONN: Yeah, what they said. For once I can say that.

KELLY SCHULTZ: Ladies, thank you so very, very much for joining us today. The theme of this week is to inspire greatness, and you have inspired us with what you've accomplished in your respective sports and now what you're doing to elevate women outside of that, so thank you. Enjoy the rest of your day, and we very much appreciate you being here.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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