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U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP 2017

July 11, 2017

Inbee Park

Bedminster, New Jersey

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon. Welcome again to the 2017 U.S. Women's Open Championship. It is my pleasure to introduce a three time USGA Champion, Inbee Park.

She won her first USGA Championship here in the U.S. Girls' in 2003 at Echo Lake. She won the 2008 U.S. Women's Open at Interlachen and the 2013 U.S. Women's Open at Sebonack Golf Club out on Long Island.

You're already playing in your 11th Women's Open. Can you talk about your arc in the Women's Open and what means to come back and play in a USGA Championship?

INBEE PARK: It feels great to be back playing in the U.S. Women's Open. I did miss it last year. I think that's -- I missed -- I played for maybe 8, 9, consecutive years and missed it last year.

I really miss coming here and I feel like I have been pretty lucky in New York and New Jersey area. Love to be back here and the East Coast area and yeah, it always feels great to win national championship and in U.S. Women's Open is something I always have been looking forward to playing.

It is the biggest championship of the year and this is kind of the tournament I kind of focus on to make the best my condition. So, yeah, looking really forward to this week, playing a golf course a couple times here so --

THE MODERATOR: Having played the course, can you give us a few thoughts about the condition of the course and the test you'll face this week?

INBEE PARK: Well, when I played the first time it was very wet so it was -- I was hitting almost no less than like a 5 hybrid. Yesterday was little bit dryer so played a little bit shorter but still long.

I'm going to be hitting probably more than 7-iron and up. I'm going to have to work on the hybrids and woods and like mid-iron areas. Off the tee is not the biggest issue. Pretty generous off the tee.

The roughs are very thick but I think we'll be able to keep the fairways in control on this golf course and the greens are huge.

So, you want to be -- you obviously want to be somewhere on the green. You have to avoid 3-putts because you'll be putting from far away from the holes here.

Try to avoid the 3-putts here and some slopy greens and downhill putts can be very, very quick here. I kind of felt it yesterday afternoon when I played it, it can get so much quicker than what it is today.

So, yeah, looking forward to playing. Obviously good putting week this week, avoid 3-putts and avoid the downhill putts and hopefully it will make maybe birdie, maybe some par putts as well. Yeah.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much. We'll open it to questions.

Q. The green complexes remind you'd of Sebonack in that way. Obviously you had a great week that week.
INBEE PARK: Good week. Pretty dry conditions all week and the course was playing quite firm and fast. It's kind of something that I'm sure USGA wanted, I'm sure the players want. That will be very interesting.

That will make this golf course so much more interesting with lot of the greens are undulated up and it plays firm, it can be very tough and some hole locations where try to keep it on the green.

It is not easy to get up and down around the greens here, the roughs are thick even if you're just off the green. The first cut area is not easiest to chip from and yeah, you will see a lot of players putting from some short fairways that are even if you're 20 yards off the green I think you'll see some putting like that as long as we get some dry conditions.

That's something I have been looking forward. Hopefully we get something like Sebonack so we get some fast and firm greens. That will make it so much more interesting.

Q. Inbee, in the last month, we've seen something that is almost as rare as Halley's Comet, you missing a couple short putts. What has been going on and what have you been working on with your putting?
INBEE PARK: Yeah. Just try to keep the ball rolling straight. That's something main focus I have been doing and I had to sometimes pull my putts a little bit and a couple times -- in the round and trying to avoid that.

My putting has been in a very good beginning of the year and Singapore was great. After that I really haven't had a week where I was putting like really good.

So, I'm really looking forward that some consistent putting weeks. I get maybe one good day out of the four day of the putting and the three days are just average or sometimes bad. I'm just trying to average it out a little bit.

If I have to avoid some 3-putts to get the putting average down, you know, obviously it is not -- although -- up to my standard. I like to putt a little bit better than what I have been doing this year, yeah, but I really do like the fast greens. So, yeah, I think this green keeps getting faster and if it gets firmer I think that's something I will be very looking forward to.

Q. I have one other. Competition has ruined a lot of friendships over the years and your best friend is now the No. 1 player in the world.
What kind of conversations have you had about that and is it something where you look So Yeon being No. 1 and kind of wishing I wish that was me again?

INBEE PARK: We are actually very lucky to have each other because we are very good influence to each other. When I was No. 1 she had so many opportunities to congratulate me and learn from me and I think we just -- good influence to each other. I even said that to her.

I think we both push each other very hard and it will be very good influence to each other and now I get my opportunity back to congratulate So Yeon and being able to learn from her game when she is at her best.

It is always good to have your friend to play well, I think. She had her time where she had to look at me and learn from me and to congratulate me and now I get that time back to kind of give it back to her.

I really like that and I think it is good. We play practice round quite a lot with each other and try to learn from each other and try to learn maybe course management or course strategy and yeah, I think it is very good.

Q. Brittany Lincicome, you probably know this, admirably had the guts to speak out and said she hopes that Donald Trump stays away this week from this tournament because so it won't be a big debacle and be about us, meaning the golfers, not him.
Do you agree with Brittany and if you feel that you want to say it's politics, do you feel that you cannot speak out about Trump because everyone seems to be talking saying they can't talk about it?

I'm curious if you agree with her and if you don't want to say, is there something about this that people just don't want to talk about? Thank you.

INBEE PARK: Well, I think everybody just trying to avoid political questions because I don't think they get -- I don't think they will get any advantage from saying whether they agree or disagree, and I mean I don't really think that really has much to say with me because I think it is really up to him whether he wants to come or not.

I don't think we get the choice of saying whether yes or no. So, we just deal with whatever we have and I think that's pretty much what we can do and this is a great National Championship and I'm sure the USGA worked very hard to pick this golf course and the venue so yeah, I mean it's a true championship golf course then we love to play this golf course.

Q. Inbee, last year when they were playing at CordeValle, do you know what you were doing during the U.S. Women's Open and did you watch on TV at all?
INBEE PARK: What is it?

Q. Did you watch the U.S. Women's Open last year?
INBEE PARK: Yeah. I was back in Korea just doing rehab. Not a biggest golf fan when I am away from golf. I really don't follow golf that much when I'm off because then I get enough golf when I'm out here so I don't think I watched -- yeah. I don't think I watched the U.S. Women's Open last year, to be honest.

I was just busy just back home, yeah.

Q. Inbee, about the Trump controversy, I'm just curious though, has it affected the women's experience of this U.S. Women's Open? Has it been a distraction, does it feel any different?
INBEE PARK: Feeling different. You know, obviously there is some -- we can get more questions sometimes than just golf. We get some outside questions obviously when we do press conferences and when we come to the golf course like this.

So, it is little different atmosphere but I think that's all. Just different atmosphere. But, obviously, this is just a part of the game, you know, I guess. Everybody is kind of dealing with it, yeah.

THE MODERATOR: Any other questions? I will ask one, speaking of atmosphere. You mentioned that you didn't play in the Women's Open last year but you certainly had an amazing opportunity at the Olympics with the Gold Medal last summer.

Can you talk about that experience and what that was like?

INBEE PARK: It was something just another in a whole new level of my golfing career. An experience something I never experienced and being able to win a Gold Medal, just a huge and, obviously, I went through some tough time before playing in the Olympics.

Felt much more bigger, you know, for me than any other championships that I ever had. It is just such a difference than just what we usually play all year. Yeah, it was great experience.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks. We're so glad. Inbee Park, three time USGA Champion, Olympic Gold Medal.

So pleased you are here this week. Wish you a wonderful week of golf.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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