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HSBC WOMEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

February 27, 2018

Inbee Park

Republic of Singapore

CHRISTINA LANCE: Thank you very much for being here at the HSBC Women's World Championship. My name is Christina Lance, it's my distinct honor to be joined up here on the podium by four 2015 and 2017 HSBC Champion, Inbee Park.

Inbee has 18 LPGA wins, seven majors, member of the LPGA Hall of Fame, an Olympic Gold medalist, the accolades keep going and Inbee most recently the world got to see you carry the Olympic torch in PyeongChang at the Winter Olympic games. Tell us what an amazing experience that had to be.

INBEE PARK: Yeah, it was really special to witness the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in my eyes because 1988 we had the Summer Olympics, but that year I wasn't able to attend, but I really got to enjoy it this time and being a part of carrying the Olympic torch was a great experience.

I left a couple weeks earlier to finish my training time in America to do that, but it was definitely worth the experience and I really enjoyed the time. I got to experience some sports that I've never seen before, and it was great to watch. The closing ceremony was just unreal.

CHRISTINA LANCE: What did you find out, being selected for this honor, and what training did you go through to get ready for that event?

INBEE PARK: I knew about three weeks before the Opening Ceremony, and we heard a couple days early because it was hard to match everybody's time and the rehearsal was something like 12 in the morning because they didn't want any secrets to go out and we had to keep this confidential. I knew this was something that I really wanted to tell everyone, watch me on TV, but I couldn't do that. You know, but it was a great honor to represent my country in the Olympics.

CHRISTINA LANCE: You were up there, as well as Se Ri Pak, who was part of the group that carried the South Korean flag. What do you think this says for women's golf in South Korea? There are so many strong golfers in South Korea, starting with Se Ri and now it's moved on to you.

INBEE PARK: Yeah, even it was the Winter Olympics; the Summer Olympics athletes got to represent our country in the Winter Olympics, so I think that means a lot.

Obviously to professional golfers, representing the athletes in the Olympics was really big. I think it has to do a lot with golf being in the Olympics in 2016. I'm glad that golf is now in the Olympics because I really know how the Olympians feel and how much pressure they must be feeling. I couldn't keep my eyes off the last two weeks on TV because it I was so excited to watch all the sports. Now I can say that I know how they feel.

CHRISTINA LANCE: What were your emotions as you carried the torch through the stadium?

INBEE PARK: It was really a thrill. It's different because with golf, it's kind of the same, but it's kind of not; you're moving along. But the same thing, you have a lot of people watching you and you're kind of in the middle of it. I felt so much more pressure that I wouldn't feel in golf. Yeah, it was maybe 60, 70 yards too long, I was afraid maybe I was going to fall or I was afraid I was going to maybe be doing something I shouldn't be doing.

CHRISTINA LANCE: How amazing was it for you, you've had so many great athletic moments in your career. What was it like to do this in front of a group of people in your home country.

INBEE PARK: It was a big honor. It was a big honor to me. When I got told that I'm going to be part of the stadium Olympic torch, it was just, wow, it's going to be an unforgettable moment. I was really happy.

CHRISTINA LANCE: Well, I can tell you I got very excited on my couch in Florida when I saw you out there, so on behalf of everybody, congratulations on that honor.

We'll bring it back to golf now. The last time we saw you on the LPGA Tour was in August at the RICOH Women's British Open. I know you've played a few times since then. What has your competition schedule been like during this break?

INBEE PARK: The last break? The last tournament I played on the LPGA was the British Open but I played a couple of events in Korea. I played Korean LPGA events. I didn't feel like it was six months off because I was preparing for another event, preparing for another event. Kind of kept myself really busy and I feel really good about my body now. So nothing to worry about from that, and now, I'm going to try to play more tournaments.

CHRISTINA LANCE: So when you won this event last year, you were coming off a fairly long break. You've been in Thailand the week before, but a long break and certainly a long break before winning the Olympic Gold. Maybe this is your week again.

INBEE PARK: Well, Singapore has been very nice to me so far. I have been getting really good results here. It feels really good to be coming back to Singapore and competing in my first event of the year. This golf course has been very new last year but the course is in really great condition, and I played yesterday, and yeah, I came to Singapore a couple days early to kind of prepare for the weather and the conditions. So I feel like I'm ready to play.

Q. Have you changed the way you play at all, your swing or anything?
INBEE PARK: No, not particularly. Because I was feeling really bad and I tried it take some time off, so my swing changed in the injury time. Now I'm healed from the injury, so nothing really has changed.

Q. Can you talk a bit about not playing golf and when you thought about it, whether you watched the girls a lot on telly, or did you forget it?
INBEE PARK: No, actually I did watch some golf on TV. When I was taking the time off, I constantly practiced golf, anyway.

But I really enjoyed my time back home, not being -- not have to travel so much and being able to stay in one place for such a long time. That was very enjoyable, living a professional golf life, traveling is the hardest thing for me.

Not traveling as much was a great experience for me, spending time with family and friends at home. It was a great moment. I kind of thought, oh, maybe I can do this life, as well. I kind of got that little bit of confidence there.

Q. I know that you participated in the ceremony in last week's amateur championship. Atthaya Thitikul won that tournament. Have you seen her play and how about your impression about her?
INBEE PARK: Yeah, I was here last week, so I was able to watch some junior amateur golf that was played here in Sentosa Golf Club. The Thai girl that won the championship, I heard she was a very, very good player before coming to this tournament. Seeing her, I watched her play a couple of times on TV, and yeah, she had a good swing and she has a good tempo.

Yeah, being able to experience a couple of major championships and competing this week would help a lot I think.

Q. You spent some time in Korea between the British Open and now but this is your first stop on the LPGA. Can you talk about such a long layoff? What's your state of mind and what's your confidence level coming into a tournament that you have won twice, and last year you were bogey-free in the last round. What's your frame of mind coming here?
INBEE PARK: I feel always good to be coming back to Singapore because I have been having a lot of good results in Singapore, and the people have been really friendly whenever I come to Singapore.

And because this is the first tournament of the year, it's hard to kind of judge where my game is. So it's almost for me, it's like I'll play four rounds and kind of see why where you are game is at and if the results come, that's great. But I'm trying to just see and kind of test my game in this tournament and have some good results. I have been getting some good results in Singapore.

Q. Wondering in the years leading up to 2016, you enjoyed a great period of golf, and then in 2016 you had some success, as well but then you had some trouble with injury. You mentioned it was time for you to take a break. Just wanted to know if it took a toll on you in any way, hitting your peak and then having to deal with some injuries.
INBEE PARK: Well, I think I've dealt with some small and big injuries through my professional years. I just had to, it's hard to balance at times. It's like whenever I'm playing bad, an injury should come, but it's hard to time that injury time obviously.

It would have been nice if I wasn't injured for 2016 and 2017, so I could play a lot more tournaments and build my confidence level, but that's something that I really can't control I think. You know, when the injury comes and my body says I need to rest, I kind of have to listen to my body and to start again.

That's what I kind of did in 2016 and 2017, whenever I kind of felt bad. I probably would have been able to play, but really push myself. But maybe I might not be here this year.

So I think, you know, the choice I made was to take it a little bit easier for the next couple years and try to get better with injuries. Now I feel good in my body, so hopefully no more to deal with.

Q. You mentioned a couple injuries over the last couple years. What would be your realistic expectations you have for yourself and targets for this year?
INBEE PARK: Well, I think a win in some tournaments, and hopefully a major tournament, would be really nice. But the first is I think it's just really hard to do, this is my 12th year on Tour, but it is still so hard to enjoy golf on the golf course as long as I'm playing professionally.

So that's kind of the goal that I try to reach. Like Christina said, I've achieved so many things in my resumÃ© but whenever I start my new tournament, whenever I start my round, I feel like there's nothing and I have to start again.

Hopefully I can just enjoy a little bit more the golf and maybe just free my mind a little bit more this year. Yeah, just truly enjoy the professional life would be a big goal.

Q. I was just actually going to say something in connection with that because you look amazingly relaxed, and I just wonder, how are you suddenly going to cope with pressure? You just look as though you could be walking your dog.
INBEE PARK: I tried to stay relaxed but like I said, it's harder to do than to say. I always say, I've achieved a lot of things now and you can be easy on yourself and you can relax. I say all those things, all those nice things to myself, but whenever I go out on the course, I really forget everything about it, and then I just feel like I'm a rookie again on the golf course.

So maybe that is why I really make myself keep going, but at the same time, I kind of feel like I want to relax a little bit more on the golf course and free my mind a little bit. But it is just really hard to do, living as a professional golfer. I think it's just something that you have to always have it deal with in professional golf.

Q. The last break, you said the dog helped a lot because you went out walking it. Is it the same dog and same walks this time, or not?
INBEE PARK: Yeah, he still gets a lot of time out and I need to take him a lot for a walk. Yes, he definitely works me out.

CHRISTINA LANCE: Thank you very much, Inbee. It's great to have you back. Good luck this week.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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