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U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

May 28, 2019

Inbee Park

Charleston, South Carolina

THE MODERATOR: Good morning, welcome to the 74th U.S. Open Championship, our first press conference of the week. We're here with two-time champion Inbee Park. Thanks for being here.

INBEE PARK: You're welcome.

THE MODERATOR: Just a few reactions -- I know you played yesterday -- to the course here at the Country Club of Charleston.

INBEE PARK: The first time playing the golf course yesterday. I really think this golf course is really a second shot golf course. The tee shots, there are a few fairway bunkers we need to avoid, except the fairways are actually quite generous off the tee.

Starting from the second shot, it gets really difficult. There are a lot of the greens that have the false fronts that are very -- where we need to carry, but at the same time, we need to stop the ball, carry the ball over the false fronts. So there are a few shots like that where we need to stop it really quick, but we need to carry some numbers.

So we've got to look really closely on our second shots. The greens are rolling really nice, and they are Bermuda greens, but they are really closely cut, and the greens are really, really firm. I was trying to fix a divot yesterday, and we can hardly get our tees in there. At the end of the week, I think it's going to get really firm.

The most important part is to play the par 3s here. The par 3s are quite long, depending on how they set up the golf course, but the par 3s are pretty long, and there are a couple of long par 4s as well. I have been hitting a lot of 5 woods there for the long holes and the long par 3s. So I need to work on my fairway woods a little bit for those holes. Except for that, I think the golf course is in really, really good shape. Looking forward to playing.

THE MODERATOR: What does this championship mean to you, coming to the Women's Open every year as a two-time champion?

INBEE PARK: It's really great to come to the U.S. Women's Open. Such special memories in my career, and especially the last one I won in 2013. It was just so memorable. I still remember like yesterday. It was my third Major in a row for that year, and becoming two-time champion of the U.S. Women's Open is just something that's unforgettable in my golfing career. If I can write my name one more time on the trophy, that will be just something unreal.

This golf course, we're going to have to really fight the heat this week. The weather is really, really hot. I really struggled to play ten holes yesterday in the heat. I'm just trying to get my body ready for the tournament starting Thursday, and I think it's just going to be a really, really hot week.

So the greens are going to firm up a lot more and they can get it probably as quick as they want to.

THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. Can you talk about how you will deal -- the players will deal with the heat this week and how big a factor it's going to be?
INBEE PARK: Yeah. I just don't know, you know, whether -- how we can stay cool under this weather outside. So I think everybody kind of have to just deal with the heat. You just drink a lot of water and try not to burn yourself up before the Thursday because I know that I really want to see the golf course as many times as I can. But at the same time, you kind of have to avoid yourself from doing that because playing 18 holes for -- 18 holes three times before the tournament will definitely burn you out.

So I'm trying to play just nine holes each day. We played 18 yesterday, and probably today and tomorrow I'll just play nine holes and try to avoid too much practice and get ready to play.

Q. Speaking of the par 3s, what was your first impression of No. 11, and what's your strategy on that?
INBEE PARK: When I got to No. 11, I thought, wow, this is the biggest hill on this golf course. Because in a golf course, it's quite flat, and I haven't seen much of an uphill or downhill on this golf course. I saw No. 11, and I was trying to figure out if that was a green or just a big hill.

Once I got there, it was actually green, so obviously, you don't want to be short of that hill. It was actually a really tough green to hit. I'm kind of hitting like a low iron or a hybrid into the green. It was really hard for me to stop the ball because carrying the ridge and then trying to stop the ball within the green was quite hard for me. But you almost have to -- I kind of have to look kind of into the hill, like last two, three yards of it, and then try to jump it up from there. But the greens are actually firm enough that even if we hit into those hills, it kind of jumps up unless like you hit it too far below it.

So, yeah, I thought it was a really fun hole because I just hit the ball way left side of the pin, and it just kicks way right side of the green. So it's going to be definitely a tough green to hit all week, and you don't want to be to the left side. You don't want to be in that bunker. It's far, and it's a very high bunker shot.

Q. And then how would you describe your ideal U.S. Women's Open course?
INBEE PARK: Ideal? Well, I think it really depends on everybody's game, I should say.

Q. For you, though?
INBEE PARK: For me, it has been firm and fast and long roughs and big tree-lined golf courses. That's really the golf courses that I remember a lot playing the USGA events since I was growing up.

This golf course is obviously a little bit different than what I thought. This golf course and last year's golf course is a little bit different type of a golf course than I played maybe, you know, last five or last ten years of the U.S. Women's Open.

It's a lot generous off the tee. It takes a little bit of stress off, I should say. And the rough is not the biggest factor. It's mostly -- hitting the second shots and around the greens makes the game more difficult.

Q. Inbee, is there a little bit of an element of surprise? I mean, this is not one of those classic courses that you see every year, you've probably played growing up. What was kind of the thought of the Country Club of Charleston before you ever got here? Did you know anything about it?
INBEE PARK: I just heard that it was a very historical place, and I heard this golf course is an old golf course. So I was thinking more like, you know, a lot more trees and a lot more narrower and maybe probably a little bit shorter. That's kind of what I remember as older golf courses.

Obviously, a little bit different. We will have some wind in the factor as well. It's going to be a little bit windier with this golf course setup. Yeah, I just, you know, thought that this would be -- thinking that it's the East Coast, I didn't think this was so far down South. I was thinking more bent greens, but it's a Bermuda green. I think it's going to be fun this week, playing this golf course.

Q. Inbee, over your career, you've been one of the best putters over the last several years. Your stats have taken a bit of a dip this year. Do you feel like you're putting better than your stats indicate? If not, what are you working on to kind of get your putting touch back?
INBEE PARK: Actually, I haven't been really putting well this year at all. I have been striking the ball really, really good this year, probably better than any other years on Tour. Just the putter wasn't really there. That's really been the disappointing part of my game this year. Other than that, it has been really, really good.

Putting is really important in the game of golf, and you definitely need that club working to win the golf tournament. I played a couple weeks ago in Korea and played in a perfect bent green there, because we have been playing a lot of poana greens early in the season, so it was really hard to see what I was doing wrong -- whether it was the greens, whether it was me, whether it was the stroke, whether it was the break.

I really thought that my putting has improved a little bit, and a couple weeks ago in Korea when I putted in perfect conditions. So hopefully, I can get that feeling going this week and putt a little better and see the ball dropping in the hole a little bit more.

Q. With the greens cut so close, as you mentioned, are they almost playing like bent greens?
INBEE PARK: Yeah, I think the grain is going to come into play a little bit, but it is very closely mowed, and it is fast and firm. So it's not going to be as much as grainy than other Bermuda greens, but I think the green is definitely going to come into factor a little, but I think it goes to where you aim, so it's a true green.

Q. Can you talk about the importance of getting off to a good start, the difficulty of No. 1 and also the challenge of 18. You were talking about the length of the golf course earlier. The finish, the challenge of 1 and 18, what the challenge is.
INBEE PARK: Hole No. 1 -- actually, No. 1 and No. 18 is not the toughest holes on this golf course, especially No. 18 is the hole that actually you need to make a birdie on.

So golf courses start -- the front nine is a little longer than the back nine, so you definitely want to -- you're definitely going to hit a little bit longer clubs into the hole on the front nine, but definitely on the back nine, there are holes a little bit shorter but tougher greens. So you're going to go in with shorter irons and so you have to make a couple of birdies on the back nine.

No. 18 is the hole that you definitely want to make a birdie on. There aren't many that is easily birdie-able on this golf course. So you definitely want to take advantage of the par 5s. So starting off a little tougher but then gives you a little bit of a chance on the back nine.

Q. During a Major week, is it just play, go home, play, go home, or do you try to get yourself out, get your mind off of golf a little, check out Charleston a little bit?
INBEE PARK: I try to go out for dinner and go to the nice spots. I've been out to the city a couple times, just for a quick dinner and stuff. But it's really hard to get myself outside the hotel room because you're just so exhausted after playing the golf course, and I'm just trying to, you know, put all my energy on the golf course, and I don't care what I do when I get back to the hotel room. I'll just stay there.

Sometimes I might just get a takeaway and just not leave the room if that helps get my energy back on. So I really didn't expect this kind of weather in May. So, yeah, I think it's going to be a little bit of a surprise to everyone, but the summer has begun.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Inbee. Good luck this week.

INBEE PARK: Thank you.

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