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U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

May 28, 2019

Ariya Jutanugarn

Charleston, South Carolina

THE MODERATOR: Hi, everyone. My name is Mike Trostel with the USGA Communications team. It's my pleasure to welcome in Ariya Jutanugarn, our defending champion into the media center at the 74th U.S. Women's Open. Ariya won last year's playoff over Yoo Jin Kim at Shoal Creek.

Ariya, what are some of the cool places you brought the trophy over this past year?

ARIYA JUTANUGARN: I brought it to Thailand. So actually, at the tournament in Thailand, Honda LPGA in Thailand.

THE MODERATOR: Now, you've talked about how the most important thing for you is inspiring kids, inspiring children, more than even winning tournaments or prize money. Why is that so important to you?

ARIYA JUTANUGARN: You know, like golf is basically, you know, before, I felt like golf is my everything. You know, when I play well, I feel great. When I start to play not very good, I feel bad.

But at the same time, I have to learn to separate that because when I didn't play well, it doesn't mean that I'm a bad person. I'm still a good person. I'm still a good kid for my mom. I'm still a good sister for my sister.

So the way I feel I want to be inspiring to kids more is because I feel like my life is important that way, not only golf. So I basically have something that I focus on.

THE MODERATOR: That's a great answer. You've played the course a couple times. You played nine holes today. What does it require of you? What do you think you need to do well on the course to be in contention again, to hopefully successfully defend your title?

ARIYA JUTANUGARN: Right now, I have to do everything well. The course is pretty tough. You know, like first few holes, when I look at the course, I feel like actually, it's pretty wide open. So it might be not that tough. But then when you keep playing that, and you saw some hole out there, like short par 4, but it's really narrow, you have to put your ball in the right spot.

When it's par 5 and it's a long par 5, it's pretty wide open, but you can't go to the green. But when like short par 5, you can't go second to the green, it's really narrow. So I feel like you need to have everything in shape to be able to play well at this course, because the green is really like sloped everywhere. If you miss a little bit, it's just going to roll off the green.

You have to really pay attention with the tee shot also. So I'm going to say everything.

THE MODERATOR: Everything. Good answer.

Let's open up for questions.

Q. Ariya, I notice you have Pete back on the bag. Tell me what having him back does to your golf game and how important that part of the equation is for your success, having a caddie that you're familiar with and rely on?
ARIYA JUTANUGARN: I'm going to say first I love Pete personally. He really has fun with like every situation, even when I'm mad, when I'm angry, he knows how to have fun. I don't know if that's a good idea or not, but he did a pretty good job, and I feel like he's so far -- whoever caddies for me, I feel like he has the best read of the greens.

He keeps me calm, and we start last week, our first week in like three or four years, and we have so much fun. And he helped me stop thinking about the outcome so much because after I hit my shot, I kind of talk to him, having fun together. So it's really helped me right now.

Q. If you could just assess your game right now, and have you found anything of late with Gary on the putting green.
ARIYA JUTANUGARN: Like what we're working on?

Q. Yeah, what you've been working on.
ARIYA JUTANUGARN: I feel I've been struggling with my putting for a while, starting this year. We kind of figured out what went wrong so we just, you know, got it maybe a few weeks ago that we basically know what is not right.

So I feel much better with that, and, you know, the most important thing to make a putt, you need to have a good speed. And when I feel uncomfortable and not trust my stroke, it's tough to have a good speed. So right now, I'm just working on my speed to get better.

Q. How difficult is the heat out there, and how is the heat and lack of rain affecting the golf course?
ARIYA JUTANUGARN: I'm Thai, so it doesn't really affect me. So it might affect the golf course because it might get dry, but good thing we're going to hit longer.

Q. With how the final round of this championship played out last year, the ups and the downs and how it ended, what did you learn about yourself as a person and a golfer?
ARIYA JUTANUGARN: Last year, final round, I learned not to think about this too much. What I say before on my final round is I play like absolutely like great my front nine. Like to me, it's unbelievable. I'm never going to play that good again, I felt like.

And then turn on No. 10, all I'm thinking about, you know what? I'm in seven-shot lead. I'm going to keep the seven-shot lead until the last hole. It should be easy for me to win the tournament, but that's not a good way to think about that. I still have to come with myself and like stick with my process because, when I'm thinking about this -- especially thinking about my seven-shot lead is not helping me to even hit a good golf shot.

Q. Ariya, I know you're Thai, but it's hot.
ARIYA JUTANUGARN: Yes.

Q. Is it not having any kind of effect on you at all? Limited practice? What are you doing, perhaps, a little differently?
ARIYA JUTANUGARN: I don't practice that much, so it doesn't affect me much. But I think it's pretty same weather last week. I'm pretty tired, and I know I have to save energy this week. Normally, I don't really practice on Monday, but this week is kind of like I have to know the course, pretty new course. So I practiced basically yesterday, today, and, of course, tomorrow.

So I have to make sure I'm not practicing way too much, so like not be more than four hours a day.

Q. Every time I see Pia before a tournament starts, I think the last conversation was ANA, and I asked her if the driver was going to be in the bag. She said she's hitting the driver great, but it's not in the bag. What's the discussion this week? Is it in the bag?
ARIYA JUTANUGARN: Still no driver because, you know, I feel like right now, like what I said before, I need to feel very good to hit driver. Right now, I just have to work on the same stuff. I need to come back and trust myself first, and I have to make sure I have good commitment first, and then I start to hit driver. So no driver this week.

Q. All right. Lastly, you talked about this golf course drying out and, obviously, you being a longer hitter. When it gets like that, you're a player who can control the ball with a spin a little bit more, how much of an advantage is that for you this week, on this dried-out course?
ARIYA JUTANUGARN: I felt like you can take advantage from your long hitter, but not really on this course because some hole I really have to hit like 2 iron off the tee or 3 iron off the tee because the fairway is pretty narrow and you don't want to put yourself in the bunker, especially this green. You have to be like perfect to give you a good chance to make birdie because you're not only thinking about hit on the green, you have to be really careful with that.

Sometimes you can only go aggressive to the pin, or if you want to be aggressive, you need to have a shorter iron to the green. But you're not going to be able to hit 3 wood with every tee ball because it's pretty narrow.

Q. Your impressions of No. 11, how you plan to handle that one.
ARIYA JUTANUGARN: Par 3?

THE MODERATOR: Par 3.

ARIYA JUTANUGARN: It's really tough. Really tough par 3, especially the green. I feel like that hole, anything can happen. So I'm not working on, like, chip around the green, hit bunker shot, but I'm working on more like when I know I don't want to miss the green. Then it means I'm thinking about outcome too much, so I have to come back and make sure how that hole -- like how I'm going to have good (indiscernible) on that hole.

Q. When did you find out that they were making a movie about you, and have you seen any of it yet?
ARIYA JUTANUGARN: I find out last year. And --

Q. What did you think of that?
ARIYA JUTANUGARN: Actually, they asked me, like, they called me and the first time they called me, I ignore them because I don't know what they're talking about. Like maybe they don't know what they're talking about. So I ignore them.

After that in a few months, my manager called me and told me this really going to happen. So I'm like okay. I still not answer them. So I'm still waiting for like three months. And then my manager called me again and told me, like, you have to make decision. Okay.

So I want to go talk to them, and I told them, like, I have no idea anything about movie. I don't know you going to make money or you going to lose money, but I want to know what's the reason you're going to make the movie? And when they answer me, like, it's kind of going the same way. They say they want to inspire the kids, and they think like our family life going to help the kids in Thailand. So that's why I do it. So after two minutes I talk to them, I say yes. But they'd been waiting for me for like six months.

Q. What did you think of the parts that you've seen so far? Have you previewed it?
A. Pretty cool, you know, when I saw that. It's really like two minutes. So I've not really seen anything much, and they're still in the first stage of, you know, doing about the movie. So I just saw that for two minutes.

Q. Did you approve of the actresses they chose to play you at different stages?
ARIYA JUTANUGARN: It's not in my power to do that. They just try to pick the one that's really close to me, like look similar to me, but they look way better than me.

Q. Ariya, over history, some of the movies that have been done about golf, sometimes the golf swings don't look very good. Did you have advice for them how to make it look realistic?
ARIYA JUTANUGARN: I told them, if you want to be close to me, make sure you hit it hard. If you hit it soft, it's definitely not me, so make sure you hit it hard.

THE MODERATOR: Ariya Jutanugarn, 8:06 off the 10th tee on Thursday. Best of luck.

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