MAYBANK CHAMPIONSHIP

October 23, 2024

Ida Ayu Indira Melati Putri

Chayanit Wangmahaporn

Liyana Durisic

Kristina Natalia Yoko

Nur Durriyah Damian

Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon everyone, we are ready for the ASEAN qualifiers press conference.

To start off, introduce the five ASEAN players who are here. Far left, Liyana Durisic from Malaysia; next to her, Kristina Natalia Yoko from Indonesia; in the center we have Chayanit Wangmahaporn from Thailand; followed by Ida Ayu Melati who won the qualifier from Malaysia; and Malaysia's own Durriyah Damian closest to me.

What does it mean to you to play in the Maybank Championship this week? Start with Liyana.

LIYANA DURISIC: Personally means a lot to me because this is my second LPGA event so it's nice to be coming back here and doing the same thing again, experiencing the same amazing experience that I did probably about six years ago.

I think it's amazing that Maybank has provided us this platform to be playing with the world's best.

THE MODERATOR: Kristina.

KRISTINA NATALIA YOKO: It also means a lot to me, especially I just turned pro. This is my first pro event, my first LPGA event. I've been a huge fan of many LPGA players since I was a kid, and to be here I'm just so grateful and I feel so lucky to be here.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Kristina. Chayanit.

CHAYANIT WANGMAHAPORN: I am so grateful for this opportunity. I'm not sure I can find this anywhere else. Maybank is so kind for doing this for all of us.

Yeah, it really motivate me to see how good the player are and for the future if I can improve myself to be where there are, too.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you. And moving on to Ida.

IDA AYU INDIRA MELATI PUTRI: To be able to play in the Maybank Championship this year, my second time, it's really an honor and it's probably one of my highlights of my professional career for this year. I'm looking forward to learn a lot from the great players of the LPGA and very grateful to be among of the LPGA players.

Hope to see a fun week.

THE MODERATOR: Finally, Durriyah.

NUR DURRIYAH DAMIAN: It's mean a lot to me as well. It's a good opportunity for me to start again because I've been stop for a while. Hopefully this week is going to be good week for all of us and hopefully we learn one or two things and bring good memories.

Yep.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, ladies. Open questions to the floor.

Q. So like to ask Durriyah a question first. I think you've played LPGA events in Malaysia as an amateur a few times. Even though there is a bit of years in between, how do you feel coming back to an LPGA event as a professional? And how are you prepping yourself this weeks towards that?

NUR DURRIYAH DAMIAN: Yeah, I've been playing (indiscernible) for some like three times, and this is my second time professional so far for LPGA. So I've been preparing -- so far this is my biggest event, so I've been preparing this for few months. Hopefully I can make something and make a good memories about it, yeah.

Q. Just to follow up on that one, can you tell us about the injury and at what stage is the injury now? Is it completely healed? And to our ASEAN qualifier champion, you won the qualifier, so what sort of goals have you set this week besides coming to kind of learn from the LPGA pros? You obviously are looking to play well. We understand that. Share more if you could with us, like your thought process, exactly what or how you'll be targeting this. Thank you.

IDA AYU INDIRA MELATI PUTRI: Definitely we've all put in the work and want to see something happen this week, but personally for me, I want to see -- like golf-wise I want to see more balls on the fairways, more greens. I will make mistakes, but I hope the mistakes will not be as like wide range and hopefully I can cope with all the weather.

The weather is very hot. It's been very hot these days and it's also very important to stay hydrated other than than golf. So everything comes all at once. The weather and golf and everything, so, yeah.

Q. Back to Durriyah, can you tell us about your injury. You said you haven't played for quite a while. We know that. Tell us about the injury. Some people here don't know about the injury. Has it healed completely and are you fully fit for the tournament?

NUR DURRIYAH DAMIAN: I've stopped for a while because I have a personal issue, not because of my injury actually. So I stop because of my personal issue and I just started back.

Q. This time question for Liyana. I think out of all the other Malaysian professionals you are the one that's most freshly turned professional. This is probably your first big event. How are you looking forward and how important do you think this event for you will be for your growth moving on?

LIYANA DURISIC: I think this event is going to be a really good start for my professional career. It's nice to be starting off obviously as a fresh professional and to be playing with people who have done this for so long.

So I think it's just important to learn a thing or two and just I think the most important thing for me is just to soak it all in. It's my first one. No pressure, no expectations. Just go out there and enjoy the game.

I've prepared so long so it's just go out there, play my game, and just enjoy it.

Q. Durriyah, just want to ask any strong competitors for this championship that you have in mind?

NUR DURRIYAH DAMIAN: I think everybody -- for me everyone is my strong competitors because I've been away for a while. So hopefully I just do my best this week and bring some good memories to my Malaysian supporter.

THE MODERATOR: I have one question for every player. You've all played the West Course before during the qualifier and last year as well and probably maybe even other tournaments. So what do you think you need to do well to score a low score, post a low score on the West Course. Start with Liyana.

LIYANA DURISIC: Personally for me I think it's important to just miss the ball at the right spot. The greens are somewhat tricky so I think it's important to miss the ball correctly on the fairway and then get as close as possible to the green. Just aim to the fat part of the green and just putt well.

KRISTINA NATALIA YOKO: I think this course is quite tough. You have to be prepared for like -- you have to be good at your long game and especially with your short game when you miss the green. But for me for this week, I just want to focus on one shot at a time, stay in the present, and I think that will help me the most this week.

CHAYANIT WANGMAHAPORN: I think as long as you can sink the putt and I see a lot of players sink the putt, that would be I think how you score really low here, yeah.

IDA AYU INDIRA MELATI PUTRI: I think putting the ball in the fairway is half the job done here I feel like, because the rough can get tricky and you have a better angle going to the green. Probably that's it.

NUR DURRIYAH DAMIAN: My answer was obviously the same. For me, just try to get fairway, greens, as many as possible and putt it in.

That is the best way to play and get a low score for this week.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, ladies, good luck this week.