	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

HSBC WOMEN'S WORLD MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP

July 5, 2006

Marisa Baena

VIRGINIA WATERS, ENGLAND

DANA GROSS-RHODE: We have Marisa Baena in the interview room. Marisa is the defending champion from last year's inaugural tournament. Talk about what it's like to come back to the course that you first won on.

MARISA BAENA: Well, a lot of good memories were brought back to me yesterday when I played the back nine, my sister, Christina, was walking with me and my husband, Juan. So I told them, oh, I hit it here, I hit it there and I made these great putts.

So it was great to spend some time with her and show her the course where I was able to win. It's been a lot of fun. We did a lot of stuff on Monday for the tournament and it's just great to be back.

Q. Obviously last year you came from nowhere, nobody was really watching you, it's going to be hard for you to sneak up on the radar screen this year do you think?

MARISA BAENA: Absolutely. I'm playing even better than I was playing last year, I'm hitting the golf ball great. For some reason this year I've been having a lot of injuries and I haven't been able to quite put together the tournaments I wish I could.

But I definitely think that this year people are going to look at me in different way. You know, I won, so they know my match is going to be a tough match, but I mean everybody is playing good. The golf course is in awesome shape. I really believe that whoever wins is who is playing the best.

Q. Is this your favorite format, match play?

MARISA BAENA: Absolutely. Enjoy it very much. I enjoy the competition. I enjoy the pressure to make that 3-footer to win the hole. And I just really like seeing exactly what I have to do.

Q. You singled out your putting as a key to your victory last year. Are you happy with that part of your game and do you think it will be as crucial this year?

MARISA BAENA: Well, unfortunately I have some putting issues at the U.S. Open. I finish 150th. (Laughing) So, yes, I'm a little bit concerned about it.

My sister, Christina was with me yesterday and she said that she saw something that I was doing with me putting which I didn't know. We worked on it and definitely the putting stroke became a lot better, a lot smoother. I'm getting it on line again. So yes, I've been really worried about it because I'm not putting as good as I was last year and I know how important it is for match play, so I'm hoping the lesson my sister gave me is going to work.

Q. Talk about how your life has changed sense you won last year. I don't think you even had a sponsor when you came in at this time a year ago.

MARISA BAENA: Well, I think it has changed because first of all, I was able to buy a new house in Weston, a bigger house. So we enjoy more of the time, the free time. And I'm also not worried about getting my card. Every week was just playing because I had to, because I was worrying about losing had I card, worried about not making cuts. This year I've just been able to go out there and play.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to take advantage of that because I have gone through many injuries and part of that is because I was trying to rehab my back, and the rehab is just going extremely slow and I had a bit of bumps throughout the way. I'm definitely happy, happier with my back and things are getting along. Being a champion on Tour is definitely different than being a person who has never won. I definitely think it's a big difference.

Q. The back is 100% now, and are there any other injuries? You were talking about injuries.

MARISA BAENA: No, the back is not 100% unfortunately. The rehab is taking a long time. I'm getting there. But throughout the way, I had a rib injury in my chest, and then I had a neck injury in New York and I've been having some stomach problems the last month.

So like I said, it's been a horrible six months for me and it seems like I cannot get out of it. Finally I think the stomach, I'm working on it and hopefully the new doctor is going to help me. I think the back is finally getting there but unfortunately I got sick. So I had to stop all the back treatment. I'm hoping that maybe in the next few months, I can figure everything out and play the last few events healthy.

Q. Did you just take the two days off after you missed the cut in Newport or when did you get here?

MARISA BAENA: Yeah, on Monday I had to do stuff in New York for the tournament. We did the ring the bell in the stock market, which that was an incredible experience. And then we did the Top of the Rock pictures. But I did play nine holes yesterday hoping to play the back nine. Hoping to play today, but the weather I guess didn't cooperate today so we're not going to see the golf course. And I think that is just to the going to be me. I think a lot of the players did not play the golf course yesterday.

So a lot of us are just going it to tee it up tomorrow. I've seen the front nine. I know they moved a lot of the tees back, so it's going to be interesting because some of them, they lost in the first match, and some of them didn't get to play in the Pro-Am last year and they have only played one round of golf on this golf course. I have the advantage which I saw it six times last year and I actually played all the way through 18, and sometimes I played 19 and 20th, so some of the holes I have seen itself en, eight times, which I think is in my advantage because some of the players are not very familiar with the golf course.

Q. When you rack the bell at the market, did it go up or down that day?

MARISA BAENA: Actually it went up. So they are happy about that. They said I had a good hand.

Q. When I talked to some of the women who were here yesterday, I wanted to know if there is any kind of gamesmanship when the men play in match play. The men are more apt to admit to it; if you know the guy likes to play slower, play fast, that sort of stuff, do the women engage in any of that sort of stuff?

MARISA BAENA: I don't know. But at least when I played, I did not feel that. I definitely think that sometimes you try to do stuff and the person has a lot of momentum, you do like you said slow down, not be rude in any way but definitely play mind games. I think a lot do it and sometimes you do it without even noticing that you're doing it, but definitely the mental part of the game is such a big part, you're trying -- I don't think what other players think, but I definitely think some of us do that.

DANA GROSS-RHODE: Thank you very much, Marisa. Good luck.

End of FastScripts.

About ASAP Sports • FastScripts Archive • Recent Interviews • Captioning • Upcoming Events • Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297