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U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPMay 29, 2001Morgan PresselSOUTHERN PINES, NORTH CAROLINA RHONDA GLENN: Ladies and gentlemen, we're happy to have with us Morgan Pressel, who is the youngest qualifier in the history of the United States Women's Open. She qualified at the age of 12, with a score of 70 at Bear Lakes Country Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. And she led at that sectional qualifying site. Beverly Klass played in the Women's Open at the age of 10 and some months, which is in your record books, but that was before you had to qualify for the Women's Open. Welcome to the United States Women's Open. What is it like being here this week and being at an international championship. MORGAN PRESSEL: It's very exciting, it's something I've always wanted to be. And I'm planning on having a great time, here. RHONDA GLENN: What has impressed you the most this week? MORGAN PRESSEL: I played in the Girls' Junior last year, too. And the USGA runs great events. The events are awesome. The course is beautiful. RHONDA GLENN: Have you been surprised at all the attention this has generated? It's been hectic for you on the course the last couple of days. MORGAN PRESSEL: Yeah, it has. Yeah, surprised a little bit, probably. I qualified for the U.S. Open, now let's go play. But everyone has been very nice. And I've never seen so many little kids at an event. RHONDA GLENN: You're getting a lot of autograph requests from children, aren't you? MORGAN PRESSEL: The little kids all walk up to me and say can I have your autograph and hand me a little paper with the pen. RHONDA GLENN: Is this the first time you've ever used a microphone? MORGAN PRESSEL: No. RHONDA GLENN: So they come up to you with pieces of paper and they just want to say hello? MORGAN PRESSEL: Yeah, they're little ones, about maybe 8, 10. (Laughter.) Q. What do you make of all us media types that are following your every move wherever you go here? MORGAN PRESSEL: What do you mean? Q. Do you think we're paying too much attention to you? Are we making you nervous? Are you happy you're getting this much attention? MORGAN PRESSEL: I try and block everyone out. I try and say, okay, let's look the other way. But -- no, not really. Q. Are you enjoying your moment in the spotlight? MORGAN PRESSEL: Yeah. It's been fun. I'm having a good time. Q. Have you gotten to meet any players yet? And if so, who are the players you wanted to meet who you've gotten to meet? MORGAN PRESSEL: I met Lorie Kane and Karrie Webb and I played with Janice Moodie today and Rachel Teske. Q. Have they impressed you? Have you enjoyed it as much as you thought you would? MORGAN PRESSEL: It's been a lot of fun. I've had a great time. Everyone has been very nice to me. Q. Yesterday you were scheduled to play a practice round with Carol Semple Thompson and she had a talk to you since she couldn't go out and play. Did she offer some advice to you since she's had all these USGA events? MORGAN PRESSEL: I found out that this is her 31st U.S. Open as an amateur. I was like, whoa (laughter.) Yeah, she just told me to go out and play your game. Q. You talked about all the kids that were coming up to you getting autographs. Were you tempted to go ask for some autographs from the players you've seen out on the range or anything like that? MORGAN PRESSEL: Actually, I'm going to, because I have this little flag that I want to get signed and give it to the people that we're staying with. Q. For them or you? MORGAN PRESSEL: I remember five months ago I was at the Office Depot at Doral and I was in line getting autographs, and now people are asking for mine. Q. Who did you get? MORGAN PRESSEL: I got a bunch of people. You stand by the 18th green as they come in and hand out your hat and you've got them. Q. When did you decide to enter the competition this year? And what made you feel like your game was in the sort of shape it needed to make such a big step? MORGAN PRESSEL: Well, my grandpa said -- he said now you're going to play at Beark Lakes in the qualifier. And I said, okay, for what? The U.S. Open. I said the U.S. Open? I'm going to make it? And he said, well, you're just going to experience. If I can't make it, why should I play? And so he said, well, to have fun. I said, oh, well, I'm going to go out there and try my best. And I've been playing very well earlier. Like I had been shooting some low scores, a few 74, 73s. So my game was in pretty good shape. RHONDA GLENN: Is that your lowest score in competition, the 70? MORGAN PRESSEL: No. I shot 69 at Grand Cypress last year in the IJGT Tour Championship. And actually it was supposed to be last weekend, but I couldn't play, because I had to come here instead. Q. Outside of golf, what would be the most memorable thing in your life, outside of golf? MORGAN PRESSEL: Outside of golf? I play the clarinet. I've played that for two years, school band. Q. Do you play Pokemon? MORGAN PRESSEL: No. My brother does. Q. If I might ask you a two-part question. No. 1, how are you playing coming into this course and how do you like the course? MORGAN PRESSEL: How am I playing coming into it? I've been playing well, like before the qualifier and in the qualifier. And I've been working on my game a lot since the qualifier to try and play well here. And what was the second part? I'm getting senile. Q. How do you like the course? MORGAN PRESSEL: It's a beautiful course,. It's long for me, but it's a beautiful course. Really, it's difficult. Q. If I may, several people have talked in terms of Tiger Woods, how he was at 12 and 13 and what he was accomplishing, things like this,. And I wonder if maybe this is a little inspiration in the back of your mind like, yeah, I can do it? MORGAN PRESSEL: Oh, yeah, it is. When you see someone else doing it, you think this can definitely be done. And you want to try to work and see if it will happen to you. Q. You were talking about this course being long. How far do you hit your average drive? MORGAN PRESSEL: 230. Q. And so out there today how far were you behind the other girls you were playing with? MORGAN PRESSEL: I was about 30 yards, probably, when everyone hit good drives. Q. And can you assess the rest of your game for us? What are your strengths and where do you feel you need to improve? MORGAN PRESSEL: Strengths? I'm pretty good at -- my driving is usually pretty good. I've been working on my long irons and my pitching. My putting has improved quite a bit. And usually my wedges from about 100 yards -- 60 to a hundred yards are pretty good, full wedges, usually. Q. How old were you when you started playing golf and how quickly did you get to this level? MORGAN PRESSEL: I was 8. So I've been playing for four-and-a-half years. And this level, just recently (laughter.) Q. How long before you broke par? MORGAN PRESSEL: I shot 69 at Grand Cyprus. Should have shot 68, though. No, in the last hole I hit a sand wedge in, bounced once, hit the stick and rolled all the way off the green. So chipped on and 2-putted for bogey instead of par. Q. You're now eligible for the AJGA agewise. Are you going to play AJGA? Are you going to play the national women's circuit? MORGAN PRESSEL: Right now I know I'm playing in the Lucent Technologies Girl Junior in Kansas. I don't know what else. I don't think I've gotten in or gotten response from any others. But -- and then I'm exempt from the girls junior forever, thank God. All it takes is a bad round. Q. Will you play AJGA, though? MORGAN PRESSEL: Yeah. RHONDA GLENN: How about the U.S. Women's Amateur, are you going to try to qualify. MORGAN PRESSEL: Yeah, I'm going to try qualifying for that. RHONDA GLENN: That's in Kansas this year. Q. Have the kids at school treated you any differently? Have they said anything with all the attention you've gotten? MORGAN PRESSEL: Well, they've been very nice to me. This is when you can tell who your friends are, because your friends are going to be your friends forever, most of the time, but like people, like you do something good and they want to be your best friend and then you play bad and they're like, oh, well, I don't know you. Q. Do you think you'll have as many friends after this week? MORGAN PRESSEL: Yeah, probably. Q. Morgan, I recall hearing you say before you got here that one thing you said you might end up dead last, the other is you didn't expect to make the cut. Now you've played the course and played alongside some of the best players in the world, what are your expectations this week? MORGAN PRESSEL: Pretty much the same. I expect to pretty much -- logically I'm going to finish last. But I should, I'm the youngest person here. Everyone else has so much more experience than me. They're the best players. It's not like I'm playing in my junior tournaments. But I've got to treat it like a junior tournament. If I made the cut I'd be very, very happy. Q. Morgan, what advice have you gotten from your uncle, Aaron, who kind of went through a lot of this stuff at a young age? Has he given you any advice as far as how to handle all the attention and keep everything in perspective? MORGAN PRESSEL: Well, he caddied for me in the qualifier and so he kept me calm. When I made a bogey, he was like, keep in there. On the 5th hole I had a bogey, my first bogey. On the 6th hole I came right back with a birdie. He kept me calm. Sometimes if I'm unlucky I'll get upset, so he kept me calm. Q. Who's going to caddy for you this week? MORGAN PRESSEL: Willie McRae. He's from Pinehurst, so he knows the course very well. Q. What age is Willie? MORGAN PRESSEL: He's 68. Q. And how is he coping? MORGAN PRESSEL: He's used to it. He's been caddying for 58 years. So I'd be used to it, too, by then. (Laughter.) I was very surprised I got such a good caddy. He's one of 10 caddies in the Hall of Fame of caddies. RHONDA GLENN: He's caddied for a lot of great players, hasn't he? Can you name any of them? MORGAN PRESSEL: He hasn't told me. Q. Where would you be at this precise moment if you weren't here? MORGAN PRESSEL: Where would I be? I'd be probably at home, at school, finishing my last week of school, just coming home from that IJGT event. Q. What Klass would you be in right now? MORGAN PRESSEL: What time is it? Q. 2:25. MORGAN PRESSEL: I'd be almost getting out of science, going to social studies in ten minutes -- no, five minutes, sorry. Q. If I might, Morgan, in a special interview one time I did with Tiger Woods he said throughout his entire career, from the time he started he was so aware of the sacrifices and time and possibly money and everything that his parents made. Are you also aware of that and how do you feel about that? MORGAN PRESSEL: Yeah, I'm very aware of that. My parents and my grandparents, they both put in so much time and effort towards my golf game. My grandparents take me everywhere and support me. My parents are always there. Q. Will you be kind of relieved when all of this is over and you can go back to your regular schedule and sort of resume your normal life? MORGAN PRESSEL: Yeah, I'll be relieved. But I will have -- I realize I had a great experience, and I have a lot of fun here. And go back to keep working on my game, get better. And hopefully come back next year. Q. Will you enjoy it more when you're inside the ropes and we can't be asking you all these questions and you can just play your game? MORGAN PRESSEL: Probably, yeah. It's all been fun. Q. If it was raining and you couldn't play golf, what would you choose to do? What would be your favorite thing to do? MORGAN PRESSEL: When I was at home? My grandpa always has a backup tape. Yes, he always does. He's always got a tape there. Come over and we'll watch a tape. That's probably what we would do. Yesterday when it rained, I was so bored, I was just walking around. Security people probably saw me 20 times. I just was trying to find something to do. I was just getting my exercise. Q. Are the tapes of golf or is it movies? MORGAN PRESSEL: Golf. Q. So it would still be golf? MORGAN PRESSEL: Oh, yes. Q. Does your grandfather live and die golf? MORGAN PRESSEL: Pretty much. RHONDA GLENN: Morgan, thank you very much for being with us, and we wish you a lot of good luck in the championship. End of FastScripts.... |
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