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MICHELOB ULTRA OPEN AT KINGSMILL

May 6, 2008

Michelle Wie West

WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA

DANA GROSSRHODE: Thank you all very much for coming. Michelle, thank you for joining us. Welcome to the Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill.
How does it feel at the start of the summer? I know you're planning on playing a little bit more. How is your game feeling right now, ready to go?
MICHELLE WIE: I'm really excited to play. Obviously, I took some time off. The last month I was in Orlando. I was trying, I was practicing with David. It's been a hard month, practice, practice.
You know, finally, I just want to get out and play already so I'm really excited. You know, it's nice to be here at this tournament. I played here I think four -- four years ago so it's been a long time since I came back. I'm really happy. It's a great golf course, great event and I'm really excited in.
DANA GROSSRHODE: We'll take questions for Michelle.

Q. Michelle, in college do you practice everyday? How much do you get to practice?
MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I practice everyday. You know, I practice actually more than I did in high school, when I was in high school because I had to arrange a schedule that I want to. I don't have to be at school from 7:30 until 3:00.
You know, I have classes from, let's say, morning classes or afternoon classes. I made it so that I can practice in the afternoon or I can like workout in the morning.
So I have like two-a-days most of the time. I feel like I've got a lot done.

Q. How is your wrist, Michelle?
MICHELLE WIE: It's doing a lot better. You know, unfortunately it was doing really well, I was hitting golf balls at the Stanford range, it didn't hurt at all. Alright, great. I was on the right track.
Unfortunately, I had a setback but now it's feeling a lot better. It's really feeling good.

Q. How frustrating has it been with the injury and sort of the struggles especially, by your standards that you have been through recently?
Is it attributable to the injury? How hard is it going to be to deal with?
MICHELLE WIE: Obviously it has been hard to deal with. Injuries are not -- you know, it's not great. It's been -- it was my first injury. I've never really been injured before. I've learned a lot from it. I see it is a learning process, little dip in the curve, little bump in the road. But I felt like I learn a lot from it.
When I had that setback a couple months ago, you know, I knew exactly what to do. I went straight to the sports people at Stanford and they helped me out.
I got an x-ray, got three opinions and, you know, just -- I took a lot of care of it. I took MRI, CAT scan, everything.
Last time when I first hurt my hand oh, it's probably nothing. Then this time you have to take care of your body and I didn't touch a golf club. I took the proper way to get back, putted, chipped, didn't hit a golf ball.
I learned how to do it. I learned when to push myself. I respect my body. I feel like it's a learning process. It's all happened in the past and, you know, I'm really excited and move forward.

Q. What was the injury, exactly? Was it a ligament problem?
MICHELLE WIE: Well, the first one or the second one?

Q. What's the history of the whole deal?
MICHELLE WIE: Well, the history. That goes way far back. But, you know, actually I broke three bones and then the most recent one it was a sprain. Fortunately it wasn't anything worse than that.

Q. So you're back on the course for the first time like in a few years here. How does it feel to get back out there, get back in the swing of things?
MICHELLE WIE: I love it. That's why I play and practice, just to be able to play. It's a great course. I love this golf course, and, you know, I played four years ago so that's before they did all the renovations and I had a practice round today and yesterday.
I like the new changes. They've done a lot to it and like 17, I really like having -- what they've done to it. It's really exciting.

Q. Feeling of playing in the tournament like this, it's considered the Fifth Major. Just your overall feeling about that.
MICHELLE WIE: It's a great tournament. It's a really great run tournament and, like I said, great track, great players. You know, great sponsors. It's a great event.

Q. Are you still thinking of perhaps joining the LPGA in 2009?
MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, definitely. Not really sure what's going to happen in the future but that's definitely on the plan, you know.
I want to be able to play more and get out here. It would be fun. It's a great Tour and fabulous players. I would be honored to play against them.

Q. Has it been kind of hard being, I guess more or less, without a home on the Tour for awhile now?
MICHELLE WIE: Well, I think, you know, when you're playing great it doesn't really matter. I think the most where it matters when you actually have like an injury or something where it can be I'm not going to play this year and then have a place to come back.
But like I said, I'm still young. I'm only 18. So like I said, you know, just -- it's a learning progress. I've never really done it before so, you know, I learn new things everyday and I'm just moving forward.

Q. Have you had any indications about what kind of reception you'll get?
MICHELLE WIE: You know, I like the players out here. They've been really nice to me so, I mean, I'm really excited. I think about every shot, about the course, about every tournament. I don't think that far in the future.

Q. So you had a month of work with David Leadbetter and played practice rounds yesterday and today. How are you hitting the ball?
MICHELLE WIE: You know, I feel like it's coming along. I put in a lot of work. I've done the best I could. I've never really practiced that much in my entire life. Feel like my hands are getting ugly as the day goes on, but, you know, I feel like there's nothing more that I can do.
I try my hardest. I'm hitting the ball a lot more solidly. We'll see what happens this week.
It's still -- it's one of my first tournaments coming back and, like I said, it's a learning progress. I've done what I could do. I put in a month of just really hard work. I tried the hardest I could and now it's just go out there and have fun. We'll see what happens.

Q. What do you expect? Do you have any expectations?
MICHELLE WIE: You know, I expect myself to keep my head in it, you know, not to expect too much out of myself, you know, just to go out there and enjoy it and, you know, commit myself a hundred percent to every shot and, you know, to accept.
It's one of my first tournaments back. Who knows what's going to happen? Maybe I'll play really great. Maybe I'll make a couple mistakes here and there. I tried my hardest in practicing and now it's all about performance and hopefully I can come out really good and really strong.

Q. How important is the confidence factor going into this tournament?
MICHELLE WIE: You know, confidence is always important to a good performance. I feel over the past month working on my swing, seeing good golf shots over and over again, I feel like that helped my confidence a lot and, you know, I think having fun out there helps a lot, too, and I'm just going to try to commit to every shot this week.

Q. You looked relaxed. Do you feel relaxed?
MICHELLE WIE: Yeah. I mean, like I said, there's really nothing more I can do. I can't really be God and determine all my lucky bounces and all that, you know. I put in the hard work. I know that I did that so there's nothing more I can do.
I just have to go out there and play.

Q. Have you looked at a video of your swing three, four years ago to what it is now and if you have, what kind of differences do you see there?
MICHELLE WIE: I'm a lot taller. You know, I think that makes a big difference in your swing, you know? I've changed a lot physically so I feel like according to that my swing has also changed to that.
Just try to keep it -- me and David are still working on the same things that I was working three, four years ago. So it's basically just keeping that swing that works and just keeping it right there.

Q. Do you think you're as smooth and as languid as you were as a younger person?
MICHELLE WIE: Well, you know, I don't think anyone can return to the same swing when you were 13, 14. Obviously no one can. And I don't think I should.
I think that, you know, everything should move forward. I don't think I should, you know, look back and be like, "Oh, I need to go back to that."
You know, I think like I said, I changed a lot physically so I can't do the same things my body did when I was 13. I'm not like 5-11 -- I'm not 5-10 anymore, and hit it now like I did back then.
Me and David are still working on the same things I worked when I was 13, 14. We're still trying to keep it in the same track, you know, definitely in the same swing thought. Nothing has really changed that drastically. I've changed a lot physically.

Q. Michelle, you mentioned you are just 18 but your swing has obviously been in the spotlight for a long time. Has that gotten any easier to deal, has it changed you at all?
MICHELLE WIE: I don't really think so. You know, I just try to just be me. Just try to do my thing. Just have great people around me. So that's good.

Q. Is there any part of you that regrets the early attention that you received?
MICHELLE WIE: No, not really because it's just -- I like playing golf and it just came with that, and there's really nothing I can do. I don't really regret any choices that I made, you know, when I was younger, you know.
Like I said, you only have one try at life and whether it's a good decision or a bad decision, it is a decision and what are you going to do? There's nothing you can do about it.
You know, I just learned to accept things in life. Things happen and, you know, I just got to move forward.
DANA GROSSRHODE: Any other questions?

Q. How is the putting?
MICHELLE WIE: I think it's good. It feels pretty good.
DANA GROSSRHODE: Thank you all very much.
Michelle, good luck with week?
MICHELLE WIE: That's. Thanks.

End of FastScripts

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