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SYBASE CLASSIC PRESENTED BY SHOPRITEMay 14, 2008Lorena OchoaCLIFTON, NEW JERSEY ASHLEY CUSHMAN: Lorena thanks for copping in and joining us. I know you have a busy week, we're, here in New York City with lots of things to do. Welcome back to the tournament. You are undefeated. You've only played the Sybase Classic in 2006 and 2007, and you won both of those. Can you talk about the good memories that you have off this tournament? LORENA OCHOA: Yes, sure. Hello, everybody. Yes, for some reason I feel good here. It's a tournament that always, you know, treats me good and happy memories. I think it's important to feel that way and to be positive and feel comfortable when you play, and it will be great to win the tournament again. I'm going to try to do whatever it takes to give myself a chance and to be, you know, out there on Sunday. So I'm excited to see off tomorrow, and start the tournament. ASHLEY CUSHMAN: I know the first year you played the tournament at Wykagyl, and last year at Upper Montclair. There are some changes this year, can you talk about what that adds to the course? LORENA OCHOA: Well, I think the course is in great shape. I want to say congratulations to all of the staff for all the hard work. I think it's playing a little bit longer, that's for sure. I also saw some of the fairways are narrower and that's going to be a big challenge. But I think this week more important is to be good from the tee. You have to be able to hit a lot of fairways, and that makes things a lot easier. The rough is higher and there's different type of grass around the greens. I'm going to try to play easy golf and hit a lot of fairways and go from there. Q. Yesterday we saw one of the greats of the game announce she will step down after this year, step away. Not to put you on the spot, but you have demonstrated that you have the skill and determination to reach No. 1. Do you think you have what it takes to become the next Annika; the longevity, the determination to stay No. 1 as long as she did? LORENA OCHOA: Yes, she's why I'm here. I started practicing and you know, playing, a long time ago, and I always had in my mind that I wanted to be the best and that I wanted to dominate the game. And of course, Annika has been my motivation. She has been the one that always -- you know, I always try to learn from her inside and off the golf course. She's the one that really inspired me to be like her and to be here today like the No. 1 player. As for the news, I'm going to miss her. I do have mixed feelings. It's sad. I think the LPGA is losing a big name. Q. Hogan/Snead; Jack/Arnie; do you consider Annika your biggest rival? LORENA OCHOA: Yes, I think no doubt about that. What happened last year, just a few bad months because of the injury, but Annika is the best player. She's been out there for so long, and her experience and her talent and all she does to be as good as she is; she was and is today the biggest challenge not only for me but for all of us. Q. Are you going to miss her in that way, somebody to push you, a constant player who is out there next to you? LORENA OCHOA: Yes, players will all come. I think there is always going to be young players or someone new or even players that we have right now, they are so talented and so good, like Suzann and Paula. I don't like to mention because there are so many, but players will always come. I think just being part of the Annika era, to me, was an honor. It is and I'm going to try to enjoy it as much as I can the next few tournaments we play together against each other and just try to make the most of them and just leave with great memories. She's been great to me and a great player. Q. Obviously you have been dominant the last six or eight years. What do you see as similarities and differences between the two of you, and what in the last year or two or three years has really put you to the next level? LORENA OCHOA: Well, I think at the end, we are both very competitive and we both want to be the best in what we do, and we are players that we are willing to do whatever it takes to get to that position; and very different at the same time. Because Annika, she's been here for a long time, and she knows a different way to see things and to live life. I think to me, it's a little bit different that just being Mexican I guess and the way I grew up and the family and the education I received; I have also a lot of things outside the golf course, you know, that I enjoy very much, like going back home, seeing my family, seeing my foundation, I have a golf school, a golf academy. It seems that Annika just dedicated herself to play golf and win tournaments and now at the end she's started with the golf academy and helping, so just very different careers. I admire her career very much and the way she did things, and for me I'm going in a different path but I think that at the end, the result is that we want to be the best. We want to be remembered and we want to make history. Q. Game-wise, the last couple of years, do you feel that's got you to that level? LORENA OCHOA: To me I think it's more experience than anything else. I also improved my backswing. My swing right now is a lot better under pressure. I have a lot more control with the irons in my hand. I have a path at the top of the backswing. Things improve year after year, and it really helps when you're under pressure and trying to win a tournament. It's nothing that happens in a couple of weeks or a year or two; it's been a process of years. It's my sixth year on the LPGA. So it's a matter of being patient and never give up. Q. You have one of most powerful swings, what kind of things do you involve in your fitness routine to maximize your ability to do that? LORENA OCHOA: Well, I think I don't do anything that ditch. I like to run. I have strong legs and I like to run a lot, four times a week, and I run in the off-season. Like everybody else, just weight training. Again, I'm very quick with my hips and that helps a lot to turn and to create more speed at the impact and hit the ball farther. I have a strong upper body because I ski a lot. I like water skiing. That helps with a strong upper body. The combination, you know, the right equipment, it's been great having the Rapture driver, and it's a combination of everything. Q. How about your opponents when you're able to drive the ball so far? LORENA OCHOA: Well, you can ask them, I just think it's really an advantage to be able to play shorter golf courses, especially trying to reach the par 5s in two and having eagle chances and making birdies. So it's really helpful. I'm going to continue that. Q. Can you ever see the day -- you have so much work with your foundation and you're trying to build that and other things in your life. Could you see the day when you yourself might step away from the game early when you're still an elite player? LORENA OCHOA: Yes, we all have a plan in our life where we want to go and how do we want to live. I said this, you know, a few years ago, I don't want to be here forever and I want to play maybe ten, 12 years. I don't have a strict number which date I will finish. But I do want to go back home and just raise a family and have kids. Those are the plans. You never know what is going to happen, but I would love to just finish here and be happy with my career and then just go back to México and do things that I love to do, that I miss, and life is too short to not do them and I like to be home so hopefully that happens. Q. So you can understand perfectly why Annika has made this decision? LORENA OCHOA: Of course, I think it's very admirable and I'm happy for her. She's at a different stage in her life and she wants to have kids and have the clinic and she has other things to do. I think to find the love of doing something different outside the golf course is something that I admire, so congratulations to her. Q. At this time last year when you came here, you were still without the major and everything like that. Since winning the British Open, you've really just continued to roll. What's changed since this time last year? Has it been winning the major, or is there something else that we're just not seeing that has been able to elevate your game? LORENA OCHOA: Nothing changed. Like I said, just experience. It was a matter of timing, just waiting for the moment and not taking it too hard on myself. I loved those tournaments and I learned the hard way, but it's just a process. When I first turned professional, I had a five-year plan on getting better, on improving my short game and improving my golf swing and having a better strategy on how to play and improve my mental side of getting stronger and being able to be good under pressure and to make decisions and it's a five-year plan that's showing good results. And it's paying off, the hard work, and just like I said, just time, you have to go through all of those stages to get to the top. Q. You had the streak where you won four in a row and I think the last two tournaments, you haven't won. Is that a weird feeling for you not winning and seeing somebody else win? Do you feel like you're in a slump? LORENA OCHOA: No, no, no. I'm pretty happy with my response the last two weeks. While it's important to be consistent all year and what's important is to try to step up in every tournament and I will never give up even if I don't have a chance to win, just start making bogeys and walk away. I will try to finish the best way, and at the end in November, if you are consistent and you are up there every week, it doesn't matter if you don't win; I'm going to achieve my goals, to stay at the top. So just golf, having the last two weeks, it's just the way golf is. You have to understand and accept them and keep going. Q. Growing up in México, where there's not nearly as much golf being played as it is here, what gave you the motivation to aspire to what you've achieved, and who in particular did you look to for motivation? LORENA OCHOA: I admire Rafael Alarcon, my teacher, my coach. He is a professional and he was the best at that time, so I wanted to be like him. I wanted to hit the ball like him and I wanted to make, you know, a lot of birdies and hit the ball far and do different shots. So he was like my motivation. I always see him play and it gives me a lot of, you know, courage. And then I started traveling and I came to the States, especially during the summer, to compete, and I just loved the competition. I loved to represent México. That was a very special feeling, too. I don't know why, but I guess I was very lucky to choose the right sport. Just everything feels right and I was 100% sure that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, so I was lucky to see it, you know, and to have the support around me to really make this happen. Q. What was your reaction to being in the Time Magazine, 100 Influential People of the World? LORENA OCHOA: I don't know how to react but it was really a surprise, in a good way. Like it just feels really good, because you know, what we are trying to do is to be the best, you know, in what we do ask to really make a difference and to make an impact in other people's lives, especially girls or boys that are playing the sport, and it's not only about golf. There are things we do outside of the golf course. I guess I'm just really happy. I think I have a responsibility to keep doing things right, but I'm excited. I'm going to enjoy it and I'm going to try hard to continue that way. Q. As a follow-up to that, when did you start thinking about building the school or the foundation in is there any specific motivation, and what particularly does that mean to you? LORENA OCHOA: When do I start? Well, I started the foundation the first day when I turned professional. They told me, you are too young, you don't have money, they don't know you; but I wanted to start small and keep it growing. At the beginning I didn't know which direction and the school came later on but I always wanted to help. Q. Will the rest of the season be more intense with No. 1 against No. 2, yourself against Annika, and will it feel funny or different because she's retiring? LORENA OCHOA: My plans are the same. You know, I want to be every week 100% thinking of winning the tournament. I want to win tournaments. I want to break records this year. I know the competition is going to be very tough. But I also, like she does, I want to finish No. 1, not only in the World Ranking, but on the Money List. Like I said, I think it's going to be just a fun time. I think we should enjoy it as much as we can, not only us as players but the media and everybody. I feel very lucky to be part of this, with Annika's career and I think it's going to be a great challenge because she's a great competitor but I'm ready. Q. Someone closed to you described you to me as like your people's superstar; wherever you go, everyone feels that they know you and you're easygoing and everything like that. Why do you think that is? Why do you think that people think that you are so approachable and unlike some of the top players in other sports? LORENA OCHOA: Well, thank you. That's just the way I am. You know, I think I'm this way because of my family and my parents and my relatives and the way I grew up and the education I received and the values that my family put in me. You know, we talk about this before, you don't need to be mean, you don't need to be rude to play good, and I'm always happy and talk to other people because I love to do it, and I love to play golf. And I think that if you love the game and that if you are thankful that we are out here doing this as a living, I will always have a smile on my face. ASHLEY CUSHMAN: Thanks for your time and good luck this week. End of FastScripts |
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