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DUBAI LADIES MASTERS

December 12, 2008

Melissa Reid

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

BETHAN CUTLER: Like to welcome Melissa Reid from England who is this year's Ryder Cup Wales Rookie of the Year in association with the Bill Johnson Trophy. You've had a really good year, three runner-up spots, but can you just talk about how you feel about your season?
MELISSA REID: You know, I'm quite disappointed I didn't win. I feel like I didn't close out in Denmark and possibly at the English, played well and but a girl played well and actually beat me.
This time last year, I didn't have my card anywhere. I didn't make my Tour card in Europe. I can't be too dissatisfied with my season. I'm pretty happy with the way it's gone.
BETHAN CUTLER: What's the highlight for you?
MELISSA REID: The highlight, there's been quite a few. I think playing in Denmark the last round with Annika was pretty special, her last tournament in Europe. I'm just a bit disappointed not to finish it off, like I said, but it's a great experience playing with her and I think it was pretty special.
BETHAN CUTLER: What are your feelings playing this tournament with her? Would you like to be paired alongside her?
MELISSA REID: Yeah, on Sunday, I definitely would. It's great to be here and part of everything and playing in Dubai, this is one of my favourite tournaments of the year, and a lot of the other girls on Tour would agree with that.
So, yeah, it's just great to be part of everything and it's her farewell tour, so that's good.
BETHAN CUTLER: Obviously a lot's been said about the fact that you've got the association with Clive Woodward, are you progressing with that going forward?
MELISSA REID: I think I've narrowed it down to -- I'm working with five people now, and I've actually become a lot closer in the past year since I've been working with five. I would say we are a pretty strong team and everything is moving in the right direction, which is good. I feel like I'm improving all the time, so a lot of positives to take out of it.
BETHAN CUTLER: Will that be cemented going through next year, as well?
MELISSA REID: Yeah, I could see myself being on this team for the whole of my career, as far as I'm concerned. I'm pretty sure they feel the same way, and I just feel very lucky to have such a solid team like I do.
BETHAN CUTLER: You spoke about your goal of being world No. 1. Is that still your dream?
MELISSA REID: Yeah, it's been my dream. For sure, I think I tried to qualify on the LPGA, which I didn't get. But I believe everything happens for a reason. I think another year or two in Europe is going to do me a world of good. I'm pretty impatient, but I would love to play Solheim Cup, and golf is a grind and I think that you have to gradually go up the ladder.

Q. Last year, you came here on a sponsor's invite and today, European Player of the Year.
MELISSA REID: Yeah, I should be pretty thankful to them, too, they gave me opportunity to play here last year, and I am so grateful and I've brought my parents out here this year, as well and they love it. It's great to part and be in Dubai. Like I said, this is my first tournament, and I said this is all right. If this is what every tournament is like on the European Tour, this is pretty good. Every single player on the European Tour supports this event.

Q. What are your thoughts on the course here?
MELISSA REID: The Emirates, it's pretty good. I really like the way it's set up. You have to think your way around. The greens are pretty tough and they are not necessarily little back and forth, and the holes, they are usually on the side. I'm struggling with my putting a little bit the last couple of days.
Yeah, the Emirates Course is a pretty special course. Woods has played and won on it and it's just very special to be here and playing on the course.

Q. So do you think putting will be the key to winning here?
MELISSA REID: Oh, putting is the key to winning everywhere. If you don't put good, you can hit it close as you want, you are only going to finish pretty good. You're not really going to win. You need to putt everything together to win and putting, I can't tell you how important putting is in golf. It's huge.

Q. You talked about playing in the LPGA; what tournament would you personally like to win?
MELISSA REID: All of them. All of them. I would say I would love to win this. I would love to win the English because obviously I'm from England and I would love to win majors. Majors are what I dream of at night, you know, I want to win the British Open and I want to win the Evian and I just want to win as many tournaments as I can.

Q. And the player you admire the most?
MELISSA REID: Annika, for sure. I think Annika for sure. I think she's completely been amazing for women's golf and she's just a really nice lady, as well. I've met her a few times and she's always nice.
Then you get someone like Laura, who my first started playing golf, Laura was the thing, and still, I still look at her and it's like, you are absolutely amazing. So there are a few players that I look up to, but most of all it Annika.

Q. So Annika will be missed on the Tour?
MELISSA REID: Yeah, a lot of the girls will miss her. We don't know if she's going to come back or not but she's just been so good to the game of golf and the women's side. Yeah, we are going to miss her.

Q. Do you think among the new generation of players, can you name some of the players who, maybe won't step into her shoes but make a Mark in the future?
MELISSA REID: There's quite a few. There are quite a lot of Koreans out there at the moment which have a fantastic work ethic, and it shows; most of them are the best in the world.
But I don't know, I think the thing is with golf, it you want to stand out, you really have to show your personality. I think there's very much the stereotypical type of golfer, and that necessarily doesn't get you up there but won't necessarily make you an Annika or a Woods. You have to show your personality. That's why ten years ago, Nancy Lopez and Betsy King and all of them were such a great group of golfers, because they all showed their personality. But the Koreans just don't get it at the moment and they are just dominating the world I think.

Q. When we talk about the Koreans, what makes them so good; is it physical or mental?
MELISSA REID: They just work so hard. That's why a lot of them actually burn out by the time they are like 25. But they just work so hard, and to maintain that work ethic, they dedicate their whole lives to golf.
Golf is very, very important to me, and I dedicate 90 per cent of my life to golf, but I also have a family and -- well, not me personally, but I have my mom and my dad and my brothers and sisters, and I do other things outside golf, other hobbies and stuff. And that's quite important to me to have kind of a balanced life even though 90 per cent of my time is on golf.

Q. So you're happy with the way things are at the moment?
MELISSA REID: Yeah, I would say I work so hard, and yeah, just really enjoying life at the minute. I just want that win. I enjoy working hard and you get rewarded for it.

Q. What is your advice to girls out here that want to play golf as a career?
MELISSA REID: You certainly get what you put in, you get, out of golf. If you really want to do this, you have to understand how much you do have to work hard at it and how much of your time it does take. It's not like football or rugby where you've only got a 90-minute game. You're out there for five hours, and you can practice for 14 hours a day and you won't get everything done.
That's what golf is like, and I think that's what I really emphasize to people who want to do this, how much they actually have to put into it. You have to put something into it and you have to mess around and you have to enjoy it, as well.

Q. A question about the Koreans catching up. Do you think the Asian players are catching up on The European Tour now?
MELISSA REID: There's not too many now. We have Yang who is a great player, but there are not too many. I'm not sure whether too many people are going to come over to Europe; it's a bit too far. But most of them are all in America. Most of them have been living out there. They have been going to Leadbetter's schools and things like that.
But they do seriously work so, so, hard. It's really phenomenal and it's inspiring really to watch them.

Q. What have you improved on since the last season and what would you like to improve?
MELISSA REID: I think the last two years, I have improved tremendously from what I was two or three years ago. There's still a lot of improvement to do. My wedge play is pretty poor. I think that if I improve that, I could put myself into contention a lot more than I do.
I just think mentally, I'm not quite there yet. I think, you know, I just always want to move in the right direction and keep improving every day and keep ticking the boxes. But there's always something else that you can do.
Certainly, my mental side to the game needs to be improved a great deal.
BETHAN CUTLER: Thanks very much and good luck for the next few days.

End of FastScripts

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