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SBS OPEN AT TURTLE BAY

February 11, 2009

Michelle Wie West

KAHUKU, HAWAII

MIKE SCANLAN: All right, Michelle. Thanks so much for coming in. Welcome to Turtle Bay, and congratulations on becoming a medallist this year. If you would just talk a little bit about your first LPGA tournament as a member and what you're looking forward to.
MICHELLE WIE: I'm real excited. It feels a little different than actually rookie. I'm glad I got into it. I'm really excited. It's going to be an exciting three days.
MIKE SCANLAN: Questions for Michelle?

Q. You have a history of playing well here at Turtle Bay, second place. What's it like to be back here?
MICHELLE WIE: I'm just glad I got to come back home. I haven't been home in around six months or so, so I'm just loving home, loving the weather, loving the golf course.
I noticed the golf course is in great condition. They've done a really good job with it, and it's going to be exciting. Hopefully the wind won't be that brutal, but I've had some good moments here in the past, and hopefully I can do better this year.

Q. Tell me about your game. What are you going to work on?
MICHELLE WIE: I've been working on it really hard and I've been practicing a lot. So hopefully my game's a lot better than it was before. So I'm really excited to show that.

Q. A lot of the game has an emotional side to it. How are you going to deal with that here?
MICHELLE WIE: There's a lot of emotions, especially because it's home, in front of a home crowd. But I'm really excited. Obviously a little bit of nerves, but that's normal. And it's mostly just excitement. I can't wait for it to start.

Q. Do you feel like a rookie?
MICHELLE WIE: It's a strange feeling. I feel like a rookie because it's my first play on Monday. That was interesting. (Laughs). It's just -- it's different. There are pictures posted of the rookie class.
At the same time I played a lot before. So it's a whole new beginning for me. It's a completely new story. I'm not thinking about the past and not really thinking too much in the future. Just thinking about this week, tomorrow, and just going to think about living each moment.

Q. Talk about playing in front of the home crowd.
MICHELLE WIE: It's going to be very exciting. A couple of them are still here. But I knew they wouldn't come out and see it anyways. But there are a lot of friends that I haven't seen in a long time, and just some local people.

Q. Do you feel comfortable on this course? What do you like about it?
MICHELLE WIE: It's a great course. It's a great year. I met a couple at orientation and stuff. And there's all different kinds of people out there. We all have different games, all have different histories. We're all playing for the same prize. So it's interesting to see the competition that's out there. And it's going to be tough out there, but I'm just going to try my hardest, and I think the rookie class is great.

Q. Are you staying here?
MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, like where's a good cool restaurant here. But unfortunately I don't really know this part of the island that well. So we're all learning. Just because I've been out here a couple of years and some people don't really know that much more, other than.

Q. What are your goals this year?
MICHELLE WIE: I just want to work hard and play hard. I just want to have fun with it. Obviously try to become the best player I can be. Obviously all those awards and stuff, I have those in the back of my mind, but the main thing I'm focused on is just playing as hard as I can, trying to play the best golf out there and work really hard and be happy with my results.

Q. You seemed loose out there today. How is your confidence level?
MICHELLE WIE: You know I'm pretty confident. I feel pretty confident here. I feel really, really good, but I do feel excitement. So I think I'm probably as well. But I'm looking forward to it. I want to have fun out there again.

Q. How many events will you play?
MICHELLE WIE: Probably a lot.

Q. How far are you hitting the ball compared to previous years at this event?
MICHELLE WIE: Yeah. It's hard to compare. It's so long ago and all that. But I looked into that today. So it's been a good day.

Q. Will you play in Asia in the next few weeks?
MICHELLE WIE: I'm not sure. Other than the fact that I have a Tour card. I'm not really sure yet.

Q. Would you say that you're a rookie in name only, especially when you play at clubs where you're so familiar, your home state?
MICHELLE WIE: I think it's an interesting title, I'm a rookie. I don't really know how to comment on that. It's a funny topic, but I do feel like it's a new beginning that I'm a rookie.

Q. This could be the last tournament at Turtle Bay. Your thoughts on that?
MICHELLE WIE: It's kind of sad. Having tournaments here gives me a little excuse to come home. But I love having tournaments here, and it was a great tournament. It was a great tournament. It's a great venue. Everything's good about it, so why not keep it going.

Q. When you're away from Hawaii, what do you miss the most?
MICHELLE WIE: It's everything. Definitely the weather. Look for warm greens and all that, but also the people, too. Local people, local food, and I never thought I'd miss it before.
When I lived here, you take everything for granted, but now when I leave, everything seems so great. When I used to come out here to practice, I never used to look at the beach. It was just like, oh, there it is. Now I'm so excited about how beautiful Hawaii actually is.

Q. Thoughts on the new president?
MICHELLE WIE: I'm not really -- I don't know what to say about that. I don't know that much about him. I think that it's a hard time right now in all the states in our country.

End of FastScripts

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