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SYBASE CLASSIC PRESENTED BY SHOPRITEMay 13, 2009Lorena OchoaCLIFTON, NEW JERSEY MIKE SCANLAN: Lorena, thanks for coming in. Welcome to the Sybase Classic, where you're a three-time defending champion. This week you'll be looking to make it four in a row, something only two other LPGA players have done. If you would just talk about the significance of going for four in a row at the same tournament. LORENA OCHOA: Yes. Hello, everybody. Well, it's for sure a great week. You know, I have the opportunity to do something special, winning the fourth tournament in a row, and I'm just really happy that I have that chance. I'm going to do my best. I know I can do it, and my goal is to just give myself a chance and to be up there on Sunday. This is always a great venue. I think the Sybase tournament is on a great golf course. Upper Montclair, they've done a great job. The golf course is in great shape, and I'm very excited to be here. Tomorrow is the first day, and I think I need to go one day at a time, really try to do my best to be up there. Q. Two years ago if I'm not mistaken when you came here, it was your first week at No. 1 in the world before you won. I'm just wondering about the importance of being No. 1 to you. Does it matter to you in terms of how you play? Do you think about it, or is it just a number to you? LORENA OCHOA: It is very important. It matters a lot. I have that in my head all the time, because I know the competition is very tough. I know there are so many good players, the new rookies and all the top players. They just get better and better and they want to get the No. 1 position. So my goal is to stay at the top. I think it's very important to be consistent, you know? That's always one of my goals, to be consistent. If you can't win a golf tournament, just make sure you get in the top 10, top 15, keep going with a good pace and keep earning money every week, and at the end of the year when we finish, just stay in that No. 1 position. It's no pressure; it's something I'm enjoying a lot, it's a lot of fun. I'm going to work as hard as I need to work to stay up there, and I believe I can do it. Q. Does it bother you at all that the last two years you've won this in sort of every conceivable fashion possible, that you keep seeming to be overlooked every year when we come back here? LORENA OCHOA: I didn't understand the question. What is overlooked? Q. It seems like every year that this event comes back, no matter that you've won it the year before, you seem to be overlooked; everyone seems to be talking about other people and not you. LORENA OCHOA: What is the question, if it bothers me? Q. Yeah. LORENA OCHOA: No (laughter). Nothing. It's working, so let's keep doing the same thing. The less attention the better, I guess. I do my thing, and I believe there are reasons for that, especially last year with Annika's retirement, this year with Michelle and the new rookies. They are Americans and they are here. I get a lot of attention when I go back to Mexico so it's okay. I am very respectful to other players, to all of you, and I'm just trying to have a good time out here. Q. As you mentioned, Michelle has gotten a lot of attention this week because she is here for the first time. What are your thoughts on her game? Many years ago she was the one who was designated the next great player, and you've emerged and passed that. What are your thoughts on her game? LORENA OCHOA: I haven't played with her, so I have really not a good answer for you. I know that she started great the year, she struggled a little bit and then played great the last couple weeks. I think it's important for our Tour that she plays good. I think we know she gets a lot of attention from the media, from the fans, a lot of different type of followers, spectators, and I wish her the best. I can't wait to tee it up with her. Hopefully we can do it this weekend, if not in the near future. Q. Just a quick follow-up on that, do you think players respect her more for the way she's gone about it this time as far as going into Q-school and qualifying and so on and being a full-time member of the Tour? LORENA OCHOA: Well, I think it's really hard to have an opinion. Her life is just very different than all of us. She was the best when she was 12, 13, 14, and she was a phenomenon, and all the decisions they made, some of them good, maybe some of them not as good, but I think today she's a better player. I think she knows that she feels more comfortable out here. It's good that she's full-time. I think she likes that, and we like that, too, to have that consistency every week. And like I said before, I just wish her the best. I think she's very talented, and I think she's a great addition for the LPGA. Q. She mentioned that someday competing in the Masters is still a goal of hers and maybe winning a men's tournament. Do you think that that's a realistic scenario for a woman to someday do those things? LORENA OCHOA: I have no opinion for that. That's something that I have no idea about that. I have no idea if it's possible. I guess you can ask her directly. I have no opinion. Q. Obviously Annika played at the Colonial. Do you have any goals of ever doing that yourself? LORENA OCHOA: No. You know, I think Annika was at a very different level. I'm going to say no today, right now. You never know if I'm going to change my mind in a couple years. But so far I'm good here. I think I first need to prove and achieve my goals here on the LPGA. This is where I belong. I think Annika, she did a great job. She was so close, and she could have made the cut fairly easily for sure. And me, this is just -- I feel good here. I think if I do a men's tournament I probably will start maybe in Mexico in a different part of the world. But I want to concentrate 100 percent on the LPGA. Q. What are your concerns about the future of the Tour with all the loss of recent tournaments and sponsorships? What do you think needs to be done to straighten this thing out? LORENA OCHOA: Well, I think it's not good to panic. I think we're all going through hard times. It's not only happening to us. And it's very clear that even with tough conditions, we're doing okay. We have a good amount of tournaments, good purses, support, and tournaments are still going to be played for the next few years. We're playing for less money, but it's not about the money. I think we are in a time that we need to support our Tour, just get together and do more things for the media, do more things for the sponsors especially. I'm very thankful for what I have, and I think we just need to work together the next couple years, and I think we're in good hands. We're going to for sure be good. I trust that. Q. Is it sometimes like pruning a tree almost because you're left with tournaments like this with very strong fields? When you prune a tree you cut off the dead branches and everything and you're left with a much stronger tree. Is it almost like that, when you're left with tournaments that have much stronger fields like this one? This is the strongest field ever for Sybase. LORENA OCHOA: Well, I think we have to play more. For instance, the tournament in Morelia two weeks ago, we had the best field ever, and we had the top players playing in the country. That was very nice. So a lot of good things are happening, too. I think everybody here is happy to have us and to be the strongest field, and I'm just happy to be part of that. It's getting tougher and tougher to win, but it's happened to all of us. Q. Of the 14 clubs in your bag what is your favorite club to hit and why? LORENA OCHOA: I like my driver, because hopefully I hit most of the fairways. I like my driver. Q. With Angel Cabrera winning the Masters, I think if you look men's PGA TOUR, there's a recognition that there are two superstars from South America, Camilo and Angel. What can you tell us about -- and I realize Mexico and Argentina are very far away from each other and they're distinct countries, but what can you tell us about social conditions or demographic conditions that would make us understand the vibrancy of golf in South America and Latin America? When you look up a search in Google, for instance, you find there are about 250 golf courses in Argentina. It used to be that only the very rich or wealthy might have access to private clubs. Most of us will never make it down there, but tell us what golf is like there, what the conditions are. Are they changing? Are golf courses opening? Are they accessible? Is there an equivalent of the First Tee, et cetera? LORENA OCHOA: Yes, it is changing for sure. When I grew up, it was only me and two other girls. Now in my home course there are probably more than 40 girls. I think the junior clinics are more than 100. It's changing for sure. We are not going to see a big or dramatic number in terms of turning professional or becoming LPGA players or PGA players until we see that there are public golf courses, because we don't have them at the moment. All of them are private. There's one that is semi-private, another one that is being built that is very accessible for all the public. So not until they have the opportunity to play so the number increases and they prove themselves that they want to do it and just be more experienced, then I think we'll see more players in the future. I'm talking about all Latin America as the same, all different countries. So it's going to be slow. It's going to take many, many years. It cannot happen like it happened in Korea, like everyone just arrived. But I believe what Camilo and Angel and what I'm trying to do is the best thing, just trying to give a good example to inspire them, and hopefully we'll have more Latins in the future. Q. You had a couple of head-to-heads, I guess, two years ago with Meaghan Francella and then she was rather inconsistent last year. Can you see from her results this year that she might be on her way back? LORENA OCHOA: I think so. I think for sure she's a great player. We all get -- when I first started playing on Tour, my third year, it was really hard. I was tired, I couldn't practice, play, a lot of things to do inside and outside the golf course. You think you can win but then you don't win, you don't win, you don't win, and you feel frustrated and you start losing your confidence. Each player has a different year. It can be the first one, it can be the third one, it can be the fourth one. And I think Meghan last year, she didn't have her best year, but it's something that happens to everybody. What is important is to overcome and to believe in yourself, to get a good season back and to start building up your confidence. And she looks better this year, so I think she's going in the right direction. She works really hard. I saw her yesterday with her coach, and I think she'll be fine. She just needs to get confidence back. Q. You've won once this year. What has prevented you from winning more often? LORENA OCHOA: I've won twice (laughter). No, I guess I'm going in the right place this year. What happened last year was a little bit different, you know, winning those four in a row it was, five tournaments early in the year. We haven't played as many tournaments this year, and also, I've been consistent. I have two wins, one second place, so I'm happy. I think I'm achieving my goals so far, and like I said, I want to stay at the top at the end of the year. Q. Correct me if I'm wrong, but your normal caddie David is out with a broken foot? LORENA OCHOA: Uh-huh. Q. Have you had to adjust a little bit as a player without him being there? Has that been different at all? LORENA OCHOA: Well, I think I'm capable of doing it, but you have to adjust. I've been with David, I think, for more than three years now, and it feels very different. When you're playing good or bad or when you hit a good shot or trying to make a decision in a tough situation, it's different. I'm trying to -- I think in a way it could be positive because then you try to have more control. David is a big part of my team, and we've been working really hard together, and hopefully he'll be back soon. Adam, he's done a great job. Last weekend they were trying to blame it on him, but he did a great job. He's great out there, very positive, very simple like I like. He seems like he's enjoying a lot, and we're going to both agree to just enjoy this week every day and try to win the tournament. He's done a great job. Q. The question about you winning only once or twice, do you identify with Tiger in that respect in that you're almost held to a higher standard, your own standard? He's only one once this year and got all these Top 10s and everyone is wondering what's going on with him. LORENA OCHOA: Are you going to ask other people? I don't know. When I get to a tournament, I believe I can win, and I play to win. It's nice when you get to a place, and they're like, okay, Ochoa, come on, let's win, we want to see you win. Just that energy and all the people talking about it, I think it helps you to really believe in yourself and to give you that confidence that, okay, I can do it and I want to be up there on Sunday. The standard, you know, I think what you need to do is just not to put so much pressure on yourself. It is true that I'm very pleased with my season. I'm building a lot of good things. I think I'm going to be 100 percent soon. My goal is to be by the LPGA Championship to be 100 percent with my putting and my game around the greens, and I'm working hard and I'm going in the right directions. So I'm happy. Q. Do you find it funny when people look at Tiger Woods and wonder what's wrong with him when he's won once and has got a whole bunch of Top 10s this year, as well? LORENA OCHOA: I'm sorry, I didn't understand. Q. Do you find it funny that people are also looking at Tiger now, saying what's wrong with him, when he's got one win and a bunch of Top 10s? LORENA OCHOA: That's the thing, that's why you don't need to listen too much what is happening outside, just to try to concentrate on yourself and to do the things that you know if you do them right, you are going to perform good and you are going to be fine. I think Tiger is going to take a little bit of time to start playing again more tournaments and do prove to everybody that he's going to be up there. Here it's good. It's different, and I don't see him a lot because it's kind of hard to compare. It's two different worlds. Q. When you're defending, and in this case you're a three-time defending champion, do you observe special routines? Are you superstitious, whether it's staying with the same hotel or the same friend or eating in the same restaurants? Are you superstitious, and do you observe a certain routine when you're defending? LORENA OCHOA: No, I'm not superstitious. I've done every year different things. Once I get to the golf course, I do always the same. It doesn't matter if it's a Thursday or a Sunday, if I'm trying to win a tournament or I'm trying to repeat for the fourth time. I think what is important is just to be conscious about it. I have the opportunity to do something special, and it's my time. I'm going to just enjoy every moment. I'm going to have a smile on my face, and hopefully things go well, and I'm going to be 100 percent out there, and my goal is to be up there on Sunday. MIKE SCANLAN: Lorena, thanks so much. End of FastScripts |
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