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P&G BEAUTY NW ARKANSAS CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY JOHN Q. HAMMONS

September 9, 2009

Michelle Wie West

ROGERS, ARKANSAS

JASON TAYLOR: Michelle, welcome. This is your first time in Arkansas. So if you could just start off by how you're doing this week and how you think the course is playing.
MICHELLE WIE: I'm really excited to be here. You know, I got to play the golf course yesterday, and it's a really nice golf course.
You have to think a lot on the golf course. There's a lot of options on the tee. You know, I heard that they redid the golf course and redid the greens, and the conditions are fantastic. They're rolling really truly, and everyone has been really welcoming towards me, so I feel good.
JASON TAYLOR: Questions?

Q. Hey, Michelle, what kind of experience was the Solheim Cup for you and where is your golf game now, having gone through that?
MICHELLE WIE: It was an absolutely amazing experience. There was really nothing like it, just to be able to represent your country. I did it once before in the Curtis Cup, and I felt the same way back then as I did now.
But you know, playing under Beth, Kelly and Meg, they're the best three captains I could have ever asked for. And you know, the 11 other members of the team were absolutely fantastic.
And the competition was great, too. It wasn't easy for us at all. It was very -- I felt like every match I played was really tough. I mean I went to hole No. 18 on three of four matches, so they weren't easy at all. I really had the feeling I had to dig deep down inside and really try to bring out the best player in me, and it was a lot of fun. I learned a lot from playing with them.
You know, when you're staying with them for a whole week, week and a half and you just eat, sleep, drink, practice, breathe the same air as them, you know, I feel like you just automatically become a better player.

Q. I think a lot of golf fans got to see a side of you that maybe they didn't even know existed. What was it like for you to be able to show your personality? Is that the kind of person you are normally or do you feel like it was kind of a coming out for you as far as personality and the way you act?
MICHELLE WIE: I mean I actually am that kind of person at the Solheim Cup. It's just when there's 125,000 people, there's 125,000 fans around you and the stakes are that high, you kind of get elevated a little bit. I mean I am that person, but obviously playing in that situation brings it out as well.
But I'm like that in other things that I do, you know, pretty -- not emotional, but I like to show my emotion from time to time, but at the same time I'm just like -- I guess I'm just kind of chilled or whatever, but in that week there's nothing chilled about that week. Everything is high stake, and everything is very high and very low and which really got to me.

Q. Michelle, the competitive world of golf and the Solheim Cup as a team member, and I know that its initial (indiscernible) you're now 18. Did you pick up a lot of tips or experience from the other players there when you were there? I mean, you know, did they share with you?
MICHELLE WIE: Oh, yeah. I totally took advantage of the fact that we were one team and we're on the same side, so I picked everyone's brain about just their life on Tour and any tips.
And you know, I got to play with Cristie Kerr a lot, so she was fantastic. You know, she just has so much to share, and I was just trying to gather as much information as I could, because she's definitely one of the best players out there. So it was an absolute honor to play with her and try to learn stuff.

Q. Michelle, is there a comfort zone you're in right now? You've been playing well pretty much the whole -- for long periods of time now. Is there a level of comfort in your game or consistency in your game, I should say maybe?
MICHELLE WIE: Well, you know, I don't want to feel a comfort level, you know. I always feel like I want to do better. I never want to feel satisfied with what I do.
You know, I feel like I have been playing decent so far, you know, but I want to do better. There are things that I haven't accomplished yet, and there definitely has been a lot of good stuff that I feel like did happen to me. I've been working really hard. So it's been nice to see it being paid off. It's nice when you work a lot and you put in all the hours, but I definitely do want to do better.

Q. Is that one of those things, too, where you want to set as high a level of goals as you need to right now just because of all the ups and downs you had early on in your career?
MICHELLE WIE: Well, you know, I set like about two sets of goals. I think everyone pretty much does it. I set the okay number of goals, you know, the goals where I feel like I can achieve with, you know, with some efforts, and there are some goals that I set very high for myself that are tough, that are more long-term. And you know, I want to try to do both.
You know, there are some goals where you can get by just putting in the hours, and you know, putting in the hard work, where there are some goals where you need a combination of good timing, good luck, and more hard hours. So I feel like, you know, I'm on that road, and I want to, you know, just keep progressing, keep doing better.
And I do realize that there are going to be weeks where I don't play well. There are going to be weeks where I don't achieve my goals, but I just want to end every week knowing that I tried my hardest and played my hardest.

Q. Michelle, how hungry are you for that first Tour win? And what's holding you back? What things can get you in line to do that?
MICHELLE WIE: You know, I want it, I mean really badly. You know, it's just big. I don't really know. I think I can become better and just move that one step forward because there is a fine difference between that first place and coming in second. But that line is very big and very thick, and I intend to jump it and hopefully I'll conquer it.

Q. Do you feel like you're there?
MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, for sure.

Q. I apologize if this has been asked already, Michelle. Is this a good golf course for you? I know you've been around it once, but is it set up well for you, do you think?
MICHELLE WIE: Well, I don't believe in how a golf course sets up for people. It could set up well for you, but you never know until the tournament starts. It could not set up well for you and you could play great.
But I think it's a great golf course. I think you have to think a lot on this golf course. There's a lot of options when you hit off the tees, and pretty narrow in some places, and the greens I think the conditions are really true and really great. So I think that's going to be a lot of great golf play this week.

Q. Michelle, is it nice for you now or like a relief for you now to know that you're being asked about winning a tournament and golf courses, because I'm sure you've been asked all the questions about, you know, your younger days and all the attention and all the injuries and the media scrutiny, but is it kind of a relief to know that now we're asking you about golf and the Solheim Cup and things like that?
MICHELLE WIE: Well, today you're asking about that stuff, but every other day (laughs). I don't know. I kind of like people.
You know, people want to know stuff. I want to know stuff about other people. I'm always curious about what they've done wrong in their lives. So it's a fun topic to talk about.
But you know, I think I -- I think it's, you know, a learning experience for me. I have never done this before. My parents have never done this before. So I make really good decisions, which I'm proud of that, and I make bad decisions, which I learn from.
So you know, it's not a relief, but it kind of feels good now that kind of the attention has gone from one place to another, but I really feel like, you know, I need to work harder and hopefully keep moving along, but it definitely feels good to play well.

Q. And on that same token, is it also big motivation to like prove all the skeptics wrong that, okay, she was a young phenom, but she might never make it to that next level? Is that something that motivates you every day, fuels you?
MICHELLE WIE: A lot of things motivate me. But I try to get motivated for the right reasons, for positive reasons, not for negative reasons. You know, and skeptics are always going to be skeptics. There are always going to be those kind of people in the world.
But you know, I want to be motivated for the right reasons. I think for some time I was motivated for the wrong reasons, and you know, I just feel like, you know, trying to think in the right direction and just have fun while I play, and you know, do it for the right reasons.

Q. What are the areas of your game you find yourself working on the most?
MICHELLE WIE: Everything.

Q. It's that tough, isn't it?
MICHELLE WIE: Everything.

Q. Sorry if it's been asked a lot, I'm sure, but where are you in your college experience? How far in are you at Stanford, and what's your plan there?
MICHELLE WIE: Well, I am going to be a junior when I get back, but I'm probably going to take a lot longer than a lot of people, but I'm going to try and really as best as I can.
But it's a lot of fun. It's a lot of hard work. You know, just the friends that I made there, I feel like I can be friends with them for a lifetime. And it's just great to have that other side of me, where I know I can go to a place where none of my friends know what golf is. I've had to explain to them so many times what par is that I'm just like, forget it. I've given up.
So it's a lot of fun, you know. My friends have no interest in my career. I'm just another student to them. So that's really great for me, because I feel like I can have like a place where I can just really be myself.

Q. Do you have a declared major yet?
MICHELLE WIE: No. Haven't decided yet.
JASON TAYLOR: All right.
MICHELLE WIE: Thank you.
JASON TAYLOR: Thanks, Michelle. Best of luck.

End of FastScripts

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