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U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPJuly 7, 2010Juli InksterPITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA THE MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, we're so pleased to have with us Juli Inkster, three-time U.S. Women's Open Amateur championship. She won it three times in a row. Two time Women's Open champion, and certainly a familiar figure to all of you. Juli is back after having finished as runner-up in 1992, losing in a playoff to Patty Sheehan. Juli, if we go back to 1992, 18 years ago, how were you different then as a person than you are today? JULI INKSTER: Well, um, that's a good question. I only had one child. Hayley was two. You know, I think I was still in the stage of trying to figure out the whole motherhood and playing golf and trying to balance that. You know, it took me a while to kind of figure that whole thing out. I'm still figuring it out. (Laughing.) But, you know, as far as golf-wise, I think it was more of a job then, you know. I think it was what I did, and you know, I took it -- I think I took my rounds harder. You know, I didn't let them go as easy as I do now. I definitely appreciate what I do more now than I probably did back then. You know, I appreciate, you know, looking back on, you know, the friendships that I developed out here and have remained friends with and, you know, the bonding that you get out of being out here. You know, now it's different. It's more business. So I guess the camaraderie I guess was a lot different back then than it is now. But as far as my golf, I played a lot more -- it was definitely a lot more domestic. The international travel we have -- I mean, I'm not sure if I was starting a family right now if I would continue to play, just because, you know, I was very fortunate that I could bring my kids every week. They traveled with me every week. It's just too hard to bring your kids to, you know, Thailand and Singapore and, you know, Mexico and Asia and to travel around the world with them. So I was very fortunate to raise my kids in the era I raised them in and tried to play golf. THE MODERATOR: What is it going to take for you to win this week? JULI INKSTER: Well, I think like everybody, you've got to get the ball in the fairway. From there, you've just got to hit the middle of the greens and try to two-putt. I mean, I think it's playing completely different than when I played it, because it was so wet when I played it. When I played in '92, it was really wet, and you know, the ball was holding. It was all tree-lined. It just played a lot different. This is playing firm and fast. I think this is the way this course is set up to play. You know, it's going to be tough. But in the Open, it's a grind. It's not about pretty shots. You've just got to go out there and grind and just hopefully give yourself a chance on Sunday to, you know, compete and win. THE MODERATOR: I'll ask one more question and we will open it up to the floor for questions. When you came back to Oakmont, how did you feel? I mean, this was the scene not of a great triumph but an almost victory for you. How did you feel when you first got here? JULI INKSTER: Well, I mean, I guess I felt better coming back knowing I have two underneath my belt instead of just having just that one slip away. But, you know, it's funny. I don't remember a lot. I mean, I remember like the first two holes and the last two holes, and everything in between is like a blur. I mean, I'm usually pretty good at remembering golf courses, not scores or anything like that, but golf courses. So, you know, the more I play it, the more kind of some of the places come back and are familiar. But it's definitely a championship golf course. It's a great golf course. THE MODERATOR: Questions? Q. In the field this week, there are, I think, three 14-year-old kids, and Alexis Thompson, who is a 15 year old pro. First of all, when you were starting out, when you turned pro, how many young kids were playing? Just your take on the masses of young players who are actually playing pretty good golf these days? JULI INKSTER: I didn't even start till I was 15. I mean, that's the first time I ever picked up a club was 15. So I went to college for four years. Went to San Jose State. You know, most of these girls, they don't go to college anymore. You know, I look at someone like Amanda Bloominghurst who went to college and played four years there and is just a great kid. You know, I'm not saying they're not great kids. They're good kids. It's just I think it's a little young to -- I mean, golf is gonna be here. I just think -- me personally, I just think there is more to life than golf. You know, I just think you can play golf and compete, you know, without having to be a pro. But, you know, it's a business now. You know, these girls are -- they started, you know, six, seven, eight, and you know, they've got their teachers and they've got their sports psychologists. You know, they've got perfect swings. You know, I was talking to Peter Jacobsen the other day. He does all the impersonations of different swings, you know, Lee Trevino, Ray Floyd. We had some of the young girls there. You know, I said, Peter, they don't even know who these people are. He says, I know. I've got to get some younger swings. I said, You can't. They're all perfect. Who wants to imitate a perfect swing? So it just different. I didn't even know videocaming existed until my early 20s. So these girls, they're just -- they are a lot better players. With the junior tournaments and traveling around the world that they play, they're ready to play earlier. I mean, I won U.S. Amateur my junior year, and people were asking me when I'm going to turn pro. I'm like, You kidding me? Just because you win a tournament doesn't mean -- and then I won another one and I still wasn't ready. You know, I wasn't ready mentally or physically. So, you know, it's just different times. You know, you look at the good young players coming on the PGA tour; they're 18 years old too and they're not scared. It's just a different time, you know. It would be -- if I had a 15 year old that was a phenom, I wouldn't want her out here by herself either. I'd travel with her and stuff like that. So I guess it's just a nature of the beast right now. Q. Have you gotten over that ruling from '92? JULI INKSTER: Well, yeah. Well, no. It's the worst ruling in the history of golf. But, I mean, I've overcomed it, yes. Q. Well, I've taken, how many years, 15, 20, 18 years to finally figure it out. They tell me it was a valid ruling. JULI INKSTER: Yeah. Q. I guess you don't agree with that. JULI INKSTER: Well, I mean, you know -- you know, it is what it is. She made a great shot after that and made a great putt, so... Q. Do you think that that helped you win two Women's Opens? JULI INKSTER: I don't know. I mean, you know, everybody says it happens for a reason. You know, at that point you couldn't tell me that. You know, I don't know. Maybe I appreciated it more after I won them. But, you know, to me, to win a U.S. Open you've got to be playing well. First of all, you've got to have the golf course kind of fit your eye. So it's not an easy thing to do. You know, you just never know if you're going to get another shot to do it. It was 1992 and I had Hayley, and I didn't really know if I was going to keep playing or what I was going to do. So I kind of looked at it as that was my shot. Then I end up having Cori in '94 and then I started playing some good golf after that. But, you know, I don't know. I don't know how it would have all turned out if I would have won it in '92. THE MODERATOR: I have a clarification on that. I just talked to Ann Beard, who made that ruling. I said, Ann, was the ball in casual water or were her feet in casual water? She said, Rhonda, it was a huge, soggy area. Everything was in casual water. It was just like a sponge anyplace you stepped in the water. In order to get relief from, Patty Sheehan had hit her tee shot to the right of the 18th fairway, 72nd hole. JULI INKSTER: Sidehill lie. THE MODERATOR: Yeah. And in order to give relief from the water, the area, the closest point of relief was in the fairways. Then Patty hit her next shot up the hill 18 feet from the hole and made the putt. So that was the ruling, which is all within the rules of golf. But it was very hurtful at the time. All right. Next question here. Q. A caddie today told me he thinks the winning score will be 8-over, 12-over will be the cut, and that someone is going to shoot 100. What are your thoughts? JULI INKSTER: (Laughter.) I have to say that caddies are usually pretty close. So I mean, I don't know. I don't know if I'd take 8-over, but I'd probably take 4-over and sit in the clubhouse. Q. A follow-up to that, in 2007 Anthony Kim shot an 83 here in the third round; Aaron Baddeley shot an 80 in the fourth round. What people talked about then is, Wow, Oakmont is just such a brutal course. There's a feeling amongst some people that if the scores soar here with you guys that people won't look at how tough Oakmont is. There will be a faction that will say, See, these women just can't play. JULI INKSTER: Well, I mean, we battle that every week, so it's not -- that's not that big a -- it's just what we battle. I remember when we played Solheim Cup at Muirfield Village. A lot of people didn't think we'd be able to play that course. We played it great. The crowds responded. You know, I think it was -- I think it's good for us to play these golf courses. The better-known golf courses we play, I think it's better for us. You know, I like it when we play tough golf courses like this. Because you know what? This is probably bad, but I don't even know what the men shot here. 5-over? You know what? I bet you we're as good or better than that. I mean, we've got a lot of great golfers here, and a lot of good young golfers that hit the ball in the fairways and can putt. So, you know, I just think that -- I think we're going to do okay. We're going to have our occasional, you know, high score here and there. But, you know what? That's golf. You know, that's why they call it an Open Championship. Anybody can qualify and bring their game and test it against the best. Q. Last year at this time you and a number of your colleagues were involved in some fairly weighty off-course issues during the Open regarding the hierarchy of the LPGA. JULI INKSTER: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. I was like, Gee, I don't remember gambling. But go ahead. Q. Oh, I didn't mean that. Looking back now, was it a distraction both in terms of performance and the attention on the tournament? Was it useful? And now, a year later, do you think it's resulted in improved conditions or some of the things that you wanted to see happen? JULI INKSTER: Well, you know, being on the executive board back then, it was hard. I mean, you know, it was kind of the week we had conference calls every night two or three hours and trying to play a U.S. Open. But, you know, that's part of your job of being on the executive board. As far as was it right? I mean, you know, I have a lot of respect for Carolyn Bivens. I just think maybe at that point maybe she wasn't the person for the job. I think she's, you know, a good business person. But I think at that point we needed maybe a little softer spoken or someone that would, you know, work with the sponsors a little bit more. And you know, right now we have a great guy in there named Mike Whan. You know, just at that point it just wasn't working. When things aren't working, just like if I have a golf coach and things aren't working, sometimes you just need to try something different. I think Mike Whan is doing a great job for us. He's got a lot of respect to the outside world. He's a great people person. He's a great business person. He'll talk to anybody. He'll talk fast, so be ready. You know what? It was tough. I mean, it was a tough situation, you know, because Carolyn worked very hard for us. It wasn't like she was slouching. It just wasn't working. Q. You were talking about the younger players a few moments ago, and I remember interviewing you at the Lady Keystone Open back in the mid 1980s, maybe early 1980s. Based on all that has happened to you since then - and you touched on this a little bit - but your life experiences and your golf success, does that give you an advantage over the younger players? Not necessarily the 14 and 15 years olds, but the younger players in general? Does that life experience, does it give you an advantage? JULI INKSTER: On the golf course? Q. Yeah. JULI INKSTER: No, I don't think so. You know, they don't remember all their bad shots. I remember all my bad shots. (Laughter.) You know, I have a great rapport with the younger players out here. I mean, I get along with them great. You know, they don't have any problems if they want to ask me questions. I have no problems -- you know, not that my way is perfect. You know, I just tell them what I think. You know, I try to help them as much as I can, because, you know, people helped me when I started out here. So as far as golf-wise, I mean, they have their own camp; they have their own -- they're just kind of fearless, which is great. That's how you have to play. I have a lot of respect for them. It's good to see the fieryness and they're hungry and they work hard and they honor the game. That's pretty much what I try to teach them is, you know, I really like them to learn the history of the game, and, you know, how it got started and who started it. When they see a founder, you know, go up and say, Thank you, stuff like that. That's more what I try to do. Q. Given the fact that it is Oakmont with all its tradition and history and how tough it is - and it can be a little overwhelming when you tee it up on No. 1 - but it sounds like you relish the challenge more than the difficulty. JULI INKSTER: Well, I don't know if I relish it. I just appreciate the challenge. I mean, you know, you appreciate coming to golf courses like this and it has the history and the toughness, and, you know, it's a great test of golf. You've got to -- you're not going to hit every shot perfect. It's the type of golf course where, you know, you might have to grind for 3 or 4 over. But the bottom line is not to shoot yourself out of the tournament on the first day. It's just try to manage your game out there. If you have to hit a 7-wood or whatever to get it in the fairways, just get it in the fairways and take it from there. I think I appreciate being able to have the opportunity to play in tournaments like this. Q. When do you think your tour was at its healthiest? And if the answer is right now, what might it be lacking? JULI INKSTER: Well, I mean, it's a question of whether you want to go worldwide or if you want to go domestic. You know, for me, it was healthiest when we had, you know, 35 to 40 tournaments in the United States. But golf has kind of grown globally, not only on our tour but the PGA TOUR. You know, that's where these companies, you know, the HPs and the Suns, they're all global companies. They have, you know, offices everywhere around the world. So that's kind of where -- and especially with, you know, our players, I mean, we're as global as you get. So in order to accommodate our sponsors and our players, you know, we have to travel overseas. Now, is that bad? You know, I like it. I like playing different places and different countries. But if I was raising a family, it would be tough. But you know what? A lot of these young girls, they like to go out and they like to play and they like to play different places, and they'll play wherever. To me personally, I liked it before. But as Mike Whan says, We're going global and get over it. So that's where we're going. Q. By the way, belated birthday to you. JULI INKSTER: Thank you. Q. How has your a game changed over the years with all the technology and the fact that you're a veteran player now? Has your game changed a lot? And how many more years do you want to play competitive golf? JULI INKSTER: I haven't had that question asked in a while. You know, I don't really put a time on it. I mean, I like to play. I love to play golf. You know, if we had a senior tour like the guys had, I'd probably be out there playing right now. We don't. And in order to, you know, get my fix of golf, this is where, you know, I have to play. I still feel like I'm competitive enough to play out here. Will I be Player of the Year? Probably not. Can I win? I think so. So, you know, that's kind of why I don't really have a timetable. I mean, I really don't -- I'll know, and I'll let you guys know. And then the other question was my game has changed... well, I don't -- I don't hit it any shorter. I mean, I'm hitting the same distance I hit, you know, 10, 15 years ago. I mean, the equipment is so much better. I still hit it crooked once in a while. My game is kind of maybe not as consistent as it used to be. But, you know, I'm never going to hit 14 fairways and I'm never going to hit 18 greens, but it seems to work once in a while. Q. Would you like to see a U.S. Senior Women's Open? Do you think there is a market for that? JULI INKSTER: Yeah, I'd love to see one, but I just don't think there's enough -- I don't know, TV spots open for something... I mean, I would love to see it. Maybe it will evolve. But I think there's a lot of 45 to 55 year old women that people would like to see play. But, you know, it's just a tough sell. Q. Do you think your genes or body type has enabled you to play? I mean, you've been healthy... JULI INKSTER: Oh, I know. I mean, I've been -- I've got great genes. I haven't had an injury - knock on wood. You know, I haven't had to take any time off because of injuries. Pregnancies, but that's self-inflicted. (Laughter.) But, you know, I've been very fortunate. It is. It's like when you take time off, especially at my age, you know, even if I was in my 40s and got injured and take six months off, it's really hard to get back into it. I've been fortunate that I haven't been injured. I think that's definitely helped my longevity. THE MODERATOR: Thank you so much. Good luck this week. JULI INKSTER: Thanks. End of FastScripts |
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