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KIA CLASSIC

March 23, 2011

CITY OF INDUSTRY, CALIFORNIA

THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome everyone here to the Kia Classic. Thanks everyone for coming. My name's Mike Scanlan, I'm the public relations manager for the Tour. We have three very special guests with us today. On my right is Tim Chaney, the director of marketing for Kia Motors America. Next to Tim, a player who I think needs no introduction, a two-time winner, and Kia's official golf ambassador, Michelle Wie. And we'd also like to welcome Kimmy McAtee, a spokesperson for Keep a Breast, a charity that we'll be discussing today.
Tim, by all means, some remarks?
TIM CHANEY: Thank you to everybody for joining us here today. It's going to be a fabulous tournament. On behalf of Kia Motors, we're really proud to be here. It's our second year as the title sponsor of the Kia Classic.
The players we've got here this week are fabulous. I think the number I heard was 76 out of the top 80 players are all here this week. So we're really looking forward to a really exciting, great tournament here this week.
After the success of last year's Kia Classic, it was a really easy decision for Kia Motors to partner once again with the LPGA in 2011. We're also pleased that we could help bring the L PGA back to the Los Angeles area after so many years.
Our partnership with the L PGA is a great fit for the Kia brand. It underscores what we have as an ongoing commitment to sports marketing sponsorships. Sports marketing has become a really important part of our overall marketing strategy.
In addition to the Kia Classic, in 2010, it was a year of many firsts for Kia. Some of you may know that we renewed and expanded our relationship with the NBA as the official automotive partner of the NBA. And we also began for the first time in the company's history, an auto racing program. Of course, we partnered with our first professional golfer, the LPGA's own, Michelle Wie.
As a young and exciting player with extraordinary talent, Michelle is an ideal brand ambassador for Kia. Our Brands design-led transformation has delivered a complete lineup of all new and stylish vehicles that's helped introduce the Kia brand to an even wider and new audience and has contributed to our record sales and market share in the U.S.
As one of the most recognizable athletes in the world, Michelle has played an important role in raising Kia's profile as well. So I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you, Michelle, for what you've done for us in the past year and going forward.
However, the reason we're here today is to commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And last October Michelle created this custom pink golf bag to promote breast cancer prevention efforts.
So it's in this spirit that Michelle and Kia Motors are proud to announce that this custom golf bag, which was designed and autographed by Michelle, will be auctioned by the LPGA with all the proceeds going to Keep a Breast, a Southern California based organization that works to raise awareness and funding for breast cancer prevention efforts around the country.
Kia Motors is pleased to support Michelle and the LPGA, and we hope everyone will help support this worthwhile organization. So thank you very much.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Tim. Just for everyone's reference, beginning tomorrow on LPGA.com, fans, media, anyone who would like to log on will be able to place bids on this fine golf bag with all the proceeds going to charity.
Michelle, welcome. Thanks for coming. If you would, just tell us about your desire to create this bag? How did this come about?
MICHELLE WIE: When Kia first came to me, they're like we want to create a pink bag for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I thought it was an awesome idea. I think it's very critical and very important that people are aware of preventing breast cancer. And I think it's such a great program, and I'm very honored to have helped create this bag. Hopefully, it will go very high of a bid.
THE MODERATOR: Talk about the auction. What are you expecting?
MICHELLE WIE: I'm not expecting anything. I'm just hoping that people like the bag and they really want it, and there's going to be a war.
THE MODERATOR: For Kimmy, welcome. If you would, tell us about Keep a Breast and what your mission is?
KIMMY McATTE: Keep a Breast is a youth-based nonprofit. And we really want to educate young people on ways to prevent and early detect cancer through specific warning signs of breast cancer, taking toxins out of their life. And we do this in ways of using celebrities and art and our grass roots education.
We just want to really educate young people that they can prevent and lower their risk for breast cancer.
THE MODERATOR: Tim, if we could just talk about the tournament for one minute. What attracted Kia to the LPGA last year, and why did you opt to renew this year and bring the tournament to Los Angeles?
TIM CHANEY: Well, what's not to like about partnering with the LPGA? We saw it as a great opportunity to reach a new audience and showcase and expose all of our great new products to a whole new audience. And just we see the LPGA as a kindred spirit, and an up and coming, emerging, dynamic, youthful and spirited sport like we feel the Kia brand is.
So it was really easy. We had a great experience with the Kia Classic last year -- Kia Classic last year, and as I mentioned, it was an easy decision for us to come back again this year.
THE MODERATOR: Talk about what the future holds for Kia. I know you have some solid products coming out, and recently released some as well.
TIM CHANEY: We have been in a tremendous cycle of introducing all new products here in the last two years or so, but we're not finished. We've got a number of new products coming out the rest of this year and into next year, including our first ever hybrid.
The all new Optima, which you'll see out here on the course and right below us here. We've got a hybrid version of that coming out in the next 60 days. We've also just introduced our first turbo charged vehicles, and we've got some exciting new in vehicle technology we'll introduce later this year as well.
THE MODERATOR: Finally, and I think many of us have seen it, the commercial with Michelle Wie and Kia. A little bit sassy I would say. Just tell us how that came about and why is it so important for Kia to be involved with a player like Michelle and broadcasting the brand?
TIM CHANEY: I think that commercial turned out really well. We have representatives here from David & Goliath, our ad agency, who had the idea, a very simple idea. And I think it really captured the natural personality of Michelle and the Kia brand at the same time. We're really happy in how it came out. I think a lot of people have enjoyed it.
THE MODERATOR: Do we have any questions for Tim or Kimmy before we turn it over to the golf talk?

Q. Tim, did you think about having Michelle do a slam dunk by jumping over a Kia?
TIM CHANEY: Good idea. In fact, I think Michelle met Blake Griffin just a few days ago at a Clipper game. So I don't know, maybe Michelle would like to talk about that.

Q. What was it like meeting him? What's he like?
MICHELLE WIE: He's very nice. I met him after they gave me really good seats so I got to sit court side. They look huge. It's amazing.
I love watching basketball games, and getting to meet him was really cool. I watched the dunk contest, and it was pretty amazing. It was mind-blowing that he could jump over a car. I have trouble jumping over a tee marker.
But it was pretty amazing. He's a really nice guy, and hopefully I'll get to watch more games.

Q. Would you like to make a commercial with him?
MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, that would be a lot of fun. As long as it doesn't involve me jumping over cars. I'd need a lot of cables and special effects to do that.
THE MODERATOR: All right, Michelle, if you would, just talk about being here at the Kia Classic. Obviously an event that's very close to your heart with your relationship with Kia? How's your game right now?
MICHELLE WIE: I love coming back here. I think it's so great that Kia Classic has renewed and we're back in L.A. It feels like I'm coming back home. I come here and see Kia branded everywhere. I see my car parked out there. So it's pretty cool, pretty neat. Hopefully I'll play well this week.

Q. Talk about the state of your game? What are you working on? What are you thinking about out there?
MICHELLE WIE: It's always been a work in progress. I worked really hard this off-season to get healthy and to get better. I think right now I've been working on everything. If I work on one thing, then another thing fails. So I have to work on everything constantly.

Q. First of all, for you, is it a slow starting season because you guys are really just getting into the swing now? What do you do during the off-season when you have such a long time? Can you get into a rhythm this early?
MICHELLE WIE: For me it didn't seem so slow because I had finals last week, and I've been going to school. So it's been really busy for me.

Q. What year now?
MICHELLE WIE: I'm a senior, but I'll be returning next year to finish. But it's been a lot of fun. It is a slow start. Something that we do need to work on and we are working on. I foresee that it's going to be a lot busier in the upcoming years.
But it's just you've got to go out there and practice and do your thing and enjoy the off-season. Because once the season gets going, it's hectic. So it's kind of nice having an off-season.

Q. I'm working on a story on a rookie out here. But can you just talk about the trials and tribulations of being a rookie and, for you, what were the hardest parts?
MICHELLE WIE: I think for me my rookie year didn't really feel like my rookie year in a way. But in a way it really did. I learned a lot from it. Mostly just playing 18, 20 tournaments a year is a lot different from playing six. So it's a lot more tiring.
You have to manage your energy and how much you're practicing before a tournament. What days you want to practice, what days you want to take off. So it's just really controlling how much energy you're putting out.

Q. Do you still have a lot of family around?
MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I do.

Q. Anybody going to be in the gallery?
MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, my family's going to be. You'll probably hear them.

Q. How hard is the course playing?
MICHELLE WIE: It's pretty tough. Hopefully, the weather will be good. But it's a good golf course. It's tricky. It's good. It's a good golf course.

Q. Have you played here before?
MICHELLE WIE: No, this is my first time.
THE MODERATOR: Michelle, thank you so much.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297

KIA CLASSIC

March 23, 2011

Tim Chaney

Kimmy McAtte

Michelle Wie West