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RICOH WOMEN'S BRITISH OPENJuly 29, 2011Se Ri PakCARNOUSTIE, SCOTLAND THE MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, we have Se Ri Pak in the interview area. She just scored a tremendous 8-under par 64, the low round of the tournament so far, and is currently one shot off the lead. Congratulations. How did you feel today? SE RI PAK: Well, I feel really great. I feel really comfortable, really calm, too, because I'm trying to manage being out here this week having really low expectations because it depends on the weather, because the golf course is not the same as U.S. So I'm trying to just play around. I'm kind of with my caddie, he tells me where to hit it, and okay, I'm trying to -- makes it easy for me to be out there playing, and I guess it's working pretty well because I'm not thinking too much. Trying to make it very simple, this golf course, because you never know which way it's going to bounce. Around the green, around the tee, probably, I mean, if you hit a good shot it could be -- end up really bad with a bounce that's really bad luck. Actually thinking about it that way, overall it was a really solid round today. Q. Are you saying that even though there is very little wind, the course is still quite difficult? SE RI PAK: Of course not easy. There's a lot of bunkers, tricky, and even a little wind. But it seems like the ball has been definitely -- really different carries, the number. I would say Monday even that day's wind you could still carry, was long enough to be hitting short iron, and after the rain yesterday, it seems like it's totally different numbers now. Even less rain doesn't mean it's going to be easy. It sounds like it played so easy today but it wasn't. I tried to focus as much as I could, and every shot without having any pressure. Overall of course 8-under is a really good number, and I'm very happy the way it is. Q. You've obviously played a lot of British Opens on links. Are you surprised how little wind there is? SE RI PAK: I know, I was expecting more. I tried to make the best scores I could today, but yes. I was expecting a lot of wind, of course, and the weather is not going to be like yesterday. But I see some sun today. I'm trying to enjoy as much as I could. I don't know if we're going to see sun again, but that's what it is. Q. How hard is it going to be to take it easy now that you're at the top of the leaderboard? SE RI PAK: Well, I mean, it's good to be on the top, but there's a half game to go, which is two days to go. I'm trying to keep the same routine as I'm doing it, and I'm going to do so many times. Of course you're leading you're probably a little more comfortable, like more confidence about this game. So that's a good thing. But this golf course, as I say, you never know, so I'm trying to get focused as much as I did the last two days. Q. How have you been so dedicated for so long, and did you have a patch where you weren't? SE RI PAK: Well, I mean, right now I'm trying to really love golf, which is more enjoyable. Before I'm trying to have so much focus on myself being as best as I could, and then I got so much -- last three, four years been downtime, and then I learned from that, actually how lucky I am to play again and to be loving golf. I don't know if I've got the right answer for it. As far as loving golf, probably trying to stay as healthy or physically or mentally just like more as part of same routine the last 14 years, never change anything, even like good time or a bad time. It's probably the same person, but I feel like more relaxed more because instead of having four years training really hard time to get back the way I am, and now I learned from that actually just how lucky I am because I really love golf, trying to play, and then I come out here and play and trying to enjoy it as much as I could. Overall, the golf is a very difficult game mentally and physically, but golf has been never, ever actually can give up on it. Like that much still -- golf is so special. Keep continue your challenging each time, even though it's tough or you're winning, it doesn't matter. Now it feels like you can still work to be better. That's why golf is such a fun game, I think, yeah. Q. Did you develop any sort of hobby to balance the ledger so you weren't just playing golf? SE RI PAK: I'm trying to. I'm trying to make a better balance of my life and game. Now I'm doing not really too much things, but still the game is most biggest thing in my life. The other thing I'm doing is more, let's say, more social, like with friends and a couple beers here and there. That's what a huge difference is. I thought one beer maybe not helps my game, but it doesn't really affect anything, just more mentally thinking you're off the line a little bit, kind of shouldn't do that. That's the way I was before. But now with the players, with my caddie, with friends and having dinner together and now I'm drinking beer instead of coffee, which makes it a little more relaxed (laughing). But anyway, things like that. Things I've never done before, just being like normal people does. Usually every dinnertime or friends trying to have some fun together, that's the thing. It's pretty important, though, but I've never done it before. But now better than before because more spend time with friends and more hanging out and more together and get to dinners or shopping and things I've never done. Overall I feel like more game time I'm really focused on it, and now off the golf course I really work really hard all day, and off the golf course I'm trying to more relax with the friends. It's pretty hard to do and it's pretty difficult to learn this way, but now I'm getting there, getting better. Q. Obviously you were the first Korean. How do you feel now that there's so many on the Tour? Do you feel proud, surprised? SE RI PAK: First I was really surprised. Last seven years there's been such a big number of Koreans from my country. And then now I feel very, very proud of because, you know, you're coming from different countries, it's so difficult to lead a new life, which is new country, new language, new food, and especially with golf you're travelling so much, it wasn't really easy to do that. But now even at a young age they do really well, and they get used to it. When I see them I'm very proud of them and very happy for them. And then of course when I watch them, it gives me a lot of energy, too, makes me keep going. So that's a good thing. Q. We watched you walk with that playoff at the U.S. Women's Open when it was two Korean players, and both of them talked about what you meant to them as a mentor. How did that make you feel to kind of hear them talk about you and how you kind of helped them be able to do what they were able to do at the U.S. Women's Open? SE RI PAK: I mean, actually the two players next to me remind me of 1998 as far as first year, first rookie season my career started. It actually makes me a lot proud, proud of myself and proud for them, which is, as I said, so difficult to decide to move to new country and lead new life, which is not easy at all, especially as a golfer. You're travelling week to week, hotel to hotel, you're packing all the time. It's more difficult to do. I know with their playing career on the Tour, they're probably going to be two or three days out and they come back home, which is not easy to do that, but now totally especially with a new language, this is not easy to adapt to, and it always makes me smile because I'm just happy for them, happy to see them because they try to really work hard to learn more about the new language and life, and at the same time they're learning golf. That's basically looking at them just being very happy, just very warm, and they seem like all my baby little sisters. On the other hand all I can do is just try to make it -- trying to get them the way to go, how to make life a better balance, which is not easy. For me it takes too long to learn that because I knew it but I didn't know how to do that. But now I can tell them because I've been there before. They work so hard, 24/7, each day, every single second, every moment. We're so focused on it all day long, and they never have any relax or light time. That's basically the most difficult thing to do. So now I tell them, I say as much as I can, I tell them if 100 per cent if you're focused on your game, make sure 100 per cent you're trying to get release, and you can really play better and you're really taking care of yourself better and you can play better. So they're actually really listening well, but as I said, I'm here long enough, and they probably know what's going on. It's just they listen and they ask me the question I always say this, and really, just happy to be here. Q. In a few weeks' time you will look on perhaps from the outside while the United States of America play against Europe in the Solheim Cup. What would be your thoughts about having a tournament, a team from your part of the world, against say the rest of the world, the Se Ri Pak Trophy or something along those lines? SE RI PAK: Actually kind of do -- not this year but a couple years they call Lester's Cup. So we've done it before. But it sounds really great, but it's -- you know, these plans are really difficult to make some special event because of the economy. But we're actually thinking about having like Lester. Lester is probably played like Asian Tour-International, so that's basically a team match. But we were really having so much fun with it, but we got lost because the economy has been hitting so bad. We're probably trying to work hard to get back to the tournament. Q. Going back to the previous question, when you say you help these girls and you give them advice, don't be -- just sort of take time to relax, does that not contradict the advice they get from their parents? SE RI PAK: I mean, there's a lot of different cultures, but the parents, they understand that more because they know the week to week of travelling is a lot, and week to week you're always a different schedule. Part of it with the parents is going to be very difficult, because trying to help them, the parents there, and sometimes part of their parents won't understand that. But actually getting better. Parents want what's better for their own child. My parents do the same thing and never change. They always say no, I mean, to the same thing. But the young players, they're smart enough to control the parents and then their own lives, I think. I hope so. But they do. They listen and they try to do it and they probably talk with the parents more, communicate better, I guess. A couple years ago parents had a really hard time, giving the hard time to the players because they tell you exactly what they want you to do, the player to do, so that's the most difficult thing to do. But now after four, five, six years later, the parents are like more understanding, like easy to get to it. Parents learn. Parents are learning at the same time as the players, so that's part of it. That's part of the game, golfers, the parents, family. That's a huge thing. Q. You haven't played here the last couple of years; is that right? SE RI PAK: I didn't play last year. I wasn't injured, but I just needed a little break from golf. Sometimes I need a break, I just take a break now. Q. I watched most of your round today. Apart from the 17th hole would you say that today was one of your best putting rounds? I watched you sink a lot of great birdie putts today. SE RI PAK: Yes, probably the comfortable and very confident putting overall. But No. 17, I mean, I thought it was a good putt. But it could happen, right? Even though I've got such a great putt for long, short all day long. Q. The rest was pretty good, wasn't it? SE RI PAK: Yeah. Q. Were there any really long putts? SE RI PAK: Really long ones? How long? Q. 10, 15 feet. SE RI PAK: Yeah, I got -- oh, No. 7, yeah. That's, what, 30, a little over 30 feet. Q. Were all the others reasonably close? SE RI PAK: About 15, 10 feet, around that area. Q. You obviously missed a chance at 17. Were there any other chances you missed? SE RI PAK: There was, like around eight feet. I got probably one or two missed. Q. Sounds like a pretty good round of golf, though? SE RI PAK: It was good, yeah. It was really good. That's why I'm sitting here. THE MODERATOR: Se Ri, thank you very much indeed. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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