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KRAFT NABISCO CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 27, 2012Morgan PresselRANCHO MIRAGE, CALIFORNIA THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome 2007 Kraft Nabisco champion Morgan Pressel to the interview room at the 2012 Kraft, and before we get started, Morgan, I know today you have a very special announcement to make. MORGAN PRESSEL: I do. It's nice to be here back at the Kraft. This is always one of my favorite tournaments. It's why I chose this week to announce my new partnership with Lilly Pulitzer, and I will be wearing the clothing on and off the golf course. It's a company that started in Palm Beach, which is just down the road from where I live, and I'm very excited to embody the spirit of Palm Beach out here on Tour. THE MODERATOR: Congratulations on that. You've been very successful on and off the golf course throughout your career, obviously this tournament being probably the highlight of your very early career. You became the youngest player in LPGA history to win a major. When you come back here and pull through the gates, what's the first thing you think about? MORGAN PRESSEL: Great memories start flooding back, and even yesterday playing a practice round out there, I can remember especially my final round when I won in '07 and all of the putts that I made in kind of the crucial moments. I get on 15 and I look at that front right bunker and think about how I got up‑and‑down and this long putt that I made on 12. Not that I try and recreate it, but I just try and remember and feel the moments, and hopefully I can create more this week. THE MODERATOR: When you think back about that week, where does it rank amongst all the great things you've done? MORGAN PRESSEL: Well, in terms of golfing accomplishments, I think winning a major would always be on top, and it certainly is. Winning at Kapalua was important to me. Winning in Japan and the Solheim Cups, those are all on the general top of the list, but winning Kraft and jumping in that pond is something that will probably be on the top of my list for a very long time. Q. Will Lilly Pulitzer condone you jumping into the water with their clothing on? MORGAN PRESSEL: I think it'll shine through the water with the bright colors. I don't think that'll be a problem. I'm sure they'd love it. Q. Do you wish they'd fixed the pond before you jumped in? MORGAN PRESSEL: After what happened with Stacy's mom last year‑‑ actually I think I was the first‑‑ was I the first to jump in the new pond? Q. I think you were second. MORGAN PRESSEL: But I did jump in the new pond, right? Q. Well, yeah, but I think they dedicated it the year before. MORGAN PRESSEL: Did they change it this year? Oh, so after what happened‑‑ I did not realize that. I didn't read that. Q. Four feet straight down now. MORGAN PRESSEL: Good, so now we have more space to cannonball. That's exciting. Q. Given what happened to Stacy's mom, do you look back now and think how they could have‑‑ MORGAN PRESSEL: Well, I just remember when my grandmother jumped in, if you watch the tape, she looks in and hesitates and kind of lets go, then kind of went waddling in. She was scared to jump in because of that. So I think it's a good thing that they fixed it. Q. The common thinking is that on this golf course you have to be a bomber to win it. We've seen Annika, we've seen Lorena, we've seen Yani, we've seen Brittany. You've played well here. What is the strategy for somebody like you to play on this golf course and succeed? MORGAN PRESSEL: I guess the first strategy is not thinking that you have to be a bomber to play well. I feel like I certainly have history on this golf course and have played well, and I think that that almost feeds itself. It gives me confidence going off on the first tee knowing that I have played well here before and that I feel comfortable here more than anything. I mean, these greens are tough. They're not easy to read, and getting up‑and‑down around them is almost just as important as hitting it long off the tee. So it's always about making birdies, and I think this year with the rough being a little but the lower than usual, it will be all about making birdies, and to do that you have to make the putts. Q. Suzann also mentioned that the rough maybe wasn't quite as daunting this year, at least so far this week. You kind of‑‑ maybe because you didn't hit it in the rough that week‑‑ MORGAN PRESSEL: Well, the year that I won, I was 3‑under par, which is probably one of the highest winning scores there's been here. And I think that that's because that specific year the rough was insane. It was really deep, and missing the fairway was a tremendous penalty. It won't be quite that way this year, but it's kind of similar to how it was last year, I think, and it's kind of similar to how it was last year. Q. So 3‑under won't win this week? MORGAN PRESSEL: I don't think 3‑under will win this week unless something very strange happens. Q. You've answered the distance question quite a few times. At the Solheim Cup, a very long course, you answered the question going 4 and 0. Do you feel like you don't have to be the longest player on Tour? MORGAN PRESSEL: I feel that there's a lot more to golf than just hitting it a long way, and while it can certainly help, that just means that the other parts of my game have to be a little bit more dialed in, and I just can't miscue off the tee, really, to put myself in a good position to hit it close. I think that's where my strength is is I'm a fairly consistent player, and they always say play to your strengths, and if length isn't one of mine, I have to find it elsewhere, and I find it really in my short game. Q. This is the five‑year anniversary of your victory here. How has life changed in five years? To think that five years ago you won this, it doesn't seem like that long ago. MORGAN PRESSEL: It doesn't seem like five years ago, and to think this is my seventh year on Tour, things have gone by so fast. It's almost like you need to step back and take a breather and really enjoy everything that has happened out here, both the good and the bad. It's not a life full of roses, but it's a challenge. But it's a fun challenge, and I mean, over the last five years, a lot has happened, a lot has changed. I'm sure five years from now, I'd sit here and say the same thing. Q. Five years ago Lorena Ochoa was kind of ruling the Tour. Now it's Yani. When you look at what Yani is doing, what do you think to yourself? MORGAN PRESSEL: I think it's really impressive. I think it's hard for anybody in golf not to watch her performance and think about how impressive it is and how golf just seems easier for her than for everybody else. Any time you have a player like that, whether it's an Annika or a Lorena or a Yani our past three really contenders have been, it raises the bar for everyone else. Right now Yani doesn't have as much competition as maybe she even wants, so we all need to practice a little bit harder and we need to go out there and challenge her more often because right now she's beating us pretty badly. So we need to step up our games. So I think that it's good for competition and good for women's golf. THE MODERATOR: Morgan, thanks a lot for coming in. Congratulations on your new partnership. Good luck this week. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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