|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPJuly 4, 2012Stacy LewisKOHLER, WISCONSIN THE MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, Stacy Lewis is with us. She's having a wonderful year. She's had nine Top 10 finishes. She's won twice. It's not exactly a breakout year because she did win a major, the Nabisco‑‑ Kraft Nabisco last year. Stacy, I was looking at your stats for the Women's Open. You were third in 2008. Haven't quite crossed that line to win. And I noticed you will have three really good rounds and one round that is shall we say less than good. STACY LEWIS: Yes. THE MODERATOR: How can you change that to perhaps contend this week? STACY LEWIS: Yeah, I think I look back to last year's U.S. Open. I was doing really well through about a round‑and‑a‑half, and then kind of the middle of the tournament I really‑‑ my attitude got in the way. I was kind of trying to force some things. I would get upset over some bad shots and kind of really get down on myself. So that's something I've been working on this year, is to stay a little bit more level, and especially at a U.S. Open you have to stay patient. So that's one thing I'll look to this week. THE MODERATOR: And you think that maybe will help you be more consistent and have four really good rounds rather than that one round? STACY LEWIS: Yeah, absolutely. I think that's what has helped me so far this year. I think I played a lot more consistent because‑‑ just stay more patient, really. You know you're going to hit a bad shot, especially on this golf course. You're probably going to hit one in a hazard. You're probably going to have one in the high grass. You're going to hit a bad shot. Just being okay with that and knowing I can come back and make some birdies after that. THE MODERATOR: Questions? Q. Stacy, just wondering maybe overall your attitude to the U.S. Open and how it's evolved since you finished tied for third a few years ago. STACY LEWIS: I don't know. I think I always come into U.S. Opens a little unsure of how I'm going to play just because we‑‑ I've never seen the golf course and I don't know how it plays under tournament conditions. And so I never really know what to expect. And so during the practice rounds I just try to hit as many shots as I can and visualize it. But it's hard because you never know what a winning score is going to be or anything like that. So I don't know, I usually come into a U.S. Open with no expectations, and then you're just hopefully you're pleasantly surprised after that. Q. Just to follow up on the patience theme, as pros, you're all trained if something is going wrong with your game, the way to get out of it is you work harder at it. How do you practice patience? How do you work on that? STACY LEWIS: I don't know. It's hard for me. It's something that you have to do it when you're in tournament rounds, is when you hit a bad shot, okay, how am I going to get out of this, instead of being worried about the shot you just hit. You can hit three bad shots and make one good putt and you can still make a 4. So it's something that I've definitely worked on. I really think over the last six months why I've played better it's just because of my attitude on the golf course. I feel like it's gotten better. Even though I still get angry, I still kind of use that in a more positive way. Q. Stacy, can you talk about the first hole with the blind second shot and what you need to do to be successful there? STACY LEWIS: Well, it's interesting. It's a hard first hole just because you can't see the iron shot land. I hit a 3‑wood off of that tee, and then I think I had an 8 or 9‑iron into the green. It's tough. You're not really sure how far the ball is going yet. You're really not sure what the wind is doing. So it's not the easiest opening hole. I start on 10 tomorrow, so I'm kind of glad I'm not starting on 1. Q. Yani has been struggling a little bit in the last few weeks. Do you feel like potentially the window to become No. 1 is closer, the opportunity is closer than maybe it appeared that it might be last year? STACY LEWIS: I definitely think it is. I think at this time last year Yani was just so far ahead of everybody. She was almost unbeatable at some tournaments. Now she's been struggling a little bit, and I wouldn't say she's beatable, but she's just not playing as well as she was last year. She's‑‑ I mean, she's going to work and she's going to grind it out and she'll figure it out. She'll get back to where she was. I have no doubt about that. When she's not playing her best, that's when we can kind of close that gap and chase her down a little bit. Q. I was talking to Joe yesterday a little bit, he said there was a point during the practice round where your caddie said, she's back. There was something that clicked with your putting. Can you talk about that? STACY LEWIS: After Canada, Joe, my instructor, came to Arkansas. I felt like my swing was just getting a little bit off. He stayed all last week at Arkansas and came here. He's been here a week and a half. We've been working hard on it, just getting it back on track. Because it really‑‑ you can't have a weakness at a U.S. Open. You have to be playing good. And so we've been really working hard to getting it back. I think it was towards the end of the round yesterday finally it clicked that I got it back. I'm not worried about it anymore. Q. So was it your full swing? STACY LEWIS: Yes, full swing. Q. What clicked? STACY LEWIS: I don't know. It was just the timing, the tempo. I tend to get really fast and really out in front of it. So I was just trying to slow things down a little bit. I don't know, just the timing of it just finally clicked. Q. Stacy, you're a little young to remember the best of Meg Mallon and Dottie Pepper and the Solheim Cup. But they were in here today talking about now Dottie is going to be assistant captain and it looks like you're going to be on that Solheim Cup team. Can you talk about what those two meant to women's golf, both their Solheim Cup and their LPGA careers, what you remember and know about that? STACY LEWIS: I didn't really watch a lot of golf growing up. But I did watch the Solheim Cup. I remember I think‑‑ where was it? Meg made a really long putt. I don't know. I just remember Meg smiling and cheering her teammates on on the course. Dottie was so fiery out there. I love that. You could tell every emotion she was feeling. She was pumping everybody up. Those two right there, I think they are the Solheim Cup. They are two of the highest points‑getters for the U.S. team. And I think‑‑ I think it's perfect. I think Dottie needed to be assistant captain, and then she's probably going to be the captain now. She needed to be there. I think it wouldn't be complete if she wasn't. Q. Stacy, we talked earlier about No. 1 maybe coming back to the pack a little bit, your rankings up there as well. How do you see yourself as one of the best players in the world? How do you consider yourself? STACY LEWIS: I certainly have felt like I've been one of the best players in the world. And even over the last year I felt like I have been, but haven't gotten the recognition. When everyone talks about the top American players, they'd always talk about Paula and Cristie, and I was never thrown into the mix. My goal coming into this year was to get my name in that mix and get people to see that I am one of the top American players, and that's really motivated me over the last year. Q. People maybe don't talk about this part of the game very much, but wondering how much lag putting might be of importance this week on these big greens. STACY LEWIS: I think whoever has the least amount of putts is going to be up there on Sunday. During my practice rounds, I practiced kind of 3 and 4‑footers, and I practiced 40 and 50‑footers. You're going to hit great golf shots and still have a 40‑footer. Putting I think is more important even than ball striking this week, because off the tees you can get away with it a little bit, but once you get on the greens you have to be so perfect with the speed and the lines you pick. I think that's going to determine the winner. I don't know if there's the stats from '98 where the putting was on who won, but I'm sure they didn't have very many putts that week. Q. You just sort of mentioned that people talk about top Americans. They talk about Cristie, they talk about Paula. They haven't talked about you a lot. What's your thought on why that has been? What will it take to get that to change? STACY LEWIS: I truthfully I don't really know why. I feel like I have been one of the top American players for the last year or so, and I don't know. I don't know. I don't wear the pink like Paula does and have the whole Pink Panther thing. That's not really me. I just really want to go out there and play good golf and be known for the golf part of it. I think the more I win, the more I'm up in contention, I think that will take care of it. Q. Stacy, in some ways does this setup work well for you? Obviously last week you were at the center of attention because you were home collegiately, anyway. Maybe sort of get you geared up even more for the Open environment because of the way the tournaments were back‑to‑back? STACY LEWIS: Last week in Arkansas was really tough for me. I love playing there, but it's probably one of the hardest weeks of the year. On the golf course it's fine, but as soon as I get off, I can't go anywhere without somebody recognizing me. I guess you would want to have that problem, but it also makes this week a lot more relaxing for me, which is what you want. You don't want to come to a Major stressed out. This week actually seems more relaxed, and I don't know, I just feel a lot more at ease this week. THE MODERATOR: Having won the Kraft Nabisco, you've won a major championship, how is it different trying to win a big championship, a Major, than a weekly Tour event? STACY LEWIS: Well, a Major you have to have every aspect of your game. It tests every club in your bag. You have to hit wedges good, you have to hit 4‑irons good. Certain tournament weeks you don't have to hit your long irons so well because the golf course may be a little shorter, you have a lot of wedges, short irons. So the Majors are a mental grind, and everything has to be spot‑on. If it's not, the golf course‑‑ they will pull out your weaknesses for sure. Q. Stacy, kind of along the conversation of top American, but with the game being so global and with the talent spread really across the globe, is there any sort of extra motivation, maybe even pressure, among the American girls to win the U.S. Open? STACY LEWIS: I think we as American players, I think we put enough pressure on ourselves. This is our national championship. I think as a kid you grow up wanting to win this tournament. You see yourself with that trophy, and I think we put enough pressure on ourself, and we want to keep this back in the U.S. So like any Tour event, the Americans, we need to play well. We need to play well for our Tour. I don't think there's any extra pressure this week that we don't already put on ourselves. Q. Do you feel like this course suits your game? And what's the strongest part of your game right now? STACY LEWIS: Well, I don't know if this golf course really suits anybody. It's a lot of golf course. It's really tough. I don't know. I think the golf course suits a longer ball hitter and someone that putts well. So I feel like that suits me, I think. I don't know. The course is just so hard. It's going to be‑‑ it's more of a mental test than physical, I think. It's going to be who can stay the most patient. And then for me I feel like even over the last couple of months, my ball striking has just been really good. It hasn't really put a lot of pressure on any other aspects of my game, so it's allowed me to kind of free up my putter a little bit and not really have to use my short game too much. Q. A couple themes we've talked to all of the players with this week, the game has become so much more global and there are so many more youngers players playing. Given there's so much more talent, how do you cope with that? How do you deal with such increased competition and maybe more pressure? STACY LEWIS: I don't know. It's great for the game. It's great to have like Lexi Thompson, Jessica Korda winning this year. It's great for the game. It brings a whole another fan base in there. There's always going to be somebody behind you that's working just as hard if not harder. I was‑‑ it made me kind of realize last week with Ai winning she went to No. 3. I've been so focused on trying to get to Yani. There's always somebody that's going to come up behind you that wants to beat you. You have to put that pressure on yourself to just keep getting better, because you know there's somebody out there working just as hard as you are. THE MODERATOR: Stacy, thanks so much for coming in. STACY LEWIS: Thank you. THE MODERATOR: Good luck this week. STACY LEWIS: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|