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RICOH WOMEN'S BRITISH OPENSeptember 11, 2012Michelle Wie WestWIRRAL, ENGLAND COLIN CALLANDER: We now have Michelle Wie with us, who finished 23rd as an amateur back in 2005; bring back a lot of good memories for you? MICHELLE WIE: It does. It's funny because Hoylake was I think like the first links golf course I played in my entire life. We came over here for the Curtis Cup and we played a practise round here. I remember definitely the holes, the Racetrack Hole. Lots of good memories here. It's tough conditions this morning, so I'm looking forward to it. COLIN CALLANDER: How tough were the conditions out there this morning? MICHELLE WIE: It was brutal (laughing). I think coming from Kingsmill where you hit the ball and it stops right there, there's really no wind, to this morning, having woken up at 1.00 a.m. because I couldn't sleep. No. 1, really out of it, and No. 2 I was like, oh my God, falling over, wind, hail. But I'm glad that I played that, because regular golf goes straight out the window as soon as you walk on the tee this year. You have to be really creative and your distances with your irons don't really matter. You have to think of new things. It's fun. COLIN CALLANDER: People often say here that the secret to playing Hoylake is to stay out of the bunkers; do you think that is the case? MICHELLE WIE: For sure. I've heard about how Tiger didn't hit a single bunker, and that's definitely motivation for me to not go in a bunker. I went in one today and you just really have to go out sideways. You can't go for the green at all. COLIN CALLANDER: I don't know if you've seen the draw yet, but you're playing alongside Carly Booth, who has won a couple of times on the LET this year. Have you met her before, played with her before? MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, we played together at Evian. She's a really nice girl and I got really excited when I saw the pairings, because I think we're going to have a great time. COLIN CALLANDER: And also one of the people in the news this week is Lydia Ko, who is 15, and obviously you must relate to that because you were a very famous golfer at that time. Is it difficult to be in the spotlight as you were? MICHELLE WIE: Not really. It's pretty cool. I'm sure she's having a blast. I haven't met her yet and I would love to meet her this week. I think it's great what she did winning everything like that. So I have a lot of respect for her and I really want to meet her this week. COLIN CALLANDER: How do you feel your game is at the moment? MICHELLE WIE: It's been a really rough year for me, but I definitely have a lot of positives. And it's going to be fun this week, links golf course, is a good way to shake things up with the wind going 20 miles an hour. So I'm very excited for this week to start and I'm very excited to play this week. Q. Despite being the most well‑known female golfer, you said before that Hoylake was the first links golf course you ever played. What do you make of the area and more importantly, the golf course? MICHELLE WIE: Oh, it's great. You know, definitely the Racetrack Hole was very memorable for me. It's the first thing I remember when I came here, and Liverpool, it's a great city. There's so many ethnic restaurants and there's so many things that I want to try. And it's beautiful, it's right on the water. So I'm really loving it so far. Everything is kind of walking distance from my hotel, so it's great. Q. How well do you think you're going to cope with the notoriously changeable weather? MICHELLE WIE: You know, I can see how it could be either great, or not great. I mean, today even, in one round, we had I felt like all four seasons. It was funny, I had to wear my sunglasses and then literally 30 seconds later, it hailed on us. So I probably won't wear my sunglasses because that means hail's coming. But it can change, and that's the thing about the British Open. Last year we had no wind at Carnoustie, and this year, I think it's going to be a bit windy, a bit rainy at sometimes. But that's the fun of it. It doesn't seem like the British Open when it doesn't do that, so I'm looking forward to it. Q. Do you still have ambitions to compete on the PGA TOUR with the men? MICHELLE WIE: I haven't really thought about that for a while.  Right now my main focus is winning out here and then my main, main focus is winning this week. So yeah, I'm taking it one step at a time. Q. And how do you cope with some of the criticism that's been aimed at you in the past by some of the press; that you played a lot with the men when you were younger and things, how did you cope with that? MICHELLE WIE: You know, criticism, whatever you do, you put left glove on first, before your right, people criticise about that. So you know, I don't regret any decisions I made. If I made a bad decision, I learned from it, and it made all of the decisions that I made in the past and the road that I've been on in the past that I've taken, it's made me who I am today. So I'm grateful for all of the opportunities that I've had and very grateful for the opportunity that I have this week to be here. And just, you know, grateful for everything, all of my experiences, my up‑and‑downs, because like I said, it's made me who I am. So I'm very grateful in general. Q. You're still so young, I'm wondering what it's like when you here Lydia Ko say you're her childhood idol? MICHELLE WIE: It made me feel like an 80s rock star (laughing). But I think it's great. You know, I have a lot of respect for her winning, like the way she did. She played great. She really is good. She has some talent. I haven't met her yet. I would love to meet her and hopefully get to play with her. Q. Do you have any advice for a young girl like her? MICHELLE WIE: I think she has it all figured out; she won already. I would say have fun and try your hardest. It's really a game, after all. Q. Is she good enough to win this week? MICHELLE WIE: Yes, I think so for sure. Q. Can you tell me a little bit about the specific links shots you're going to be working on practising in the next 24 hours? MICHELLE WIE: The punch shot, the low shots. Yeah, I think when the wind blows, you have to keep it in control. I just have to hit my shots solid and I'll work on a lot of short game and putting, because that's what it's really going to come down to. Q. So there's nothing technique‑wise you could change in a week like this? MICHELLE WIE: Not really. I've played the British Open before and you kind of have your British Open shots saved in the bag for this week, so I'm just going to bring them all out. Q. The artistic sensibilities that you have in your sketching, does that translate to the links course? Do you feel like you can bring out your inner artist on the golf course here? MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I think so. I think it brings out the inner artist in every golfer when you come to a links golf course, with the wind and all of the elements; not being able to stop on the greens, you have to be creative using the hills, especially on this golf course, like your pitch shots and whatnot. There's a lot of creativity that goes around and I'm very excited. Q. Any advice you would give to Lydia on how to deal with expectations and bursting on to the scene at such a young age? MICHELLE WIE: You know, I thinkthat she probably has higher expectations of herself; that's what I had. You know, people have high expectations but they are the same expectations that you have on yourself. And I would just say, just play for yourself, don't play for anyone else. It's your game; it's your life and it's your desire, and you just have to really focus on yourself and play for yourself. COLIN CALLANDER: Thank you very much and good luck this week. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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