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SIME DARBY LPGA MALAYSIA


October 10, 2012


Robert Bird

Shanshan Feng

Stacy Lewis

Ai Miyazato

Suzann Pettersen

Jiyai Shin


KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA

Q.  (Inaudible.)
YANI TSENG:  After I won the U.S. Open, I had some pressure myself, from fans.  They expect me to play well like U.S. Open.  Sometimes I had a lot of pressure, but I tried to play golf, have fun and just try to stay playing.

Q.  You must have many happy memories of this tournament, especially last year at the end.
YANI TSENG:  Yeah, I have many good memories from here, especially all the sponsors and Malaysian fans and all the crowd, and also I met Kelly Tan, she was the low amateur last year.  After the ceremony on Sunday, she came to me and she invite me for dinner and I had dinner with her, with her family, and I think we talked about the golf, and I think we had a great time.  I still keep in touch with her.  She is very nice, and I hope to play well.

Q.  You must have some pretty good memories of last year.  When you come to a place where you play so well how does it feel?
YANI TSENG:  I always look forward to playing in Asian tournaments because it's kind of my hometown, my hometown of Taiwan.  I always have a few more fans in Asia.  It's always fun to play in front of the crowd.  I have a good memory here last year, too.  I was in a fight to the end.  I didn't play well the first couple of days, but I finished well the end.  I always wished hard to the next level, so I work hard at this tournament, and I played the course today and I still love it.  I'm just going to go there and have fun and have another challenge.

Q.  Stacy, some of the local magazines here ranked you as one of the favorites.  What do you have to say?
STACY LEWIS:  Well, it's nice to be ranked as one of the favorites, I guess, but you've also got a target on your back.  I played really well this year and just been really consistent.  I think that's been the best part for me.  Coming off a win, I was glad to have a couple weeks off.  But I feel really relaxed and ready to go for these next couple weeks in Asia.

Q.  Shanshan, first, congratulations, first player from China to win an event and a major to boot.  We have watched the Korean invasion over the years, the strength of Korea, and a lot of that would have to do with the inspiration of Se Ri.  What has your win done your China?
FENG SHANSHAN:  It's kind of a tough question.  Golf in China now, it's gotten more and more popular, but it's still just the beginning of it.  You know, everybody saw what NaLi's winning at the French Open helped tennis to grow.  I'm not trying to compare myself with NaLi, but of course she's like my idol.  I want to be like her, that can help Chinese golf to move on, and I'll just do all I can to help it.
Yeah, I was born in Guangzhou, China, and back then, 14 years ago when I was 10, I started‑‑ 13 years ago, sorry, I started golf when I was 10, and like you said, it was because my father works for the Golf Association in Guangzhou, and it started like a junior team, so that was why I started golf.
It's actually funny, though, why I started golf was because when I was little, I was very ill, like I was really white and like weak, and he finally was like, I think you need some kind of a sport to help you be healthier.  So I tried swimming, I tried tennis, and both didn't work.  So I tried golf, and I see this is my sport.  So I kept going.  For sure at the end of the evening I couldn't really find too many good coaches in China, and my dad really helped a lot, and the China Golf Association gave me many chances to play overseas, and that is how I met Yani, when we were like 13 or 14.  And the first time I met her, that was my first time to play a tournament in America, and she was the defending champion.  So it started, she was a lot ahead.
We are good friends, and also she's my target (laughter).  I think we got a little closer, but I'm still chasing her.

Q.  Suzann, maybe one to you.  You've just had a trip to Mozambique.  Maybe you can tell us a bit about that, and also the fact that the LPGA is about a lot more than just playing golf now, it's also about giving back to the community, as well.
SUZANN PETTERSEN:  Absolutely.  I just came off probably the week of my life last week.  I went down to Mozambique with the charity that I'm an ambassador for, the Right to Play, which is an organization that's trying to give kids around the world an opportunity to learn about life, health, values in health through activities and sports.  And to see the programs in real life and see that they're working and spending time with the kids was very emotional.  You almost just want to start crying when you see the kids, but then they smile back at you and they're so happy and they're full of spirit.  It's very hard to describe in words the feelings and kind of what goes through your mind.
But to see that you can actually help make a difference is what kind of for me was very special, to see the programs.  I mean, you can do a little charity work, but if you never get to see and experience it in real life, sometimes it's actually hard to understand the impact it can do.  So to see the kids and how they progress, and to see how the teachers and coaches kind of deal with the kids on a daily basis and literally try to teach them what we take for granted, stuff in life, sicknesses, diseases.  So that was very special.  I mean, I'm‑‑ it wasn't the best timing for it for me, but when I finally got there, it was so worth it, and I'm so glad I got to experience it, and I'm definitely going back there some other time.
But I think all the players here, we all represent different charities, we all support each other.  I had my own tournament back in August, we raised a lot of money for this cause.  Yani and Lorena and Annika helped me out for that tournament.
So I think we're all involved in some way, and for us to be able to be so fortunate to do what we do for a living, I think we all feel some responsibility to try to give back, and we all have our different attachments to different causes, but I think overall the work that's done behind the scenes from pretty much all players is phenomenal.
Just remember Lorena's brother always used to tell me, whatever you do, just make sure you make a difference, and to see that in real life was a life experience.

Q.  You've been real quiet for the last 12 months, but the British Open, phenomenal win and must be a fantastic confidence booster for you.
JIYAI SHIN:  After British win, it changed a lot, actually.  I went back to Korea, so many people, they have a warm welcome.  Last 12 months I had a lot of injury.  Last year my back wasn't good, and this year my hand wasn't good.
After that surgery when I played, I was really happy to play because I was so miss about playing, I'm missing and hungry about the competition with Yani and all the players.  I am really happy to get to here and I'm still really enjoying the competition.  I'm really happy for the competition this week and next time at the tournament.

Q.  So maybe you can share your experience of playing on the LPGA for the third year in a row and what you expect for the week.
AI MIYAZATO:  Yes, I've seen so many Japanese fans out there every single year, and that makes me really happy.  Japanese people are everywhere in the world right now, but now the LPGA has so many tournaments all over the world, and it's nice to see the Japanese people out there.  Wherever you are, you can see the Japanese fans, that means a lot to me.
But like I said, I've been playing this tournament three years in a row, and the results are not very good so far.  But I still have Japanese fans, and also the local fans, too, they're always calling me Miyazato‑san in Japanese, and it just makes me relaxed and happy, and I have great memories out here, and hopefully this year it's going to be the new year and new tournament, and the results will follow.

Q.  I'd just like to ask Stacy, did you play the course yesterday or this week?
STACY LEWIS:  I haven't been out to the course yet this week.  I've heard, though, it's similar to the last few years.  It's a course, I think you've got to hit it straight on, and like any tournament, you've got to make a bunch of putts.  One of the hardest challenges this week I think is the heat.  I think everybody would agree with that.
This golf course just sets up for a lot of birdies and for a good battle down the stretch.

Q.  When you talk about the heat, a couple people earlier were asking how do the players cope in such humid conditions?  Could you share with us, how much do you drink out on the golf course in these conditions?  And how many gloves do you go through?  The golf course is hard enough already, let alone the humidity that you have to endure, as well.
STACY LEWIS:  Yeah, it's tough.  I was in Florida last week, and it was pretty hot, so maybe that'll help me out a little bit.  We usually go through a couple gloves a round.  You sweat a ton, so it's really almost the night before I think you're drinking a lot of water all week, just trying to really take care of yourself.  Our caddies I think have the harder job sometimes than we do, so it's just keeping your caddie in it, making sure he's drinking water, and hopefully he'll get through the week all right.

Q.  Mr.Bird, from the club's perspective, this is the No.1 course in Malaysia, but what does an event like this do for the club?
ROBERT BIRD:  Well, I think it obviously gives us great exposure to a global audience through the various sports channels.  I think it gives our members great pride in the club.  It's an opportunity for us to show off the courses, the club's facilities.  From the staff point of view, the club, it's wonderful, the pride that they take in staging and hosting this event.  It's something that they really get revved up for each year.  So I think we benefit from it at various levels, and we're very happy to have that.

Q.  Suzann, I might just ask you, it's not that long ago we saw a fantastic rivalry between the internationals and the Asian players in the Lexus Cup.  Asian players hold all four majors now.  Do you think that might add a little bit of spark to the rivalry, you might come after those guys?
SUZANN PETTERSEN:  Well, I think it just showcases how global our Tour has become, obviously, that we have several Asian players on Tour.  I mean, I don't know, I think we have 40, 50 Koreans on Tour.  They are fantastic all through their race.  Obviously Se Ri was a hero to most of them growing up, and I think they're all now themselves idols for young kids growing up.  I think it's fantastic to see girls from China, Japan, Korea.  I mean, it's just so well represented.  I feel like the Americans and us Europeans have to step it up a little bit if we're going to stay in the chase down the road.
But I think it's just a good representation of where we're at and the state of the Tour.

Q.  Speaking of stepping it up a little bit, Stacy, you are right up there for Player of the Year this year.  You will become the first American if you can pull it off in two decades to win Player of the Year, so it shows how international it's become.  How important is that to you?
STACY LEWIS:  I mean, it's very important to me.  That's kind of been my No.1 goal since the middle of the year.  I think as a Tour, for the Americans, I think we need someone to win Player of the Year.  It's been since 1994, which is pretty hard to believe.  But if you look at the runs that Annika and Lorena went on, and Yani, I mean, you can kind of believe it.  I mean, it's really foreign for me.  That's why I'm over here playing every week and staying busy at the end of the year.  I just have to keep playing good and hopefully just keep chipping away at it.

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