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HSBC WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSFebruary 28, 2013Azahara MunozSINGAPORE KELLY THESIER: We'd like to welcome our current leader, Azahara Munoz into the interview room, first off, great round today, 7‑under par, just take me through that day out there. It looks like the hole was pretty big to you every time you got on that green. AZAHARA MUNOZ: Yeah, thank you. I played pretty good. I hit a lot of fairways. When I didn't, I still hit the greens. I feel the key today, I hit a lot of really good second shots so I gave myself a lot of opportunities, and then obviously I converted a lot of them. KELLY THESIER: And first group off of the day, is there something to be said sometimes about playing in that first group? Does it ever just kind of get you going? Do you tend to play better in that? AZAHARA MUNOZ: I don't know what it is, but my best three rounds on Tour have been first tee time, so I was joking with Karin today that maybe they should move the tee time to first off. I really like it, you don't have to wait, it's super nice, the greens are perfect. I think it gets me going. KELLY THESIER: We talk all week about the trickiness of this golf course and hitting shots in the right place. What were the keys for you today, and you know, a lot of players haven't been using driver very frequently. What kind of was your strategy. AZAHARA MUNOZ: Yeah, we didn't use driver much today either. In the practise rounds I did on every hole but today the wind seems to be a little bit different, and I thought just putting the ball in play on the fairway was more important. So in at least five or six holes, I would say I hit 3‑wood today. Q. You just mentioned the greens were perfect; any differences, any adjustments you think that you have to make‑‑ AZAHARA MUNOZ: Thank you. No, you don't make an adjustment. It's the same. You have to play the same golf course. It's probably the same conditions. It's just the tee times are only from 8.25 to like 10.15, so everyone is really close to each other. But I don't know, it's something about‑‑ I like playing first off. It's something I like. Obviously on Friday, I wouldn't like to be first half, so I'm happy to be back. Q. A lot of players have been complaining the course was quite difficult, and they couldn't use driver much. How have you found it? AZAHARA MUNOZ: I actually think it is quite difficult, but I just hit a lot of fairways today. You know, when you play good, it doesn't really matter where you play, and especially if you make putts like I did today. So my key today was I hit a lot of really good second shots and I gave myself a lot of chances. Q. You had a couple more chances I think, as well. Do you regreet not shooting even slightly lower? AZAHARA MUNOZ: Obviously the lower you can go, the better. But on 18, it just stayed on the edge. I made so many putts today, and you always need something, you can always go lower, but I'm really happy with my round. Q. How many practise rounds did you have? AZAHARA MUNOZ: I played nine on Monday, the other nine on Tuesday and then yesterday I played 18 in the Pro‑Am. Q. You just had two full practise rounds? AZAHARA MUNOZ: Mm‑hmm. Q. And is this your best score, given the fact you've only played, in, your career, in terms of coming to a new course and playing, is this probably one of your best opening rounds for a course you're unfamiliar with? AZAHARA MUNOZ: It is one of my best opening round. I think my best on Tour is 9‑under and I also have an 8‑under. A lot of times we go to new courses, so we've had two practise rounds and that's plenty for us. Q. Can I just check on the par putt that you made on the 16th, how important was that? You didn't drop a shot the whole day? AZAHARA MUNOZ: It was really important because my second shot was really good and I thought the wind was helping and it didn't. I would have been really disappointed with a bogey, so I was really happy when I made that one. KELLY THESIER: Last year you became a first‑time winner on the LPGA Tour at the Match Play and year before, that Rookie of the Year. How did the confidence level grow for you after kind of capturing that first win? And it seems that your game just kind of game together towards the end of last year, and how much do you think it carried into this year so far. AZAHARA MUNOZ: Well, so far not‑‑ but it definitely helped me, because I was out there quite a lot but I never really broke through to win. So winning helped me a lot. It made me feel more comfortable when I was in the last few groups on Sunday. KELLY THESIER: And though we joke about traveling a lot, but you never really had a base in the U.S. so you are kind of used to going back and forth between places. I know this off‑season you finally did get a home base in the U.S.; what difference do you think that's going to make for you over the year to now kind of have somewhere to call home in the States? AZAHARA MUNOZ: I think hopefully it makes a difference, but I think it was really nice. The practise facilities around now, they are so much better. At home are good, too, but courses in the States, nobody really plays on my golf course, it's pretty much all for me. And also a lot of flight hours, for sure, going back and forth all the time; and I think the most important one is sometimes when I only have a week off, I wouldn't go back off but I would still have to pack for ten weeks, and that was really difficult, just living out of a suitcase. Q. Many golfers take a conservative strategy on this golf course. Would you say you also played more conservative golf or more aggressively in this level? AZAHARA MUNOZ: I did a mix. A few holes I played conservative, but I just thought putting the ball in play was more important. But sometimes I also went for the driver and took a chance to go in the bunker, but I just wanted to have a shorter club into the greens. So I did a little mix. KELLY THESIER: Thank you very much. Best of luck the rest of the week. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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