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KRAFT NABISCO CHAMPIONSHIPApril 3, 2013Beatriz RecariRANCHO MIRAGE, CALIFORNIA KRAIG KANN: It is a true pleasure to kick off the day with our most recent winner on the LPGA, Beatriz Recari, winner the Kia Classic this year. Thanks for being here. Out there working on your game.  How do you feel going into this major championship? Different than in majors past. BEATRIZ RECARI: Yeah, definitely winning the last event in San Diego was definitely a confidence booster. I feel good. Doing the same things trying to keep it simple, so I'm feeling really good. KRAIG KANN: I think everybody in here watched the tail end of that tournament, or has seen it on TV, and the emotions that poured out. When you were maybe driving away to the airport or thinking about it that night, how was that for you? BEATRIZ RECARI: Yeah, it was definitely very special. You know, I just felt‑‑ I don't know . I just hold that part, and all the emotions came out. The first thing I thought was about my family and the loved ones that have been with me all the way. I was just really happy to get my second win and just see that all the hard work pays off. Yeah, it was (indiscernible) to drive back to the airport and feel that, yes, I just got my second wind. KRAIG KANN: You were on Golf Channel a couple days later, and I'm sure you've done some other interviews. Has that given you a different feeling about not only yourself but about your game and where you rank on the LPGA tour right now? By the way, you are No. 2 in the points race for Rolex Player of the Year. BEATRIZ RECARI: I honestly feel the same. You know, I think I knew early in the year when, you know, in my first tournament I finished tied for fourth, in Thailand I finished tied for third. So I knew that my game was better than what my Rolex Rankings number said or anything. So I actually felt really good. I don't feel that much difference. Just want to keep on building on this momentum and feeling and hopefully get some more wins. KRAIG KANN: We'll take questions from the audience. Raise your hand for a microphone. Before we get to the first question, what's different? Why 27 cuts made in a row last year, all your long? You're now the ironwoman of the tour. That's a pretty special thing. BEATRIZ RECARI: Yeah, well, it's been a lot of hard work. For me, I think the key was to keep things simple and just work on the same few things. KRAIG KANN: Specifically, what? BEATRIZ RECARI: You know, just same stuff. Just kind of simple things and just trying to tune my swing every now and then. Really just keeping it simple. KRAIG KANN: Questions. Q. How do you feel your game suits this golf course, the first major of the year, coming in this week? Is this a golf course you're comfortable with? BEATRIZ RECARI: I'm comfortable, yeah. It's great to play in majors where they have narrowed the fairways a lot. I think one of my strengths is that I drive the ball really well, so I think it's going to be a good fit for my game. Q. Talking about the rough of maybe four and a half. BEATRIZ RECARI: Yeah, the rough is high. Q. Maybe a little higher this weekend. BEATRIZ RECARI: Yeah, no, it's been really good. I was happy to see the rough that high, because in past years it wasn't that high so it wasn't that big of a disadvantage to hit a poor tee shot. So I think it's going to be a good week. KRAIG KANN: You talked about the streak last year and cuts made consecutively. 38 right now for you. You should be smiling a lot more about that. Not everybody out here is doing what you're doing. It's not as though you're winning every other week or have six wins, but it seems like your career is in a completely different place than it was back when you won your first tournament. Can you talk about that a little bit? BEATRIZ RECARI: You know, to make a big cut is definitely a challenge. Maybe people don't really realize, like you said. I was building and building and I was talking to (indiscernible) who kind of gave me the nickname for ironwoman. That kind of sunk in a little bit and made me realize I had a great performance even though I didn't win last year. I was really, really happy to see how consistent my game was developing. Yeah, just I now have a nickname so I have to stand up for it and keep on doing it. KRAIG KANN: The stats say you're one of the best players on this tour. Do you feel like you're one of the best players on this tour now? BEATRIZ RECARI: You know, I hate to compare. There are great players out there. What I can definitely say is I feel like a really consistent player. That's all I really care about and all I can control. KRAIG KANN: Confidence is up. Other questions? Q. Are you the type of player that before the season began sat down and maybe made a list or went over it in your mind of goals? If you did, after the win, is there a tendency now to reevaluate and change them, or do you just stick to the course? BEATRIZ RECARI: Well, when I finished last year, you know, I went through the season, like you said, and I took a lot positives. One was making every single cut. That was a huge positive. But I thought that probably my short game wasn't as good as my tee‑to‑green game or play. You know, that was definitely a focus for this year. I don't like to put goals as I have to win three tournaments, one major. You can't control that. All you can control is how well you perform and just focus on what I'm working on. So my short game and putting was my focus for this winter training, and it's paying off. Q. This is a Solheim Cup year. Is that on your mind? You just smiled. BEATRIZ RECARI: Yeah, it was a little disappointing to not make the team two years ago. But I just saw it as something that would make me stronger. My goal since then has been to make the team through Rolex Rankings qualifying. Right now I'm on the spot. To make the team would be great anyhow, but to make it on my own skills and just to secure my spot and not depend on a captain's pick would be even better. Yeah, I'm not thinking too much about that, but it's definitely in my mind. KRAIG KANN: There are a lot of great players on this tour from Asia, Korea, there are a lot of great American players, and now we've got this little group Spanish‑born players. How much do you guys spend time perhaps talking about being connected in that way and being great players and representing your country? I know with the International Crown coming up next year, that would be an event you all could partner in. BEATRIZ RECARI: Yeah, we're very excited about that event. You know, we've known each other for a long time. Azahara we are the same age, and (indiscernible) is one year younger. We've known each other since we started pretty much, so we're very friendly. We're excited for that tournament. KRAIG KANN: Other questions? You've got Language Training Center on your jersey today, one of your sponsors. I think a lot of people understand that a lot of the players on our tour travel with tutors trying to learn languages. For you, it's Japanese. BEATRIZ RECARI: Yes. KRAIG KANN: Talk about why it's so important for players on our tour, given the schedule. BEATRIZ RECARI: It's definitely a great partner. I've always loved to learn and speak different languages. Now there are so many different nationalities playing on tour and we travel to all these different countries, that it's great to meet new cultures, new people. Why I decided to start studying Japanese is because I just fell in love with the country. The people, they're so welcoming and polite that I just wanted to learn. I find after all the languages that I've learned over the years, I found when you learn the language you learn about the culture and the mindset and why they think that way. I think that's probably why in Spanish it's a different way. What they did for me was they found me a tutor in Orlando, and she comes every week. Not so much now. I've been busy. But over in December and January we studied a lot and we went through the characters, and I was showing Ai and Momoko and Mimoko (phonetic) she's a rookie this year. They were really thrilled and grateful that I was learning Japanese. They thought it was really cool. KRAIG KANN: You were an ambassador for your country, also for the LPGA. If anybody watched you on Golf Channel you talked about it and it's been in some articles recently. It's a pretty outstanding story. You are am ambassador for the Alliance for Eating Disorder Awareness. Can you share how you got involved with that and perhaps a little bit on the background of that story? BEATRIZ RECARI: Well, if you guys knew, I kind of explain it quite simply. I just really don't want to get into details. I obviously struggled with eating disorders. Two years ago I decided I was ready to be a spokesperson and to kind of take the experience I had and take it and do something good with it and try to have and help those people, those girls and adults, that are struggling right now with eating disorders. I find that I was going to be more helpful to them from my point of view as I past struggled with it. So it's been really exciting to become an ambassador with this alliance. Joanna (phonetic), the president, I found her through my agent. I shared this story with my agent. I wanted to share with him and say, Okay, this is something I want to do. This is a project that I'm willing to do for two years now. I am just so happy that it happened. I can't wait to be a little bit more involved in events and some fundraising. KRAIG KANN: You keep winning tournaments you're going to get a lot more attention for that. That's outstanding. This is a story between you and me. I remember you came up to me one time early on last year and said, Hey, let's talk about what we can do with this tour better and showcase our players in LPGA Tour Championship more of a glamourous way. I would love for to you talk about that a little bit. You've been out on the tour for a few years now. Where do you see the LPGA and the players and the fashion? A lot players in the new fan book and player guide. BEATRIZ RECARI: Well, I think it's developed immensely. You say it that way, right? This is my fourth year on tour, and I just find it really important to‑‑ that idea came up to me first because I love tennis and I watch the WTA quite a lot and I see how glamourous their parties are. Then another reason why I thought about it is in sometimes in the pro‑am I played with my pro‑am group early in the morning and we went to the dinner and they're like, Is that you? I was different with a hat. So I think we should show the other side of us, you know, how we can dress up and how glamourous the LPGA can be. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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