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KRAFT NABISCO CHAMPIONSHIPApril 3, 2013Suzann PettersenRANCHO MIRAGE, CALIFORNIA KRAIG KANN: Good afternoon everybody, and welcome to the press room here at the Kraft Nabisco Championship. Pleased to be joined by Suzann Pettersen, who has had quite a nice start to her year and a great finish to the year last year. Why don't we start with the preparation for this major championship. What have you been up to and how is your game? SUZANN PETTERSEN: My game is pretty good. It's always one of the highlights of the year coming here. Everything I've done prior to this has been with this in mind. I'm getting old. KRAIG KANN: What did you say? SUZANN PETTERSEN: I'm getting older. I've played it so many times. It's easy to prepare for a course that you know so well and you know what it's going to take of you. I was walking up to play a few rounds at Bay Hill last week which was kind of hard and firm. It was perfect for me and great preparation. KRAIG KANN: Talk about you're memories of this golf course. You haven't won here, but you've had some opportunities and been runner‑up on multiple occasion. SUZANN PETTERSEN: Yeah, I have a lot of great memories on this course. It's one of those courses you just come to that just suits your eye. A lot of the tee shots, I like what I see. You have to shape the ball somehow off the tee, and when the greens firm up you have to be able to hit certain shots to hold certain pin locations. I've had a few tough defeats here, but I've also gained a lot of experience here. So I kind of feel like this is one of my favorite majors of the year. KRAIG KANN: Let's tie in Mission Hills to Mission Hills. Recently you won an LET event overseas in Asia, and now Mission Hills here. Specific to your game, how big was that victory for you and how might to help making sure your game is on all cylinders for this week? SUZANN PETTERSEN: It was nice. I actually went down to China to make sure I could play on the Solheim team without getting a pick. You know what? I just took it as another opportunity to work on my game, get some low rounds, and ended up in a good fight with Inbee Park coming down the stretch. Just nice to feel the heart pumping having to hit shots and make putts coming down the stretch. Was lucky enough to get another W in Asia. KRAIG KANN: Folks, if you've got questions, we have got microphones and we'll start taking some question here in just a second. Last year, ended a year, fantastic finish for you. I know you felt like it was coming all year and then you won back‑to‑back weeks in Korea, and then in Taiwan as well. What did that do for you before the holiday season? SUZANN PETTERSEN: Obviously, I mean, you win late you kind of walk off the season with a fairly good feel. I mean, at the end of the day, for me it's obviously about doing well and performing. But sometimes you could do a lot of hard work and sometimes it pays off tomorrow and sometimes it pays off two weeks later. In this case I just felt like it was a matter a time before it was all going to click. I knew what I had done in months prior all summer, and I never really felt like my game was right there. I was just lucky enough there were enough tournaments that I had time to use it all and it all came together. I might as well just move to Asia. I mean, I love it there. KRAIG KANN: Questions? Q. You said the course fits your eye. Some trees have been taken down; others have been taken back. Has it changed that much the look and has is made it easier? SUZANN PETTERSEN: You know, it's definitely changed the look to certain holes. I don't know where the trees have gone, but especially the approach shot into 1, it's a quite different look. There is less trees along the side on 1 and 9. There are a few different looks. I mean, all I'm looking at is right down the middle of the fairway. Worrying about the middle, so I don't really look further wider than that. Q. Does it make it any easier off the tee when you see it any wider? SUZANN PETTERSEN: No, not really. I have my game plan and the course all mapped out in my head. If there is trees or rough or bunkers, I mean, it's a very good tract. The course is in phenomenal shape. I'm sure they're going to firm up and speed up the greens a fraction of a bit. It's going to be a good test. Q. The weather forecast says it's going to hit into the 90s all four days. Does that separate the field? Give advantages to players? SUZANN PETTERSEN: Just gives us an advantage coming from tropical Norway just so used to this heat. Q. From Norway? SUZANN PETTERSEN: It's tropical back there in the summertime. KRAIG KANN: Is that the answer you were looking for, Steve? Q. It wasn't an answer. I don't know what it was? SUZANN PETTERSEN: It's beautiful to be here. We came up from Singapore where it's 90 and pretty much 90% humidity. Coming here 90 and a dry heat, it's perfect. KRAIG KANN: Questions. I want to get your perspective for the race for No. 1 on this tour. Stacy Lewis March 18th became No. 1. Yani has slipped bike but seems very motivated right now. Na Yeon Choi is right up there. You had those two wins the end of last year. How do you feel the tour is right now with the competitive balance, and how big a goal is it for you to knock them all off? SUZANN PETTERSEN: It's good to see different people succeed. Stacy is a very hard worker. It; s nice to see an American on top. It's been a while. KRAIG KANN: This is a Solheim Cup year. You just said what? SUZANN PETTERSEN: You have to make friends on the side or we won't have anyone cheering for us. Yani, she will have to be motivated enough to wake up and try to get to the Pro‑Am on time. I give her some crap for that. No, I think it's nice. I think everyone works so hard and I think everyone brings the best out of each other. I think the best way is to bring it out on Sunday and fight it all out. I think it's a fun challenge, and I'm happy to be somehow a part of it. KRAIG KANN: How much of a motivator is it for you at this point in your career to perhaps get to No. 1? SUZANN PETTERSEN: I mean, obviously as a young girl growing up you have you had one goal in mind. I've achieved a lot. Pretty much one thing I haven't achieved, but I'm still looking forward to it. I'm not going to disappear off this tour for a while. I'm just going to keep plugging along. KRAIG KANN: Questions? Let's talk about the Solheim Cup briefly. You brought it up. You guys hold the Cup and you're coming to the United States later this year. Annika was in here yesterday and was having a difficult time keeping a straight face. There was a big smile on her face of the pride of having the Cup. She knows the difficulty of trying to win on American soil. What's your take? And how big was it for you? You were a big part of least victory. SUZANN PETTERSEN: Solheim Cup is always super exciting. It's a lot more fun to win than to lose. That being said, I've lost more than I've been a part of winning teams. It was my second win out of the sic that I've already played. I mean, nothing would be better than to win over here. I know it hasn't been done over here. We've been close. The same way it was in Ireland. It's always going to be close coming down the stretch. I think we have a good captain and I think we're going to have a fairly young team. Some new rookies. I've played with some of them already. They have a fantastic game. Will be a good addition to the team. Get some young spirits, fresh blood, and kind of those no‑fear competitors on our side. It'll be fantastic. I can't wait. I know it's going to be Cristie and my in the singles. It always is. Cristie Kerr. KRAIG KANN: We've given a lot of the players chances to talk about their charitable contributions. Talk about your new event and where you would like to see it go, the Susan Pro Challenge. SUZANN PETTERSEN: Over the years you grow up and get older and get perspective of things. One of the first things that ever crossed my mind that I really wanted to do was to give back to the kids. So ten years ago I created Suzann Junior Challenge, which is pretty much all focused on giving back and trying to help the new generation growing up back home in Norway. Secondly, I want to bring more of a charitable. tournament, more commercial side to the event. So I created the Suzann Pro Challenge. Had three good friends, Yani, Lorena, and Annika joining me. Also last week ‑‑ last year ‑‑ you were there. Fantastic host. Just giving back I'm an ambassador of Right to Play. It's a charity that gives kids in the Third World a chance to use and play and learn activities and just have the opportunity to play the way we had growing up You take it for granted that all your surroundings is the way everyone has it, and that's not true. I went down there four weeks later to see all the project in person, and I must say, to get that personal experience and in touch with the kids felt like pretty much the most meaningful thing I've ever done in my life At the time, it was really bad timing. Didn't really fit my schedule. It was week prior to Malaysia. It was the first of four in Malaysia. I didn't hit a golf ball. I looked at my clubs every night It gave me great perspective of how luck and fortunate we are compared to all these kids who have nothing. I sat with maybe 100 kids and I got introduced as a golfer, and they have no idea what golf is. I thought maybe they've heard of Tiger Woods. Not one hand went up in the air What about football? Oh, yeah, Mess, and they were all cheering big time. It was just weird to see a big name like him that has never come to their attention Ended up being a good thing for me. I came off the trip to Mozambique with two wins in Asia. Might have been part of it. Puts life in perspective and you feel like you can make a difference KRAIG KANN: Last thing from me: Kind of where this tour is right now, this is a major championship, there will be five this year with Evian as well. We talk a lot on the LPGA about building the stage and providing more media opportunities. You've been on the tour for a number of years. Where do you see the LPGA right now? SUZANN PETTERSEN: I think it's in a very healthy place. I think we managed to turn the ship around. If you look at the depth of women's golf, it's stronger than it's ever been. We're global. We're pretty much as big in Asia as we are in America, which I think is a great thing. I think it's important to showcase our talent across the globe. Go different countries where we have players, go to their home countries, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Mexico, China, you name it. I think it's healthy. Obviously golf being an Olympic sport, you're going to see more and new countries popping up on the golf map. I think it's just going to help grow the game of golf. KRAIG KANN: Yes? Q. Besides you, how many people can win this week and why? SUZANN PETTERSEN: I don't know. All I care about is my game, my preparation. I'm done for the day. I'm going to go home and sit with my legs up high and be ready for tomorrow morning. KRAIG KANN: Suzann Pettersen, thank you very much. Appreciate you being here. SUZANN PETTERSEN: Thank you very much. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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