|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
LPGA LOTTE CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY J GOLFApril 20, 2013Suzann PettersenKAPOLEI, HAWAII THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome the 2013 LPGA Lotte Championship winner Suzann Pettersen to the interview room. Congratulations. What a display of golf out there today between you and Lizette, quite a battle down there to finish the back nine and then a playoff to win. Take me through the day. SUZANN PETTERSEN: Well, before I teed it off I said to Brian, let's get to 20. I thought 20 was going to do it. That would take a fantastic round from anyone behind me, and it would take some good golf from me, but that was kind of the number I was shooting for. Played very solid today. Obviously a little easier conditions, so I just tried to stick with my own game plan, didn't really look behind me. I looked at one scoreboard, I think that was on 8, and I saw people were still making a lot of birdies, I said let's still keep this going. Made one errant tee shot, cost me‑‑ I managed to get a bogey. But other than that I putted great, another round with somewhere about 27 putts, so at least the hurdle that's been‑‑ that I've been fighting before, it's kind of letting go now, and that's how you win tournaments. Q. When you were going on that back nine and you saw what Lizette was doing, she birdied a stretch of five straight holes, how aware were you looking at the leaderboards? Were you aware of what she was doing at the time? SUZANN PETTERSEN: I didn't really‑‑ like I said, she was right ahead of me but I didn't really pay attention. I had more than enough to try and keep track of my own game, my own shots. I birdied 15, and then I think I was aware that she was like 18‑under. So I mean, she wasn't going anywhere, and I'm like, oh, my God, where did she start this day because I didn't remember seeing her next to my name on the list yesterday. She's a tough cookie. She's been playing fantastic. She's just got to keep putting herself in this position, and she'll get her win. Coming down 18 with a one‑shot lead and I missed the fairway, I didn't have the best of lies. I kind of hit it to where I thought I would have to and really tried to get up‑and‑down. Hit a good putt. And playing the playoff hole, I don't know, I felt pretty comfortable, had a pretty comfortable yardage, and yeah. Q. You talked about the one errant tee shot. Watching it on television it sounded like there was some sort of sound in your backswing. Was there something that affected you on that drive? SUZANN PETTERSEN: Oh, I mean, I heard it. It was a truck. It felt like it was right on top of me. But no, I mean, it was a little bit of an errant tee shot, a little bit unlucky for that to hit and bounce on the cart path, otherwise it would be in the rough and I would play the hole as a three‑shot hole and maybe get a birdie at least or par. But I made a good birdie attempt after the lie I had in the first cut. I really just tried to have a short memory there and just forget about it as quick as I could. I knew coming in I would have some shorter holes that I could somehow attack, and every time I was on the green today inside 10 feet, I felt like I had‑‑ I felt good with my putter. I made a lot of great putts coming down the stretch, and that's a very nice feel. Q. We joked last year in the back‑to‑back wins in Asia how comfortable you are playing in Asia. Did it seem like you were playing in Asia this week? SUZANN PETTERSEN: The crowd was pretty Asian. Pretty dominant of Asians. I don't know, I mean, my game has been feeling great. It's nice that I have kept kind of the progress that I had from Kraft. It's always kind of a‑‑ the air kind of goes out of the balloon once you finish the first major because it's been such a massive buildup and you fight to the very bitter end, and you go through some emotions. And the first couple days you're a bit empty and then you kind of‑‑ it was pretty much straight back to work. Again, it was very kind of obvious that I didn't do well enough at Kraft and what I had to do better. It's nice that the adjustments I've done with my putting is working, and just very happy to get my first win of the year on the LPGA. It's probably one of the earliest ones I've ever had, two wins before April. That's big for me. Q. When you talk about your demeanor changing, you talked this week about how much happier you are on the golf course, you changed caddies, but how different do you feel right now out there in terms of we even saw you laughing it off a little bit after that bogey. SUZANN PETTERSEN: Yeah. I don't know, it's like you get older, you get smarter. I've kind of figured out how I play well, and I play well when I stay aggressive. I hate to play defensive and I hate to play away from the pins, and obviously at times you have to. That's when the experience comes in. But for me to shy away and not step on the pedal, that's not me. If I make an error being too aggressive, I can live with it. But if I make an error playing defensive trying to protect something, I mean, I wouldn't shoot myself, but it's hard for me to accept it. So that's pretty much the game plan I'm playing off. And yeah, I mean, like I said yesterday, I still feel like I have the best ahead of me, and it's nice that you come down the stretch, you're able to just block everything out and just really just you and the ball and try making it. Q. Was there any point, particularly today but at any time this week, when you felt like it was getting away from you at all? SUZANN PETTERSEN: Not really. It felt like I executed four good rounds under very different conditions. I've been feeling good with my putter, so I said to myself, you know what, you might make a few errors but you're going to have plenty of opportunities to make birdies. There's shots out there I definitely don't feel comfortable, but that's when you really dig deep and you work mentally and you stay within yourself. Just really glad I managed to pull this off because I feel like I've been leading this tournament since day one pretty much except for Ariya Jutanugarn shooting 8‑under on the first day. But it was just nice to stay on top of it, stay ahead of the game and never really looking back. Q. You talked a little earlier about a hurdle for you. Can you kind of just define what you mean from that? SUZANN PETTERSEN: Well, I mean, I wouldn't say I've never been a good putter because I've had a lot of clutch putts that I've made throughout my career. I've been feeling it's been inconsistent. The good days are fantastic, the average days are not good enough. I've been trying out a few different things to see if it would bring out a more natural kind of feel for me, and I keep kind of going back to how I used to putt growing up. I've been putting with my eyes closed all week. It's just something I did a lot in 2007. I practiced a lot with it. Back then I was like, why not bring it to the golf course. I have a lot better feel. I don't really try to steer the putt. I kind of visualize everything in my head. I visualize the line that I've read the ball, the speed‑‑ I've read it, and that's it. And it's kind of very release and feel because I'm just letting it happen. Coming down the stretch today, I mean, it's very tempting to try and keep your eyes open to see if you can make it, but it doesn't make a change. I've just got to let it go. I'm just really trying to put a nice roll on the ball, and once that ball has left the face there's nothing I can do. So it just frees me up, it takes away what I say is usually a control factor that it's less controlling in a way which for me is a good way. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|