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NORTH TEXAS LPGA SHOOTOUTApril 24, 2013Suzann PettersenIRVING, TEXAS MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome No. 5 now, Suzann Pettersen, into the interview room here at the North Texas LPGA Shootout; the most recent winner on the LPGA Tour last week on Saturday at the Lotte championship in Hawaii. A little bit different weather here today than in Oahu. SUZANN PETTERSEN: Yeah, I'm glad I went home for a couple days. I saw the weather forecast and it's going to be a little bit cooler for this week and next week. It's windy here as well. Might as well stay hitting those chip shots with the wind. Happy to be here. I only played one tournament in Texas before. That was our Tour Championship, well, feels like years back. MODERATOR: 2010. SUZANN PETTERSEN: 2010.  I'm happy to be back in Texas. It's great golfing state. I think it's good for the LPGA to be here. MODERATOR: You got your 11th career LPGA victory last week in Hawaii, your first of the season but your second worldwide this season. You won in China as well. What's working well for your game right now? SUZANN PETTERSEN: I don't know. I get the ball in the hole in a few strokes. I don't know. I mean, I work hard. The practice is paying off. I feel good. I don't really question my game too much. I play what I have, try to make the most out of every round. I really took good advantage last week on the first day in very good playing conditions, and managed to get a 7‑under par that helped me kick start the week. Obviously played great during the following two days in the wind. Putting good, too. I mean, everything is just coming together. It's nice I can keep it up even after Kraft. MODERATOR: You talked last week after you won about this is your 11th year on tour. You figured out how to play a lot smarter. You are aggressive when you need to be and layup when you need to. Is that something you think about in a week like this where you know the wind might be blowing, you might be worried about playing too aggressively. SUZANN PETTERSEN: No, but I think what I tried to say and what I still believe in, I can play defensive golf. I can play away from the pin, but it's hard to live with that. I would rather be aggressive and make mistakes that way. If you know your short game and putting is good enough, you dare to take on more pins and you can be more aggressive. But for me to play defense and try to protect something is just not me. It's hard tore me to sleep at night if I feel I played that way. I'm just now trying to stick more to what I know and what I trust. If you pull the wrong club and try to be too aggressive, so what. You just try to get up and down. Just feeling really good. The things I've been working on over the winter are kind of all falling together. Just, yeah, I don't know. I mean, golf is a weird sport. Sometimes you feel on top of world and the next day you don't know how to hit the ball. Just appreciate all the good days. MODERATOR: Questions for Suzann. Q. Two‑parter. One is on your playoff record. What is it about playoffs that you excel at? You're 5‑2 in playoffs; almost half your wins have been that way. And the other, back to back wins last year. Can you do it again? SUZANN PETTERSEN: First, if you go to playoffs stats, if you go to Europe I think it's the complete opposite. I think I won two and lost five, so I don't know. I mean playoff is ‑‑ you've just got to keep the engine going. I think to start off when I came out on tour, and especially in Europe when I made it to a playoff, I was just happy enough to be there. You know, win or lose, you were still top two. I don't really think like that anymore. Now it's when you get to the playoff you can be a bit more aggressive. It's really similar to match play. On Sunday, I mean, Lizette fired probably one of her best rounds ever, 10‑under, and it was hard for me to just stay ahead of her. I tried to get up and down on 18. I don't know. I mean, if I put more pressure on her putting the balls in the greens first, I don't know. In my mind it wouldn't have mattered if she had hit first and hit the green. But I think I feel pretty comfortable. I trust my game and I kind of trust that what I have, that it's good enough. I think that's pretty much it. That's pretty much how I play match play, and that's probably why I love to play the Solheims. It's all or nothing. What was your second question? Q. Back to back wins. SUZANN PETTERSEN: I don't know. I feel like I've played fairly good since the Asia last your. I tee'd it up in ten events and won four, so pretty happy with that stat. I feel like I have a game to win on pretty much every course that we have. If I just can manage to stay on top of my game and prepare the way I feel like I should prepare and get enough rest, I feel like I should be in contention pretty much every time I tee it up. Q. Is there a golf course that this one reminds you of? Anything about this golf course that's different or consistent with the courses that you play in the normal schedule? SUZANN PETTERSEN: No. This is Las Colinas, and we only play one Las Colinas a year. I've only seen the back side. I'm going to see the front side in the afternoon. The greens are big. They're a lot speedier than last week, so that's a big adjustment to do. No rough. So, I mean, defending on what the weather gives us. I guess the wind is the protection this course has from what I saw yesterday. It's going to be nice tomorrow, so this cold spell will be over fairly soon. I think it's a good track. Like I said, I think it's good for the LPGA to be in Texas. Q. When you get to Arkansas in June, the course at Pinnacle you played last year. They shortened the No. 17 hole, the par‑3. Do you remember that hole at all? It was very difficult par‑3 and they shortened it. I was going to get your comments on playing a shorter distance on that course and how that will help the scoring, especially on the final round? SUZANN PETTERSEN: First of all, I thought that was a brilliant par‑3. I thought it was one of better ones we play all year. Long‑ish and you still had to be very precise for that back right pin. You could play short, safe, or you could be aggressive. If you hit the right shot, you could really make your move making a birdie there. I thought that was a brilliant hole. In general, I think the LPGA should make the par‑3s and 4s tougher and ease up on the par 5s. You look at Augusta coming down the stretch. Why is it so exciting? 13, 15. They guys are hitting irons into the greens. It can really make a difference. You can make a move with a three or you can really make a disaster out of it or make a six or seven. I think that's the excitement that the fans want to see. It's more fun for us as well. Q. You think that hole, how would that impact the tournament? SUZANN PETTERSEN: Not at all. Don't make a difference. It's not a hole where I think average score would be much under par anyway. Then you have 18 that's reachable. I think they should have kept it as it was. It is kind of an exciting finish with a tough par‑3, and I can make up on the par 5 coming down. Q. On a completely different story, fitness, how important is fitness to your game and how much does the LPGA do to help you and help other golfers on the training table and lunches and things like that and healthier, I guess, meals available for you? SUZANN PETTERSEN: Well, I think in general I think golf has changed a lot over the last 16 years. I think you look at most of the top golfers now as athletes, not just as golfers. I think the entire attitude, commitment from every player has changed. Look at all the young guns coming up on the men's and women's side. It's a complete package. Being a part of the Nike team you really feel like an athlete alongside all the other sports and great athletes. Doesn't matter what sport. So I think it's a change for the better. I don't know. I look at myself as an athlete. I work hard; I train hard. Fitness is just a part of what I do, but I also love to do it. It's not just I do it because someone told me to do it. I think when you're fit, first of all, you feel strong, you're mentally strong, and you recover faster ‑ especially traveling all the different time zones. It's injury preventing most importantly probably, and also sets off a good technique. There are so many benefits from being in good shape and being healthy that I don't know why you wouldn't go that route. Q. For the No. 1 spot, fans enjoy this kind of competition. Do the players like that? Do you look at that as a fun thing, that competition for No. 1? SUZANN PETTERSEN: Not really. I just wish I was there and way ahead of everyone else. (Laughter.) No, I mean, obviously like I say week in and week out: The depth in women's golf is very deep at the moment. We have a lot of great players from around the world, and I think that's one of our strong sides, to represent pretty much the world out here. It's nice to see different names up there week in and week out. Not to take anything away from Annika and Webby and Se Ri when they were fighting it out, but there are a lot more names to it now who can win, which makes it more exciting when you do win. You have to bring your A game to the course every single day. At Kraft I played three great rounds and one sloppy round. That's not going to get the job done. So just trying to stay on top of everything. There is only so much you can control. What I'm trying to do is make my practice and training as hard as I can so I can ease up when I go and play and just enjoy it. So the practice is the hardest thing, so when I tee it up I can just relax. Q. (No microphone.) SUZANN PETTERSEN: Yeah. I was on tour in 2005. I mean, I feel like I've been fortunate enough to be out here long enough to actually see and play with and against players like Annika, Meg Mallon, Beth Daniel, Rosie Jones, all the Swedish girls, you name it. The generation that is above me. I'm very fortunate and happy that I got to play with them because I learned a lot. They were great role models for the younger ones the same way we are trying to be for the new girls coming out. The tour has changed a lot. There are so many more young girls out here. There is definitely a new generation coming up. Q. In going with that question, you talk about the new girls coming in on the tour. What do you see is the biggest difference between that generation and yours? Is it fitness? More the coaching aspect? SUZANN PETTERSEN: Well, I just think you look at golf, you look at tennis, you look at all these other sports, the kids coming out, they're younger and better at a younger age. I don't know if it's the training regime or whatever they do growing up and how hard they practice, but if you look at all the young girls coming out, they're all pretty fit, tall, and hit it a mile. They're fearless. They haven't been out here enough to know the humps out here. But it's fun to see. There is a lot of great young American players coming up and great personalities as well. I think we're in very good shape for the future to come. MODERATOR: Anyone else for Suzann? A very thoughtful interview. We appreciate that. SUZANN PETTERSEN: There you go. That's what you get with age. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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