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WEGMANS LPGA CHAMPIONSHIPJune 5, 2013Suzann PettersenPITTSFORD, NEW YORK THE MODERATOR: Thanks for being here. SUZANN PETTERSEN: Always a pleasure coming here. THE MODERATOR: You look quite well rested today, and in a really good mood. Have you been out practicing? What's been going on the last couple days. SUZANN PETTERSEN: Well, I haven't played much golf lately, so I'm definitely well rested. I didn't play Sunday last week, which was obviously disappointing, but very happy to get in the preparation, adjusting to the conditions this course will throw at you. THE MODERATOR: Last week was very difficult for everybody. In a way, perhaps was you kind of not being in contention for the way this thing ended a blessing for you to kind of relax and gear up, because it's been a long stretch over the last few weeks leading up to a major. SUZANN PETTERSEN: I had a very good stretch after the Kraft Nabisco. I felt like I played really good at the first major and managed to keep the tension and game pretty much up to where I wanted it to be for the remaining month of April. I played really good at Kingsmill, took a break, and the plan was to play as much as I could up until now, and obviously with a few complications in Bahamas and only played two rounds last week, I probably didn't get to play as much golf. So Sunday, I actually went up here and played OakHill, so I got a another 18 holes in there. I'm happy. Feel good with my game. Would love to really play well and this course is going to be one heck of a challenge this week. THE MODERATOR: One more question about last week, because in watching the television coverage, you were getting a lot of accolades despite that you were not in contention and playing your best golf, or maybe it was the conditions. How do you find something to challenge yourself with when you are not in contention, and then how do you find some quick memory loss to eliminate last week out of your mind to come into this week fresh and looking at this trophy as something you want in your hands Sunday. SUZANN PETTERSEN: Well, I just think there's several ways you can look at it. Last week I felt like my game was in pretty good shape. I felt really good before Friday morning. Worked opponent a few different adjustments in my game with obviously this week and the back of my head, tried to implement some of those shots out on the course. One thing is to be on the range practicing, hitting it over and over at the same target; but to actually put it in play and use it in conditions, where it will be needed, that is the way you're going to develop your shot‑making. So for me, I took a lot from it, and no stress on my heart and probably more stress on people looking at the paper, looking at the scores, but I really didn't put too much in. When you feel like you're out of it, I mean, then it's the perfect moment to just go for all the stuff that you practice on the range and really just try and put it in play. Q. Most of us that follow golf look at people differently when they have won a Major Championship /S‑RPBLGS do oath players look at PLAYERS differently; do you look at yourself differently when you've won a major? SUZANN PETTERSEN: That's a good question, I'm not sure if I look at‑‑ there's so many good players out there and there's so many in contention to win every week. I think the biggest challenge during a Major Championship is the course and the conditions of the course. It's usually just a little bit tougher tee‑to‑green. That's all I can deal with. I can't really deal with the other players who is favorite, who is not favorite. I think the course is the favorite before we start and at the end of the day on Sunday, whoever wins is that favorite that week. You try to win every week you tee it up. Obviously at the end of the career, I'm not there yet, but when you look back, you say, I've got one, two, three, four, five major championships, that's fantastic, on top of the regular wins. I try not to treat them any different. I prepare the same. And I like the challenge. I like it when it's tough. I like it when par is your friend, when you can really kind of grind it out and get the most out of each round. THE MODERATOR: Talk about the last year for you, maybe not year, but you're in quite a different place right now than you were, say, last August or September. You had the back‑to‑back victories in Asia and then you began this year with obviously the win in Hawai'i, and people forget the LET event you won in China. So four victories in short order, and then a win in Hawai'i that people do know. How well are you playing right now, and do you feel that you're playing the best golf of your career and is the best even yet to come for you? SUZANN PETTERSEN: No, I think what really has turned around for me and my game, I came to the British Open last year and I felt the best prepared. I felt the best control I had over my game, ever, coming into the British Open, and missed the cut by a mile. It was a huge disappointment, although that never felt better. And you know, it's just sometimes the work you put in doesn't click right away and obviously it clicked a little bit later that fall. And I got some confidence back in my game. I think the biggest change from then to now is I have a lot more trust.  I dared to do way did last week, I probably would not have dared to step up on the tee and try to hit shots I probably wouldn't hit for that course last week with this week in mind. I dare to do more stuff; I'm not afraid to kind of fail, because I know down the road it's going to help my game get even better. THE MODERATOR: Your caddie said some pretty positive things about you today off to the side. You seem to have a good relationship; he was new on the bag last year and you've made a few changes. He said when he first looked at you hitting balls the first week on the range with you, he watched you hit six different shots and said, why does this girl not win every single week, and he was amazed and felts like, his quote, the best is yet to come. You are in the prime of your career and everybody else better look out. Now that's a good thing for the guy who works for you to say‑‑ SUZANN PETTERSEN: Well, I pay him to say that. Pay him pretty good, too. THE MODERATOR: Agreed? Best yet to come? Is that something you're thinking about? Are you committed to five more great years out here? SUZANN PETTERSEN: Yeah, for sure. I think this is the beauty with golf. Age doesn't really matter. You get stronger, you get more knowledge as you get older. And definitely feel like I have the best of my golf yet to come, which is probably why I'm still out here grinding it out every morning, every night. And that's exciting. There's too many great players who had their prime in their 30s. I mean, Annika, she's a great example. I take everything as a steppingstone and a learning curve and hopefully I can have at least three good more years out here. THE MODERATOR: Aging well; best yet to come. Perfect segue to Ron Sirak for some questions. Q.  Can I ask a Solheim question? THE MODERATOR:  Perfect. Q. Probably the best match I've seen in any competition was four‑ball match of you and Annika against Kelly and Laura Diaz in Barsebäck, and also the most incredible atmosphere I've ever seen at an event. Is there anything that rivals a Stanley Cup in what is feels like in the excitement and intensity? SUZANN PETTERSEN: I mean, every match has its kind of charm and its story. I remember Barsebäck was probably one of the biggest highlights for me was the first time I got paired with Annika. I was really‑‑ nerve‑wracking on that first tee but grew in the experience and Saturday afternoon in the best‑ball against Kelly and Laura who played fantastic golf. It was just a dream come true to be a part of that, and I grew so much with an did a being in those situations and we kind of met on the back nine‑‑ I think the neatest thing with the Solheim is the friendships you build for life. I played with Patricia, and we just have something special, the two of us kind of felt it, we were a part of it and every time I see her, it's like she's going to be a friend for life. That's a very neat thing, special moments, special occasions, and I also learned‑‑ getting to know the other girls really well that week. It's a week that I really love and I can't wait to play in Colorado. THE MODERATOR: Meg was talking about the way her team might be completely different from the team the last time around, and she brought your name up before you walked in and started rattling off that Lotta would have the same situation potentially with her current qualified players; what type of player will you have to be, not just the player, but also potential leader, if you will, vocal‑‑ I don't know if you're really that type behind the closed doors with a potentially different team and lineup this time. SUZANN PETTERSEN: I don't know, I think this will be my seventh. The six times I've played, the teams have been very predicting to kind of tell. You would know who would be in. It was usually the same Swedes always on the team. You would always look at the same picks and it wouldn't be too many surprises who the captain would pick. But this time around, I think it started last‑‑ in Ireland for us, we started to see more young faces on our team. You would call them rookies in the Stanley Cup experience, but to me, there's no rookies out there. They have all been out here winning tournaments, being in contention, knowing how to close the deals. And I mean, they tee it up every week out here, here or in Europe. I think it's just a new generation of young players who is just taking over from a fantastic generation who has kind of been leading the Solheim for years and years. We might have a Solheim team without Laura Davies, that be would the first time in the history. We might have only one or two Swedes on the team. Usually when I first started, half the team was Swedes. So it's definitely a new pack coming out and it's exciting. As long as Laura is on the team, I've always been the junior and now if he's not on the team I'm closer to being the veteran. The biggest thing I learned from Annika is you don't give up until the last putt drops and that's kind of the mentality that I've tried to implement in my own game on a regular basis and also to try and kind of give the new ones on the team a word or two, try to help them. I mean, there's never a bad start; it's never over until it's over and I think Ireland was a great example of that. There's only so much you can say to players; go out and play your heart out, that's all we ask, but don't ever give up. Q. You mentioned Laura Davies, I wonder if you can put it in perspective what she meant to team Europe all those years and what it was like playing alongside her with her wit and experience when she was on teams with you? SUZANN PETTERSEN: If you look at Laura Davies, she's had an outstanding career. She's done so much for ladies golf, European golf. She's still a legend over there. She has a legacy. Her name is well Nona cross Europe. She's been on every team that I've been on, and I've been playing alongside her feeling like a spectator when she's just been playing her best golf. But she's also one of those players who can easily, she gets one or two right in her face‑‑ she can easily get her head hanging and lose the energy. She's fantastic for the goods and the bads, but she's always been a great asset to our team. She usually brings a lot of fun and excitement off the course to the team room, which is very important. I love her to death and I've had my moments and with her and it's‑‑ I really hope she kind of finds something in her game and can play herself into a possible pick or even try to get in on the points. I don't even know where she stands. But she's a good asset to the team. It's going to be a different atmosphere overall, because it's such a new group of people, new group of players. It will be fun. THE MODERATOR: Majors are big for you and I know you would dearly like to win another one as you look at this trophy and remember 2007. Somebody very close to this tour who covers it week‑in and week‑out has labeled you as the top player to watch this week. What would it mean to have this trophy. SUZANN PETTERSEN: I don't know, there's a long way until the trophy, certainly on Sunday. I feel pretty good with my game. It's going to be probably two long days ahead, Thursday, Friday, with some rain in the forecast. It's going to be playing really long and really tight off the tees. But I think if you can hang in there the first couple of days and try and be aggressive, where you really can be aggressive and play smart around a few holes, I think that it will be interesting to see what the scores will be. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Suzann. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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