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WEGMANS LPGA CHAMPIONSHIPJune 8, 2013Morgan PresselPITTSFORD, NEW YORK THE MODERATOR: All right. We'd like to welcome the clubhouse leader and soon‑to‑be the second‑round leader at the Wegmans LPGA Championship, Morgan Pressel. Thanks for coming in. MORGAN PRESSEL: Thank you. THE MODERATOR: You shot 70 today. You're 6‑under par overall through two rounds. If you would just take us through the day, what worked well for you. MORGAN PRESSEL: Yeah. I got off to a good start, had a birdie opportunity on 10, but didn't go in and then made one on 11. I started to hit my driver a little bit to the right, but made great par saves on 12 and 13, and then two great birdies on 14 and 15 to get me off to a really good and comfortable start. And I just kind of hung on from there. I hit a couple more drives to the right, which cost me bogeys, wasn't able to make quite as miraculous saves on those couple of holes. And then the back nine was pretty uneventful, but I guess the front nine of the golf course. But there wasn't a whole lot that happened out there. I had some opportunities, made some. I made one. I missed a couple and had a couple good 2‑putts. And then the wind picked up on our back nine a little bit and made it a little more difficult, and that side because of how it sits is quite a bit more wet, and so it was a little bit more sloppy on that side than it was on the front nine today. THE MODERATOR: You pointed out on Golf Channel and Jerry might have mentioned it to you there, but the last time you held a 36‑hole lead was here at Locust Hill in 2008. Does that seem like to you a long time ago or is that something you still remember and think positively back to? MORGAN PRESSEL: Yeah. I mean I love this golf course. I've always enjoyed coming here, coming to Rochester. I stay with a great host family. And I'm just comfortable here, and this golf course certainly plays to my game, and as long as I can keep getting the putts to go in, you know, I think I'll have a good finish. THE MODERATOR: Questions for Morgan. Q. You mentioned out there it was tough walking, and tomorrow you gotta walk 36. Are you guys physically, especially you, you're slight of build. You're not powerful like Brittany. Are you up to walking 36 in the slope like that? I mean could that be the toughest thing you have to do tomorrow? MORGAN PRESSEL: I don't think so. I think it's going to be much more of a mental test than it is physically walking test. I run a lot. I'm in plenty good of enough shape to get through 36 holes tomorrow, from that standpoint. The question will be just how committed I can be to every shot and how ‑‑ because when you get tired your mind starts to wander. So that'll be the biggest test tomorrow will be truly staying focused on every shot, and at the end of the day I probably won't want to think another second. But that will mean that I gave it my all and I was patient out there. Q. And the other thing, on No. 2, how important was making that? You blew the first putt about eight feet by, ten feet by. How important was that putt because you had like you said, made a couple bogeys on the end of your first nine and that was close to another one? MORGAN PRESSEL: Yeah, no. That was a big putt, for sure. I mean I think the toughest part about that second hole is fitting the fairway. It's so narrow out there so I hit a good shot and hit it in the middle of the green and that green had a lot of casual water on the front. I was a little bit surprised by that, and I think that I just thought it would slow my putt down a lot more than it apparently did and hit it way too hard. But you know, I made a lot of good 10‑footers on our front nine today, and that was another one. Q. Morgan, after struggling with injuries for a year, you all of a sudden look like you're on top of your game, splitting fairways, hitting greens. How do you explain that? MORGAN PRESSEL: Well, I feel like I've been very close for a couple of months now, and I just haven't been able to put it all together. The times when I hit every fairway and hit every green I wasn't making the putts that I needed to, and the times when I had my putter rolling my swing was just a little bit off, and this week I feel like I've put it all together. It's been probably a few months where I've been hitting it almost perfectly on the driving range, and my tempo has just gotten a little bit quick once I get on the golf course, and this week that's been my main goal is to just make sure that my tempo stays consistent. And what feels to me like extremely slow. And it's been working. Q. Morgan, you mentioned casual water on 2. Brittany said there was casual water on two of the greens out there. She said there was some on 7 as well. How difficult was it kind of slogging through the conditions and with it raining on and off throughout most of the last couple days? MORGAN PRESSEL: Well, I don't think that I realized how much rain we got last night because we must have gotten quite a bit overnight because the course ‑‑ I mean with all the rain that we had on Thursday, the course looked great yesterday, and the course looked very ‑‑ it looked wetter today, which I didn't think was going to happen because I didn't realize that we had gotten that much rain. So when I got out there and walking down even ‑‑ we started on the tenth hole, I mean I'm like, wow, this fairway is very wet, we must have gotten and the course can't take much more rain, so it's going to be nice, hopefully the sun will shine tomorrow and it'll be a little warmer and it can dry it out. I mean there are some areas, like say the third fairway, the fourth fairway, a couple of holes where you might be in casual water but there's nowhere to drop it, so you just kind of have to find the very driest spot you can and hit from there. And I probably had to do that a couple of times. You don't want to hit it in the fairway and then drop it in the rough and even sometimes the rough is a little wet. But there were a couple of holes out there that were tough today in terms of the water but for the most part it was pretty good. Q. Just to follow up on that, I've got two questions, but odd on No. 7 to see your ball just stick in the green. MORGAN PRESSEL: Well, that was ‑‑ the second hole, the second green was a little bit underwater, but then the front of the 7th was as well. And it did. It was really soft and just stuck there. But it's probably a better place to be than pin high left, because that's quite a tough putt, and I've never actually played a putt to go in on the back side of the hole that I did on that one. That's how I was playing it. Q. And just looking ahead to tomorrow, and knowing that you've got a lead on Saturday, which is usually a really good thing, but how do you trick your mind or remind yourself that tomorrow is just Round 3? MORGAN PRESSEL: Well, tomorrow is 3 and 4, but the tournament is only halfway finished. But I feel good about the way that I'm playing. I feel good about my approach to playing, which is just as important sometimes. And if I can stick to my game plan tomorrow and stay patient, it'll be a long day, this course will certainly give up bogeys, but it has ‑‑ gives you the opportunity to make birdies as well. It'll be a long day, but I need to stay mentally focused. Q. Morgan, how is your wrist doing, and with 36 holes, is there any concerns? MORGAN PRESSEL: My wrist is fine, which I hit it out of the rough a few more times today, but it's still okay. And you know, I'm not worried about it. I'll get a little bit ahead of it, certainly ice it tonight and take some Advil and anti‑inflammatories just to prevent anything. And you know, if it hurts me on Monday, well, then that'll be okay. As long as it doesn't bother me tomorrow. Q. Yeah. I assume after the third round you're going to play in the same group. So you're going to be with Inbee tomorrow, for sure, the world's No. 1 player who's been playing great. Just talk about the challenge, how that might lift you up, you know, you're playing with the world's top player right now. Are you excited about that? MORGAN PRESSEL: Yeah. Actually kind of like Brittany, Inbee and I have played together for a long time, since we were very young, in South Florida, and I'm looking forward to playing with her. She's a great champion, and she's certainly won a lot out here. And you know, I'm just going to go out there and play my own game and try not to worry about what she's doing and try and ‑‑ I mean that's the thing about golf is you just need to get the ball in the hole as fast as you can. It doesn't matter what your opponent is doing because it doesn't really affect your game. And I'm just going to go out there and try and play my best and see where that stacks up at the end of the day. Q. Just to clarify, did the ball actually plug in that green? MORGAN PRESSEL: Yes. Q. On No. 7? It did plug? And then going back to your second hole. Talk about how important it was to get that first birdie. What was your distance of your putt? MORGAN PRESSEL: Yeah. I hit a really good wedge shot from about 75 yards, and it went past about six feet, and that definitely got my day started off right. The putt I had on the first hole was right in the hole but about a foot short. And so then to hit it a little bit closer on the next hole and get the birdie and just, I mean I made four consecutive 10‑footers on the next four holes that were huge. And I'm sure that putt on the second hole that I had today helped my confidence. Q. Similar to what Mike was asking you at the beginning, but thinking back to '08 and your major win, does it feel like a long time ago or does it feel fresh in your mind or a memory that you can draw on? MORGAN PRESSEL: I mean it was a long time ago. I've been through a lot since then. A lot has happened in golf and life, and you know, but that being said, I've done it before. So I just need to go out there and remember that I can do it and just get it done. THE MODERATOR: Morgan, thank you so much for coming in. Have fun tomorrow. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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