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RICOH WOMEN'S BRITISH OPENJuly 31, 2013Beatriz RecariST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND COLIN CALLANDER: Good afternoon, we have Beatriz Recari here with us today. You're having a very, very good season, won twice on the LPGA Tour, No. 6 I think in the Money List. What's it like to be here in St. Andrews? BEATRIZ RECARI: It's great to be back and it's great to be back after six years after being an amateur. I'm really enjoying the progression. I had a great season last year but I knew I probably had to improve my short game, and I did that over the winter, and it's obviously paying off, two wins, that's great. I hope that I can get my first win here. COLIN CALLANDER: Your first major championship was 2007; did that come as a bit of a culture shock to you, playing links golf? BEATRIZ RECARI: A little bit. Although I grew up playing some amateur tournaments on links courses, it was definitely a change with the setup in the major events, big, big tournaments, the biggest I had played up until then. And it was a little bit of shock and everything was new, definitely, and the conditions were‑‑ I remember it was really windy and obviously the course was playing like a major golf course. I remember great excitement and great experience, and I'm just really happy to come back and really with the experience that I've learned and that I've gained over the years to improve my results over here. COLIN CALLANDER: How much golf had you played in the U.K. before that, or was that the first time? BEATRIZ RECARI: No, I mean, I would spend my summers‑‑ as an amateur, I always spent my summers over here playing the British Girls', and British Stroke Play, European Championship. I remember somehow, I spent an entire summer over here, so, yeah, just trying to learn and improve my game. Q. Last time I spoke to you, you were learning Japanese; are you still doing that? BEATRIZ RECARI: Yes, I am. Q. Could you give yourself a handicap? BEATRIZ RECARI: 35. My Japanese is really basic. The thing is I study a lot during the winter and the summer when I have time off and then I really try to have as many lessons as I can. But you know, it's just a completely different language. I have to start from scratch. There is nothing that I can really resemble to any language that I speak and I have to learn three different alphabets. I knew it was going to be a challenge and I knew I had to putt a lot of time into it. During the season, you know, I always get caught up with different things and I get lazy and I don't want to study. But I'm still focused on that and I want to learn and improve. I think that it's such a great culture and the people are so welcoming that I think I really want to hopefully speak it fluently at some point. So I'm still in it, it's a project, but like I say, I have to really be a little bit more disciplined and study a little bit more during the year. Q. Do you speak to the Japanese girls? Do you work with them? BEATRIZ RECARI: I do. I mean, I know basic words, basic sentences like: Are you hungry, it's raining, are you cold, are you sleepy, are you tired. They find it cute. But then after that, you know, I can't keep up. But they appreciate it. They laugh and they obviously appreciate it. When people that don't speak my mother tongue, they try to speak Spanish, I really appreciate it, too. So I think it's a good ask of respect, and like I said, I love the culture and I'm determined to make it a conquest. Q. Do you speak any other languages apart from English? Have you tried to learn any other languages? BEATRIZ RECARI: Yes, I speak Norwegian and I speak French from school, so that's four, Spanish, English, French, Norwegian. Q. Which courses did you play when you were over here as an amateur in the U.K.? Did you play links courses? BEATRIZ RECARI: Yes, I played an average of three or four tournaments every year over here in the U.K. I obviously remember when I played Royal Portrush, No. 13, the Calamity Hole, the par3, where I remember it was raining and I almost had to hit driver. It was going anywhere else except for on the green. It's an amazing golf course. It's definitely my favourite golf course I've played in my life. Q. What's the Norwegian connection? BEATRIZ RECARI: My boyfriend is Norwegian. Q. Most people have been asked about who might win here and Inbee's progression to a potential fourth major; is that good for the women's game, or is that detrimental? BEATRIZ RECARI: I think it's great for the women's game. I really think. So I think she's playing an amazing level of golf, consistent, and obviously handling pressure, week‑after‑week in the majors, I can't imagine how much pressure she must have felt, not only worldwide, but in her own country. I think it's great, because this is really where we are going. You know, this is a global tour, and we are the best tour in the world. We are playing with many different nationalities, and nobody has ever achieved that. You always see ‑‑ I love watching tennis, and you always see like one year Nadal is dominating and another Djokovic is dominating. You don't see it, because golf, it takes a lot more; it's just so many other different factors that have to play in, different courses, different setups. Some courses are playing longer, some courses are playing shorter and benefits some players more than others. And she's won three out of three. I mean, I think that's amazing, and I think that's good for us and it's definitely drawing attention to us, which we deserve. Q. So in terms of the projection of the women's game, per se, it's a huge benefit. BEATRIZ RECARI: I definitely think so. I definitely think so. I understand that generally a sponsor ‑‑ inaudible ‑‑ nationalities to win, but this is where we are going. We are global and it's the best player no matter where she comes from. Q. With the disparate purses between the men's and women's game, will what Inbee is doing have a Tiger Woods effect and drive up the financial rewards available? BEATRIZ RECARI: I think so, but like I said, if it all comes down to getting attention and if more attention gets more viewers, more viewers gets us more sponsors, definitely. I definitely think it's beneficial. Do I want her to get the fourth major this week? No, I want to take it. But, you know, she's won three out of three; that is huge. I don't think anyone‑‑ I mean, you all play, and even at the top level, I don't think anyone can understand what she's achieved so far. It takes lots of guts to keep herself cool. I've played in Korea before and I'm not Korean and I feel the pressure and I feel the excitement that the Korean people show, and how much they want their own players to win. So after I won last week, I got a lot of Spanish media requests, and after three days, I was almost exhausted. I can't imagine the requests she must have had, and still keep cool and focus on what she has to do and win tournaments. Q. Given what Inbee was saying yesterday, she had been doing a lot of Korean media, she was over there on the weekend, are you surprised that's what she did in the weekend before a major and she's pretty much flown around the world? BEATRIZ RECARI: I said it before, I see it both ways. I'm surprised and at the same time, I'm not. I think that when you know a week is approaching where you're going to get the same question asked over and over and over again, something that you don't want to think about, but obviously people ask you about, so it's going to be in your head, I understand that she wanted to be with family and she just wanted to be with people that just appreciate her for who she is, not what she does, and her name, just Inbee as a person. But at the same time, I know that once they know you are there, they are not going to leave you alone. So I don't know how it was for her. I know that she bought a Ferrari, that sounds very cool, but you know, again, it's just so personal. I don't know if I would have done it but if she did it, I bet it was a very well‑thought decision and that it was worth it for her. COLIN CALLANDER: Thank you very much indeed. Good luck this week. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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