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KRAFT NABISCO CHAMPIONSHIPApril 5, 2014Michelle Wie WestRANCHO MIRAGE, CALIFORNIA KELLY THESIER: Good afternoon, everyone. We'd like to welcome one of our current co‑leaders, Michelle Wie into the interview room. Congratulations, a great 4‑under par round today. Tied for the lead with Lexi Thompson at 10‑under par heading into the final round. How does it feel to be in the lead going into final day of play? MICHELLE WIE: It's very exciting. I'm really excited that I have a good chance tomorrow. I'm really happy that with my placement. Definitely nervous for tomorrow, but extremely excited. KELLY THESIER: This is the first time that you've held a lead going into the final round of a major since the 2006 U.S. Women's Open. At that time you were tied with the lead with Brittany Lincicome and Annika Sorenstam. How different are you now compared to back in 2006 when you were holding that lead? MICHELLE WIE: I think I talked about it before, but I'm definitely a lot more appreciative of where I am going in with the lead. I think I definitely am not as wide‑eyed as I used to be, which could be a good thing or a bad thing. But at the same time, I'm really happy with where I am right now. KELLY THESIER: You get to play in the final pairing with Lexi. You know Lexi well. You were on the Solheim Cup team together last year. What are you expecting with that group tomorrow with you two? I mean, you both hit it a long ways, you're both tall, you're both fun to watch play, but what are you expecting with that pairing with the two of you? MICHELLE WIE: I think it's just going to be a lot of fun tomorrow. I really like Lexi. I think she's a really good girl. I love watching her play. I think she's just a great player. So I'm really excited for tomorrow. I think it will be some good golf. Q. Bogey‑free today, even though you put it in some interesting positions once in a while. Again, the confidence that you seem to have doing a lot of different things on the golf course seems different, hitting the low tee shot, being able to move the ball around. Is that confidence or is it just something that you're doing differently in your game? MICHELLE WIE: I definitely feel a lot more confident out there on the golf course. I just go out there and I think I'm just really I know what I need to do, and I think that came with experience of playing so many rounds in my life. But I think I'm definitely a lot more confident. Q. That low stinger tee shot, if you will, I mean, how much or how long have you known that that was the strategy around this golf course coming in this week? MICHELLE WIE: You know, that's kind of always been in my bag. Kind of reintroduced it back into my game the last couple of months. It's just‑‑ I guess it's just something that I've always felt comfortable doing, and I've played well on this golf course. Q. Would you describe some of the putts today as defensive? I mean, I think that was one of the things that several of the commentators were saying, that perhaps you were a little‑‑ I don't know if you want to say tentative, but a little defensive on some of the putts? MICHELLE WIE: Well, I just thought the greens were a little bit quicker than they were, so I actually thought I hit them perfectly. But I'm not the type of putter that slams putts in. I've always been a die‑in kind of putter. Just left a lot of putts short today, which is frustrating. But at the same time, it's a major, and you just have to be a little bit careful. Q. Did you leave yourself in positions where you had some putts that you couldn't be aggressive? Or was that the nature of leaving those short? MICHELLE WIE: I think I did well on the uphill putts today. I had some pretty good speed going into one. But a lot of putts that I had were a lot of downhill putts today. I misjudged the speed a little bit. Q. Some would say over the last few years two areas that have maybe been a challenge for you and areas for improvement would be putting and course management. One, would you agree with that; and two, do you feel that those are two areas that you've definitely improved upon? MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I think putting is something that I've been working really hard on, course management, for sure. Both things I've worked very hard on. I think everything in my game needs improvement. I think that I've been working hard on every part of my game, and it's definitely, I think getting better, and that's my goal. I just want to get better a little bit every day. Q. The young lady from England, Charley Hull, sneaking up on the leaderboard as you might have noticed. MICHELLE WIE: Yeah. Q. First of all, how much do you know about her? Have you played with her? How much have you gotten to know her? MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, we played together at the British Open last year, and she's a really good player. She's really young, really feisty. We played against her in Solheim. She did really well there. She's a good player. She's really solid. Definitely doesn't seem that young. It's good to see her on top of that leaderboard as well. Q. When you see players like her or like Lexi or some of the other young players, do you kind of look at them and think back to what you dealt with coming up at that age and those experiences? And do you kind of mentor younger players and kind of tell them, look, this is some of the stuff that you might want to avoid? This is some of the stuff that you might want to do to make yourself better? MICHELLE WIE: You know, I never insert my opinion to them. I just feel like they have a really good head on their shoulders. They have a really good team around them. I just make myself available. If they ever want to grab dinner. If they ever want to ask me a question, I'm always there. I'm always there to answer a question. If they want to ask me something, they're more than welcome to. I'll never be the person that inserts my own opinion and tell them what to do, because I obviously never listened. I mean, I think they have a great team around them and they're smart. I think they've been doing really well so far, so I don't want to ruin it. Q. I was surprised you used the word nervous about tomorrow. What are you nervous about? MICHELLE WIE: Oh, yeah, I'm nervous. I probably won't sleep that well tonight. It's just the chance. You want something so badly. I dreamed about this all my life, so I'm just trying to not think about it so much. I'm just trying to think it's a normal Sunday. You're a couple shots behind and just kind of play it that way. Definitely nervous, but I think that's a good thing. It's a sign that I'm really excited and I really want this. I think it's good. Nerves are definitely good. Q. I'm sure over the years you've imagined different ways you would jump into the pond. How has that changed over the years in your mind, and what do you think tomorrow might look like? MICHELLE WIE: I've always‑‑ the one thing I've really thought about always walking past is I really hope I don't like trip and fall in. I really haven't thought about a strategy aside from that. But I'm not even going to think about that. I'm just going to go out there and just enjoy myself. Q. I know you just want to concentrate on your game and tomorrow; but if you could step back for a second, the pairing is truly a glamour pairing for the Tour tomorrow. What do you think you can do for the LPGA with a great show? MICHELLE WIE: I think if we could make a lot of birdies tomorrow and keep it close tomorrow, I think that it would definitely do a lot of good things for the Tour. I think Lexi is a really entertaining golfer. I like to think I'm somewhat entertaining as well. So I think the both of us paired together is great. I think it's great for the Tour, and it's going to be a lot of fun. KELLY THESIER: By the way, I do think both of you are very entertaining golfers. Q. You really looked good out there today. I wanted to say that off the bat. I just wanted to know, do you go into attack mode tomorrow playing alongside Lexi or do you just kind of see what she's going to do in this give and take match? MICHELLE WIE: I'm just going to‑‑ if it was Match Play it would be a completely different story. But I'm just going to go out there and play the same game plan I've played the last three days. I'm not going to go out there and do anything stupid and change anything. If I go out and shoot a good score, that's all I can do. I can't control what anyone else does. I'm just going to go out there and keep playing the same game that I'm playing. Make some birdies, make some pars and see where it leads me. KELLY THESIER: We're wishing you a good night's sleep. Don't be too nervous. Can't wait to watch a very entertaining day out there tomorrow, and wishing you the best of luck in the final round. MICHELLE WIE: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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