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SWINGING SKIRTS LPGA CLASSICApril 22, 2014Inbee ParkSAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA MODERATOR: All right, we're here Inbee Park, the No. 1 ranked player, at The Swinging Skirts at the Lake Merced Golf Club. Inbee, let's tart it off by asking, you've been around Swinging Skirts before playing in the event in Taiwan. What does it mean to have them as a sponsor here at an LPGA event. INBEE PARK: I think it's been very fantastic. I play Swinging Skirts tournaments last two years in Taiwan and I got to meet Mr.Wang and his fellow Swinging Skirts members. Yeah, it was always fun to hanging around with them. Obviously they're passionate. Their love of the golf was something very surprising. So having them here and a partner of LPGA I think is a very good thing. Just really looking forward to playing this week and seeing them again. I mean, I think their passion almost passes down onto us, so I think it's good to have a partner like that. MODERATOR: Great. We're playing this week at the iconic Lake Merced Golf Club. Have you played this course before, and what most are you looking forward to playing here? INBEE PARK: Yeah, I never really play this course before and never really been like in downtown of San Francisco before. So it was almost my first time visiting here. Everything was new for me this week: the golf course, the city, and everything. So I got to come to look at the Fisherman's Wharf on Sunday and had some good food there and watched around and walked around a little bit there. Yeah, really cool city. Really enjoying myself here at the moment. MODERATOR: You talked about the food. San Francisco is known for great food. What did you have to eat? INBEE PARK: I love seafood, so everywhere I go here I get to experience seafood. I had some Dungeness Crab, clam chowder in Bodean and some crab. Yeah, it was very good. MODERATOR: And it's been 54 weeks now that you've been in the No. 1 position. Talk about how you feel, how it's changed your life, your approach to the game. It's been over a year now that you're in this position. INBEE PARK: Yeah, it's gone really quick. Feels like I just took over the No. 1 spot last year. It already has been a year. Last year was kind of this very chaotic season for me. Like last half of the season was just going‑‑ like first half went so fast and last half went so slow. I started new this year, and obviously I feel like I'm a lot more comfortable up here and a lot more experienced and a lot more mature in my game or just in my life in general. So it's just a lot of different things going on this year for my life as well. Just not golf. I'm getting married this year. That's really different. That's something different to golf, but it's a very important thing in my life. Yeah, really trying to enjoy myself this year. Yeah. MODERATOR: That's been the big thing, that you can actually sit back and enjoy your accomplishments a little bit more? INBEE PARK: Yeah, I mean, golf is never ending. You finish your season, it's a new season starting again. You finish your tournament, it's a new tournament starting again the next day. So I would say I couldn't be relaxing for the moment until I retire. But you know what? I really enjoy being competitive and playing week in, week out and trying to be my best every week. That is what I enjoy to do, and until I get tired of doing that, I'll be playing golf. MODERATOR: Questions. Q. You played practice rounds, I assume. INBEE PARK: Yeah. I played two nine‑hole rounds. Q. What do you think about how this course will play? INBEE PARK: Yeah, such different weather to last week. Just trying to adjust to the time change between Hawaii and here. It's like three hours, so morning is tough to wake up for me. Obviously the course is in great shape. We play low rough last week, but this week this is big rough and obviously a lot of up and down holes and blind tee shots and dog leg holes. I think it's just going to be a very good test for the golf. The course setup‑wise, it feels like a major setup. It's just going to be a really fun four days of golf and really very good test for the golf. It's going to be tough with the wind. Obviously just being cold also you're going to lose a little bit of your distance. Yeah, obviously with the wind and the up and downs, just very tough to control your distances. I think that'll be a very big key. Q. (No microphone.) INBEE PARK: I think it's windy here. I wouldn't say it's going to be lower scores out here. I think I would say couple under every day if it's a windy day. Obviously if it's just calm and nice, warm day, maybe 4‑under par. Q. What about this area as an event for the LPGA‑‑ it's been away for a while ‑‑ what are your thoughts about them bringing it back here to the San Francisco Bay Area? INBEE PARK: Yeah, it's in the northern part of California. It's a very good spot to come, and obviously a lot of people supporting women's golf here. We always love to come back here and play again. Just glad we have a tournament back here again. Obviously having a good sponsor here is very good. All the people that going to come out and watch us is going to enjoy all this art work also. So I think Swinging Skirts and the art works, San Francisco city, really goes well with‑‑ everything goes really matching. So I think it's going to be very fun week. Yeah. Q. What is it that you bring with you in your travels when you go from course to course that makes you feel confident and comfortable? Some will bring a charm or a family member. What do you bring with you? INBEE PARK: I always travel with my fiance. He's my lucky charm. He's my always‑‑ he's a big help for me. He's my coach, my friend, husband‑ in future‑ everything. He's my lucky charm. Q. Seems like you and Michelle and Morgan were so young when you first came out. I don't know if you played junior golf together. Did you guys ever envision, Hey, we're going to be the big stars running this show in a few years? INBEE PARK: Yeah, I mean, I did play my junior years with Paula, Morgan, Michelle, Brittany. A lot of players out here I played with them in the junior years. Obviously when I played in Korea there was a lot of Korean golfers that came out here and now playing together. So pretty much everybody I played with in the junior golf is playing so well out here. It's almost like a continuation. I mean, back then we probably didn't think that we will be‑‑ because we were probably pretty much like fighting for the trophy in the junior years, and we're doing the same thing here. I think we kind of a little bit thought we just going to happen in the later years because we were playing good in junior golf. We played in professional tournaments while we were junior golfers also, so I think it was a continuation from there. Q. 2013 was such a great year for you in this game and this sport. How do you feel as you're heading into 2014, right at the beginning? Are you excited? INBEE PARK: Yeah. I mean, I didn't have a win yet, but I pretty much did everything but win. I finished second, third, fourth, fifth, everything else this year. Just feels like it's coming pretty soon. I feel like my game is in good shape. Even if I didn't win this year, I feel like I'm a little bit more consistent than last year and playing good golf. My putting was a little bit shaky early this year, but starting Hawaii everything really felt like it's clicking. Yeah, feel like I'm going to have a good week soon. Q. One more question about the golf course. I know that over the year you see so many different types of golf courses and climates on the LPGA Tour. What is it that you do to adapt your game to the different golf courses from week to week? INBEE PARK: I think we just adapt to the golf courses so quickly because that's what we're so used to doing. We move every week to play different golf courses. Whoever get used to the golf course fast is gonna win the tournament. That's why we're going to try to do that. Whoever adapt to the golf course, weather, time, everything. That's what you're born to do. Yeah, just trying to do it a little bit faster than everyone else. Q. 54 weeks at No. 1. Given how many dynamic young players that have come out, how proud are you to be No. 1 for that long, and how hard will it be to stay there going forward? INBEE PARK: Yeah, I'm not too young out here anymore exactly. Feels like a lot of new and young generations and golfers are coming up so quickly. I think it's always good to have young stars. People like to see younger people, you know. So I think it's good for the LPGA. It's also getting a lot more competitive and the girls out here are playing well. A lot of people in contention every week. Just don't know who's going to win. I think it's just good fun for everyone watching golf. MODERATOR: Any more questions? Okay, great. Thank, Inbee. INBEE PARK: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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