|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
SWINGING SKIRTS LPGA CLASSICApril 22, 2014Michelle Wie WestSAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome Michelle Wie into the interview room today. You're coming a huge win last week in your hometown of Hawaii. Talk a little bit about what that win meant for you. MICHELLE WIE: It was unbelievable. You know, I had so much fun. Just overwhelmed with emotion and the support that I got. All the love their received afterwards, it was just unbelievable. Really a dream come true for me and a lot of my family and friends back home as well. MODERATOR: You talk about the love you received. Any specific people that reached out to you? MICHELLE WIE: Just everyone. Just all the players came up to me and gave me a big hug. Just ran to Karrie and Suzann and they gave me a big hug as well. Got a couple really cool e‑mails from my sponsors and all my friends and everyone. So it was really cool. MODERATOR: You kept yourself busy right after. You hosted a tournament. It was a ping‑pong event. Talk about that and the importance of ping‑pong in your life specifically and tell us a little bit about that tournament. MICHELLE WIE: We were just brainstorming ideas how to make a fun event for everyone, players as well. It turned out awesome. I got there, the room was packed. There was a lot of energy. Almost won the ping‑pong event. Lost to Daniel Dae Kim in the final match. He was awesome as well. We haven't got to the final number yet, but feels like we raised so some money. So really excited about that. MODERATOR: What a fun and unique idea. MICHELLE WIE: Yeah. MODERATOR: Suzann was in here earlier and talked a little bit about your hula compared to hers. She mentioned the awkwardness of it. Take us through that. MICHELLE WIE: Well, I'm a really awkward person in general. I mean, I learned hula when I was a kid and haven't really done it since. I was like, I can't believe I actually have to do this. I was just like really uncomfortable, and it was a lot longer than I expected, too. I thought it was going to be like, Oh, one, two, three. We're done. She was like, Okay, we're doing it again, faster. I'm like, When is this over? But it was a lot of fun. I had a lot of fun. MODERATOR: Seemed like you knew what you were doing. MICHELLE WIE: No, I didn't know. MODERATOR: Talk about your play a little bit. This year, it's been a great year for you. You have been consistent throughout. You haven't finished outside of the top 16 in any event this year. What do you attribute that success to? MICHELLE WIE: I felt like I had a really good off‑season. Took some time off, worked on some things, and had a really good training off‑season as well. This year, obviously I've talked about it a lot all year, I just want to be consistent and keep improving. It's really just the beginning of the season, and I want to keep getting a little bit better and better every tournament and finish strong as well. I've been having a lot fun. MODERATOR: Talk about your putting. You switched to the tabletop position. I think I heard it was to be a little bit closer to the ball. Talk about that approach and how it's helped you. MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I did it like about two years ago, year and a half ago now. I don't know, just something that I felt feel comfortable with. I haven't had a plan to keep with it or not keep it. Just feels comfortable and I see the line better. So, yeah. MODERATOR: A Stanford graduate. Did you get a chance between Hawaii and today to get over there and see people and visit campus? MICHELLE WIE: Oh, yeah. I arrived on the red eye yesterday and took a quick nap, and Jamie and I drove down to Stanford. It was amazing. I was overwhelmed with emotion. I was like, I really want to be back here. I was a little bit sad. I was like, I miss it. I was trying to figure out how I can be a freshman. I asked Jamie, I was like, Can I go to school again? Can I get an undergraduate degree? It was awesome. I went to go visit the golf team at their practice facility and just hung out with them. I saw my friends at the football facilities. They built like a huge new building, so I got a nice tour of that as well. Walked around campus. Wanted to hug every single freshman I saw because I wanted to be them. I walked past the GSB, the Graduate School of Business, and I was like, I want to go there one day. So hopefully I'll be back on The Farm. MODERATOR: All right. Questions. Q. Can we talk fashion right off the bat? We love the visor. Heard that's a tribute to Grace Park; is that true? MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I was always a fan of the visor when Grace Park wore it. I felt like about‑‑ I mean, just last year coming into this year I looked a myself in the mirror and I'm like, Oh, I'm getting wrinkles. (Laughter.) I was like, I think I need a bigger visor; I think I need more sun protection. MODERATOR: You're not. Q. Did you ever have a chance to play here when you were at Stanford? MICHELLE WIE: I have not. I didn't really come up north a lot when I went to school. I practiced a lot in San Jose. But it's an awesome golf course. I played 18 holes today, and it's absolutely amazing. It's kind of cool you can see Olympic as well from a couple holes. It's just in great condition. It's a good, tough golf course. Q. Given you were on at yesterday, what do you make of this whole nerd nation hashtag, and have you followed that with the different teams and how they have really played off of that theme? MICHELLE WIE: Oh, yeah. I feel like I'm a true believer in that. I was talking a lot with the football coaches yesterday, and we're talking about recruits and everyone. It's just such a culture at Stanford. It's just I remember when I went there, all the student athletes were so smart. You had people on the football team that were pre‑med, that were MNSE, that were biomechanical engineers. It's amazing. Jamie asked me yesterday if I was on campus would people be in awe of me or come to me like, Oh, you're Michelle Wie. I'm like, they really didn't care because they've accomplished so much themselves. They're like, Oh, you just play golf. I did this and this and this. So it's awesome. I'm so proud that I'm a Stanford grad. I really believe that we are a bunch of nerds, but at the same time I think we're kind of cool. No, I don't think so. Yeah. They are cool. I don't know if I am. Q. What do you think of the colorful installation of art pieces that Swinging Skirts imported from Taiwan to set up on the golf course? MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, unfortunately I never got to play the Swinging Skirts event in Taiwan. I would see the pictures of the art work and thought it was really cool. When I heard that all the art pieces were here, I was really excited to play today and see all of them. Seems to be one on every hole at least, and it's amazing. It's really cool. The Golden Gate Bridge one on the first hole was really neat, and the cable car on the last. A lot of really cool pieces out there. Q. Talk about last week. You do it in your hometown, state. Talk about coming in on the back nine there. Did that run through your head? I have a chance to get my first win on American soil, but also in my home state? MICHELLE WIE: I really try not to think too far ahead. Obviously I did have glimpses of that. Really didn't hit me until I was walking down the final hole. It was just like, Wow, like this is actually happening. Actually still seems pretty surreal to me. It was a hard day out there. Angela played great. There of a lot people on that leaderboard at one point. I am just so grateful for everything that happened. The back nine, it was just one of those nine holes that everything clicked together at the right time. It was awesome. Q. And now you're in your area where you went to Stanford. It's kind of segueing nicely for you. Nice little roll of a couple weeks positive stuff for you. Talk a little bit about that, where you are. MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I mean, last week was like my hometown where I grew up. I really feel like the Bay Area is my second hometown. I feel like some of best memories I have from my life, I've always kind of told people I think the best five years of my life were spent here in the Bay Area. I met so many great people here. I just absolutely fell in love with the area, just the culture of San Francisco, Palo Alto, San Jose, the whole area here. It's amazing. I just really fell in love with the places, the people, and obviously Stanford. So it's just really fun to come back and see all my friends, just to be back in the Bay Area. I haven't been back since I graduated, so this is pretty amazing. Q. You're a young women. You've been through a lot, and here you are. It's just interesting to me that you've kind of been able to put whatever you've been through sort of‑‑ I don't know, do you put it in the past and say, Here I am today; I'm an evolving person? My life is coming together. Everything sort of happened for a reason? Is that the way you see? MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I'm a true believer of that. I think that everything that happens to someone makes them who you are. Obviously I'm not perfect. I don't try to be perfect. I make mistakes. But I think that I learn from my mistakes. I'm really grateful for all the ups and downs I've had. I really feel like that's what makes me who I am today. I'm really excited for the journey I have ahead. I know there will be downs, but I really do think those downs, having the experience in the downs, really makes you appreciate the ups. I think I that if I did not have those downs, then I wouldn't appreciate this win as much as I did. Obviously it just‑‑ life comes in cycles. There are going to be downs in the future; there will be ups. Hopefully I'm strong enough as a person to go through both. Q. You've got to be aware of the all the press you've had over the years, negative and with your ups and downs. You never lashed out or lost your composure on the course. You've gotten weird rulings. Is this a conscious effort? Are you just that nice? Talk about that. MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, Saint Michelle. No, I mean, I believe that if ‑‑ everyone has their own opinion. I really think that. You know, I have opinions of people, stuff like that. But I really do believe that words are very powerful. I think that how you choose your words is very powerful. How you think about someone is very powerful. I feel like there is no need for that. I think everyone has their own opinion. Obviously I'm not perfect. I do get angry. But at the same time, I think saying stuff while you're angry in the public, I think it stays forever. I don't believe in negative public lashes like that. I think everyone has their own opinion and is entitled to that. This is how I go about things. If I have a problem with someone, I would rather go straight to them and talk it out with them. I just try to live my own life. Q. You look very comfortable and confident in your skin right now. You spoke a lot about school. Do you encourage young ones ‑‑ because we have a lot of young ones that are coming through that have foregone school. What do you say to them? MICHELLE WIE: You know, I think everyone has their own path. It's really a personal choice to go to college or not. It's a really personal choice between whether wanting to go. For me, I really wanted to go. Going to Stanford was really important to me. Getting my education was really important to me. I don't think ‑‑ I'm not to say that that's important for everyone. Everyone can live their life however they want to live it. But for me, I'm really happy that I went to Stanford. It was a dream come true for me when I got in, and like I said, some of best memories I have in my life. I'm so grateful I have those memories. Just really happy that I went to Stanford. Q. One of the things I've been waiting to ask you is I was in my hotel room a couple weeks ago and they showed your new putting stroke and put a picture of Jack Nicklaus back in the day, like in the '70s next to you. I would've never thought it, but I said, There is a similarity there. It was fun for me. Did you ever see a picture of Jack back then and think, Wait a minute, that's something that might work for me? MICHELLE WIE: I actually didn't see it before I changed, but after I changed, you know, I practice at the Bear's Club and there are pictures of Jack everywhere. I saw a picture of him like putting and I was like, Oh, he is actually pretty low as well. I don't feel that bad anymore. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|