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SWINGING SKIRTS LPGA CLASSICApril 24, 2014Morgan PresselSAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome one of our co‑leader into the interview room, Morgan Pressel. Congratulations. A great 3‑under par, 69 today. Got to feel pretty good about how you played out there today. Take me through your round. What was working well in your game? MORGAN PRESSEL: Yeah, it was actually a bit of a struggle out there. I say my short game definitely kept me in it. I stayed patient. I didn't hit the ball very well off the tee. Missed a lot of fairways, and a few of them hit trees and bounced back into the fairways. Got a little lucky on occasion were I took advantage of the holes where I could. Nearly had two hone‑in‑ones today, so that was kind of exciting. Would have been more exciting if they had gone in. On 12 I like hit the pin, I'm like Ah, 100,000 grand. That would have been nice. But I'm just going to go out there and work this afternoon. As poorly as I hit the ball, I'm right in it. I'm grateful for that. I certainly putted well. Just need to kind of straighten out the driver a little bit and get back after it this afternoon. MODERATOR: What does that tell you about where you were mentally when your swing isn't necessarily there but you find a way to shoot a score like you did today? MORGAN PRESSEL: I think that's a big difference for me this year in general. That kind of round where I am hitting everything poorly and to the right, I would get frustrated and down and wouldn't have been have been able to scrape around a 3‑under par round. So definitely stayed tough. It's a tough golf course. I knew nobody was going to go out there and blitz it. If I could occasionally get it into position for the best chance to make par and occasionally make a putt for birdie I would be doing okay. MODERATOR: Everyone has been talking about this course. Everyone seemed excited to get here this week and see it. What have your thoughts been on the golf course? As you said, it's playing tough. Is it the kind of golf course you like to play? MORGAN PRESSEL: It's definitely the kind of golf course, because I'm basically a straight ball hitter. Wasn't quite the case today. I like a tough test. I'm not such a fan of courses that are birdiefests. I like one that tests all aspects of your game, and this one certainly does. Even once you get it on the green it's no bargain. The greens are very difficult. The cold, kind of damp air makes it more challenging. The ball doesn't fly as far, and the rough is thick as can be. MODERATOR: Watching you over the past year, it seems your game has really been coming. You played really well kind of trying to make the Solheim Cup team. Worked really hard on that; did that. But you seem to be in a really good place personally, professionally. Are you about as happy and content in life right now as you've ever been? MORGAN PRESSEL: Yeah, I'm very comfortable out here. I'm enjoying it. I've been married now for a year and a little bit. My husband is one of my biggest supporters, and it's been a fun journey together. You know, I just don't put quite as much pressure on myself anymore, and I think that's made a big difference. MODERATOR: Questions for Morgan? Q. Mo said she warmed up four times. That makes it challenging when you're waiting to start. Can you take us through your morning, and maybe also your final hole on the front nine, as you used an example of you going off to the right of the fairway and recovering for par? MORGAN PRESSEL: Yeah, so this morning we were just kind of‑‑ they were announcing the update right before I would have needed to start my warmup, so when I was just about ready to go out they would say it's delayed. So I was what, about an hour and 15 minutes after the first tee time, so I had a little bit of leeway where I didn't have to keep going out and warming up like one the first groups would. But we were sitting around inside and I was ‑‑ I'm like I'm just going to go hit some balls. Because I can because I have been hitting it so poorly and I knew that I needed to go practice a little bit more. So I went out there a little early and had a full range session when no one. Nobody was really on the range because they kept delaying it. Then I went in and had a third breakfast and came out for just a few balls before I tee'd off. So I kind of warmed up early and hit a couple shots before I tee'd off. Q. And 18? MORGAN PRESSEL: So on 18 I hit a drive to the right, which was my trend, and hit the tree. Came down pretty far back. Just hit a 6‑iron up the left, kind of a punch 6‑iron. I had another 6‑iron to the green. Might have needed one more club. Thought I hit a pretty good shot, but ended up short of the green. Had a tough little chip. Hit it to about 10 feet and made it for par. So that's how some of my holes certainly went today. Then on the next hole, missed a drive right. Hit it in the front left bunker and hit a great bunker shot to two and a half feet and missed that. So it was a little bit of both. Q.  On 18 you were in the bunker? MORGAN PRESSEL: Yeah. Q. A friend of mine I guess knows somebody you played with in the pro‑am and said you were complaining about hitting the ball and weren't too confident going into this. Is that the case? Why did you feel that way? Obviously worked out. MORGAN PRESSEL: Because I probably missed more fairways yesterday than today. Didn't hit it very well. Same thing. Just getting frustrated. So I spent quite a while after the round yesterday. Even though I played late was on the range for a while after my pro‑am. That's why I went out a little bit earlier today. It didn't seem to work, but I was hitting my irons better today than yesterday, so maybe tomorrow it'll all come together. Q. Looking a little your record the last five years, so many high finishes but obviously haven't won in a while. How restless are you to break through again? MORGAN PRESSEL: Like I said a minute ago, I'm trying not to put so much pressure on myself. I'm out here just playing a game for a living. I certainly want to win and play well and those are my goals, but I'm working on just getting a little bit better ever day and trying to‑‑ like I come off the golf course today and I'm going to work on what I feel like I need to work on, and not with winning in my mind, even though I am tied for the lead. I just need to come out tomorrow and play better and not worry about what anybody else is doing. If I come out and I play the way that I feel like I'm capable of playing, I don't think it would be an issue. Q. Your round in Phoenix, you had a quick start there, too. Any comparisons? MORGAN PRESSEL: Maybe low expectations, because I did the same thing in Phoenix. I was so mad with my golf swing and felt terrible. So I guess lower expectations gets me off to a hot are start. I don't know. MODERATOR: Few more bad rain sessions. Q. Were you hitting last night then you said you played late? MORGAN PRESSEL: Maybe 45 minutes after my pro‑am. Maybe about 6:00. Q. So it wasn't dark? MORGAN PRESSEL: No, no. We took off about noon. Q. How are you different now than the Kraft Nabisco many, many years ago? You mentioned not getting frustrated as easily. Is that the biggest difference between you at 25 and 17 or 18? MORGAN PRESSEL: Yeah, I think I've gone through a lot of changes over the years. Times when I've been overly aggressive and times when I've been the opposite and a little tentative. I think now I'm just trying to find a little bit of a balance in golf and life and everything else. I don't know. I mean, I've grown up, so I don't know. That's a tough question. I just feel more comfortable. I've learned a lot over all the years. Every round that we play is a chapter in a book of learning for us. You find something that went wrong and some way that you can fix it. You know, my big Rolodex of swing thoughts that I have. My game has changed a lot and I've changed a lot. MODERATOR: Is it different now being tied for the lead? Do you look at that differently now in your career compared to earlier in your career? Is there more of a comfort level? Ease? MORGAN PRESSEL: Well, you certainly‑‑ I don't know. Being in the lead, it's something that you think about. I can't say that I don't. But it is Thursday, so it's a little early. I know that I have a long way to go and I know what I have to work on. Q. Any thoughts on the LPGA being back in San Francisco? Just with all the culture and diversity here, what it means to the tour and you to. MORGAN PRESSEL: I think it's great. I think it's great to be back here in San Fran. You know, grateful to Swinging Skirts for bringing us back here. Look at the crowds. Everybody is excited that we're here. It's nice to be in a city. We don't often get to stay in, cities, especially one as awesome as San Fran. It's just a great place to spend the week. Happy that we could come. Q. Couple questions. One on the course. Now that you've played it, where does it rank? Most players seem to think it's one of the harder ones you play. MORGAN PRESSEL: Definitely that's what I heard before I came. It's tough. They were right. It's very tough. But like I said, I like a challenge. I think in terms of courses that we play on tour, it's definitely up there. It's a good test of golf. Those are the courses that I prefer the most. So I would put it right up there with some of our better course on tour for sure. Q. The other question is, I'm curious of your thoughts on Lydia Ko and sort of this wave of teenagers. Not that long ago you were headlining that wave, you and Michelle. Now it's six, seven years later. What are your thoughts on them and just how the LPGA has evolved in the last seven, eight years? MORGAN PRESSEL: I think it's great. Great for the tour. A lot of youth. They're the future. At one point I was the future; now I'm just here. (Laughter.) Been here for nine years. I certainly feel like I have some years left. But they've got a lot of years left. I remember when I was their age thinking, God, nine, ten years from now, that seems like forever away. And I'm already here. Does go by fairly quickly. But I think it's great for the fans. I think they love watching the youth and their excitement and passion that they show. It's just they're so good. It's a lot of fun to play with them, too. Q. You're only 25. Does that feel different because of them? MORGAN PRESSEL: Well, we'll be saying the same thing about them. Even more about Lydia. She'll have been out here for 10 years at 25. I mean, I am still young, so some people don't remember that I've been out here for nine years. I mean, that's why I think I still have some time left. Hopefully my best golf is still ahead of me. MODERATOR: Any more questions? Morgan, I still think of you as young. Don't think of yourself as old. Thank you very much. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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