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SHOPRITE LPGA CLASSIC PRESENTED BY ACERMay 29, 2015Morgan PresselGALLOWAY, NEW JERSEY Q. Could you just take us through that last hole, what you hit in, and obviously a great way to finish? MORGAN PRESSEL: Yeah. I hit driver, five hybrid, and I didn't honestly know where it was. I thought it might be short of the green. I couldn't see it and nobody clapped, so like I have no idea where this ball is, and kind of came up just far enough over the hill to where we could see it and I was like, oh, it's right next to the hole. Okay. I'll take it. Q. What was the key to your game today? MORGAN PRESSEL: You know, I really didn't put myself in a whole lot of trouble. I wouldn't say that I certainly had the best game out there. I felt like I made a few mistakes. But‑‑ I guess I just made a few mistakes, and I didn't play all that well, but then I came down birdieing 8 and eagling the last hole. That definitely helps. And I only made two bogeys today. I mean they weren't great bogeys by any means. I shouldn't have really made them, but hopefully tomorrow I can eliminate those kinds of mistakes and can keep giving myself opportunities for birdie. Q. You are playing very well coming into the tournament. Is today's round kind of an extension of that? MORGAN PRESSEL: Yeah. I mean it's just‑‑ I feel better about my game, and like I said, even to not have really my best game, but still manage to get the ball in the hole and shoot 5‑under par, I don't know that I could have done that a couple of months ago, and that's also a mental thing as well, mental toughness. So I just grind it out, make a bogey, stand up to the next tee and try and birdie the next three holes and not‑‑ realize that I could put myself right back in the tournament in the next few holes. Q. Where did that mental toughness, the mental change come from? MORGAN PRESSEL: I think it's just a confidence thing. I think it's not standing up to the tee afraid of where the golf ball might go, but knowing on the next one I certainly can give myself a good opportunity to make birdie. So it's really just a confidence thing and it's nice to stand up to the tee with more confidence. Q. Where is the swing change at now? I know you said for a while there you felt like you were still fighting the old pattern a little bit. MORGAN PRESSEL: Yeah, definitely. I mean it's still a little bit in the middle. It regressed a little bit the last month or so, so I've kind of tried to go a little bit back to square one and really slow things down again and keep working on getting it where I'd like it to be, and it's a hard thing to work on it a lot on the range and then take it to the golf course, so I've had to be patient with myself in that respect. And so far it's‑‑ like I said, I hit some squirrely shots and those are kind of the ones where maybe I thought too much or I wasn't comfortable with my club and wasn't as free as I should be, and I can learn from that and move onto tomorrow. Q. Does this course kind of help you with that, because if you do bogey a hole, you know you got some opportunities for birdies and stuff coming up, so you can get back into it like you did. MORGAN PRESSEL: There are definitely birdie opportunities out here. There are some tough holes. I mean you look at the stretch of 6 and 7 and there was quite a backup out there today because it was hard and I played it one over par. But then you know you're going to hole wedge into the eighth hole and a good opportunity, especially down wind to make birdie or eagle on the last. So you just kind of shake it off and go forward and plug along. Q. How are you feeling when you have people coming out on tour now, 16, 17 and 18 saying that you were their favorite player growing up and you were the one that we were rooting for? MORGAN PRESSEL: I know. I'm so old now. (Laughs). It is kind of funny, because I've been asked that question a lot, so now to think that there are some young up‑and‑comers, like a Brooke who said even the week of San Francisco that‑‑ I mean I remember the first time I met her and she was a lot younger than she is now. She was a little pipsqueak at 12 years old or so when we met. And just very impressive to see these young kids. I mean it's nice to‑‑ I see a lot of kids out here. It's nice to think that you can inspire the next generation of golfers. And I was one of those little kids out watching the LPGA back in the day when they used to play in Southeast Florida around where I lived, and you never know how many of them will be out at island course some day. Q. Who inspired you, Morgan, when you were a little kid? MORGAN PRESSEL: Gosh, there were‑‑ I mean I loved watching Michelle McGann with her hats and her fashion, and I loved watching Nancy Lopez and Juli Inkster, you know, really incredible American champions. It was hard not to pay attention to Annika, because she was really in her prime as I was kind of getting to the end of my junior career, and she's‑‑ I mean I think she inspired a whole generation of young players. Q. You see her interacting with the kids and stuff, you seem to really sort of enjoy that and appreciate, especially the young girls that come out? MORGAN PRESSEL: Very much so. It's probably my favorite part of my job, really, is getting to meet the young kids. I mean I love to compete, and you know, that's why I'm out here, but to have the opportunity to see the young kids and see how excited they are to be out here and then just‑‑ I mean you know, if I say something to them or talk to them for a few minutes, they might remember that for a long time. It might inspire them to go play golf. You don't know. So that's, I don't know, I guess my side job out here. Q. Brooke said it did for her, though. It's early. What's your mindset going into the weekend? MORGAN PRESSEL:  Oh, it's super early. Who knows what's going to happen this afternoon, but I mean I've got an afternoon and a morning to rest, so I'm going to do that; I'm going to work a little bit on my swing and just get ready to play tomorrow. Nothing too crazy, but just enjoy the afternoon. We have friends‑‑ my husband's here. We have friends that came from Northern Jersey to watch. So just enjoy our time together. Q. Is this pretty night and day for you, though; right? You said you came back from Asia and you felt lost and three months later you've been in the lead three weeks in the last two months. MORGAN PRESSEL: Yeah. But that shows how quickly it can change, I guess. It shows how important confidence is, and seeing the ball go in the hole inspires more golf balls to go in the hole. It's an interesting pattern of events. I mean just keep trying to work on it. Q. Was there a round where things turned for you at some point this year? MORGAN PRESSEL: It would have been in Kia, for sure would have probably been the first. Maybe even the last round in Phoenix, because I was really, really working on major swing changes in Phoenix, and then finally in the last round, I was kind of like, oh, okay, I can play golf. And then I continued that into Kia, and that was definitely when I felt more comfortable over the golf ball. Q. This is the time to play well, too, with three majors coming up in the next eight events. MORGAN PRESSEL: Definitely. I've got the opportunity this week actually to go check out both Lancaster country club and Westchester, and both fantastic golf courses, and at this point in my career, I mean this is my tenth year on tour, the majors are always the most important to me. Not to say that I don't want to win every tournament that I tee it up in, but I gear my season and even the way that I work on my golf swing, like I'm working hard on my golf swing this week so that I can hopefully not work on it as much come KPMG and just play. So that's kind of how I gear my season, around the majors, so I'm definitely looking forward to it. Q. And you lead by two. Brooke's two back. Seems like she's there every week with you almost. MORGAN PRESSEL: She's a good player. I think everybody will be pretty used to seeing her name near the top of the leaderboard. She's got a lot of game. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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