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BELL MICRO LPGA CLASSIC

May 11, 2010

Michelle Wie West

MOBILE, ALABAMA

DAVID HIGDON: Welcome everybody for joining us today. We're here with Michelle Wie who will be playing in her first Bell Micro Classic, so she's very excited about that.
Couple things up front. Michelle, obviously we had a very sad day yesterday with the announcement that we found out about Erica Blasberg. Just wanted to get your reaction and thoughts on Erica.
MICHELLE WIE: You know, obviously it's a very tragic thing that happened. You know, I'm just really glad that I got to know her. Got to play on the Curtis Cup with her.
You know, she was more than a golfer. She was a really great person. She was always really sweet. Obviously really sad about it.
DAVID HIGDON: We have a news announcement coming up in the next hour. I'm not sure if you've been told yet, so I'm going to tell you if you haven't.
Rosie Jones, the captain of the Solheim Cup, is going to announce that her two assistant captains Sherri Steinhauer and Juli Inkster. Wondering what your thoughts are on those two choices?
MICHELLE WIE: I think it's awesome. I think Juli and Sherri will be really great assistant captains along with Rosie. I would be absolutely honored to play on that team. I think it would be pretty fabulous.
DAVID HIGDON: I drove in yesterday and came across a billboard that said, Wow Wie. Did you see that?
MICHELLE WIE: Yes, I did.
DAVID HIGDON: So clearly everybody here is excited to see you. I won't say, Wow Wie when I see you, but your reaction of coming here and what you've seen so far. You're obviously excited about playing.
MICHELLE WIE: I am. It's a great golf course. I came here and played it yesterday and today, and the golf course is fabulous. It's in perfect shape. The greens are very new. I heard they did a lot of changes to the golf course. I haven't seen the changes, but it's a really great golf course. I bet it's gonna be a lot of fun.
The whole Wow Wie billboards took me back to elementary school. (Laughing.) It's funny. It's a really great billboard. I'm really excited to be here.
DAVID HIGDON: Questions, please.

Q. Coming off the last tournament and as well as you played, is it something that you were building towards playing that well, or did something click that week? Are you kind of at the peak right now?
MICHELLE WIE: Um, yeah, I've been just been working on my game, working really hard. It was great that last week -- couple weeks ago it paid off. Gonna keep on work working at it. There are a lot of things I want to improve on. Hopefully I'm on a steady incline.

Q. With Lorena retiring, Annika a year ago, do you feel any sort of added pressure as one of the really most visible players on this tour to kind of help carry the image and promote the tour?
MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I think we all have a responsibility for that. I think all of us, including me. I'm just trying to play as well as I can and provide the best golf out there. Trying the play the best I can.
Hopefully that's provides a lot of entertainment and bring the tour to a whole new level. I think, you know, all the players are really striving towards that. We're just all just working together to make a better product.

Q. Talking with G. A. yesterday, she said being ranked No. 1 in the world at 22 came maybe too quick and she's not exactly sure how to handle it. Do you look at the age group and then you say, one day you wake up and it's there and you click? And she said maybe it came too quick, and how to deal with that success.
MICHELLE WIE: You know, I think age is a very interesting thing. You don't really think about age out here. You just try to play the best you can right now.
Whether you're 20 right now or whether you're a little bit older or younger doesn't really make a difference. You're all right here in the present and doing the best we can right now.

Q. Michelle, that Curtis Cup you played in with Erica, all of you were so young. The teeny bopper group. When something like that happens to someone in that age group, do you find yourself doing a little bit of soul searching? Is there a more personal impact when it happens to someone so young?
MICHELLE WIE: You know, it's just -- it's hard either way. It's just difficult. But it's just still a shock to me. I still think that she's gonna come out next week and stuff like that.
So I think we're still in the process of, you know, trying to deal with it. Right now we're just trying to provide as much support as we can for the family and friends. Just try to help them.

Q. Obviously there's a distraction in this region with the oil spill. You coming from a place that has beautiful water, have you taken note of anything that's going on with the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico?
MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, there's a lot people staying in our hotel that have been helping with the oil leak. It's a big problem. I'm just glad that we're trying to do as much as we can to help. I wish I had more time and that I could good down there and help.
But, you know, I -- I mean, hopefully it'll all work out. But it is a pretty big deal. I'm glad that we're taking it seriously.

Q. You talked about the course and how much you like the course. How does to fit your game? What are you doing well at this point, and how it relates to this course and tournament?
MICHELLE WIE: It's a really interesting golf course. Of course every hole is quite different from the one before. You don't really get into a groove where every hole is the same.
Um, so it's just got to keep in the fairway. Same thing as every week: Fairway, greens, make putts.

Q. Lexis Thompson made it official. She's going to turn pro after the Curtis Cup. As someone who turned pro at about the same age, what advice would you give to her?
MICHELLE WIE: You know, I don't really know her personally that well. I've seen her play and she plays great.
So, you know, if she's happy with the decision that she made, then I'm happy as well, too. I only wish her the best.

Q. You mentioned the Wow Wie billboards on the way in. Every tournament you go to you have to be one of the biggest draws. How are you dealing with that?
MICHELLE WIE: I appreciate it. It's kind of nice having billboards out there. It's pretty neat that if I play well, then I'll be out there and on billboards. It's pretty good incentive.

Q. Is it ever bothersome?
MICHELLE WIE: No.
DAVID HIGDON: I think the Wow Wie billboards inspired the braids today. What do you think?
MICHELLE WIE: Well, we're going back to the elementary vibe, aren't we?

Q. Can you talk about the greens here being so hard? Anybody that's played here as an amateur knows that the ball lands at the front the greens and tends to roll all the way to the back, and how that might take an adjustment for some of you girls this week?
MICHELLE WIE: Well, the greens are very new. I heard that the greens have been built from 1, 2, 3, all the way to 18. So by the time you get to 18, they're the firmest.
So it definitely does take a little bit more planning. Definitely keep it in the fairway; hitting it long is an advantage.
So trying to keep it in the fairway and keep my irons short in. Got to use your head. There are some pins you can't get close.

Q. Early in your pro career, it seemed like what most of us go through in this game, the harder you try the worst you get. At some point in time, did you feel the game starting to come to you and maybe learn some things that you can share with the golfers out there that helped you start sinking birdie putts rather than par putts?
MICHELLE WIE: You know, it's just -- I guess it's the way you practice and the way you try. Because in theory, the harder you try you should get better.
But just got to have with it. Just do what you think is right. You know, just sometimes grinding out there, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. You just have to find your groove and what works for you.
Some players are fine without practicing at all; some players have to grind it out. It's just whatever works for you, I guess.

Q. When did you find your groove? When did it start feeling comfortable to you out here?
MICHELLE WIE: I'm still trying to find it. It's always a work in progress.

Q. Last year, and especially everything that you've been through in the early stages of your career, with all you've been through to that point and getting the win and breaking through last year, is it different for you now? More comfortable? Anything different than it was a year and a half ago?
MICHELLE WIE: Well, it was great winning. It was pretty awesome. I think it definitely helped boost my confidence. You know, it's good to get that off my back.
It was exciting. The last you know -- even through the struggles and whatnot, it's always exciting. I find it exciting to just try harder and try to get better. Even now, you know, I still feel like there's a lot to improve. There's more I want to do better.
So it's always a struggle and always a climb. But I find that exciting.

Q. We've seen domination on this tour in the last 25 years from different players, and America is wanting an American to do that. Do you feel pressure from that? Do you feel that's a goal you want to reach sometime, that you want to be a dominant player representing America?
MICHELLE WIE: Yeah. I mean, obviously being a dominant player is one of my biggest goals. I think that I've always strived towards that. I love representing my country. To see that American flag up there, it feels pretty good.

Q. And $195,000 goes to the winner on Sunday. The financial burden, a lot players come in this tour broke and that's what inspires them to play better, to make more money. You had that kind of taken away, that edge. You don't have to worry about it because of the endorsements. Do it help or hurt in the drive factor, or is it never about the money?
MICHELLE WIE: You know, I've always -- you know, I've been pretty lucky with the endorsements and everything. But definitely, I think, you know, the prize money is definitely a big thing. I think more of it is me wanting to get that trophy and me wanting to do it. Money really isn't a big deal for me. Whether I'm rich or not really doesn't make a difference for me.
For me, it's more the determination to get there and the feeling of success. That, for me, is more important than any kind of dollars or anything.
Honestly, I don't even know how much money I have. I just live the same way that I did before I turned pro. Nothing's really every changed that much. I just want it for myself. I want it for the happiness that it brings me, the feeling of success and achievement.
DAVID HIGDON: Any other questions for Michelle? Okay, thank you for joining us. Thank you, Michelle.

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