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JTBC FOUNDERS CUP


March 20, 2014


Morgan Pressel


PHOENIX, ARIZONA

MORGAN PRESSEL:  ...shots on the first two holes, got a nice little bounce and then made a 12‑footer, and I'm like, okay, well, we can still make birdies, and continued to do that.  So I made a lot of putts.  I mean I hit good shots as well, but I certainly made a lot of putts on that back nine, made a nice, I don't know, 50‑footer or so for eagle on 15 and had a lot of other chances as well, but I'll certainly take that 9‑under through 11 holes, and it wasn't the finish that I would have hoped for, but it gives me a little bit of confidence knowing how many birdies I can make and I'm capable of.
THE MODERATOR:  Can you remember a time when you ever got off to that hot of a start, and when you are 9‑under through 11 holes, do you start thinking, we all have that magic number in our head, do you start thinking about that?
MORGAN PRESSEL:  I don't know that I've ever gotten off to that hot of a start.  I don't know that I've ever gotten off to that hot of a start.  I don't know that I've ever shot 29.  I could look that up.
I don't know if I was necessarily thinking 59, but I was just‑‑ I probably just got a little bit excited, because I had never been that many under par in that short of a span of time, and I just got a little bit quick, and came back to earth.
THE MODERATOR:  Can you take us through the unplayable lie a little bit?  I know you had a kind of discussion with the rules official.
MORGAN PRESSEL:  Well, I hit a very poor tee shot and ended up kind of on the side of this little bush, and I could have hit it left‑handed and there were a couple of burrowing animal holes around, and I brought them over to ask, but I didn't honestly think that I was going to get relief, and I don't think that I deserved it.
And so I‑‑ it was a little bit too risky of a shot to try and hit it.  So I decided if I took two club lengths, I could still get to the Green, and so I made a safer choice and took the unplayable lie.
THE MODERATOR:  Pretty impressive bogey still there, when you have to take an unplayable.  Had to feel pretty good about that one when you walked away.
MORGAN PRESSEL:  Definitely that seven or 8‑footer I made for bogey, it's like okay, next hole.  Dodged that with a bogey and we can make some more birdies coming in.
THE MODERATOR:  Questions for Morgan.

Q.  What were you doing on the range that you weren't too excited about?
MORGAN PRESSEL:  What I did on the back nine.  (Laughs).  I was just hitting‑‑ and it's been that way for a few days.  I'm working a lot on my golf swing, and it just‑‑ it hasn't quite been where I want it to be, and even came out‑‑ this is the first time I've ever done this.  I changed my whole routine.  I was out a couple hours early today and just hit balls, maybe an hour, hour and a half almost.  And trying to fix it, just texting Ron trying to get a feel for something, and I didn't really have it going to the tee.  So I didn't know what to expect.  Like I said, I had no expectations.
And the shot that I figured out how to play, sometimes when I try and‑‑ when I try and hit a draw and I get stuck it goes way right.  So I just said, well, we'll just play the fade.  So I just kind of aimed down the left and played a little bit of a fade which was unusual for me, but it was a way I could keep the ball in play and it worked for 11 holes.

Q.  So will you go back to the range then?
MORGAN PRESSEL:  Uh‑huh.  Rock's waiting for me.
THE MODERATOR:  Well, for someone who hasn't had the swing, didn't you have a hole‑in‑one last week?
MORGAN PRESSEL:  I did.  I had a hole‑in‑one.  I was playing with Rock and my husband, Andy.  And it was fun.  It was exciting.  Always nice to have an ace.

Q.  Morgan, can you just speak to the upward trending of your game since you had your wrist problems?  And is this just more encouragement?
MORGAN PRESSEL:  Definitely.  That's why I can't get too upset about my back nine.  The more I put myself in position like that, the slower I'll be with my tempo and I won't get quite so quick.
And on top of the ball striking, today I putted lights out.  So if they all can come together more often, then I'll be better off, and I feel like I'm in a good place on the golf course.  I enjoy being out there, and like I said, I'm working a lot on my golf swing and working on getting in better positions to hit better shots and be more consistent.  And it's a slow process, but I think that I'm gaining on it every day, and I mean I'm on the range a lot.  And it's nice to be healthy and be able to do that with my wrist.  And I just‑‑ I feel like I'm getting better, both mentally and physically.

Q.  Do you feel like your game and the confidence has returned to where you feel good about winning, trying to win?
MORGAN PRESSEL:  Definitely.  I feel like I'm in a place where I mean I've played well the first four tournaments of the year, and you know, again, today, without what I thought was a good game, I played well and I put myself in position for the weekend.
I mean first round, you know, it's the first round.  There's three more days, but it's definitely a confidence builder, and the more rounds, like today, I can‑‑ and even the more tournaments, like Singapore, put myself in position coming down the stretch.  I did the same in Australia.  The more I can do that, the more comfortable I'll be, and I definitely feel like I have the ability to win again.

Q.  What's your all‑time low round at any age?
MORGAN PRESSEL:  62.

Q.  When was that?
MORGAN PRESSEL:  In high school state championship.  A long time ago.

Q.  That counts.  Then in terms of putting, I was talking to Paula a little bit the other day about when she first came out on tour, people said that the aggressive nature of her putting would go away as scar tissue that had developed over the years.  Missing, in other words.  Do you feel like you're putting like you were as a kid now?  Does that feel like that's coming back, that confidence?
MORGAN PRESSEL:  Well, yeah, I mean I just feel like I'm seeing the line really well, starting the ball where I want to.  I changed my putting grip in Singapore, and I feel like it just gives me a little bit more of a consistent roll.  And I just stand over a putt and try to hit it where I want to and if it I misread it, I misread it, but I'm hitting really good strokes and my speed has been good.  It's funny because Paula texted me and I texted her back and I said you inspired me.  I went out there and tried to putt like you.  I didn't make any 75‑footers, but I made a couple of long ones.

Q.  What's your putting grip?  What did you do?
MORGAN PRESSEL:  It's not a big change, but I took my left hand from my finger being like this to my finger being down the shaft.  Sounds like a huge change‑‑ I mean doesn't sound like a big change, but helps me keep my hand going through a little bit better.

Q.  (No microphone).
MORGAN PRESSEL:  Yeah.  She texted me and I texted her back.

Q. 
THE MODERATOR:  Any more questions for Morgan?  All right.  Let's get you to the range.
MORGAN PRESSEL:  All right.  Thanks.  Gotta go work on it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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