PRE-TOURNAMENT INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT: PAULA CREAMER - BRITTANY LANG - STACY LEWIS Wednesday, July 10, 2013 MODERATOR: We have Paula joining us in a little bit. I know you guys have been waiting so I'd like to introduce our press conference today, our star-studded panel. They don't need much introduction, but I'll do it anyway. To my immediate left, our defending champ, Brittany Lang. Thanks for joining us. And Rolex Rankings No. 2 Stacy Lewis. Guys, let's start off -- Brit, we'll start off with you, defending champion. You came up here last month to do some media. Obviously we want to hear more from you. Just talk about how it feels to be back at this course bringing back some good memories to a time where you probably played some of your best golf, you got your first win. Tell us how you're feeling this week coming back to a place you probably pretty much love. BRITTANY LANG: Yeah, I've never won before, so being back here, this is new to me and it's very exciting. I love the course and the people. Just walking up 18 these last two days, since it's my only win, it brings back a lot of great memories and it's a special place to me, it feels good. MODERATOR: One quick thing, I don't know if everybody knows here, a little personal but since you've have a been back here you got engaged. Talk about that, talk about how your fiance, I guess, did it in case people didn't catch it. I love this story, I want you to tell it. BRITTANY LANG: Yeah, I do too. I gotten engaged at the Dallas tournament. We have a tournament in north Texas, which is like 30 minutes from my house. He proposed on the last green that I played on Saturday and, yeah, got down on one knee right there on the green and it was very special being in Dallas and our families were there and being on a golf course, it was very cool. MODERATOR: How's engaged life been? Any different, just the same? How's it been so far? BRITTANY LANG: No, it's been fun, planning the wedding's been fun, kind of thinking about the future, it's been exciting. Yeah, we're excited for all that. MODERATOR: Any details you can reveal? You heard it here first. BRITTANY LANG: Yeah, we set the date for January 11th and, yep, Stacy's got it on her calendar, January 11th. I got the dressings, got my rehearsal dress and my wedding dress and we booked the chapel and everything, so we're moving. It's been tee-scripts.com 1
fun. MODERATOR: Stacy, we'll go to you. Halfway through the season now, we hit the halfway mark, just talk about your year so far, I guess moving forward to the second half, which a lot of important events coming up, we have British coming up, Solheim. Just talk about your season so far, how you feel physically, mentally and going forward to the second half? STACY LEWIS: Yeah, I mean my season's been good. I got off to a really good start, off to a fast start, two wins early and everybody thinks I'm playing bad but I'm really not playing that poorly. It's hard to keep playing well every single week is really hard, so I feel like I'm playing well. My energy level is good and I'm excited about what's coming up, British and we have Evian still and then Solheim in between so there's a lot of stuff to play for in the next few weeks. MODERATOR: I know you probably don't think you'll get out of here without bringing up Inbee, but just talk about the state of the Tour now. I guess you probably went through this earlier with all the extra attention, just media, things like that, a lot more eyes on the Tour just with what Inbee's doing. Talk about how important that is where not necessarily we're getting the attention that the Tour deserves every week, but now that people are taking notice, how important is that? STACY LEWIS: Well, I think the Tour, I've said it all year, I think our Tour's in a great place. I think we have a lot of top Americans playing well, and what Inbee's doing, it's unbelievable really. You look at her numbers the last few weeks and the way she's winning and the way she's getting it done, it's just impressive. To play well with all the extra demands, with the extra attention is even better. So it's great what she's doing, it's a creating a lot of headlines for us, which is good. She's getting the respect from the media that she deserves. MODERATOR: You had a little extra attention this past week, Feherty aired, your episode of Feherty. I heard you didn't watch it. Have you watched it yet? STACY LEWIS: I have not watched it. I don't like watching myself. I don't really watch interviews, I don't watch TV shows. You watched it for me? Thank you. BRITTANY LANG: It was awesome. She did a good job. STACY LEWIS: Thank you. It's cool, I got a lot of feedback from it, a lot of really good things. People said I was a great storyteller and somebody tweeted that I could be the next Judy Rankin, which I don't really think that's in the near future, but it was fun. It was really cool to film it. The timing of it was really good, I thought, when it came out. It's fun for people, I guess, to see the other side of me. MODERATOR: Paula, we'll get right to you, welcome. How was your off week? I tee-scripts.com 2
heard you were in New York City, did a little media Tour. Talk about that, what you were there for and I think I heard a 70-foot putt made in an office building. Take us through what you were up to this off week and how you feel coming into this event? PAULA CREAMER: I was in New York City on Monday and had the nice travel delays from the airport and everything. I can't believe all the subways and everything that happened to everybody. I was there for Ricoh, just doing some practice and media things, getting ready for the British Open and being an ambassador for them, it was fun to be able to kind of go around the city. I was in the SI.com and Golf.com building and at the end of the interview, we had this long 75-foot putt on carpet into a clear plastic putt. Honestly, it was first take and it went in. I went crazy. I don't know if anybody's seen the video, but it's pretty fun. Being able to do things like that and kind of see a little different side of yourself and you're not just out there grinding on the golf course. It's cool when you can have sponsors that take you to the bigger cities and things like that to be more exposed. MODERATOR: I asked Stacy, we're halfway through the season, you're coming off a good week at the U.S. Open. Talk about just where you are in the season physically, mentally, how you feel about your game, what you worked on this off week coming into this week. PAULA CREAMER: I feel really good, just been doing what I've been doing, trying to kind of make some more putts here and there but really just trying to hit the ball a little bit closer to the hole. It's been good, it's been a little bit more consistent. After Wegmans I kind of had a regrouping there, that was I think my worst tournament that I've had in a really long time. Sat back and looked at my overall picture. I feel great, I'm really happy, I'm in a really good place right now. I'm excited to play here. This is such a great place, it's a great venue, so many wonderful fans that come out to watch, and for a second year it shows how much women's golf is important here. MODERATOR: Talk about last year. I know everybody says with first-year events you don't know what to expect, could be a train wreck, could be good, could be great. Everybody pretty much across the board said, wow, they really outdid themselves for a first year. Talk about how impressive that show was that they put on and then coming into this year, kind of setting the bar a little high the second time around. PAULA CREAMER: It was incredible, I couldn't believe it. The whole golf course, this is kind of the layout is so spread out, there were people on every hole and they just -- they appreciate good shots. I always think some of the best fans are over in Europe because they just appreciate the game so much and they know what a good shot is and that's the same as here. You hit a good shot and they let you know. I think that's fun as a player. They're just so excited to come and cheer you are on no matter what's going on. Hopefully the weather the next four days will be nice for everybody to come out. But the bar is set a little bit high for the fans. tee-scripts.com 3
MODERATOR: At the U.S. Open, just a little anecdote, you crossed the $10 million mark in career earnings, 8th all time. If you see the list, you're kind of around on that list, pretty remarkable in terms of what's you've accomplished in your career. Not that you're counting every day, but talk about that being such a milestone in your career and what you've been able to accomplish consistently over your entire 10 years on Tour. PAULA CREAMER: I actually had no idea. To be honest, I don't think I've ever even looked at something like that before. I remember being the first one, youngest player to ever make a million dollars, I thought that was a pretty cool one. Crossing the $10 million mark, that's something that is nice. Like I said, I think my uncle told me on the 18th hole, you crossed the $10 million mark. Really? What did I win? It's neat to see. I've had a lot of success in my career. The greatest thing that I look at is I still enjoy every single day out here, every day is exciting, it's a new adventure and I can't wait for the next 10 years and see what happens. Q. All three of you have Solheim Cup experience. We're coming down to it. How important -- obviously that's something that's going to be an edge in this tournament for a lot of players. Can you talk about that, just what that means to players trying to get their Solheim Cup points and just what's going to happen in the next couple weeks? STACY LEWIS: Making the Solheim Cup team I think is the goal of every American and the last few tournaments are the hardest. I mean, Paula and I are pretty good, but Brit's a little bit on the bubble and it's a very hard place to be. You know, you're over putts thinking, gosh, I have to finish in the top 20 just to get some points. It's a hard place to be. My goal is I want to be set, I don't want to have to worry about it coming down the stretch. I want to be able to just worry about making sure my golf game is in order instead of trying to get points. I think we had nine Americans in the top 20 at the U.S. Open, so I think we're playing some really good golf, so I think the team's going to be good any way we do it, but I'm just glad I'm not in that position. Q. Brittany, maybe you can talk about it? BRITTANY LANG: Yeah, it is a tough position. I played good last year. I got off to a rough start this year and that hurt me with the Solheim points, but I've kind of refocused and I've been working very hard and I'm getting my ball-striking back and my confidence as well. It is a hard place to be in. Paula and Stacy, they're set and they're fine, but I really haven't paid much attention to where I was at, I just knew I hadn't performed well at the beginning of the year, so I have to have some good tournaments and I've been playing really well so it's definitely the top goal on my list. STACY LEWIS: Some players look at it more than others. Brit's one that doesn't look at it obviously. I played with Morgan on Sunday at the Open and she was definitely thinking about it. I think it's just your personality whether it affects you or tee-scripts.com 4
not. Q. You're used to the Solheim Cup the way it is. I was wondering if I could get from the three of you, with the way the Asians are playing now on Tour, obviously Australians in the past have played well, have you ever thought of the Solheim Cup as something along the lines of a Presidents Cup or you could also have an international team or maybe the three of them could be part of the Solheim Cup? PAULA CREAMER: No, the Solheim's the Solheim, the Ryder Cup's the Ryder Cup. The tradition, everything that's gone behind it, that's what it is. I think if we added something, we used to have something like the Lexus Cup where you could have international teams and things like that be a part of it. But the Solheim, that's our pride and joy, that's what we -- my highlight of my golf career is playing on that team and going out with the girls that we play against every week. Is it unfortunate they can't be a part of that? Yes, but that's why there is a Presidents Cup and there's no reason we can't have a First Ladies Cup, something like that. I think that's the other way to look it. But I don't think you should ever change the Solheim. It is what it is. STACY LEWIS: I agree, Solheim is U.S. and Europe and I think if you even asked some of those other players, they would say that it needs to stay that way. But we do have the International Crown starting next year at Cave Valley and that's going to involve eight countries from all over the world. They'll qualify off the Rolex Rankings. I think Korea's leading the list right now, Japan's in there, Australia, U.S., so that will be kind of our version of the Presidents Cup coming up. BRITTANY LANG: It is better that they added that, what's the tournament called? The International Crown. We had the Lexus Cup beforehand when the other countries got to participate and that went away seven years ago, so it's good they're going to have that. But I agree with these girls, you can't change that tradition, U.S. versus Europe, and that's how it should be. Q. Brittany, you're coming in as defending champion, you said this was your first win last year. How does that feel different from other tournaments that you've gone to? BRITTANY LANG: Yeah, like I said, this is a first for me and it's been a very fun week. The fans have been amazing. Every tee box I've been up to, they cheer when I come up there and I've never experienced something like that, so I'm just really trying to enjoy it and trying to represent myself well this week and have a good week for them. The fans have been amazing, it's been one of the coolest weeks. Q. Is there a little bit of extra pressure having that title to defend? tee-scripts.com 5
BRITTANY LANG: Maybe. I don't feel it. I've been playing well and feeling good. Like I said, I'm just going to try to enjoy the week because this has never happened to me before and just try to enjoy the fans and just have a good week out of it. Q. Compared to last year, the course is a lot wetter obviously, the rain just hasn't stopped. Challenges that you're seeing that present in comparison to last year for all three of you? BRITTANY LANG: The course condition is night and day from last year. It was very warm, dried out, firm and fast. It's fine now. It's not unplayable by any means, it's just soft. I'm hitting more club off the tee, more drivers, more 3-woods, but it's still -- it's very scorable as it was last year, still able to make a lot more birdies, just playing a little bit longer is all. STACY LEWIS: Yeah, the course is very different from last year. I think I hit a lot more drivers, a lot longer clubs into the greens but the greens are holding better. You're still going to see low scores, you're still going to see a lot of birdies. I don't know, this course, the way it sets up off the tee, it's just a birdie fest, you've got to go out there and make some putts. PAULA CREAMER: Hopefully Mother Nature can hold off this afternoon. By Sunday it might be a little bit drier out there, but it is. You're going to see a lot of birdies. Last year the longer players couldn't hit many drivers; this year pretty much I don't think there's that many holes where you really don't hit driver. That's really the only big difference. I think 17 might play a little bit easier this year than last year, you can almost hold that green now. It will still be a great tournament no matter what. Like I said, you can't control Mother Nature and unfortunately it's been a rough couple of days. Q. This question's for Brittany Lang, the defending champion. I was hoping you could tell us something about Stacy and Paula that we don't know. They get a lot of attention compared to you. Can you give us some background as to what these players are really like? STACY LEWIS: Can we turn your mic off? BRITTANY LANG: I've known these girls forever, so long. I've known Stacy, I played high school golf with Stacy a little bit, and Paula since I was probably 12 or 13. The cool thing about these girls -- just kidding. What you see is what you get. They're good girls, they're good people. I would probably say for Stacy, people don't realize how much charity work she does. They see the golfer and they know she's had back problems and they know she does good things, but I don't think they realize how much good she does. She probably tee-scripts.com 6
won't talk about it, but she is one of the most giving people I've ever met, so that's one for Stacy. Paula, what you see is what you get. These are the girls, I promise you, they're not any different behind closed doors, they're the exact same. PAULA CREAMER: Better make that good here. BRITTANY LANG: I don't know, they're just good girls. Paula's going to be in my wedding in January, so we're obviously very close. STACY LEWIS: She helped you find your dress, right? BRITTANY LANG: She did. That's the girl you want to take with you. Q. What do we not know about Brittany Lang? I know previously you said your passion about dancing, Brittany. You told us that in the Bahamas. PAULA CREAMER: She has some moves, I'll tell you. STACY LEWIS: She could probably have her own show, reality TV show for Brittany Lang, that'd be pretty good actually. PAULA CREAMER: That's the thing, you're so interesting, you don't think you're interesting. I think that Brittany, she never gives up, she's just a fighter, she grinds through everything. You see that when she's out there, but there's a difference. She will not -- if she wants to tell you something, she's going to tell you and she has the thickest skin I've ever seen. It's pretty cool we can sit here and say we've known each other for so long, that's the other neat experience, to have junior golf. Like you said, I'll be in her wedding. Who would have thought that 15 years ago that we would be sitting here saying that, but it's pretty neat. Q. You guys touched on this a little earlier, there are thunderstorms on their way in this afternoon and it's supposed to be beautiful on the weekend. How much is involved in almost playing it by ear, obviously practice on the soft conditions today since you got here. Will there be a certain amount of you have to play it by ear on the weekend as conditions change? STACY LEWIS: As golfers that's kind of what we do, we always have to adjust. Just when you think it's going to be one way, maybe the rain misses us and the course dries out. We're always having to adjust depending on if it rains, if it doesn't rain. Really the last two months everywhere we played I think it's rained. If anything, we're used to playing in the rain so I guess we should be kind of used to this weather. But we're always having to adjust, so it's just kind of part of what we do. tee-scripts.com 7
Q. One last question, I just have to ask this, Paula, can you show us your While We're Young impression? PAULA CREAMER: No, I can't, no. I was so nervous doing that, my goodness. No. That was a one-time deal. We say it now a little bit out there, "While we're young," but I don't do my (inaudible) moves. BRITTANY LANG: How did you come up with that? Q. Hi, ladies. Wondering, Brittany, when a player on Tour is on a hot streak like the one Inbee's on now, does it force you to adjust your game at all, does it force you to be more aggressive? Do you find yourself watching the scoreboard a little bit more? How does it change things? BRITTANY LANG: It's funny because somebody asked me that at the U.S. Open. Normally when you play a U.S. Open, you're trying to hit fairways and greens and make pars and you're in good shape. But Inbee was 10-under par, and I felt like I was playing an Open like I was supposed to play an Open and I was 12 shots back. Actually it's like the Open week every week with Inbee Park actually, exactly like that because she makes every putt and she doesn't make many mistakes. That's exactly right, you do have to play more aggressive. I think she's making the Tour better obviously, but she's making the players better for sure. STACY LEWIS: I think Yani did it in 2011. People just get on streaks where you're playing well (inaudible) really good, and if anything it makes you better, you have to start playing better, you have to work harder. Inbee's doing what she did probably because of the way Yani played. It's just kind of a cycle and we'll see who this affects now. PAULA CREAMER: It's the same with Annika in '05 when she was so hot and then Lorena came in after her, and now Yani. I mean, it's just kind of a domino effect. It's pretty neat to see that. Obviously we want to be that person in that chair, but the same thing is with Brittany, I played junior golf with Inbee and when you know someone and you see how hard they work over such a long period of time, it's so impressive what she's doing, but at the same time it's elevating all of us, it's where we need to be. If we're not, she's going to leave us all in the dust, she's just playing so well. Obviously streaks don't last forever, but what she's been doing is changing women's golf and it's almost like the next Se Ri Pak movement for Korea. It's pretty interesting to watch. Q. I just wanted to ask Brittany what her thoughts were when she approached 18 this week. You birdied it the last four, five times you played it? STACY LEWIS: How many times did you play it? tee-scripts.com 8
BRITTANY LANG: I don't remember, a lot. Tuesday and Wednesday I birdied it both days there, so I think I have like seven birdies in a row, except in regulation, I didn't birdie in regulation last year. No, it was really special coming up. Yesterday I just played the back nine with a friend late in the afternoon and walking up, it was pretty cool to look at the grandstands. I was smiling when I was walking up, it was very special to be back. Q. And minus 16 was the number last year. Do you see similar numbers this year? BRITTANY LANG: Yeah, absolutely, if not lower, I think. STACY LEWIS: Lower? BRITTANY LANG: You'd better watch out. PAULA CREAMER: You must really like that walk up 18, huh? MODERATOR: All right. Thanks. tee-scripts.com 9