RICOH Women’s British Open
Royal Birkdale Golf Club
Southport, England
Second Round Notes
July 11, 2014
Mo Martin, Rolex Rankings No. 99, -6
So Yeon Ryu, Rolex Rankings No. 8, -3
Beatriz Recari, Rolex Rankings No. 37, -3
Stacy Lewis, Rolex Rankings No. 1, +1
Michelle Wie, Rolex Rankings No. 6, +9
Mo Martin will never be one of the longest hitters on the LPGA Tour but she has been the most accurate drivers of the ball on Tour the past two seasons. That accuracy has been paying big dividends this week at Royal Birkdale, as Martin delivered her second straight 3-under 69 in Friday’s second round to sit at 6-under-par and take a three-shot lead at the RICOH Women’s British Open.
All week players have talked about the challenges that Royal Birkdale doles out but Martin has embraced the challenge. The 31-year-old, who is in her third year on the LPGA Tour, came into this week like most other weeks on Tour with a plan of how to attack this golf course. The tightness of the fairways and the penalizing rough have played to Martin’s advantage and 5-foot-3 “Mighty Mo” has enjoyed what she’s seen from Royal Birkdale – ranking it among the top 5 courses she’s ever played.
“Every hole you have something to think about,” Martin said. “Every single shot you have something to think about. And then the wind gets a little bit tricky here. I’ve really been watching the flags because the layout of the course it subtly turns you into the wind or turns you away from the wind and you can’t necessarily feel it from some of the tee boxes, some of the approach shots. But there’s fairway there and there’s green there and that’s what I’m focusing on.”
Trailing three shots behind Martin is a trio of golfers including 2011 U.S. Women’s Open champion So Yeon Ryu and three-time LPGA Tour winner Beatrice Recari. Of the nine players who sit under par through 36 holes, Ryu is the only one to have won a major championship previously.
Martin is seeking her first victory on the LPGA Tour but has three Epson Tour victories on her resumé. She spent six years out on the Epson Tour prior to earning her LPGA Tour card for the 2012 season at age 29. Martin said that the experience she gained from those three wins including her first victory in El Paso, Texas is something that she will carry with her throughout the weekend here.
“My first win was in El Paso, Texas, and that was extremely windy,” Martin said. “I actually was talking to my caddie about that and just talking about shaping the ball against the wind instead of turning it into more of a straight shot, and I did that in El Paso and that’s been my strategy again this week. So sticking to that.”
One person who was there in El Paso to witness Martin’s victory was her grandfather, Lincoln. He was there to witness many of Martin’s career highlights, as the two had grown extremely close over the last 10 years. Lincoln passed away this past March at the age of 102 but while he might not be with Martin physically this week, his presence is always felt as she wears a necklace in honor of him.
“I had an extremely close relationship with my grandpa, and he was an absolutely phenomenal man and influence in my life,” Martin said. “So just reflecting on those memories, I mean, they have made them even stronger for me. So I’ve just been so blessed. I’ve had a lot of opportunities to count my blessings.”
TIME TO MAKE A CHANGE
Beatriz Recari admits that the start of this season has been a rough one for her. Coming off the first two-win season of her career on the LPGA in 2013, Recari seemed prime to build upon her breakout year. Instead, it’s been one that has taught the 27-year-old Spaniard a lot of lessons.
“It’s been a challenging and learning experience for me this first half of the season,” Recari said. “You mix injuries with compensations in your swing and working on the wrong things to get back; it definitely makes it harder than it needs to be.”
Recari started working with a new swing coach, Jorge Parada, close to five weeks ago. He’s the same swing coach that Anna Nordqvist started working with earlier this year and the one that Nordqvist credits with her resurgence. Recari, who had made just 4 cuts in her first 12 events this season prior to this week, had gotten to such a tough place that she felt like it was necessary to hit the restart button and really focus on fundamentals.
“I was in such an undesirable situation or place, however you want to call it, that pretty much we just worked on getting the swing back,” Recari said. “Getting the positions back to neutral and back to a position where I could just trust it and hit the shots that I wanted to hit, which are high draws, which like I say, just really worked on basics…But I needed it, and that’s given me the confidence to be able to go out there and enjoy myself.”
Recari certainly looked like she was enjoying herself on Friday after shooting a 5-under 67 and vaulting up the leaderboard at the RICOH Women’s British Open – an event where she has admittedly struggled. Recari had previously made just one cut in six appearances at this tournament.
ROUGH TRAVEL DAY
A bad travel day can put anyone in a bad mood. Beatriz Recari had plenty of reasons to be in a bad mood after an extremely rough one.
After attending a junior golf event at St. Andrews, Recari’s flight to the RICOH Women’s British Open was cancelled after just two hours of sleep. She and her parent’s were put up in a hotel next to the zoo - which wasn’t an ideal
situation.
“If we stayed with the monkeys it would have been better.” Recari joked.
In a tough 2014 season where Recari battled various injuries, the last thing she needed was another setback just as she started to gain confidence in her game. She strained her wrist struggling with all her luggage.
“The wrist was this week after a very adventurous trip on Sunday where no man helped me in the airport and I had to carry four pieces of luggage just on my own.” Recari explained of an injury. “That’s what happened. Englishman are very - not gentlemen.”
Thankfully the physios on site at the Royal Birkdale Golf Club were able to work on her wrist on Monday and Tuesday.
“The physios here did a great job and I was pain free on Wednesday.” Recari said. “So I was thrilled.”
TROPHY COLLECTION
So Yeon Ryu is familiar with winning national championships, having captured the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open in her second playing of the event. She also knows that not all national championships present the same challenges.
“The U.S. Open and British is quite different,” Ryu said. “That’s why I like links golf courses, we have so many options. We can hit 5‑wood and we can hit driver and also we can hit 5‑iron at the same teeing ground. So I think that’s why I really like links golf course.”
Ryu showed her finesse around a links golf course on Friday. Despite a double bogey on the second hole, Ryu bounced back with four birdies over her remaining 16 holes and no bogeys.
“The links golf course is always hard to predict,” Ryu said. “Even when I hit the great shots, still can finish at the worst place and when I hit the bad shots, still can finish close to the pin. So really important thing is whatever the result, we need to accept it and just keep working on. That’s the main thing.”
With 36 holes remaining, Ryu now finds herself just two shots behind leader Mo Martin. And while there is still a lot of golf to be played, the always smiling 24-year-old couldn’t help but to think of what it would mean to add another major title to her resume.
“I really like links golf course and I think that’s why I want to win the British Open,” Ryu said. “And in that case, I can hold the U.S. Open trophy and the British Open trophy and it will be awesome.”
STILL IN THIS
Despite an up-and-down day during the second round , defending champion Stacy Lewis still finds herself very much in the hunt for her second consecutive RICOH Women’s British Open championship. Her 74 today wasn’t up to her
standards, many other golfers would have loved to have traded scorecards with the World No. 1.
She started the day with bogeys on three of the first four holes, a day after
beginning the first round with bogeys on two of the first four.
“I haven’t really started any of my rounds very good.” Lewis said. “Those first four holes are hard. They don’t really fit my eye. So got to find a way to just start out a little bit better, because I like the back nine, you can make some birdies back there. So just got to get a better start and keep hanging in there.”
Despite the rough start, Lewis knows she’s still in this tournament and feels optomistic heading into the weekend.
“I hit some really good shots and hit some pretty poor shots, too.” Lewis said “My short game just didn’t really help me out today. So got to shore that up for the weekend but I’m still in this thing. This golf course is playing so hard and just got to keep hanging around and hopefully I can shoot a good number tomorrow.”
She finds herself seven shots back of leader Mo Martin (-6) heading into the weekend. After the second round of the 2013 RICOH Women’s British Open, Lewis found herself five shots back of the then-leader Na Yeon Choi before going on to claim a 2-shot victory. Based on Lewis’ track record, you just cannot count her out of any tournament.
MAJOR RALLY
It was a nightmarish start to Lexi Thompson’s second round on Friday at Royal Birkdale. The 2014 Kraft Nabisco Champion opened up with a 10 on the first hole after hitting not one but two tee shots out of bounds. She then followed with a bogey on the second hole and after beginning the day at even-par, Thompson found herself at 7-over-par.
But it was an impressive rebound for Thompson who managed to record three birdies and just one bogey over the remainder of her round to shoot a 5-over 77. She also finished one shot inside the cut line and will remain in Southport to play the weekend at Royal Birkdale.
END OF AN IMPRESSIVE RUN
It seemed like the streak of great luck for Michelle Wie this season would never end. With two victories and at least a top-25 finish in each of her first 14 events of the year, Wie appeared to be in cruise control.
But that great run came to an end on Friday when Wie followed up a season-worst 75 on Thursday with a 78 in the second round. She finished with a two-day total of 153 (+9) and missed the cut by three shots. It was Wie’s first missed cut since last August at the CN Canadian Women’s Open.
“Just tempo felt off this week,” Wie said. “I kind of felt a little bit uncomfortable and I got into the mind-set of trying to par instead of trying to make birdies out there.”
Wie said early in the week that Royal Birkdale was one of the toughest golf courses she’d seen off the tee and her plan was to be a little more conservative considering the lush rough on the course. After her round Friday, Wie was asked if in hindsight she might have changed her strategy.
“In hindsight maybe,” Wie said. “But I feel like when things go poorly, you can look back, and oh, I should have done this, I should have done that; I would be here all day thinking about that. I just didn’t hit the shots I needed to and I need to work on that.”
WORKING FOR THE WEEKEND
A total of 70 players made the cut, which fell at 150 (6-over-par).
Notable players who missed the cut (top 65 and ties) today were 2002 Women’s British Open champion Karrie Webb, 2012 U.S. Women’s Open champion Na Yeon Choi, 2014 U.S. Women’s Open champion Michelle Wie and 2004 Women’s British Open champion Karen Stupples.
WITHDRAWLS FROM THE CHAMPIONSHIP
Se Ri Pak withdrew before the start of her second round due to an unspecified injury...she joins Thursday withdrawls Lizette Salas (back), Caroline Masson (illness) and Cristie Kerr (illness).
NO. 1 SCENARIOS
Stacy Lewis will remain the Rolex Rankings No. 1 player if she finishes in a 3-way tie for 2nd-or-better at the RICOH Women’s British Open. If Lydia Ko wins this week, she will take over the No. 1 ranking as long as Stacy finishes in a 4-way tie for 2nd or worse.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I’ll definitely be nervous, there’s no doubt about that. But that’s part of the game. I think everybody playing on the weekend is going to be nervous, too, and I’m going to embrace that. That’s part of what we do and part of what I’m blessed to do. I have never been leading in a major. “
-Mo Martin on how she will feel heading into the weekend as the leader at the RICOH Women’s British Open
TV SCHEDULE
ESPN2 will be televising the tournament this week in the United States. Below are the air times for the weekend at the RICOH Women’s British Open.
July 12
8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
July 13
8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
*All times listed are U.S. Eastern time
ROOKIES IN THE FIELD
There are seven LPGA rookies in the field this week in Amy Anderson, Stacy Keating, Joanna Klatten, Lydia Ko, Mirim Lee, Xi Yu Lin, Line Videl. The last rookie to win a major was Anna Nordqvist at the 2009 LPGA Championship at Bulle Rock Golf Course in Havre de Grace, Maryland.
FIRST HOLE PROBLEMS
There were 15 double-bogeys or worse on the first hole during Rd. 2 of the RICOH Women’s British Open to go along with the 23 double-bogeys or worse on the first hole during Rd. 1.
Mo Martin, Rolex Rankings No. 99, -6
COLIN CALLANDER: Good evening, we have mow Martin, leader of The RICOH Women's British Open, two successive rounds of 9 for a 6‑under par total of 138. How do you feel about your first two days' work?
MO MARTIN: Well, it was quite fun. It's always nice when your plan pans out. So it's fun to be here. It's a fun day. I had a great pairing. It was a beautiful day. I didn't know the weather was this nice here, but it is, so it's been really fun. I'm graduate I'm here.
COLIN CALLANDER: You've played this championship the last couple of years. Have you had any other links experience before that or are you fairly new to this game?
MO MARTIN: No, first year here at Royal Liverpool, that was my first exposure to links golf, and we definitely had quite the weather with 36 holes on Sunday. I'm pleased that this weather is better and it's been nice.
Q. You made it look quite easy, but can you explain, can you put into words, what is so bloody difficult about this golf course?
MO MARTIN: What is so simple about the golf course?
Q. No, you're making it look simple, but what makes it so bloody difficult?
MO MARTIN: Every hole you have something to think about. Every single shot you have something to think about. And then the wind gets a little bit tricky here. I've really been watching the flags because the layout of the course it subtly turns you into the wind or turns you away from the wind and you can't necessarily feel it from some of the tee boxes, some of the approach shots. But there's fairway there and there's green there and that's what I'm focusing on.
Q. (Inaudible.)
MO MARTIN: For my particular game, no, it's not the most difficult but I think it's a fantastic layout. It's very demanding and I think the way the officials have set it up is phenomenal. It complements the layout perfectly. It's a wonderful golf course and it's very challenging.
Q. Can you expand on your plan that you had going into the week that's panning out so well, and can you talk about the rough, because it's unusually thick this year and how that might play to your advantage.
MO MARTIN: Well, strategy, my caddie, Kyle, and I, just figured out where the widest parts of the fairway were, where I would have the best approaches into the greens. I don't hit it particularly long, so just capitalising on my accuracy.
And then on a course like this, I think I hit the last two ‑‑ I think I hit one more 3‑wood today, so four and five 3‑woods off the tee, and that's particularly unusual for me. I'm usually driver all the time. But just picking good targets, that's really key on this golf course, and executing it.
And you mentioned the rough. Fortunately I haven't met it too much this week, just a few times. And you can get some funny lies. But you can get some funny lies in the fairways, too, and I think that's just part of links golf and part of the breaks you get. I've had some good breaks these last two days. So I'm thanking my lucky stars and all my family and friends following.
Q. What did you think of LeBron going to Cleveland ‑‑ just kidding. Do you have a plan at every tournament you play and have you ever had one work out?
MO MARTIN: I definitely have a game plan every single tournament. So that's something specific I do. That's something I focus very much on, and I've had three wins on the FUTURES Tour, which is now the Epson Tour.
I said earlier that a win is a win, and I think ‑‑ of course a major is absolutely more of a challenge and there is a lot more on the line here, but I mean, when I started playing golf, I mean, there's some things ‑‑ you pick out your strategy and then you work on executing that to the best of your ability. And I think any golf course you go to in any tournament, that's the objective, and whoever does that the best is going to win at the end of the week.
Q. Have you ever been in a position like this before, leading going into the last two rounds, and how nervous will you be for the weekend?
MO MARTIN: I'll definitely be nervous, there's no doubt about that. But that's part of the game. I think everybody playing on the weekend is going to be nervous, too, and I'm going to embrace that. That's part of what we do and part of what I'm blessed to do. I have never been leading in a major.
Earlier this year at the Kraft I had a good second round and I was definitely in the Top‑10 going into the weekend, so I'll pull on that experience.
Q. You said that a win's a win and that's important. How much can you draw on that going into the final 36 holes?
MO MARTIN: Well, my first win was in El Paso, Texas, and that was extremely windy. I actually was talking to my caddie about that and just talking about shaping the ball against the wind instead of turning it into more of a straight shot, and I did that in El Paso and that's been my strategy again this week. So sticking to that.
Q. What was your first impression of Birkdale when you got here?
MO MARTIN: I thought it was lovely, I really did. I liked it from the first time I saw it. Every hole is so unique. It's definitely my Top‑5 that I've ever played, Top‑5 favourites.
Q. What are your other favourites?
MO MARTIN: Royal Melbourne and Sebonack are definitely in my Top‑5. I don't think I can call a No. 1 yet.
Q. Might change at the end of the week.
MO MARTIN: Ask me again on Sunday (laughs).
Q. You had back‑to‑back bogeys on 11, 12, what happened there, and was there anything important that followed that steadied the ship?
MO MARTIN: Like I talked about executing, just had a few things ‑‑ I 3‑putted 11, and I actually hit my second putt ‑‑ my first putt wasn't great. It was just more uphill than I thought it was. My second putt I hit a little too short and hit the edge. Nothing I can do about that, and similar on the next hole.
The plan just didn't work out and I didn't think that over too much. I just stuck to my strategy.
COLIN CALLANDER: Birdied the 6th, can you remember the details?
MO MARTIN: Birdie on No. 6, I hit a good drive down there. That was actually reachable for me but the wind was coming right‑to‑left and from the angle I had, it wasn't going to be the best run up there. So I just laid it up just short of the front left bunker and had a little pitch up there and had a nice maybe 6‑footer for birdie.
No. 7, the wind wasn't quite as far or as much down, and so I hit the same club I've been hitting. I had to hit it a little bit strong and it came up actually just short and got a good kick towards the pin. That was a 9‑iron, and made about a 15‑footer there I would say.
10, that's one of the 3‑woods off the tee. The wind switched a little bit. It was a little bit more into today. I had a 5‑iron and then I made at least a 20‑footer there.
Then another birdie at 16. I hit a wedge to maybe eight inches so that was a nice easy birdie.
On 18, I hit it close to the same spot ‑‑ well, a little bit closer and a little bit further right but I putted that again. Big advantage of a links golf course.
Q. How far?
MO MARTIN: 71 yards.
Q. The win in El Paso, was that your first?
MO MARTIN: That was my first.
Q. What was the actual name of the tournament so we don't have to look it up?
MO MARTIN: I think it was just the El Paso Golf Classic. My grandpa was there. He was there for all of my wins.
COLIN CALLANDER: Have you got your family here this week.
MO MARTIN: My grandpa is here around my neck in spirit.
Q. What has that been like over the past few months with your grandpa gone and how much do you feel like your strong play of late has been reflected, knowing that he's up there having a good say in what's going on down here?
MO MARTIN: Well, it's been ‑‑ for those of you who don't know, I had an extremely close relationship with my grandpa, and he was an absolutely phenomenal man and influence in my life. He passed away in March.
So I think the positive that came about with so many people came up to me and talked about how important he was to them and people told me that just meeting him has made them a better man, a better person.
So just reflecting on those memories, I mean, they have made them even stronger for me. So I've just been so blessed. I've had a lot of opportunities to count my blessings.
So Yeon Ryu, Rolex Rankings No. 8, -3
Q. Not the greatest of starts, what do you say to yourself after the first couple holes?
SO YEON RYU: You know, the thing is links golf course double is still not a really bad, bad score. Even I hit a great tee shot and great second shot, but unfortunately my ball finished at the ridge of the bunker. So that's why I made a double.
Most important thing is just forget about the bad result. It's a matter of I hit it great or not. So I think I did a really great job of just accept it and think about the present and last hole. So I think that's why I played well today.
Then today I think I kind of had a love/hate relationship with putting because the back nine my shot was really great but I still missed a couple of birdie putts. But at the same time, I made lots of great par putts. So I'm pretty happy with what I'm doing today.
Q. Did you feel like the golf course was there for the taking with these conditions?
SO YEON RYU: Well, you know what, we are really fortunate. Yesterday the weather was great and today the weather was great and seems like the next two days, looks like we are going to get really great weather. Feels really great to be here and I'm always excited to play the links golf course.
Q. What does that take over the weekend to get it done here?
SO YEON RYU: You know, the U.S. Open and British is quite different. That's why I like links golf courses, we have so many options. We can hit 5‑wood and we can hit driver and also we can hit 5‑iron at the same teeing ground.
So I think that's why I really like links golf course and I think that's why I want to win the British Open, and in that case, I can hold the U.S. Open trophy and the British Open trophy and it will be awesome.
Q. So a double‑bogey but you seemed to rebound really well. What was the key for you in the round today?
SO YEON RYU: You know what, the links golf course is always hard to predict. Even when I hit the great shots, still can finish at the worst place and when I hit the bad shots, still can finish close to the pin.
So really important thing is whatever the result, we need to accept it and just keep working on. That's the main thing. Then today I made a double‑bogey on the second hole, but I knew that it was my ‑‑ just unlucky, and I just accepted it and then just think about next holes and then it helped a lot. So then I could play well after that.
Q. Beautiful weather, not many players under par; how happy are you to have an under par round today?
SO YEON RYU: The thing is my tee shot was really great. I didn't really miss big on the fairways, so that's why I was maybe more comfortable than other players. I'm really lucky and happy with my tee shot. The other thing is it's really hard to read the line on the greens. We had so many double breaks and still that's why a lot of players miss the short putts a lot. 2‑under par is an amazing score for me.
Q. To see yourself up there at 3‑under, tied for the lead, does that change at all on how you go into the weekend knowing that you're right up there at the top of the leaderboard?
SO YEON RYU: No, nothing changes. For me most important thing is the tee shot. At the teeing ground we have so many options. We have to be smart, so my main goal is just keep it in the fairway.
Beatriz Recari, Rolex Rankings No. 37, -3
COLIN CALLANDER: Tries fantastic round of golf, you must be very pleased.
BEATRIZ RECARI: Yes, I'm very pleased. You know, I just felt really well, very good yesterday with my game, and just about everything, I felt really confident off the tee, which I think is key on these kind of courses.
It's so important to put it on the fairway because that gave me the confidence to be more aggressive and be able to chase a couple of pins and chase some birdies. I putted really well today especially, and coming in, finishing with three birdies is a good icing on the cake for my round and how I felt.
I'm just very happy that I can put these rounds together and put myself in a good position for the weekend.
COLIN CALLANDER: You haven't had a great run in recent weeks, I know you made the cut at the U.S. Open, but is there any reason why the sudden transformation in form?
BEATRIZ RECARI: Yeah, it's been a challenging and learning experience for me this first half of the season. You mix injuries with compensations in your swing and working on the wrong things to get back; it definitely makes it harder than it needs to be.
You know, so I just feel very happy about being able to get back and especially be able to enjoy myself again. My coach has definitely helped me accomplish that and everything is really coming along.
I felt that after three good weeks of work with him before the U.S. Open that I was back in the direction that I wanted to be. I just felt very confident. I just felt, you know, it's just a matter of time that everything has kind of come along, and I'm going to start enjoying myself and be more confident on the golf course and trust what I'm working on and trust every shot.
You know, I just feel very good about my game right now and I think the score shows it.
COLIN CALLANDER: Is this a new coach you've been working with?
BEATRIZ RECARI: Yes, just started with him a month, five weeks.
COLIN CALLANDER: What is his name?
BEATRIZ RECARI: Jorge Parada from Spain.
COLIN CALLANDER: What actually have you been working on?
BEATRIZ RECARI: I was in such an undesirable situation or place, however you want to call it, that pretty much we just worked on getting the swing back, getting the positions back to neutral and back to a position where I could just trust it and hit the shots that I wanted to hit, which are high draws, which like I say, just really worked on basics.
We didn't try anything fancy. We just worked on take away, backswing, release, follow through, really basic stuff. But I needed it, and that's given me the confidence to be able to go out there and enjoy myself.
COLIN CALLANDER: Are you surprised it's taken so little time to click into place?
BEATRIZ RECARI: No, I'm very good (laughs). No, honestly, after everything I've gone through, I just said, I need a little bit of hope, I just need a little bit of improvement and I know I can do it.
I was so desperate to feel that I was improving, which, you know, for the first few months of the year, I didn't feel that way even going back. And that just made me the happiest girl in the world and make me get up the next day and work harder and just keep getting to the place where I wanted to be. It's been a lot of hard work but when you put it with a good swing thought, it makes sense and it all falls together.
Q. Could you tell us about your injury problems? I think there were more than one?
BEATRIZ RECARI: Yeah, started with my right ‑‑ my hip, my right hip was high rotated in. That the didn't allow me to fully rotate on my backswing and make my right leg stretch, and that hurt my lower back and mid back.
So, I mean, I'm not going to get into specifics because my doctor know it is a lot better but that's pretty much what happened and that's how it all affected my swing.
Q. And the wrist?
BEATRIZ RECARI: No, the wrist was this week after a very adventurous trip on Sunday where no man helped me in the airport and I had to carry four pieces of luggage just on my own. That's what happened. Englishman are very ‑‑ not gentlemen. (Laughter).
Q. Which airport?
BEATRIZ RECARI: Edinburgh.
COLIN CALLANDER: So it's Scotsmen then.
Q. Did you ask for help?
BEATRIZ RECARI: No. I was so pissed. They kept coming back. Two women tried to help me, and I said I'm not going to do that to you because they are really heavy. But no, I mean ‑‑ it was just a joke that it happened, but yeah.
COLIN CALLANDER: So did you strain your wrist?
BEATRIZ RECARI: Yes, I did. But the physios just on Monday, Tuesday, fixed it. The physios here did a great job and I was pain‑free on Wednesday. So I was thrilled.
Q. Why were you flying into Edinburgh?
BEATRIZ RECARI: Well, I spent last Sunday in St. Andrews with Allianz with my sponsor. They did a great junior event with their parents, as well. They were there this whole week but I was just with them on Sunday and that was the reason. I had a great time, but they cancelled my flight that night and I slept two hours, and like I said nobody would help in the airport.
Q. It was a trip in the airport ‑‑
BEATRIZ RECARI: No. They cancelled my flight, so I had handbag, another bag, suitcase, golf bag. You can visualise it. This was Monday morning after sleeping two hours.
Q. (Inaudible.)
BEATRIZ RECARI: No, hotel airport. Next to the zoo actually just to make it even more funny. They put us in a hotel next to the zoo just to make it even more comical. If we stayed with the monkeys it would have been better.
COLIN CALLANDER: Can we go through the birdies, please? You started very well today. Is that one of the keys to get around here.
BEATRIZ RECARI: Yeah, I gave myself chances from the first hole. I was hitting fairway, greens, fairway, greens. I felt like I'm in a very good position and I felt like I was hitting the ball really well. It was just going to be a matter of time that the putts were going to start dropping. I hit a very good putt and made a good birdie on 7 and good putt for par on 8.
COLIN CALLANDER: What club did you hit in at 7?
BEATRIZ RECARI: 8‑iron.
COLIN CALLANDER: And how long was the putt?
BEATRIZ RECARI: 12 feet maybe. And then 9 was pin‑high on the left. That was a long putt. Very happy I made that one ‑‑
COLIN CALLANDER: The length?
BEATRIZ RECARI: Long, from the other side, I don't know. I don't know. 40 feet, 30 feet.
12, hit a good shot but just released to the back and decided to chip because it was a little bit of a downhill lie and didn't want to putt it. I didn't want to putt negative loft on my putter and I decided to chip it in, 30 feet I guess. Off the tee, 7‑iron.
Then I hit a 7‑iron on 16 and probably had a 25‑footer for birdie and made that.
17, just past the pin maybe nine, ten feet and made that.
Then 18, hit a good bunker shot and probably had four feet and made that.
COLIN CALLANDER: So you made a fair number of putts out there?
BEATRIZ RECARI: Yes, I did. It was about time.
Q. Do you feel your game is suited to links golf?
BEATRIZ RECARI: You know, my record is not good on links course, but I think the key is that I have learned from my mistakes. I try always to always play fancy and shape the ball against the wind, and that never worked for me.
So I figured as long as I stayed on the fairway, which is the strong part of my game, because I have always driven the ball really well, and I was able to just hit my side draw and play with the wind and be aggressive to the pins that I could be; then I thought that I would be fine.
Yesterday I felt really good and then I had a strong finish on 17 and 18 last night, and I just felt really confident. I felt everything was really kind of starting to roll.
Today I just kept it going and that's really what I've been doing this year and just trying to play my game and not try to do anything different just because obviously this course demands very good ball‑striking and you've got to place it on the right places on the green and sometimes forget about where the pin is.
Just try to play my game and enjoy it. It's been a long time since I have been enjoying myself on the course and that's really what I'm more pleased about from today.
Stacy Lewis, Rolex Rankings No. 1, +1
Q. I bet you're tired.
STACY LEWIS: I'm exhausted. That was just a long day of golf. I really hit a lot of good shots, hit some bad ones, but I didn't help myself out in my short game. So I need to do that a little bit better.
Q. Nice way to finish with a birdie?
STACY LEWIS: It was good. Hit a great shot in there. Would have liked to have made that putt to get back to even par but still in a good spot.
Q. Major championship golf, are there four tougher holes than the first four here at Royal Birkdale?
STACY LEWIS: They are about as hard as they get. One, they don't fit my eye either so that doesn't help. I got off to a bad start but hung in there all day and I feel pretty lucky to shoot 2‑over.
Q. Looked like an up‑and‑down day for you. How would you assess your performance?
STACY LEWIS: Well, that was an understatement. It was about as up‑and‑down as you could get. It was all over the place today. I hit some really good shots and hit some pretty poor shots, too. You know, my short game just didn't really help me out today.
So got to shore that up for the weekend but I'm still in this thing. This golf course is playing so hard and just got to keep hanging around and hopefully I can shoot a good number tomorrow.
Q. Bit of a hiccup in the middle of the back nine there. How pleased were you to finish with a birdie?
STACY LEWIS: I was very pleased, more to make par on 17 after driving in the bunker and to finish with a birdie is obviously really good.
Just proud of the way I came back after that. Just one squirrely shot there, I wish I could do it over again. But always nice to finish on a good note.
Q. As you said, you're still very much in it. What's your game plan for the weekend?
STACY LEWIS: I need to get off to a better start. That's the biggest thing. I haven't really started any of my rounds very good. Those first four holes are hard. They don't really fit my eye. So got to find a way to just start out a little bit better, because I like the back nine, you can make some birdies back there. So just got to get a better start and keep hanging in there.
Q. And finally, can you just try to describe to us, explain to us, how difficult this golf course is playing?
STACY LEWIS: Well, it's basically, if you miss a drive, you're chipping out sideways. It just puts a lot of pressure on the tee ball. But then you can't put your guard down because you can hit it in the long rough again around the greens. It's just such a penalty for missing a shot this week and I think that's what you're seeing.
Michelle Wie, Rolex Rankings No. 6, +9
Q. Obviously disappointing, can you just tell us what you feel right now?
MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I'm extremely disappointed how I played. But you know, there's nothing I can do about it. Just think about what I did wrong here and how I can improve. I think that it's a good week for me to look at what I did.
It's just one of those weeks where I just got off on the wrong foot and never felt comfortable.
Q. What part of your game do you think you struggled with the most?
MICHELLE WIE: Just tempo felt off this week. I kind of felt a little bit uncomfortable and I got into mind‑set of trying to par instead of trying to make birdies out there. Just need to work on my tee shots a little bit more and just kind of get back into the swing of things.
Q. What's the most frustrating part of this week for you after being in such good form coming in?
MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, it's just the fact that I won't be able to play this weekend. I love this golf course. I love playing links golf. It's just really sad that my week got cut short. I just want to go out there and play and try to get better. So maybe I'll just play a couple other places this weekend. But yeah, just need to get better.
Q. Pretty shocked having watched you this season, I didn't expect that from you over the first two days. Can you put your finger on why it sort of went wrong?
MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, it was one of those weeks where I started off on the wrong foot, didn't feel quite comfortable. But stuff happens like that. Golf is hard. Even though I played well all year, I still feel good about my game and doesn't change how I look at my game. But I think it's kind of a good kick in the butt just to know what I need to improve.
There's obviously things I need to improve and I need to get better at, and I'm just going to look back at the last two days and see what I can get better at. It's obviously very disappointing but at the same time I think I'm kind of looking at the positives here and I think I can learn a lot from the last two days.
Q. What do you need to improve?
MICHELLE WIE: I think the tee shots a little bit, get a little better. My tempo got off this week and just find it again. Nothing was too off this week. It was just nothing was quite right.
Q. You talked about being conservative off the tee, trying to avoid those bunkers. In hindsight would you change the strategy?
MICHELLE WIE: In hindsight maybe. But I feel like when things go poorly, you can look back, and oh, I should have done this, I should have done that; I would be here all day thinking about that. I just didn't hit the shots I needed to and I need to work on that.
Q. Did the course setup fair? Is this a good test?
MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, Birkdale is great. I'm just disappointed I won't be able to play it the next two days. I just want to keep playing this golf course and figure it out. It's unfortunate I didn't quite figure it out.
Q. Do you stick around or head back to the States because you're playing in Toledo next week.
MICHELLE WIE: I'm actually not too sure. I haven't really thought about it yet.
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