Karrie Webb Interview - ANZ Ladies Masters
IN: News | ALPG | ANZ Ladies Masters (2006) | General | 01 Feb 2006
Ladies and gentlemen, the Karrie Webb room welcomes Karrie Webb, Karrie welcome back. We'll throw the floor open for some questions for you.
Q: Karrie, did you get your clubs back?
Karrie Webb: No, I never got them back; brand new set in my bag.
Q: When did you lose them?
Karrie Webb: When I headed back to the States just before New Year. Being over here over Christmas.
Q: Did they make it to America?
Karrie Webb: Yeah they made it, to LA just not to Miami.
Q: Have you had any trouble with your clubs? Your irons: are you okay with them?
Karrie Webb: Yeah it was a matter of… I was worried about it but the driver I've got is fine. I used to play with a few of them but at that time of year a lot of golf companies close down for a couple of weeks so it was just a case of trying to get something to build me some clubs.
It took me… a couple of clubs I used yesterday for the first time and they turned up a couple of hours before I left to come over here on Friday so. It was just a bit of a process.
Q: Has it interrupted your preparations over the winter slash summer break?
Karrie Webb: A little bit but not really. I have a whole cupboard full of clubs that I can use they just weren't exactly the ones I wanted. I was still doing a lot of work it was just it wasn't until about ten days before I came home that I had just about everything right. Just a couple of clubs that turned up the day I left and when I used them they were good.
Q: Have you had time to sit down and think, 'this is where I want to go now'?
Karrie Webb: Yeah, I think I've been thinking about it for a while. I was really looking forward to finishing last year. I was really disappointed with the way I performed, especially starting as well as I did. So I was looking forward to the start of the New Year. I've probably worked harder this off season than I have ever. When things were going good I didn't really feel the need to work really hard over the off season but this year I didn't take tons of time off. A couple of weeks here and there but I was still doing stuff; working out and stuff like that. I put in a really good off-season and feel really good about things it's just taking it out onto the course now.
Q: You were inducted into the Hall of Fame. Do you need a carrot dangling there?
Karrie Webb: Well I think the next four or five years, I'll be 35, 36: I'd like to think that between now and then that at some stage I could get back to being the best on the world again. Its hard to set the goal being number one in the world because you cant control how everyone else plays but I definitely think that I'm very, very, capable of doing that again and I think if I was to start playing that well again I'd be much more comfortable in that position. I think I'd enjoy it a lot more than I did when I was doing it the first time.
Q: Over this last year have you ever thought about giving the game up?
Karrie Webb: No, I've never thought that. Even last year, as poor as my results seemed, I'm so much more of a complete player now than I ever was when I was number one in the world. It's very hard to explain why I think that but you know I just have more shots in my bag. I had a terrible putting year last year and mentally I'm not as good as I was when I had a lot of confidence and everything was going my way. I feel like I'm learning the mental game from scratch. I think when I was doing everything well it was more out of ignorance, even though you think you know what you're doing, it was just all natural talent and that's probably why when people say, 'why do you think you were playing so well?' and I say, 'I don't know', actually I didn't know and I didn't want to question it. So now when I think, 'what did I do when I played well?' I don't have that memory bank of thoughts that say, 'okay, this is what I do to play well', because I just did it. There were absolutely no rules that I followed I just played on natural talent and confidence and just did it and now I feel like I'm re-learning that mental process that I naturally did, but I didn't know I was doing. I'm just re-learning it again.
Q: Did you think about seeing a shrink to get you back at all?
Karrie Webb: A little bit but Ian (Trigg)'s really supportive. It's a big side of what he works on with me. We work on technical stuff but he knows that technically I'm better than I've ever been and I'm pretty close to being really good, and that the way I'm playing now, if I just hit the shot I want to hit and commit to it, I can hit any shot that I want.
Q: Are you playing that well now?
Karrie Webb: I had a pretty good practice round yesterday. I wasn't as sharp today as I was yesterday.
Q: (Inaudible)
Karrie Webb: It's probably the most work that I've put in over the off-season. It was my putting. And again now I think if I can just relax with it, and trust that everything is good… I just need to see a couple go in and Ill be all set.
Q: What sort of putter are you using now?
Karrie Webb: I'm back to conventional. I went back to conventional in the beginning of June of last year.
Q: You missed quite a few of those ten footers you used to make last year.
Karrie Webb: I was even pretty dodgy on six footers last year and I've never really had trouble with the short putts. I'm feeling a lot better about it. I've done the work so now I've just got to trust it.
Q: The greens are pretty good here?
Karrie Webb: They're good, but sometimes they're a little inconsistent with the grain. So sometimes you can't tell which way it's going. I think if it misses you I've just got to know that you hit the line that you saw and it's not really your fault. Within six feet there's grain going two different ways.
Q: Do you have any goals for this year?
Karrie Webb: I guess my goal is that dangling carrot, and doing everything I can to do that. I think, just getting back in contention. Once I get in to contention and any time last year that I was, that's my comfort zone. I'm not comfortable in the lead up getting there but once I get there, that's where I'm most comfortable on a golf course. It's just not trying so hard to get there and just trusting my ability. I need to relax and know that I've done the hard work. I think then Ill be in contention more.
Q: Your exceptional record suggest that you could play with a broomstick blindfolded and still be in contention but how far can you still be in the firing line here?
Karrie Webb: Well I think last year showed that I wasn't really on top of my game the first two days and I then had a really good weekend and had a really good start Sunday, when I caught up on all those shots in a couple of holes.
Q: Does your mind set change when you get into contention? You stop thinking too much or whatever?
Karrie Webb: Well that's what I mean. I'm fine once I get there but its not trying too hard to get there in the first place and the process along the way of trusting that I can get there by not trying too hard. It's trusting the process and not thinking that I have to get too technical.
Q: Do you feel more pressure playing in Australia than you did playing in the States?
Karrie Webb: Not any more. I used to when I was young but now I think this is a great way to start the year on a course that I'm very, very comfortable with and there's a great home crowd so I didn't feel like I have anything to prove. When I first came home I felt like I had something to prove because I was doing all this great stuff overseas and I wanted to show everyone in Australia that I could play but I don't think I have anything to prove anymore so I can just come home and enjoy it.
Q: What does a typical day consist of in terms of the golf? Are you practicing and playing?
Karrie Webb: Yeah, I played a little bit this year and some matches just against some of the people at the club that I play at, just to see how things were going when there was just a bit of pressure. It was quit windy when I was in Florida for the month so it probably helped because it gave me the chance to do a lot of short game work. Four hours working Monday to Friday, taking the weekends off and working out during the week and practicing. Not nine to five but I was going to the course at eight or nine and by the time I went to work out it would be about five o clock.
Q: Karrie, has there been anything you have been practising specifically or was it just repetition?
Karrie Webb: It was a lot of repetition. It's only now and then when I get tight that I take the club away a little bit shut, but I worked a lot on my routine. Because I doubted my putting so much last year I ended up standing over my putt so long that it took me away from making it. I've really worked on my putting routine as well as lining up, picking my spot and seeing it there.
Q: Karrie, where you surprised to see Federer's reaction at the Australian Open?
Karrie Webb: Yeah, it surprised me a little bit just because he always seems so in control of his emotions. It was great to see it too to know that as much as he's won in the last couple of years, he doesn't take it for granted - its great to see he appreciates the greats of the game and is humbled by what he's achieving.
Q: Have you ever felt that way?
Karrie Webb: Oh, I've always felt that way. I managed to get through both my Hall of Fame speeches without overly crying, so I think that was one of my proudest achievements of last year, without completely crying. I think I rehearsed my speech so much that I'd got through the tears. I used to practice it in front of the mirror and start crying so I was so stressed out about it that I thought I was going to completely lose it out there, but it turned out alright.
Q: Karrie, if it doesn't work out that you're number one in the world again, can you walk away from that or will it eat you up?
Karrie Webb: Oh no. As much as I wouldn't want to play poorly for the next four or five years, I've already achieved more than I ever dreamed anyway. I think if I was ever to be world number one again that would be my greatest achievement of all. But if I don't then it's not going to leave a mark on the rest of what I've achieved.
Q: If we're talking about number one then we have to talk about Annika. How big do you perceive that gap to be from where you are now?
Karrie Webb: A lot of it I think for me is mental. She believes in herself 110 percent and I'm not quite there when I'm on the golf course. I've seen the work I've done and I'm hitting shots that I can't even believe I'm hitting. I've just got to take it out on the golf course. As far as physical ability, I don't think there is much difference between her and I. She hits it further than me now but I've got more shots in my bag. She's just so strong mentally and on a high wave of confidence too, so if I can get on that wave of confidence I don't see that there's that much difference between us.
Q: Do you think that you have more shots in the bag now then?
Karrie Webb: Well I hope so. I've said it a few times and I don't want to bore you but its just trusting it and not being scared to hit the bad shot. If I'm scared of hitting the bad shot then I'm not going to hit the good shot. So, I've got to get up there and know that I can do it.
Q: Talking about your physical condition, has Annika inspired you or did you do that for your own reasons?
Karrie Webb: I needed to do it to make some changes in my swing. I need to get stronger in my upper body and in my core and I'm really concentrating on that and that's probably why I went back to the States. The guy that I work with it back there and we've got a plan of attack so, I worked hours on my core muscles and my upper body strength so that I can maintain my spine angle through the shot.
Q: Do you enjoy it?
Karrie Webb: No, absolutely not. The last time I worked out was on Wednesday before I came home on Friday and I said to Chris, the guy I work with, that it was like the last day of school. I really didn't want to be there but I had to.
Q: Are you excited about 2006 or is it too much of a challenge?
Karrie Webb: Oh no I'm excited about it. I'm just trying not to try too hard to get up there. I just want to enjoy how good I can play without trying too hard.
Source - LET
