Karrie Webb Interview - Michelob Ultra Open
IN: News | LPGA | Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill (2006) | Final Round | 15 May 2006
Q: We are with champion, Karrie Webb, 14 under, a tournament record. Just talk about your round and we'll go over your score card.
Karrie Webb: Well, after I signed my 66 yesterday, I think I was nervous probably until the 16th hole today. I just haven't played with a five shot lead for a long time and probably out of everybody that was chasing me, Lorena was probably the one that worried me the most as far as her capability of posting a low number.
I think that probably the position she was in today is possible where she feels most comfortable. You know, she went out and birdied the first hole, so I knew it was game on from there. It's just hard to play with that sort of a lead than a one shot lead or one behind, because you're trying to keep yourself in the same game plan as you have had for the last three days. But at the same time, you don't want to make too many mistakes.
So I managed to get through No. 10 at 1 under and started after the delay with a seven shot lead. From there, it wasn't too scary. I tried to make it scary on No. 15, but after that, it was all right.
Q: So your par putt on one, looking back, was that a pretty big moment?
Karrie Webb: Yeah, that was a big putt. You just reminded me about it. I had forgotten about it.
Lorena had already made her putt for birdie and I left my first putt about eight feet short and made a good eight footer.
Q: Was that nerves, do you think, leaving it short?
Karrie Webb: Yeah, maybe misjudging the speed a little bit, too. I thought it might have been a little quicker than that, but probably more nerves than anything.
Q: Said you were nervous until 16. Did the nerves go away before or after the 6 iron?
Karrie Webb: After the putt.
Q: Out of all your shots this week, where would you rank that one on 16?
Karrie Webb: Well, it was a really, really good swing. Mike and I we were trying to leave it about 20 feet to 30 feet short of the pin because there's no point in going at the pin. And we couldn't work out if I had just hit it that good or if we had misjudged the wind. But I hit it in the right place.
Q: What was your distance on that shot?
Karrie Webb: 173 to the pin.
Q: You said you were nervous from the moment you signed for 68 yesterday. What did you do after you left, did you hit balls, go to the green, practice green or did you just leave the premises?
Karrie Webb: I worked on my putting, that was about it though. I really felt like I swung at it really good yesterday, so there wasn't any need to go to the range.
Q: Do you compare yourself a lot to back when you were No. 1? Do you try to remember what it was like when you went into the fourth round with a lead, because you have a pretty good record of closing the deal.
Karrie Webb: Yeah, I guess I know that I have a good record. I don't know if I-I've had a hard time drawing from any of those experiences, because I don't think I really knew a heck of a lot of what I was doing. I just did it.
I think now I know the whole process that goes into it, and that's either a good thing or a bad thing. Like just even to be able to get myself back to playing good again, you know, people would say that I have so much to draw upon, I should be able to do that, and that really didn't help me at all. Playing with a five shot lead today, to me felt like it was the first time I had ever done it. So I feel like I'm re learning the mental side of the game all over again.
Q: Why do you think that is; having been doing this for so long, you said you're kind of re learning it.
Karrie Webb: A couple of reasons. The main reason is because I lost a lot of confidence in my game. When I needed to hit good shots or make putts, I just wasn't doing it. The other reason is just a lot of my good golf started from the moment I joined the LPGA and I progressively got better and better and better until I was No. 1 in the world. Probably one of the reasons why I became No. 1 in the world and maintained that for a couple of years was because I didn't stop and ask why I was doing that. I just did it.
But because I didn't ask why and how and what did I do to do that, I didn't have the process there to draw upon when I needed to try and get some confidence going.
Q: How much more does that experience make you enjoy the success that you're having now than it did then?
Karrie Webb: Yeah, much more now. I would never say I took it for granted when I was playing well. But I took it for granted much more than I do know. I really, really appreciate the good and how quickly the game can turn on you and really feel like you're not playing that bad, but just not putting the results up.
So whenever I'm playing good, I'm definitely going to appreciate it. You know, I think I was so spoiled there for a while that I finished 7th or 8th and that would be a poor tournament for me. I would be mad that I didn't win or whatever, and I don't have want to have that mentality again. Obviously if you have a chance to win, you finish seventh or eighth, it's a little disappointing. But for a while there, it was really hard for me to finish in the top 10. I couldn't believe how hard it was to even post a top 10.
So I'm not going to take those for granted, either.
Q: This whole week you've made it seem like you have, I guess it would be fair to say, a fragile confidence; do you think it will stay that way?
Karrie Webb: I don't know if it's a fragile confidence. I think the last four weeks proved to probably a lot of people and proved to myself, as well, that Kraft (Nabisco Championship) wasn't a fluke; I didn't come out of no where, pop up, win that and disappear again.
I tread lightly knowing how-such a fine line you can tread in this game, and if you're on the wrong side of people asking questions like why aren't you playing good, and you don't have any answer for it because it's so close.
You know, I've had argues with Ian Triggs about him saying: 'It's so close, it's so close,' and I'm like, 'It's not so close.' I even had this argument with him the Monday of Kraft saying, 'It's not close, I wish you would stop saying that.'
Q: Was that Friday at Kraft, during that third round Mike saying to you about stopping to feel sorry for yourself, was that a big turning point for you?
Karrie Webb: Yeah, at the time I was like, whatever. But when I woke up the next day, it was a different day and I still had a chance to have a good finish. Obviously if I had went out there early and put a little bit of pressure on the leaders that I would have a chance to win, but ultimately, like I spoke about not even having top 10s, I wanted to finish as high as I could.
Q: Despite what the rankings might say, do you feel as though you're the best player in the world right now?
Karrie Webb: No.
Q: Over these last five or six weeks?
Karrie Webb: That's just not how golf's judged, though. I don't judge golf like that. Even still, if I were Lorena, even though I've had two wins, Lorena has played equally as good as me, if not better.
Q: To have been on top and then to have dropped back and then to kind of get back to the stop again sounds like a tremendously educational experience. What's the most important thing you learned? You went through a lot.
Karrie Webb: I talk about this fine line, that's what I've learned. Just not to take it for granted. You know, just to enjoy a little bit more and appreciate it.
I still am not going to smile a tremendous amount out there because it's hard work for me. But inside, I'm really appreciating the good shots and the hard work that's gone into producing that.
Q: You've won the year's first major, you've won a tournament that many people on Tour consider to be the fifth major. How does this affect your goals and aspirations for '06, if at all?
Karrie Webb: Well, it's been-about an hour since I won, I haven't thought too much about the rest of the year. (Laughter).
I've got two weeks off now. So I'll take a little bit of a break and get ready for a big June and July hopefully.
Q: Do you feel like you're at the point where you can be back to where you were in terms of reaching that number one, being the best golfer in the world, if maybe you're not there right now, you know what I mean?
Karrie Webb: Yeah, I've done it. I've been number one; I know I have the ability to do it.
The only ingredient that goes into that to stop me from doing that is what everyone else does. I can't control how anyone else plays. I know that I have the capability of doing that. I guess I'm not going to be scared of scared of the situation if I put myself in that position.
Q: Is it late back in Australia?
Karrie Webb: No, I haven't spoken to anybody. It's early morning, 7:30 in the morning.
Q: How did you handle being a Hall of Famer so young, and did that affect your play at all, just that label, that tag of carrying that around?
Karrie Webb: Well, I only was inducted the end of last year, but I had a few years to know that all I had to do was turn up and play the first round and it would count as a tournament and I'd qualify for the Hall of Fame.
I think that's probably what-that's where I'm a lot different to Annika is that before even what I've achieved these last few weeks and the two wins, I had achieved more than I could ever, ever imagined before I started out as a rookie in 1996. So I think after 2002-because every year I would set what I would think ridiculous goals. 2002, I went into that year knowing that if I won the (Weetabix Women's) British Open that I would be the first player to win the super Grand Slam, like setting these goals that I never thought I would even have to set. And then I did that in my first go.
So I sort of wandered around aimlessly there for a while. I didn't have any goals, other than trying to win every week. But I didn't have anything; no carrot to chase. So I think that was detrimental to everything that I was doing, because what am I doing it for, I don't have any long term goals.
Q: Talking about goals, how about Grand Slam, do you think that's possible?
Karrie Webb: That's way too early to talk about that. I don't think anything's impossible. But I'm not one to sit here and say that that's one of my goals.
Q: When you were number one the first time, did you enjoy it or was the pressure of defending number one every week difficult for you?
Karrie Webb: I think I always enjoyed the good golf. I was really hard on myself and anyone that was around me. I didn't enjoy what came with it, with number one. I didn't enjoy the responsibilities of that and talking to you guys every day.
That's when I said if my golf's good enough to achieve that number one status again, when I said earlier that I would not be scared of that, I think I didn't enjoy it at all to the point where I didn't want that spotlight. Me being number one, I'm in the doing to draw the spotlight on myself like Annika did. I'm not going to go and play against the men.
So I'm not going to draw that sort of attention to myself, anyway. That's just not who I am. But I'm comfortable with who I am as a person, so I don't feel like anything that you guys are going to throw at me is going to affect me as much as it did when I was younger.
Q: When you went home for New Year's and worked with Kelvin and Ian together and, is it the club where you started playing, is that right?
Karrie Webb: Yes.
Q: Was that refreshing for you to go back, clear your head, have both those guys there with you to work on a lot of stuff?
Karrie Webb: Yeah, I've done that in past off seasons. I practice quite a bit when I'm at home there because it's the only time I get to work with Kelvin one on one.
I didn't have a very quiet off season as far as golf goes. I worked pretty hard. I was very disappointed; like I said yesterday, going into last year, I felt as good about my game as I did this career and just mentally I just didn't produce what I wanted to on the golf course. I was determined not to have too much of a break, and really get in there and feel good about things at the start of this year.
Source - Michelob Ultra Open
