2015 U.S. Women’s Open Championship Conducted by the USGA
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Tuesday Pre-Tournament Notes
July 7, 2015

NEVER GETS OLD
It hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows on the course for Michelle Wie since her first major title last year at Pinehurst, but the 25-year said her year as the reigning U.S. Women’s Open champion has been great.

“It’s great being called that,” said Wie. “It doesn’t get old. It’s pretty amazing. I think the first couple of months it really didn’t sink in. It didn’t really feel like reality. It still felt like a dream. It’s slowly starting to sink in, I think. Seeing my trophy, getting the ring has definitely been inspiring, it’s definitely been a huge motivation for me moving forward. But it’s been fun. It’s been a fun journey.”

PRESSURE-PACKED STAGES GOOD FOR PARK
Inbee Park won her sixth-career major last month at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, hoisting her thirdconsecutive trophy there in decisive fashion. Park finished atop the leaderboard and five strokes clear of Sei Young Kim, further solidifying her current place as the most dominant player in major championships in women’s golf. Park was candid on Tuesday explaining how important it has become to her to perform well on the biggest stages.

“I think as a golfer you want to do good in major championships, and obviously that’s the tournament that you put 100 percent of your energy and strategy and everything,” said Park. “So I definitely really do care about the major championships. When I come to major championships, I work extra hard and I try to look at the course a little bit better.”

Park, whose placid on-course demeanor has served her particularly well in the high-pressure situations, says it’s exactly those conditions that she thrives in.

“But I don’t know what, just I like the atmosphere,” said Park. “I like the little bit extra pressure when we start the game. And obviously having good results helps, that gives me a lot of confidence going into other major championships thinking that I’ve done good on major championships so I can do well in another good one.”

Park, who already has two U.S. Women’s Open titles to her name, could tie Juli Inkster and Karrie Webb for seventh on the all-time majors list with seven. Park and Webb are the only two players in the field this week with two U.S. Women’s Open victories; Webb in 2000 and 2001 and Park in 2008 and 2013.

HOW TO PREPARE
Players approach major championships very differently, but the one common denominator is how much more weight they carry. Lexi Thompson is a major champion, having won the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship, so she knows how much work goes into preparing.

“I would say major championships, in general, there’s a lot more prep work. Like coming here to Lancaster Country Club, this is my first time playing this golf course. So there’s a lot more prep work, a lot more chipping and putting around the greens and getting lines off the tee shots. I would say it’s a lot more mental preparation, too, than any other week. It’s a lot longer because there’s so much more practice involved. Yeah, I think that’s just the main difference between major championship weeks and regular weeks.”

ROLEX RANKINGS NO. 1 SPOT UP FOR GRABS
Inbee Park has held the No. 1 spot in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings for four weeks since overtaking Lydia Ko for the top spot after her win at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship but her reign is at stake this week in Lancaster.

Ko is the only player who can unseat Park for No. 1.

Lydia Ko can take over No. 1 if:
She wins AND Inbee Park finishes in a tie for 7th or worse.

MOTIVATION FROM AN AMERICAN WIN
LPGA players made up a very small portion of the record-setting viewership of the FIFA Women’s World Cup final on Sunday night and defending champ this week Michelle Wie said the dominating performance from the U.S. squad provided some inspiration to her and her potential Solheim Cup teammates.

“It was pretty amazing,” said Wie. “I was pretty stoked on that, especially how the game went, scoring two goals in the first 17 minutes, that was pretty incredible. I remember we had a couple of group texts going with our Solheim team. Really great motivation, especially this year being the Solheim year. We definitely looked to them for inspiration and motivation. And it’s pretty cool. It definitely gave me goose bumps.”

TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE IN THE KEYSTONE STATE
Paula Creamer claimed her first and only major title up until this point in her career at the famed Oakmont Country Club in western Pennsylvania in 2010 and the 28-year old says memories of her U.S. Open win have started to flood back.

“It’s actually very similar in tees to greens,” said Creamer. “There are lots of rolling hills, side hills. There’s much more trees here, obviously, than at Oakmont.”

But it’s not totally the course set-up that has a sense of nostalgia waving over Creamer this week.

“But coming here, I think the biggest thing is the fans,” said Creamer. “The people have just been so supportive this week. They line down the fairways and that’s very similar to what happened at Oakmont. Everybody is just down those fairways.”

Creamer is making her 13th appearance in the national championship this week and has five career top-10 finishes in the event. She’s coming off her third top-10 of the season, a T6 at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, and will be trying to pick up her first win since her victory at the HSBC Women’s Champions last season in February.

KEY NUMBERS TO KNOW
7 - Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn of Thailand are one of seven sets of sisters to compete in the same U.S. Women’s Open. Jessica and Nelly Korda, in 2013, were the last set of sisters to compete at the USWO.
9 - This will be the ninth U.S. Women’s Open conducted in the state of Pennsylvania
20 - Consecutive appearances (2015 included) at the U.S. Women’s Open for Karrie Webb, which leads all active players
27 – Number of U.S. Women’s Open appearances (2015 included) by Laura Davies, which leads all active players
74 - Rolex ANNIKA Major Award Points for Brittany Lincicome, who has a 14-point lead over Inbee Park in the RAMA points standings

QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Yesterday I was shocked -- actually I registered on Sunday and I couldn’t believe how many people were out there on Sunday. And I played in the afternoon and there was a ton of people. Each day it’s just getting more and more. I played at 6:45 in the morning, I got on the range at 6:00 and I was already signing 30 autographs. I’m like, whoa, is everybody sleeping here?” - Paula Creamer on the fan support in Lancaster

U.S. Women's Open Pre-Tournament News & Notes for Tuesday

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