Golden Ocala Golf and Equestrian Club

Ocala, Florida

Pre-Tournament Notes

January 26, 2015

The offseason in Jupiter, Fla., resembled the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open final round. Both Michelle Wie and Stacy Lewis pushed and pushed each other all offseason, each of the good friends hoping to one up each other in the gym. Both work out with the same trainer, David Donatucci, which results in both frequently running into each other at the tail end of their workouts.

“I’m with her at the gym. We come at the same times. One day we actually had the exact same workout. I was like, wait a second, I think I’m doing that next. I made sure I did the same weights as her,” Wie said. “She kills it at the gym.”

Lewis was informed in her press conference after Wie’s what Wie had said about her in the gym, and Lewis competitive nature kicked in.

“Is that what she said? Trying to keep up!” Lewis said. “I see her in the gym and there’s the speed that she’s getting, I mean, she’s getting stronger, she’s going to be able to hold some positions better in her golf swing and be able to hit more unbelievable shots than she already does. So that makes me want to go to work.”

With a Solheim Cup looming in September and a friendship that’s grown immensely since Wie moved to Jupiter, each of their success is only fuel for the other.

“We’re very competitive. We definitely want to beat each other, but at the same time I’m very proud of all of her accomplishments,” Wie said. “She inspires me, she motivates me, but it’s so great to see a fellow American doing so well and she’s such a great person.”

BEATING CHARLES BARKLEY...AND NOT AT GOLF
Michelle Wie ran into Charles Barkley at a Nike party this offseason and a media member asked her what the that advice that he gave her was.

“He did? I just remember beating him at beer pong, that’s all I remember,” Wie said with a laugh.

SIX SECOND MOTIVATION
Stacy Lewis became the first American player since Betsy King in 1993 to win the Rolex Player of the Year, Vare Trophy and money list title. But that wasn’t what stuck out from 2014. No, instead, the perfectionist remembered all offseason the misses.

“What motivates me is the one you didn’t say, which was six second place finishes last year,” Lewis said. “That’s what motivates me this year, that last year could have been an unbelievable year. It was good, but it could have been unbelievable. So that’s what I am looking for, I’m looking for a major this year.”

NEW SEASON, NEW BALL
When Titleist took the 2009 Pro VI X off the conforming list at the end of the season, Stacy Lewis knew she had to do what she had been avoiding. She was going to have to switch golf balls for the first time in five years.

The change came with unintended consequence. Lewis originally planned to put the clubs away for a couple weeks during the offseason but instead spent much of the month of December testing “every golf ball on the market.” She ultimately decided on the Bridgestone.

“I didn’t want to change. I begged to be able to play the same ball, I’ve been begging them for three years to keep letting me play this ball. So I don’t like change, I didn’t want to do it, but I was kind of forced into it, but I really think I found a good ball in Bridgestone,” Lewis said. “There’s going to be some adjustment with yardages and certain shots, but just out there today with the wind it flew so much better. And so just get used to seeing the ball fly a little differently is all.”

HELLO WORLD
Cheyenne Woods knows the feeling of playing on the LPGA Tour. She’s played events over the years through sponsor’s exemptions and qualifying but the start of this season feels different.

“It will be a little different because I do have that membership now. This is something that I’ve always dreamed of, to be an LPGA member, so to now play as a member is going to be exciting. But it’s just golf, it’s still golf,” Woods said. “So I’m going to go out there and play the same game I’ve always played.”

Now that she’s here, she knows there’s no escaping her last name. It comes with expectations but those are no bigger than the one she places on herself. A Golf Channel producer asked her in a shoot Monday who the 2015 Rolex Player of the Year would be, and she didn’t hesitate, “Me!” she answered.

“I’m excited for the challenge. But like you said, there always is that Woods aspect to it, so it’s something that I’ve dealt with, though,” Woods said. “For me, I feel like there might be less pressure now because I have earned my way here, so I’m able to just kind of go out and play free.”

To live up to her expectations, Woods knows where her game needs work.
“I’m always working on putting and short game around the greens. I’m a very good ball striker so that’s something that I can always depend on and I always know is going to be there for me, but I definitely would like to improve putting and short game,” Woods said. “I feel like I’m a good putter and a good short game player, but to be out on this level and to contend, you have to be excellent, you have to be the best, so that’s my goal.”

BUSY OFFSEASON HAS WIE READY FOR 2015
Coming off the most successful season of her career, Michelle Wie spent her off-season enjoying herself away from the course.

“I had so much fun this off season,” Wie said. “I hiked a lot, did a lot of yoga, got to see a lot of my friends, didn’t touch a single golf club. I did swing a couple during the Nike shoot, so that was a little mid vacation break there, but it was a lot of fun.”

Some of the fun activities that Wie enjoyed included sitting courtside at Madison Square Garden for a Knicks game, New Year’s Eve in the Bahamas and even a brief acting stint on the hit TV show Hawaii 5-0.

“It was very nerve racking. I also thought I was only in one scene, I kind of just looked over the script. I was actually in two scenes and had a lot more lines than I imagined, but they were very good to me. The actors were very helpful. It was also really amazing to see people who are so good at their craft. Being an actor you just don’t realize all the hard work that they put into it. And it just seems so easy on TV, looks like they’re just living out normal life, but there’s so much work that goes into it. I mean, it was really interesting and very eye opening.”

While Wie enjoyed her time off she is ready to get back after it on the golf course.

“I was getting a little antsy in the last part it,” Wie admitted. “I was like, okay, I want to start practicing now, get back into a rhythm. So I was very refreshed going back to 2015.”

GOLDEN REPLICAS
Golden Ocala Golf and Equestrian Club has a little bit of St. Andrews and a little bit of Augusta National in it. It has a little bit Royal Troon, a little bit Muirfield and a bit of Baltusrol as well.

Six holes on one of Florida’s premier layouts are replicas of the most famous holes from those five courses and the players have been impressed with what they have found.

“The course is beautiful. This is the first time that I saw all 18 today, but it’s in great shape,” Woods said. “I think it’s a fun layout. It’s kind of cool out on the back nine they have the replica holes, but it’s a good course.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I don’t know, like maybe a 20 handicap. I think bogey play is pretty good for an amateur golfer, so....” - Inbee Park when asked to put a handicap on starting to cook more recently

Coates Golf Championship Presented by R+L Carriers Monday Pre-Tournament Notes

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