The Royal Melbourne Golf Club - Composite Course
Melbourne, Australia
February 17, 2015

Watch the interviews provided by Golf Australia
Rolex Rankings No. 4 Shanshan Feng
Rolex Rankings No. 7 So Yeon Ryu
Rolex Rankings No. 19 Jessica Korda
Rolex Rankings No. 230 Cheyenne Woods
Rolex Rankings No. 136 Su Oh

The last time the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open was held at Royal Melbourne, the result was a six-way playoff that matched the largest in LPGA history. With a clutch birdie on the second playoff hole, Jessica Korda made a bit of history of her own.

The title ensured Korda’s family holds a title no one else in the world can claim. Her father, retired professional tennis player Petr Korda, had his greatest triumph here in Melbourne as well winning the 1998 Australian Open. One family, two different Australian Open championships.

Korda’s bags didn’t come in tow when she arrived to Melbourne on Sunday, so she took the Monday without clubs to go visit her father’s old stomping grounds at Rod Laver Arena.

“That was the first time there since I was a baby and went there with my dad. It looked completely different,” Korda said. “But it was just cool to go back. It’s the court of history and something I wanted to go see.”

Korda peppered her dad with pictures and while he admitted he was jealous, he was more interested in her impressions of Royal Melbourne after being back. Korda admitted she was reflecting walking around and said she was showing her caddy during the 12 holes she played Tuesday where she hit it during her win.

“Certain places he doesn’t want me to repeat again and certain places he was quite impressed with,” Korda said with a laugh.

As for the course, the layout is much different with the course tipping out at 6,741 yards this year, but everything else seems the same.

“The greens are very firm. They’re very bouncy, exactly how I remember them. They’re faster, definitely seem faster, but the fairways aren’t rolling out as much,” Korda said. “It’s a little different.”

WOODS FEELING HOME
Cheyenne Woods defended her first professional title a week ago the Ladies Masters in Australia and although she didn’t repeat, Woods came away pleased with where her game is at. Woods was disappointed with a second-round 78 that shot her out of contention but liked what she saw out of her game the rest of the week in which she was 2-under total through the three rounds.

“It was a great experience. I didn’t feel any pressure going in really. I had great memories there at Royal Pines. I felt comfortable. Obviously I didn’t play as well as I would have liked, but I was still pretty happy with my finish,” Woods said. “Was nice to have my mom come. She wasn’t there last year so she was able to see where I was last year and how I won and stuff. Overall it was good last week.”

In addition to defending, Woods also got her chance to take a helicopter ride last week and already has her eye on what she wants to do in Melbourne this week.

“I’d like to go to the Eureka building and go out on the glass floor, which sounded pretty fun,” Woods said.

RYU LOOKING FOR WINS
Consistency is great but So Yeon Ryu has her eye on more. Few players on Tour have been more consistent on Tour and although Ryu’s happy with her first three seasons on Tour, she has grander plans for 2015. She thinks back to the Australian Open at Royal Melbourne to start her rookie season in 2012 and it’s kind of come to encapsulate her first three seasons. She was really close to winning, missing a putt for an outright win in the playoff, but didn’t quite get it done despite some great golf. She felt like it shouldn’t even have gotten to that point after making bogey at the last to force a six-player playoff. She’s since won twice but not as many times as she would have liked and feels her game’s to the point where the wins should match her consistency of top 10s.

“I think this year is very important to me,” Ryu said. “I played really consistently well the last three years, but at the same time I lost a lot. But one thing I really trust in myself is I feel like I’ve improved a lot. If I compare myself to when I won the U.S. Women’s Open, my golf level is way better than four years ago. I think now is the time for more wins.”

Ryu was particularly disappointed in that loss three years ago here because of what it would have meant to her team.”Australia is such a special place to me. All my stuff is Australian - coach is Australian, caddie is Australian, physio is Australian. Everybody calls me 50 percent Australian because I love veggie mite, and I just love everything about the Australian culture. So i just really want to make a really great win, not just for me.”

To put it into perspective just how special Ryu’s been since joining the Tour, she’s finished in the top six on the official money list each of those three years. But she wants more wins and if she keeps climbing into contention every week, those are sure to come.

FENG FINDING POTENTIAL OLYMPIC TEAMMATES
Whether it’s a result of her success or not, Shanshan Feng’s happy to see the trend developing on the LPGA Tour over the last two years.

“Two [Chinese] rookies on the LPGA last year and two more rookies this year. So this year we have five Chinese girls on the LPGA,” Feng said. “The Chinese girls are doing well and other than me the other ofur are all below 20. But I still feel really happy because the first six years on the Tour I was by myself but now I’m one of five, so I’m really happy. So I hope in another five years there will be 20.”
If that develops, the entire country of China will know who Feng is. Right now she says she has the perfect level of fame, where golfers in China know who she is, but the average everyday person doesn’t.

She can still walk down the sidewalk or have dinner out and not be bothered. But if golf reaches the level of popularity she envisions and hopes for over the coming years, that could all change.

“I would be happy because if I become more famous, then it means golf is getting more popular so that’s the good thing. The bad thing is I’d lose my freedom,” Feng said.

More than fame or notoriety, though, Feng’s goal is simple: Surpass Inbee Park.

Do that and the rest will take care of itself. Feng’s already up to No. 4 in the world and has always set a goal of passing Inbee. Although Lydia Ko has now overtaken No. 1, her good friend Park set the gold standard in her mind years ago and she’s been chasing her pace ever since.

“It has always been Inbee for a while. My goal is still Inbee because I’ve never passed her,” Feng said.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
5 - Karrie Webb has won this tournament five times.
8- Eight different Americans have already registered a top 10 this year through two events, a scary sign for a European team that’s only registered one so far.
42- The number of top-10s So Yeon Ryu has had on the LPGA Tour since joining full-time in 2012.
73- The Royal Melbourne Golf Club - Composite Course will play to a par 73 this week with the back-nine coming in at par 38.
2012 - Jessica Korda’s first career win came here in 2012 at Royal Melbourne - the only other time Royal Melbourne has hosted a women’s professional golf event.

QUOTE OF THE DAY
“He’s such a character - even on the golf course. Sometimes when I make a crazy birdie, he dances. He really makes me laugh a lot and of course he makes me angry quite a lot of times (laughter). But I’m really lucky to have Tom Watson.”

- So Yeon Ryu on her Australian caddie Tom Watson

ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open Pre-tournament Notes

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