THE MODERATOR: Joined at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational media center by Jasmine Suwannapura and Cydney Clanton. Thanks for joining us today. Two years too long since you've been back at Midland Country Club. Cydney, what's it like to be back at the site of your first LPGA Tour victory.
CYDNEY CLANTON: It's exciting. You know, the community was so awesome the first time we were here. The fact that we were going to be able to be back with fans and all their support, it's going to be a really good week.
Hopefully the weather pans out for us. But no, we're really excited to be here. Obviously brings up super good memories. Played so good two years ago. It was a lot of fun and it was fun playing our practice round, rehashing some memories of oh, did you make this putt on Thursday, no, no, you made it on Saturday. So was it a lot of fun yesterday playing a practice round together.
Q. Jasmine, you have the All in team name back at it this year on the hats. I think everybody came to really embrace that and gravitate towards that during your win in 2019. Did you get some comments with All in? Have people bought in to the All In as you come back to the Midland Country Club?
JASMINE SUWANNAPURA: All in all start with Cydney. It's her idea. I like it too, All In. I mean, feedback from people two years ago was like, oh, I want that hat. I want this All in hat.
I been telling Cydney maybe you start the business somewhere with the All In hat. A lot people want it. Like I said, I mean, it's good to be back here to see a lot of people that we know and members here that we see in this golf course.
Q. Cydney, I think dating back to the Symetra days you were All In. I've seen it on your head throughout your career.
CYDNEY CLANTON: Auburn did a campaign when I was in school and it was Family All In. In Auburn, our community, once you step foot on campus, it's kind of family. So we had a family All In, and two years ago I wanted to be present wherever my feet were and I wanted to be All In on which tournament I was in, because I was bouncing back between Symetra and LPGA.
And so the kind of slogan for my year was All In. I want to be All In wherever my feet currently are. I don't want to be concerned about should I be here or there. And so it is kind of funny. Made a couple hats a couple years ago and wore them and people loved them. It's funny. We get the All In on poker, is it a poker thing or what it is.
People like it for different reasons. Some people like it for the poker and some people like it because it's our name and we want to be All In wherever we are.
Q. Jasmine, how have you embraced All In and what does it mean to you specifically?
JASMINE SUWANNAPURA: All In can be a lot of things. I mean, emotional you want to be All In in a tournament. I feel like with this name I feel pretty pumped. Like we both All In on every shot, every putt, everything we do. We are 100% All In.
You know, all positive thoughts. Just All In and have fun.
Q. This can be for both of you. Obviously winning here was special, but coming back here and seeing yourself in a lifesize cardboard cutout around town, what has that been like to step away from the course and have that recognition around this community?
JASMINE SUWANNAPURA: For me, it's new for me because I never really see myself as a board traveling around Michigan or Midland. I see a couple picture that I bring -- my board and her board around here and took a picture and promoting for the tournament. It's fun to see.
And then her friend and my friend will take a selfie with the board and say like, Where are you? Are you here? It's kind of fun.
Q. How about you Cydney?
CYDNEY CLANTON: It was really funny. First thing I got Monday morning driving up were multiple selfies of people taking pictures with the cardboard with their arm around it. It's fun. It's definitely interesting. I don't know if it's the team dynamic or the team thing, but everybody has been like, Oh, defending champs. And it's just not a thing we do on the LPGA.
I don't know if it's the team event, if it's because we won to the first time. Everybody has been like, oh, the defending champs. So I don't know if that's what the tournament has done with the cardboard and our face being everywhere. You know, kind of funny to see.
Oh, man I was driving up here from Toledo and I'm driving and I'm like, I think that's a billboard with my face on it. As we drove by there was multiple, so it's kind of funny driving and seeing things. It was a lot of fun.
Q. That's awesome. Walk-up song this week? What do we got and how did you choose it?
JASMINE SUWANNAPURA: I been eyeing on this song for a while. It's going to be Whatever It Takes by Imagine Dragons.
CYDNEY CLANTON: I picked it last year and Jasmine did a great job picking it this year. I think it'll be a lot of fun.
Q. Kind of whatever it takes, All In. It kind of goes hand in hand would you say?
CYDNEY CLANTON: 100%, yep.
JASMINE SUWANNAPURA: Yeah.
Q. With the rain, how will the course play perhaps different from when you last remember it?
JASMINE SUWANNAPURA: I think last -- I mean, two years ago the green is a little bit firm, for me at least. Because of the rain this year I think everything is going to play pretty soft. It might be a little longer, but the green is pretty soft, which is not bad because green here was not that big.
So should be able to attack the pin more this year.
Q. Do you feel that the way you guys structured how you play certain holes in 2019, do you feel people looked to you guys as the champions and learned a few things as to how that'll attack this week?
CYDNEY CLANTON: You know, I'm not sure. I know that there was very little thought in why we played the golf course the way we did. It really had to come down to two holes that were a little bit longer for Jasmine and a little bit easier for me because of the length, and that was really the only decision why we played even or odd holes.
I think our biggest thing was just was playing each other's game. It was don't do anything different because of me and I didn't do anything different because of her. Whatever you felt comfortable with. Don't try to do anything you're not comfortable with. And I think that's one thing that we did really well at executing in 2019, is we were both very confident in our game at the time, and so it felt good just to be able to execute our game.
Q. We spoke yesterday coming off the 18th green. Wanted to ask, I know it's a common practice on the LPGA Tour to stay with host families. Is that something you all did in 2019 and are doing again or is that something you maybe don't do?
CYDNEY CLANTON: Depends on the event. 100% I have stayed in housing many tournaments and stayed with some of the same housing year after year, six or eight years.
2019 I stayed in an airbnb and I stayed 40 minutes away, and I think Jasmine stayed at the H Hotel right downtown. So this year I wanted to make it a little bit easier. I think we're just downtown at H Hotel.
Q. Fair enough. That kind of practice, too, I mean obviously tournament to tournament, but being able to do that once again, does it make it a little bit more fun, kind of interact with some of the local fans and people? Is that just it is what it is kind of thing?
JASMINE SUWANNAPURA: You know, to be able to see a lot of fans coming back this week, it's pretty amazing, because two years ago -- I mean, and this year, without the fan it wouldn't be the same. Wouldn't be the same at all.
So to be able to interact with them, and a lot of them say hi to us, oh, defending, defending, because we wear All In hats so people recognize us pretty fast.
So be able to see people smiling to us and we smile back and interact with them is great.
CYDNEY CLANTON: I definitely think that staying in housing does bring a certain -- a different aspect to it. I have enjoyed all the housings I have stayed in and have great memories. It's nice to not have to just sit in a hotel room. It's nice to have some community and to chat and talk.
So that has been a perk of the LPGA and one thing we do. I know a lot people that aren't in our industry don't really understand going into a so-called stranger's home to stay with them for a week, but it really is a cool opportunity to meet people and to have fellowship and community with them.
It's a really cool perk we have.
Q. And maybe a nice home cooked meal once in a while, too.
CYDNEY CLANTON: That never hurts. That never hurts.
Q. Game plan for this week as defending champs? Does it change a little all? Is there anything that's different or do you just try to do everything the same as what you did two years ago?
CYDNEY CLANTON: Well, it's funny. I think the biggest thing is we can't recreate what happened in 2019. Which have to take what we have right now and try to make the best of it. I don't think our game plan has changed a whole lot.
I think it's for Jasmine to play her game and for me to play my game. Hopefully we can create some good juices from 2019 and keep the ball rolling, because we did a lot of really cool and great things in 2019, so hopefully that will match up again this year.
Q. Jasmine, I remember there was a clip from 2019 where I don't think you missed a putt and Cydney is just kind if looking over and just like, What is going on?
JASMINE SUWANNAPURA: Yeah, even for me, like what's going on? (Laughter.)
Q. When you have kind of that momentum and in a team atmosphere, how do you kind of draw on your partner to perform like that?
JASMINE SUWANNAPURA: I mean, for me, on the last day in 2019 was the one that she roll 8, birdie on 8 in, which is very severe left to right downhill.
She asked me like, Jasmine is it going to break a lot? I said, Yeah. So she rolled that in and I feel like, okay, we got this. This is going to be fun. It's going to start right now.
So we roll 8 and I roll 9 and the back nine we just keep going. We just hit a lot of good shots and make birdies.
I mean, at that moment we just having fun and just stay in our zone and just play our own game. I remember it's very fun.
Q. That's the way to do it.
CYDNEY CLANTON: I just remember us both having opportunities during that round. It wasn't that either one of us were ever out of a hole and there was too much pressure on one person. If I remember correctly. I remember whether I was close are or Jasmine was closer, especially in the end. I was like, Jazzy, I don't even have to putt on the back nine because I was always inside of you but never had to putt because you made your putts.
I think that's sometimes a comforting thing, to have both partners playing well and hitting it well and you have two opportunities for birdie rather than one opportunity, which putts a lot of pressure on the one player.
I think we did that really well last year. We both had opportunities on Saturday to make birdie.
Q. You mentioned the host housing and airbnb last year and the kind of community feel here in Midland. Have you got to know quite a few community members with your win and just the special relationship that you share with this community?
JASMINE SUWANNAPURA: For me, in 2019 I play with the members here. They follow us like every day actually. But this year I haven't see them. I haven't see them coming out yet.
And then today I got to play the pro-am and there is a lemonade stand on No. 2nd, I believe. So I did go back there and get lemonade. Hey, I wanted same as last year. So they remember me. So that's kind of -- to interact with people, yeah.
Q. How about you, Cydney?
CYDNEY CLANTON: No one that I have stayed in touch with, but it was really cool last year. Our pro-am group pretty much followed us every day and they would go up and sit in the clubhouse and have drinks and just kind of goof off and hang out. It was really cool to have the same people, see the same faces and similar faces.
We didn't have any family here with us that year so nobody was here for us. To see faces that were cheering you on was really a really cool part of last year.
Q. Makes it a special week.
CYDNEY CLANTON: Yeah.
JASMINE SUWANNAPURA: Yeah.
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