THE MODERATOR: Joining us ahead of the Dow Championship are Gurleen Kaur and Hira Naveed. Can you guys just talk a little bit about how this partnership came to be?
HIRA NAVEED: Yeah, for sure. G texted me a couple months ago actually saying, Do you want to be my Dow partner? And for me it was an immediate yes. Gurleen is one of my closest friends out on Tour, so I just thought that it would be really cool, so that's pretty much how it came about.
THE MODERATOR: And this partnership is important for reasons that are beyond the golf course. Can you share why it matters for both of you to be representing your communities this week?
GURLEEN KAUR: I think it's important because as both people from, you know, minorities, we're both trying to grow the game. And I think the reason why Dow championship is such a great place to start is because they are so involved in the community as well and growing the game. So I think we're both just really proud to represent who we are and where we come from an just people seeing like us partnering up I think is a good way to remind you that you can come from anywhere and still be able to follow your dreams, so, yeah.
HIRA NAVEED: I agree with Gurleen, it's really cool to represent South Asia as a whole, obviously Gurleen's Indian, I'm Pakistani, there is a history of conflict and rivalry, but our goal is to bring peace and harmony, you know, the people get along and that our friendship is an example of that, so, yeah.
THE MODERATOR: With the understanding that you guys are playing for so much more this week, what does success look like for you? What do you want to look back on this week and be like, We did what we came out here to do?
GURLEEN KAUR: I would say, like just enjoying ourselves. You always have the same team atmosphere of making sure we don't say "sorry", and just truly having a good time. So I would say that being leaders and examples for other people and seeing that they want to look up to people like us, so that would definitely look like success, for me at least.
HIRA NAVEED: I think just us teaming up is a win in itself. We both obviously come from minority backgrounds and both of our parents, they immigrated from India and Pakistan back in the '90s to the west for a better life for their kids, and we're really proud to represent both countries and, yeah, at the highest stage of women's golf, which is something that we're both very, very proud of. So that's a win in itself, I think.
THE MODERATOR: Your community and your heritage is obviously very important to you. How does that influence the way that you play golf and how it obviously is just so much more than a sport, it's putting on a stage that not many people get to be on.
HIRA NAVEED: As I said, our parents have built this life for us, have given us the opportunity to be here. We wouldn't be here without our families and their sacrifices, the hard work that they have put into giving their kids the opportunity to achieve their dreams and go after their dreams. Yeah, that's, we hold those values very dear to our hearts and we're hoping to represent the community this week, so we're excited about that.
Q. Your practice on the golf course, what's been the discussions and the strategy on the golf course as you're preparing for this team championship this week?
GURLEEN KAUR: We don't have a definitive plan yet on who is playing odds and evens. We're going to talk about it. But it's mainly just game planning on what is strong in both our games and what we think the other person can hold on to, and then it's just very light-hearted conversation, so not really anything.
HIRA NAVEED: Yeah, no, I think we will come up with our strategy by tomorrow and figure out who is going to tee off even and odds and all that good stuff, and the strategy. But, yeah, I mean, we're just really happy to be here and I've been looking forward to this week for a long time. So I'm really excited to tee it up with G this week but, yeah.
Q. The LPGA Tour travels to big markets, middle markets and smaller markets. This tournament technically is in the smallest media market or smallest market on the LPGA Tour, but the entire city comes out to this event. Gurleen, this is your third year playing here so you know that. What's it like for you guys on Thursday when you see just the crowds, the families and the kids cheering you on as you tee off on Thursday and then leading into the weekend?
GURLEEN KAUR: I think it's amazing. Like, I think even like last week at the U.S. Open Thursday there was a lot of people watching at 8:00 a.m. I was very impressed. I think it's gotten better and better. I love playing in small towns. I think a lot of us really enjoy coming to Midland, or even like next week in Grand Rapids, because the whole golf tournament becomes like a community event. There's so many events for little kids and the Dow Center, like off of 17. I think people enjoy bringing their families out. Then, for me, Dow's been my sponsor, this is my third year, and I think this is definitely one of the best tournaments and they do such a good job for not just the LPGA but growing the game and for as a community as a whole.
HIRA NAVEED: I think Dow does an incredible job. They have a great diversity program, and G's obviously a part of that, along with a couple other players. We enjoy playing in smaller towns, because the whole community comes out and watches. Honestly, having large crowds gives us a lot of energy and we appreciate and we love it. So, yeah, really looking forward to that this week to get out and see all the kids out in the tents and stuff, so that will be fun.
Q. You mentioned that you have a Dow sponsorship, your third year as a part of Team Dow. Talk about that for a bit, just being almost the veteran of Team Dow, so you and Lakareber are the veterans of the group, and how that's helped you on your journey to continuing to compete here on the LPGA Tour and how much Dow not only gives back to you guys, but gives back to this community as a whole.
GURLEEN KAUR: I'm so grateful for Dow, it's definitely become like a family, I would say. I've gotten to know so many people. I'm staying with Karen and Gary Carter this week, Karen is COO, about to be CEO of Dow, and I think that speaks to how close everyone has become. It's definitely very involved in terms of, I feel like I could call Karen or Gary or anybody in the Dow community and executive team and talk to them about anything. And then, from a financial standpoint, just having Dow on my shoulder has been incredible. They do so much for me and all the other sponsors too. And now seeing that there's two new players on our team, it's really exciting. They just continue to elevate our game to the next level. I think they have seen that from the beginning. I think there's now, with Craig here and how much like the game is getting better, the LPGA's growing, Dow's been one of the first people to see that. I really enjoy the fact that they want to keep growing and getting better every year so, yeah.
Q. The 18th out here is a par-3 finish, and the crowds just wrap around that hole. What's it like to compete and what's it like to finish on a par-3 on the LPGA Tour?
HIRA NAVEED: I think it's one of the coolest holes that we have or finishes on Tour. It's really fun. The crowd gets involved. The walk-up songs are really cool. It's fun to see the different types of music choices with the players and the teams. It just brings out different personalities. I think that's cool for our Tour as well to have that exposure to different personalities, because we really do have a lot of diversity out here, and it's cool to see that shown through the walk-up songs and the crowds getting involved.
Q. Obviously out here there's so many kids. As somebody that was growing up and playing golf, how does it feel now to be the one that's signing autographs and talking to the next generation of golfers?
GURLEEN KAUR: It's kind of weird sometimes when you're like, Oh, like, why does someone want your autograph. But I think it's really, really inspiring and it never gets old or tiring to sign someone's glove. Or even if they want your shoe or your hat or when they start yelling at you, because you're like, They're heckling, but, no, they're so much fun. I just think it never gets old, it's very, very amazing.
HIRA NAVEED: Definitely cool to see the kids come up to you after a round, whether you had a good round or bad round it's always an uplifting thing, it cheers you up. All the different types of kids with different personalities, it's fun to kind of mingle with them and get to know them. That's something that all players pretty much enjoy after their rounds.
Q. Have you guys picked a team name and a walk-up song?
HIRA NAVEED: We do have a team name. Team Frenemies. Obviously with the history, as we said, between the two countries, but for us since we're friends, we're trying to bring both countries together, so Frenemies is the most...
GURLEEN KAUR: We had some trouble at first.
HIRA NAVEED: We did. We had some names, but I think this one is the best one that we felt represented the both of us.
Q. And walk-up song yet or still in the process?
HIRA NAVEED: Still in progress. I think we're going a little back and forth about it, but we'll come up with something. But it's going to be Dizzy.
GURLEEN KAUR: It's going to be a Bollywood song so, yeah.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports