Momoko Ueda Official Blog

The three days are over


There sure is a difference between a three day tournament and a four day tournament!!


It’s so much easier on my body…



But that’s unimportant


That double bogey on the last hole…










I had intended to hit a fade, but it swung out to the right and into the pond…


It’s disappointing, but in the final stages I just didn’t have quite enough skills.
Or rather, I didn’t have quite enough physical strength or practice under my belt.


The rest were just plain old mistakes, I guess you call it
Simply careless mistakes and a lack of concentration is what it comes down to!!



But I do feel that I have grasped something to take away this time.





That is to accept the results, and wait!!










If I tell myself “I must make this birdie hole!!”, I can’t play my own golfI guess it’s about the difference between concentrating on each hit for a birdie hole, and ending up with a birdie…!?





I can’t explain it very well, but I think that what I realized this time is helping me to have confidence in my golf, and that what I need to do now to improve my probability is to practice



That’s it!!







Tomorrow I have to get up at 3am, leave the hotel at 4, catch a 6am flight to Canada, change flights on the way, and when I arrive, go directly to the course to play a round...





This is what is tough about the USA
There’s not time to rest…It’s a battle against physical exhaustion！！





By the way, it’s 11:40 at night now.
Yet again there’s no time to sleep

As per the title...


Is it because I’m still only 23 I wonder…！？
Haha
I’ve recovered
I can’t say I’m 100%, but at least the nausea has gone
Yesterday the ball wasn’t travelling far, and wasn’t getting as close as I expected, but I still finished two under par, while today my shots were good but I still finished just one under



GOLF is interesting isn’t it









The reason I didn’t do better today is definitely because of the two 3 puts from the 6th to 10th hole and the short birdie putt I missed.




My hunger – the feeling “I want to get this!” – was really strong…
But then again I got through that difficult 18th hole with the pond on a birdie, and was really moved and encouraged by all the cheering from the gallery







And I thought “This! This is what I play golf for！！







I’m not in bad form, so tomorrow I’ll do my best



This is a photo of Boba, which I couldn’t drink because I was sickI love this stuff






OK everyone, sorry to have worried you. Good night！！

Hi!

Firstly I want to say thanks…
to all those fans who were cheering me on through the night and into the morning!!
Thanks so much



I think it was thanks to everyone’s efforts cheering me on that I was able to get through the closing 3 holes 4 under par!!
I finished with a chip-in eagle so I was lucky too




Thanks!!




To tell the truth, the thought of withdrawing even crossed my mind at the third hole today.
The nausea was just overpowering…
As well as that, perhaps because of the medicine I was taking for stomach pains, I was just physically weak and couldn’t find my strength…


My ball must have been falling 20Y short of normal…

Amidst all this, I remembered something that Ayako Okamoto said to me last year.

“You mustn’t use the withdrawal option unless you are injured to the extent that you can’t hit the ball or something equivalent
By soldiering on even though it hurts or is tough, you have a chance to discover your weaknesses, take opportunities, learn your strengths…
In any case you can understand your own golf!”

As I headed towards the fourth hole, this drifted into my mind











“Right!!” I thought.
“I just need to do this…And if I really can’t do it, I will tell Terry…”


From there on I experimented with hitting lightly, altering my management… I was able to try out ideas, and I felt at peace I guess




I think it was really good that I made it through the round with emotional strength


Finally two things
These photos…
Tiger was all over the wall!! He is so cool！！



And one more.
To Mom
No need to worry
It is tough but I’m hanging in there doing my best!!
I won’tyou because I don’t want to get all sad
I’m growing day by day, so just keep cheering for me from Japan





Well, everybody



Bye for now

Please don’t worry about me



But, I wasn’t able to play in the Pro-Am today…
I wasn’t well ever since arriving here, but today I felt worse than ever…
With nausea and stomach pains


For now I am resting today, hoping I’m good tomorrow…





I was so fired up and ready to go, only to have this happen…







Sigh…(;´д｀)



If anyone knows a food with magical properties to make me better please tell me

Everybody, as promised…


Here are my latest nails got them done at Matsushita-san’s salon Tout Soleil in the Daikanyama train station building again.
The theme, by the way, is…












Picasso

















Aren’t they pretty!?
I love ‘em


This jet lag is a killer so I’m going to sleep

You can find more info on Matsushita-san’s nail salon here↓↓↓
http://www.tout-soleil.com/

Thank you for always making my nails lovely!

I have arrived safely back in the USA


It’s always the same, but gee it’s a long trip
The trip is exhausting.


And already jet lag is in full swing

The first 3 days are a write off!




I think this time in particular.



Why would that be…!?









The extra-strong jet lag this time, and the overwhelming sleepiness just got to be too much for me and I slept endlessly once we arrived…


There’s no need to remind me that I brought this upon myself OK?





Anyway…my Mom isn’t here with me on the US tour this time.
It is a decision that we put a lot of thought into, but it is a long story so I’ll leave it for another time


If I can battle through for two weeks, the part on the US mainland will be over, and I’ll be travelling to Asia!! I really want to somehow put my heart into my play
Ezure-san taught me again, I’m all fired up for a fight, so all that’s left to do is enjoy it




Momo’s gonna ENJOY it！！

Please be cheering for me again this week




This is a photo of the shampoo and conditioner I likeAnd the perfume I always use

Just some stuff I love




Tomorrow I’ll show you my nails for the first time in a while

It has been a whileVery sorry!!
Wow, so many nice things happened in this week off…！！


I can’t tell you everything at once but I will try to tell you as much as I can


Firstly, I went to Ayaka-san’s live concert yesterday
It was awesome!! Her voice was so full of life it really grabbed my heartThis was a birthday present from my manager…hank you Yagara-san!!




I also got to meet the one and only Mr KiyoharaIt was my goal for this year to meet him but never dreamed it would really happen so soon…！！



And one more thing, my nails came up rather nicely

But that’s not all! I got to really catch up with my cousin Miki-chan and talk heaps!!



So many good things happened that I feel like I’m ready to take on the remainder of the US tour with a last spurt!!

Hi there!
Karuizawa is overflowing with peopleI can’t believe how many people there are


Anyway, my caddie is Oh-chan, this week for the first time in two years
He is interesting to look at, and appears to be a bit careless, but actually he is really easy going in a good way, but at the same time is a caddie who totally understands how things have to flow when it’s time to pull your socks up


I’m having him carry for me for this week and the Tour Championship too



I’ll do my best this week too

Firstly, I have to say how simply happy I am about this win

In the US I struggle to even remain in the running for first place, and I have doubts, and feel frustration…
I was so full of emotions, so I really wanted to find out how my own rhythm would be when I won, and how I would feel.

And I was able to find that out

This week it was really shots that pushed me along!!



But a lot of times I wasn’t performing where I should have been able to, so it was also a week that drew my attention to lots of areas to work on.

Image, rhythm and will.
I was focusing on these three themes as I played, and what I found was that I need to feel even more strongly about these.

But this is the main point!!



In a way there’s only winning or losing, and the fact that I managed to win when I really wanted to is, I believe, a sign of development… And I also feel that I have learned how to play golf with few mistakes…





But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.






This is only the beginning!!
In order to win in the US, and specifically the US open, I really need to acquire a lot of skills and develop myself a high level of emotional control!!


Finally…
Playing in Japan again, I was really moved by the warmth of the voices of fans cheering me on






Everyone, thank you for always supporting me

Hi there!!
Today did turn out to be a different day to yesterday
It’s just that I’m feeling really good
I have the feeling I am maintaining my concentration well as I go around the course


Tomorrow, I think that naturally, even if I am told not to focus too much on winning, I will be very aware of just that, and basically I want to create an opportunity and grab it」
That’s what I’d like, but of course first and foremost, in order to play my own golf, I need to to focus on the shot in front of me and do my best!!


I want to rediscover my own style so that I can go back to America with confidence!!
And I want to enjoy the feeling of playing the back 9 on Sunday…





Aside from that, all that remains is…








Be true to myself.
Where there’s a will…!!