By Tim Maitland
Reigning Ladies European Tour number one and 2008 LET Player of the Year Gwladys Nocera has revealed she's set herself a target to win a Major in 2009.
The Frenchwoman, who earned her place at next month's HSBC Women's Champions in Singapore when she won her tour's Money List thanks to five victories and four other top-three finishes last year, has made it her aim this season to lift one of female golf's holy grails.
"That's what is driving me; when I wake up in the morning I know why I'm waking up, I know why I'm going for a run, I know why, when I'm hitting balls, I have to stay and keep hitting until I get better," said Nocera, who has already franked her form for this year by winning the New Zealand Women's Open in a howling gale at the beginning of February.
Eyes on the prize: Gwladys Nocera has set her sights on winning a Major in 2009 (January 30, 2009).
(Photo by Sandra Mu/Getty Images)
"It helps me work more. For me it's good. I have to set myself some high goals."
The 33-year-old's habit of setting herself lofty targets worked well for her last year when, having finished third and second in the previous campaigns, she finally topped the money list.
"I was proud because it's really hard to set your goals AND achieve them. To set a goal is easy – it's just talk – but to be able to achieve it is big," she explained.
Gwladys Nocera in action during the 2008 Women's World Cup of Golf in South Africa (January 19, 2008).
(Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
"I had set up my goal to be number one and it was hard when Helen Alfredsson won the Evian Masters, because she won so much money there it left me far behind. I had to win three more tournaments to pass her."
Nocera's second trip to Singapore – she says she enjoyed her previous visit for the 2005 Samsung Ladies Masters at the Laguna National (just across the East Coast Parkway from Tanah Merah), even though she missed the cut – won't see her meet her season's goal, but she's quick to agree that a victory would come pretty close.
"It's really big! I'm really proud to be able to play this tournament and I'm really excited about going there. It's big and I'm sure the course will be set up for this field. I'm sure it will be long with tough greens. I'm sending my caddie early to arrive before me so he can take all the notes about the course and my coach will be coming with me so we can work together and get ready. I'm taking it very seriously. I have to!" she exclaimed.
"Life is about earning whatever you get and finishing number one (in Europe) I earned this place and I hope I will represent the Ladies European Tour well."
The HSBC Women's Champions, which draws together tournament winners and money list champions like Nocera from all over the world, is one of only three LPGA events the Frenchwoman will play this year. The others – The Kraft Nabisco Championship and the US Women's Open – are Majors.
However, Nocera has no wish to sacrifice the life she enjoys from her base in Switzerland and aim even higher and have atilt at Lorena Ochoa's throne because it would mean play-full time in the States.
"I want to be really good, but I know my limits. My goal is not to be number one in the world. I want to win a Major, but being number one is not something that is driving me. I know winning a Major is possible and I know being number one is not possible."
"It's too much work. If I was 20 years old I would probably say that. I would probably say I would go to the US and play all the tournaments and get up the world rankings and try and be number one. I want to stay in Europe and there's no way you can be world number one if you stay in Europe. I don't know… it's just not me."
Nocera concedes it's possible that her philosophical outlook on her life might be related to miraculously escaping death in a shooting accident at the age of 16 – a gun her grandfather was showing her fired a bullet straight through her abdomen and out of her back somehow missing all her organs – together with the way she had to struggle to make ends meet in her early twenties.
"I now what it is to struggle and to have no money in your pocket and to live in such a tiny place that you can't have a bedroom and you just have a convertible couch; I know what that is. I don't what that anymore. I want a decent life and to be happy."
A graduate in international business from the University of New Mexico where she went on a golf scholarship, Nocera still had to work her way through college, even giving up the sport in her final year as her studies and the need for income took up all her time. Unable to afford to turn pro and join the Futures Tour as she planned, she returned to France where she knew she had sponsors willing to support her amateur career. She only turned professional at the age of 27, which in the current currency of women's golf is like starting work for the first time when you hit 65. Having started from nothing, with nothing in her pocket, Nocera is unwilling to turn her back on the tour the allowed her to earn a healthy living from the game.
"Of course it's less money than in the US, but I still enjoy myself and I love what I'm doing. I think if I'm in the US I won't be that happy and I won't be so good. I don't want to go to the US just because I have to and then destroy myself. That's not the point. I want to be happy. I'm happy in Europe. I have a cool caddie, I have my friends, I have my family. I can't ask for more really. Money is not life. Money is good as long as you have enough to have a decent life. Having a nice car or a really nice car doesn't matter to me. Four wheels, an engine… of course I like nice cars and I have a nice one, but it's not what I'm after.
"What is annoying is when people say that I am making a mistake. If they want to say I should go, it's their right to think it, but they shouldn't tell me it's a mistake if I don't. A lot of people are hard on me because I say I'm not going, but it's my life and I'm proud of living my life the way I want. That's a privilege."
Gwladys Nocera Interview
Q: Congratulations on last year
It was huge. A big season! I had set up my goal to be number one and it was hard when Helen Alfredsson won the Evian Masters, because she won so much money there it left me far behind. I had to win three more tournaments to pass her. It was a big accomplishment in Dubai when the season was finished and I was first.
Q: What were you main emotions then?
Satisfaction and pride. I was proud because it's really hard to set your goals AND achieve them. To set a goal is easy – it's just talk – but to be able to achieve it is big.
Q: Isn't it a lot of pressure to create a goal like that for your season?
Not for me. That's what is driving me; when I wake up in the morning I know why I'm waking up, I know why I'm going for a run, I know why, when I'm hitting balls, I have to stay and keep hitting until I get better. It's more like a discipline. It helps me work more. For me it's good. I have to set myself some high goals.
Q: Do you have to be quite hard on yourself?
I am. I don't have to. I am. I have to stop myself.
Q: Has it changed how you feel about yourself as a golfer?
A little bit, a little bit, but after all it's just a matter of hitting the ball; it doesn't change who you are. It changes, maybe, how people look at you. I know I've accomplished things, but the reason I complete them is for myself. Yes, I feel more confident. I feel maybe I grew up for it, but otherwise I'm the same.
Q: You remind me of Padraig Harrington saying, after he'd won his first Major, that the thing that drove him was the feeling of not being good enough.
Yes. If you feel good enough you should quit because you're never going to go anywhere. The best is the number one in the world and I'm not number one in the world. I'm not that good. I'm decent, but I'm not that good. I don't think I could get a big head.
Q: There was difference in Padraig from 2007 to 2008. He seemed more… comfortable.
Yes. You gain confidence because you know you have done things the right way. You know if things go well you can do them again. It gives you confidence. And you know if you start to play bad, it's fine; I'm going to get better because I have the skills to do it. It's still difficult, but at least you know you can do it.
Q: A lot of people from outside would look at someone like you and think of course she's confident she's a good professional golfer. It doesn't work like that.
You can't judge anything from the outside. We all react differently to success and reaching goals and the way I do it is to put my trophy in the closet and it's done. It's 2008. It's finished. Now it's 2009 and we look forward.
Q: When you talk about driving yourself, is there a fine line for you between driving yourself and starting to destroy yourself?
I don't think I can destroy myself. Golf is my living, in a sense that without golf I wouldn't be the person I am now. So I have to respect golf.
I want to be really good, but I know my limits. My goal is not to be number one in the world. I want to win a Major, but being number one is not something that is driving me. I know winning a Major is possible and I know being number one is not possible.
Q: Why do you believe it's not possible?
It's too much work. If I was 20 years old I would probably say that. I would probably say I would go to the US and play all the tournaments and get up the world rankings and try and be number one. I want to stay in Europe and there's no way you can be world number one if you stay in Europe. I don't know… it's just not me.
I'm happy in Europe. The tour is getting better. Of course it's less money than in the US, but I still enjoy myself and I love what I'm doing. I think if I'm in the US I won't be that happy and I won't be so good. I don't want to go to the US just because I have to and then destroy myself. That's not the point. I want to be happy. I'm happy in Europe. I have a cool caddie, I have my friends, I have my family. I can't ask for more really.
A lot of people are hard on me because I say I'm not going, but it's my life and I'm proud of living my life the way I want. That's a privilege.
Q: People must expect you to be greedier; expect you to want as much money as you can make.
Money is not life. Money is good as long as you have enough to have a decent life. Having a nice car or a really nice car doesn't matter to me. Four wheels, an engine… of course I like nice cars and I have a nice one, but it's not what I'm after.
Q: Is it difficult that people don't always understand that?
No it's alright. I don't expect them to understand me – I don't ask them too; as long as they don't judge me. I don't mind other peoples' opinions, I don't judge them. Everybody does what ever they want. What is annoying is when people say that I am making a mistake. If they want to say I should go, it's their right to think it, but they shouldn't tell me it's a mistake if I don't.
I now what it is to struggle and to have no money in your pocket and to live in such a tiny place that you can't have a bedroom and you just have a convertible couch; I know what that is. I don't what that anymore. I want a decent life and to be happy.
Q: You talked about trying to be number one was what got you out of bed last year. What will get you out of bed this year?
Winning a Major.
I don't have anything to prove, neither to myself nor to anyone else, I just want to lift that cup because I think it's the best thing.
Q: The HSBC Women's Champions isn't a Major, but…
It's really big! I'm really proud to be able to play this tournament and I'm really excited about going there. It's big and I'm sure the course will be set up for this field. I'm sure it will be long with tough greens. I'm sending my caddie early to arrive before me so he can take all the notes about the course and my coach will be coming with me so we can work together and get ready. I'm taking it very seriously. I have to.
Life is about earning whatever you get and finishing number one (in Europe) I earned this place and I will hope I will represent the Ladies European Tour well.
I've been once to Singapore and I really enjoyed it. It was for a LET tournament we had there four years ago (2005 Samsung Ladies Masters at the Laguna National G&CC. Nocera missed the cut).
Q: You turned pro quite late didn't you, at the age of 27. Was that because you started golf quite late?
I started golf very young, but I was playing tennis and handball a lot. I thought I wasn't good enough to turn pro. And I had that big accident when I was 16 and nearly died. I didn't want to turn pro just because that was the only thing in my life. So I went to study in the US on a golf scholarship to be able to decide: to be able to decide and say I playing golf because I choose to play golf, not because I have to play golf. Just that for me made a big difference. I went to the US and got my scholarship and got my degree
During my last year there I couldn't play anymore because I was studying too much and working and I was missing golf so much I said I have to turn pro because it's my life.
Q: Tell me a little about the shooting incident.
My grandfather was showing me a gun and it went off. It went through me. It went through the front and out of the back.
Q: What's that like?
It hurts. It burns. It's bad. It bleeds everywhere. It's not good. You don't want to think about it.
Q: What did it do to you mentally?
It did nothing and on the other hand it did a lot, because I was really athletic. For a couple of weeks I couldn't do anything. For a fraction of a minute it made me realized that everything could be finished. I didn't know about my legs and I didn't know if could play sport anymore. I guess it changed me in the sense that I know now that everything can change in two seconds.
Q: How long did it take you to recover?
I just spent four days in hospital because it was nothing. It didn't hit anything. It just went through my whole body but it didn't touch anything. I got very lucky. It just went in and went out. I couldn't move, because it hurt, but it was nothing major. I think if I had the flu I could have spent more time in my bed. I got really lucky.
