Q&A: Miss America talks golf, Tiger and travel

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The Quail Hollow Championship is the first tournament that Miss America Caressa Cameron has attended.

At this week's Quail Hollow Championship, Miss America Caressa Cameron participated in Reading Above Par, a community program created by Wells Fargo as a way to convey the importance of childhood literacy to Charlotte-area school children in a positive and impactful way. She also sat down with PGATOUR.COM for an exclusive Q&A, discussing the best and worst part about being Miss America, Tiger Woods and more.

So how did you get interested in golf?

I watch golf on television -- it's one of those Saturday afternoon things to do for me. In my hometown I've also been to Fredericksburg (Va.) Country Club and watched some there, but this is my first actual tournament. I'll also be at the Children's Miracle Network Classic in November.

How have you been spending your time since becoming Miss America?

Every day is something different. I travel about every 36 hours and 20,000 miles a month. Some days I go to a children's hospital, other days I'm involved in things like Taste of the NFL, and here in conjunction with the Quail Hollow Championship, I participated in Reading Above Par and talked to kids about the importance of reading. I was really impressed by the kids. They're putting a lot of emphasis on their schoolwork and making healthy choices and setting goals and they really are excelling in the academic program. I'm excited they had some golfers (J.J. Henry and Jason Bohn) come out and share their experiences of winning and losing and character building, which is very important for our young people.

Speaking of character building, you competed three times before finally winning.

Fourth time is a charm right? I talked to the kids about persistence about trying and trying because there are times when you won't reach your goal your first time or you might not ever reach your goal or win that championship, but to find the jewels that are in the journey. It's important to show our young people that there is importance in gaining stuff from the experiences and just the importance of goal setting. That will affect the type of decisions you make. Is this one choice, how is it going to affect the rest of my life?

That's a nice segue to my next question about Tiger Woods ...

Everyone makes mistakes. Nobody is not human and I just hope this can be a learning experience and people can move on and people can be forgiving. He is a great golfer but just know that no one is above making mistakes.

How surprised were you? Are you still a fan?

Of course. I was a fan before and it doesn't mean I'm still not a fan. I wasn't that surprised, no, but that's because no one's perfect. Before I got involved with the Miss America program, when I was younger I would get bullied a lot and I'd fight and I made some really bad decisions that could have set me on a path to not be here. Because I'm aware of how human we all are, though, and how we all need to learn and we all need to grow, I guess I'm more sympathetic than most because I could have been that kid that someone said is a bad kid. But there were people that helped turn my life around.

Speaking of your life, I see you're a broadcast journalism major. Can we expect to see you in the booth anytime soon?

I would love to do the news and maybe sports broadcasting. That would be really cool. But I don't limit my chances or opportunities so we'll see. I have one more year for my undergraduate degree then I'll start looking for my internships or possibly pursue grad school and see where this life takes me.

Who is your favorite TOUR player?

You know, I haven't picked one yet.

C'mon...Tiger or Phil?

It's so easy to pick the two that are the most famous and I always like to root for the guy who's not the most famous. Okay, I would say Tiger because when I was a kid he was on that frosted flakes commercial. I love frosted flakes.

What's the best thing about being Miss America?

Getting to travel and do some of the things I'll accomplish this year are things on people's bucket list. I was just at the NASCAR race at Talladega and I got to ride in the pace car. It's pretty cool the things that I get to do. You can't trade that in for anything.

So what's the best thing you've gotten to do?

I went to the Super Bowl, which was pretty awesome. But how do you compare playing with a kid with pediatric cancer with going to the Super Bowl. It's apples and oranges.

The worst thing about being Miss America?

All the chicken starts to taste the same. It's a lot of chicken. If I eat another chicken I might cluck.

So what's the rest of your schedule like?

I'll get to watch some golf before I get on a plane back to Virginia. Then I'm on a plane to ... I don't know where. Oh, Seattle, that's right, then Georgia, then Germany.

You're like George Clooney's character in Up In the Air.

You know, I do have a strategy how things are packed. There's definitely an art to it.

Safe travels.