U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 19, 2014

Jessica Wallace

Q. You only have a few inches on her.
JESSICA WALLACE: You know, we're pretty close in size. I like to think that I'm not done with my growth spurt, but as a 23 year old, that's probably wishful thinking. She'll probably pass me in a couple years.

Q. You looked like you were having fun.
JESSICA WALLACE: It was a lot of fun. I know Catherine from college, junior golf, we've played together before, and Lucy was a pleasure to play with. We had a lot of fun talking to her, getting to know her. And it was a pleasure.

Q. She looks doesn't play 11, doesn't talk 11.
JESSICA WALLACE: Yeah, she is so mature for her age. There were times when I felt more immature than she is. But just the way she handles herself on the golf course. She is mature beyond her years. I thought she handled herself really well out there. Her first U.S. Open, she's 11 years old. Who knows what people were expecting out of her this week. And I thought she played the course well. She's capable of playing well on this course. She hits the ball a good distance for an 11 year old. So it was a pleasant surprise playing with her.

Q. Was there a shot or two that really impressed you?
JESSICA WALLACE: From her? She hit good shots throughout the course of the day. Because she's a few yards behind me off the tee, but her woods and hybrids coming into those greens, she's very accurate. And she was hitting a lot of chips around the greens that, you know, I may have putted myself, but she had good feels with her hands, good putter, just a very solid player.

Q. It seemed like you guys started kind of laughing, talking together, going up 13, your 4th hole, what was it that broke the ice for all of you guys?
JESSICA WALLACE: We were just talking about, you know, where are you from, what tournaments are you planning on playing this summer. We covered just a lot of random topics out there, just getting to know each other. She's a really cool girl to get to know. We had fun talking to her. She's so mature it's like talking to another 23 year old. We just got to know each other, it was a lot of fun.

Q. When you saw the draw --
JESSICA WALLACE: For the pairings? I was excited, to be quite honest. I know Catherine, so I had the familiarity with her. And I know what a big -- I know what a big deal Lucy is coming out here, so, hey, I'm totally fine coat tailing off of people wanting to take a look at her.

Q. Is that the biggest crowd you've ever played before?
JESSICA WALLACE: Yeah, I can safely say that. I played the Canada Open a couple years ago with Lexie Thompson and that was the pretty much the biggest draw I had before, but people wanted to see her. The crowd was so nice out there to her and to us in general. It was a very surreal experience.

Q. When you talk about how she handled things, she makes that 7 right out of the gate and then comes back with two pars. Is that what you're talking about, and just how she handles the game.
JESSICA WALLACE: Just -- it was a great response, yes, especially after her first hole. But it's more just how she carries herself in general. It doesn't matter, you know, what she makes on a hole. She's very focused on the next hole, next shot. I mean, she was talking a few times, "Oh, those Donald Ross greens." But, I mean, all of us are kind of thinking that at some point during the round, right? So at any point during the round, whether she was coming off a birdie, coming off a double, it didn't matter, she handled herself well.

Q. She birdied 5, and that was the first time she waved at the crowd. Did you see her get into that a little bit, a nice shot on 6 and gets the wave?
JESSICA WALLACE: I wasn't really noticing her reactions to the crowd so much. But obviously she was fired up with that birdie. And the crowd was feeding her all day, so I'm sure she was appreciative of everything that, the support they were giving her. It was cool for her. I'm sure she is settled down by the back nine and started acknowledging people.

Q. Was there any extra pressure to beat an 11 year old?
JESSICA WALLACE: Not really. I didn't come out of the gates very well myself. No, because you play with her and you're just -- she's like a fellow competitor. You don't really feel like you're playing with an 11 year old when she hits the ball only 15 yards behind you on the hole or out drives you on a home.

Q. Did you notice any 10 and 11 years old out in the crowd, fathers bringing their kids?
JESSICA WALLACE: Oh, yeah, the kids were all, "Hey, Lucy, good luck." It's great to have the parents bring the kids out and see, hey, hard work, it doesn't matter how old you are, if you're good enough, you can accomplish whatever you want, right?

Q. That said, Lucy out drove you twice, do you remember how many times that happened to you?
JESSICA WALLACE: She actually -- she had a long drive on 2, got to give her that one. She can crank it out there. She gets all of her weight into that ball. I was impressed. So I'm sure there were a couple of other shots, too, but, yeah, for sure she had a long drive on 2.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports