U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 19, 2014

Stacy Lewis

Q. How happy are you with your score?
STACY LEWIS: I'm very happy. It was such an easy day. I played really, really solid, other than I had to make a few par putts, I ran some putts by, got them above the hole. But other than that I didn't put myself in too bad of spots and made a few birdies, which was nice.

Q. We aren't going to hear the word "easy" used very often today. What was the key to that?
STACY LEWIS: The only thing that was easy about it was that I had a lot of tap in pars. I wasn't struggling to make par all day. I was really hitting the shots I needed to hit. I was in control of how far I was hitting it. So that's what made it easy. The golf course wasn't easy, by any means. It's going to play hard the rest of the week. But the way it's set up today, if you hit good shots, you get rewarded.

Q. How much is that a testament of how well you're striking the ball today.
STACY LEWIS: I knew that was a big thing coming into the week was control with the irons. I think for the women, these fairways are pretty big for us, so I don't think we have to worry too much about missing fairways. But definitely into the greens the spots you're hitting them are really just small compared to the actual size. So I knew I needed control there and that's what I had today.

Q. Bogey-free on a golf course like this, that's got to be pretty impressive, for both weeks. How do you feel about that and how did it happen?
STACY LEWIS: Again, it was just playing solid. Coming into the week I knew par is never a bad score at a U.S. Open. So even if I had a couple of holes I had some 10, 15-footers I didn't make for birdie, instead of getting frustrated, I told myself it's an easy par, it's a U.S. Open, it's fine. So I really just stayed patient and stayed relaxed out there and hit, really, coming in, hit some really good iron shots coming in.

Q. You've already achieved a lot in your career already. How much of your work has geared to winning the U.S. Women's Open?
STACY LEWIS: I think everything I'm doing is geared towards Majors in general. I think to win Majors you have to have control of the ball, you have to putt great, and you have to have control of your emotions. The last one, that's been the kicker for me the last few years, is control of my emotions. So that's something that I put a -- moved at the top of the list for me this year. That, you know, if I do anything, I'm going to control that. And I did a really good job of that today.

Q. What kind of statement do you make: I'm the No. 1 player in the world, I'm 3-under after the first round, let's go?
STACY LEWIS: I don't know. I mean, I liked watching the men's last week because I think I played a lot -- I like to hit a cut a lot like Kaymer does. So on a lot of those holes, it was cool to see the plan I had laid out in my head, he was kind of doing the same thing. So it was nice coming into the week, knowing that my plan was going to work on this golf course. I thought that somebody like the guys, somebody can run away with this. If you're hitting the ball well enough, you can definitely run away with it. At the same time you have to know par is a good number and keep grinding away.

Q. All great players reach a point where they know their career is going to be judged by Major Championships. Are you there now?
STACY LEWIS: Once you get 1-under your belt, it's contagious, you just want to win more and more. And a lot of times you're announced on a tee or introduced as how many Solheim Cups you've played on and how many Majors you've won. Winning all of them is something I'd like to do some time down the road. I just have geared my game towards Majors. I love it when it's hard. I love it when you have to grind. I love it when you have to make to 8 and 10-footers for par. It suits me and my game.

Q. The birdie putts from 5 and 7 were pretty close. Were those misreads and how close did you come to making those?
STACY LEWIS: The one on 5 was really close. That pin is a little goofy today. So I was actually pretty happy to get out of there with par. Hit a good putt there. 7, I just didn't play enough break on it. Just left it a little bit low. But, again, they're both tap-ins. Anytime you have a tap-in par on this course, you run to the next tee.

Q. Can you take us through club and yardage for your birdies.
STACY LEWIS: I knew you'd ask that. So I brought this. 16, I had 185 to the hole and I hit 5-iron to like six feet. And then 14, yeah, I had 125 to the hole and hit pitching wedge. And that was like 20 feet, 15, 20 feet down the hill. And then 8, I had 153 hole and hit 8-iron to about eight feet.

Q. You're No. 1 in putting, how is your form coming into this week?
STACY LEWIS: I think the more times I've won and the longer I've been out here, putting wins tournaments. You can hit it as good as you want, if you can't make a 10-footer, you're not going to win out here. Speed, lag putting, I think lag putting is kind of put on a premium this week. Putting, to me, is the most important part of the game.

Q. Greens faster today than Monday?
STACY LEWIS: No, speed was similar. There's a few hole locations you get above them and they're just lightning. The pin's on the front of 4 today, and I got above the hole there, and that was just crazy fast. And then on 6, I got up past the hole and that one was crazy fast down the hill. They're a really good speed, you just have to be careful on those downhill ones.

Q. (Inaudible.)
STACY LEWIS: Well, I was concerned about the collection areas, but I was never in them today, so I guess I avoided all the trouble.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports