U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 22, 2014

Stephanie Meadow

Q. How would you sum up this week?
STEPHANIE MEADOW: Awesome. (Laughter.) Yeah, it's been amazing. Couldn't have pictured a better way to start my professional career. It's pretty much a dream come true.

Q. What was it like playing with someone who was basically ending her professional career today?
STEPHANIE MEADOW: Amazing. She's been an idol of mine for so long and to be able to play with her and honestly it was just a great honor. She was so sweet on the course and I loved it. I had a great time.

Q. What did you think of the reception that she got all day, Juli, just everywhere, just all the support she got?
STEPHANIE MEADOW: Yeah, she's a star, she's a legend. So just to be beside her was unbelievable and to have the crowds there was a lot of fun for me, too. So it was great.

Q. Last week Rory made a very difficult decision regarding who to represent, you're faced with the same decision. Have you any thoughts?
STEPHANIE MEADOW: I have no idea. I have no idea as of yet.

Q. Can you appreciate how difficult that was for him?
STEPHANIE MEADOW: Um-hum.

Q. We in the United States don't understand how, what that's like.
STEPHANIE MEADOW: It's weird, because growing up Rory and I all played -- like Ireland is an all Ireland -- our golf is an all Ireland sport. So we grew up playing for Ireland. There was never a Northern Ireland team or we didn't play for U.K., so it is very difficult and I'll just are to wait. I haven't even thought about that decision yet.

Q. Did you feel like you were still in contention the last three holes?
STEPHANIE MEADOW: Yeah, you never know. It's Pinehurst. You just don't know what's going to happen. So you never know. You might make a few birdies coming in and see what happens. But you've got to keep trying your heart out and give it all you got.

Q. You are just starting out your career, just joined the TOUR last week and here you are in this group with Juli and in contention at a U.S. Open. It must have been kind of a surreal experience, I would think.
STEPHANIE MEADOW: I don't know if it was surreal, because I always believed that I could do it. Honestly, the amount of hours that I've put in for I don't know how many years like that's what I've been working for. So to see all that pay off was really amazing. But to do it on my first week and to have enough confidence to keep going, I'm proud of myself for doing that.

Q. Considering you're just getting started in your career and then to be able to be out there with Juli and seeing what an epic career like hers yields and the love from the fans and support from the players and everything, what was that like?
STEPHANIE MEADOW: I never would have thought I would have been standing beside her, seeing, I learned so much from her today. I know she didn't have the greatest day today, but I learned so much from her composure. Her short game is amazing. So it was, it helped me to be alongside of that.

Q. You speak with, and rightly so, with great confidence, it's not surreal that you're here because you believe in your game. And then to know that you can go out and contend and have a career like Juli's or even beyond that, and that could be you some day, is there a feeling of kind of excitement about the years to come?
STEPHANIE MEADOW: Absolutely. This whole experience is only going to make me work harder. Obviously, I didn't win, there's still people beating me and I'm competitive, so I want to try and win Majors some day. So I'm going to go back and work hard. If you're a competitive person, this is a driving force, you do well and you want more. So that's what I'm going to do.

Q. What were your expectations beginning of the week and how did they meet your final result?
STEPHANIE MEADOW: I try not to be like, oh, I want to make the cut or want to finish top-10. I work with Pia and Lynn from Vision 54, so I talk to them before the week and our whole goal was just to be patient and stay with it. Just be myself. Obviously I'm in an environment that I've never been in before as a professional. And I did that. That was my goal for the week. That was my expectation and I certainly achieved that.

Q. What are your goals moving forward?
STEPHANIE MEADOW: I don't know. Endless. Obviously I want to win a Major, I want to be No. 1 in the world some day.

Q. Your impressions on what Juli meant to this sport and has meant over the course of probably longer than you've been alive.
STEPHANIE MEADOW: Yeah, just pure legend. There's so many people that she's brought to the game. You heard it all day. Go Juli. We love you Juli. She's done so much for this game and all of us should be really, really thankful.

Q. What was your game plan going into the day? Did you have a -- I know you don't want to have, you didn't say you had expectations but was there a number in mind and were you thinking winning this golf tournament when you teed it up on 1?
STEPHANIE MEADOW: Well obviously, yeah. Everyone wants to win. But I was just trying to take it one shot at a time. Out here you can't get too aggressive because aggressive plays are going to end in doubles. As much as you want it you have to kind of say, all right, 20 feet right is good.

Q. When STEPHANIE MEADOW posted even, when did you realize that and did it change your strategy?
STEPHANIE MEADOW: I saw it on 17. So I only had like two holes left and they were pretty much birdie holes anyway, so, I just kept doing my same thing.

Q. What did you learn about your game yourself that you can take from this week?
STEPHANIE MEADOW: I learned that my ball striking was a little bit off today. I learned some things where if I'm in a pressure situation, how my body reacts and how I start thinking and things like that that I can improve on. I thought my short game was really good this week. It's probably the best it's been in a while. I learned that having a caddie is really nice. (Laughter.)

Q. What's next for you? What's your schedule for the rest of the year?
STEPHANIE MEADOW: The answer, please give me sponsor exemptions. (Laughter.) No, I've written letters, so I don't know. It's just kind of up in the air. Obviously I don't have any status as of yet, so I just have to wait and see. I know I'm in one Symmetra Tour event, I'll probably try and Monday qualify for the rest of the year.

Q. Were you cognizant of this week being an incredible opportunity to get sponsors exemptions?
STEPHANIE MEADOW: Yeah, obviously. I mean this is the biggest stage in golf it's the U.S. Open. But I wasn't really thinking about that. I just came out here and this is what I've dreamed of for so long to turn pro, to start at a U.S. Open, it's great.

Q. Those that do not know your background, that have met you along the way, how, what percentage of them think you're American and what percentage of them think you're from Northern Ireland?
STEPHANIE MEADOW: A lot. (Laughter.) I've been here for eight years, so I guess my accent's gone a little. But trust me, I'm still Northern Irish at heart and I love home and if anyone's watching, hey.

Q. And Golf Channel is going to in conjunction with the BBC Northern Ireland, we would love to know how that upbringing in Northern Ireland, I know you're still very proud, you just played in the Curtis Cup. What does that mean to you to be able to represent your country like that?
STEPHANIE MEADOW: It's amazing. I mean, where I'm from, I've got Rory, I've got Graeme, I've got Darren Clark, three amazing people. Rory has been my, a hero of mine for so long and I've always wanted to do what he's done and to finally kind of be on the same stage as him is pretty special. I actually got to see him here last Sunday and I hadn't seen him in like five years. So it was nice to get a few words of advice from him. They obviously worked. Thank you. (Laughter.)

Q. Last thing, you impress me as somebody who has tremendous confidence and composure. Is that a fair assessment and do you consider that one of your greatest strengths?
STEPHANIE MEADOW: Yeah, definitely. I don't think my confidence just comes from like outside of the golf course, I'm not really that outgoing or anything, I think I just work really hard and anyone that knows me knows that I work really hard and that's where I got my confidence from an that's all that you can do.

Q. Sounds like from the applause over there that Michelle Wie may have just won. What do you think that will mean for women's golf?
STEPHANIE MEADOW: Obviously, it's great. It's great to see her playing well. I think she draws a lot of people to the sport. So the more people we can get out here the better.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports