U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 22, 2014

Stacy Lewis

Q. Equalled the best round of anybody shot for the tournament. It's a great way to finish. I know you're disappointed you didn't get to the playoff. But how are you feeling?
STACY LEWIS: I feel great. I really do. To make eight birdies on this golf course is just a dream round. You know you're going to make some bogeys, you know it's going to play hard, so just the way I hung in there today and I made bogeys kind of a couple late there, but to birdie 17 and 18. I thought if I got to even, I knew that would put some pressure on and it forced Michelle to hit some shots there at the end. And that's what I was trying to do, I was trying to get out early and just see what happens.

Q. On the broadcast, I saw you out hitting balls. Your thoughts as you thought maybe you would be able to go out and do a playoff and then when you heard the roar I'm sure that was probably telltale.
STACY LEWIS: Yeah, when I finished I thought I had a chance. I really did. I knew how those holes were playing coming in and I watched a little bit of it and Michelle hit a great shot in there on 15. Then she hit that second shot on 16, that's when I went over to the range. Because I knew she's going to be doing good to make bogey from there. So I knew I was -- I knew I had a chance then and it was just great the way she came back and birdied 17 and won it. I would hate to see her kind of limp in and kind of barely win it. But I was glad that she went out there and won it.

Q. It was just a great showcase of women's golf. And in particular her, I mean, the fact that it was Michelle winning a Major?
STACY LEWIS: Yeah, that's -- you couldn't ask for anything better for this tour. She's been working so hard and she's a friend of mine and just to see, just how far she's come over, even over just the last year, how much better she's playing and more confident she is as a person. So to see her win, I'm just so happy for her.

Q. Nobody's hit the ball better than you have this week, you expressed frustration in your putting Friday and Saturday, how many missed putts were you aware from being Women's Open champion do you think?
STACY LEWIS: You can't go back now and say that. I did, I putted terribly on -- I really didn't putt good on Thursday, that's just how good I hit the ball. And then just didn't putt good Friday or Saturday. We finally worked it out last night. So it's just nice to see some putts go in more than anything and know that I can play this golf course and I mean it's definitely frustrating thinking back to yesterday, the last two days how many 3-putts I had, but that's golf and you learn from it and just it was hard out there and there's a lot of pressure, there were nerves at the end and I was just proud of the way I held it together.

Q. Lexi's won a Major, Michelle's won a Major, and now we go to the British Open where you're the defending champion. Set that up for us.
STACY LEWIS: I said coming into this week that the way the Americans have been playing this year, we were due for an American to win here at the U.S. Open. It had been a few years. So certainly I wasn't surprised that Michelle and Lexi and myself were there, you hit it long on this golf course and you have an advantage. But just the way this tour, the way we're going, we're headed in the right direction, so much positive momentum it's just a great thing for women's golf.

Q. What do you think of the long journey that Michelle had from age 10 to now. It's been 14 years.
STACY LEWIS: Yeah, I'm just glad I wasn't her. That's a long journey for a kid. It's a lot for a kid to go through. She's been through the ups and the downs, and going to college I think was the best thing she ever did. She kind of became her own independent person. That's what you're seeing out there. You're seeing her personality, she's having fun, she's taken ownership of her game. So being her friend and watching her over the last few years, it's a great thing to see.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports