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MARATHON CLASSIC PRESENTED BY OWENS CORNING AND O-IJuly 18, 2015Austin ErnstSYLVANIA, OHIO Q.  Difficult to shoot the kind of round you had, especially with a two hour break‑in the middle of it. Was it tough to get yourself refocused? Obviously not, I guess. AUSTIN ERNST: Not really. We just went in and actually watched a little bit of the Open Championship. Just kind of hung out. We knew it wouldn't be too long of a break. (Indiscernible.) so it wasn't too bad. I just made birdie on; made a good par putt on 8; (indiscernible) on 9, so when I came back and I had nine and half holes left. But I was hitting the ball well. Didn't make a lot putts early, so I knew I needed to keep being patient. I stayed patient and made a few coming in. Q. Feel good to be in this spot going into tomorrow? Going to sleep well tonight? AUSTIN ERNST: Yeah, it does. Hopefully Ha Na doesn't make too many more so only within a couple. But, yeah, we'll just see what she posts and see how much work I have to do tomorrow. Q. Night and day difference. Yesterday you finished with a double bogey, right? How do you scrub that out of your mind? AUSTIN ERNST: You know, I just said, It's one bad swing and then‑‑ you know, just made a bad swing, bad putt, but other than that I played really solid round golf. I played 17 really good holes. So really the last two days that's the only blemish on the card. I know I'm hitting it well. I just need to make a few putts. When I made the one on 7 I got a little bit of confidence with that and made a few more as the day progressed. Q. I think it was last year you were in the mix? AUSTIN ERNST: Yeah. Q. Like the course? I guess what is it about it? AUSTIN ERNST: I actually played with Lydia last year in the final round when she won. Yeah, I really like old‑style golf courses like this one. You got to place the ball in a few fairways, but the greens are small. I'm normally pretty good with my irons, so I think it just fits my game really well. I give myself a lot of birdie putts out here. Playing a little bit longer this year than it did last year just with all the rain, but you can go at a few more pins that you couldn't go at last year. So yeah, the golf course definitely fits my eye. Q. Had some really good stretches this year.  Is it fair to say it's been up and down, though? AUSTIN ERNST: Yeah, it has. Missed a few cuts. Had a few top 5s, top 6s. Yeah, it's been up and down, but it's trending in the right direction. I feel like my game is getting better as the year has gone one, which is a good sign, because we got a lot of golf left. So I'm excited about the rest of the year. Q. I was going to say, after winning in Portland, is this almost a reminder of how tough it is to win out here? AUSTIN ERNST: Yeah, that's why I think I'll probably be in a pretty similar situation as last year. I was two or three back last year going into the final round, so hopefully I'm right around that number. But yeah, it's tough to win out here. The game is getting a lot deeper, so you got to put four solid rounds together. I feel like I played three pretty good ones. First round wasn't great and I didn't finish the one yesterday off as well as I want to, but I had a good number today. So I'm excited. Hopefully I can be in contention on the back nine tomorrow. Q. And you Lydia both chasing this time, rather than last year. I think she was chasing and you were out front a little more. AUSTIN ERNST: She was chasing and then I didn't play great those first few holes and kind of got behind. I saw what she did last year. Obviously she played a really solid round. She didn't do anything spectacular. She just kind of plodded her way around. Kind of what I did today. Wasn't making a lot of putts early and I was getting a little bit frustrated. Through six holes I had six really good looks. I just stayed patient and made five good birdies coming in. Q. With Lydia, what impresses you about her game? Almost seems to me like a Jordan Spieth type thing. Not anything that blows you away, but she's just really good at everything and doesn't make a lot of mistakes. AUSTIN ERNST: She putts it really well and she is always in position off the tee. She rarely misses fairways. Yeah, she really does everything well. She does everything really well, too. She hots a lot greens and makes a lot of putts. That's why she's in the mix a lot. Q. You said the game is getting a lot deeper. You notice it getting deeper in the couple years you've been out here? AUSTIN ERNST: I think so. Look at the rookie class this year. That class is so deep. Seems like you keep getting better and better rookie classes that come out. That only makes it stronger, because then you got the same people staying out here. Sei Young has won twice; Hyo Joo won once or twice this year. Q. Minjee has won. AUSTIN ERNST: Minjee's won. You got three or four rookies that won this year. Q. And six in the top 25 on the Money List. AUSTIN ERNST: Yeah. It's just unbelievable how deep this class is. Q. How much are you thinking about Solheim Cup? Five weeks left. AUSTIN ERNST: I know I need make a little push, but I'm trying to do what I'm doing this week. I want to get might have in contention and win tournaments. I know if I get myself in contention these next, what is it, five weeks? Q. Through Canadian. AUSTIN ERNST: These next five, six weeks, then I'll be playing well and hopefully I'll have acquired enough points or Rolex Rankings to not even need the pick. But my game is trending in the right direction, so I'm excited about it. It's hard not to think about it because I get asked about it every time. Yeah, it's definitely on my mind. I really want to make the team. I try not to let it get in the way what of I'm doing. I know that by wanting to be on the team, that doesn't make it any easier to make the team. So, yeah, I'm gist trying to put myself in contention the next few weeks. Q. How hard is that to keep out of your mind? Lang said she's been focusing on it way more than she should. AUSTIN ERNST: Yeah, it's hard, because you play with people. Yesterday I played with Lang and Karine, and Karine is asking about Solheim Cup and how we make the team. So it's hard to avoid it, but I just try to focus on what I'm doing while I'm hitting shots and playing. Then I try not to let my mind wander too much that way. It's hard not to. It's crunch time to make the team, so it's definitely hard not think about it all the time. Q. And then obviously tomorrow even if you don't win you're battling for Solheim Cup points here on a Sunday. AUSTIN ERNST: Yeah, I'm trying to the same thing: put myself in contention. Winning gets the most points so... Q. Lang said that basically it's the most fun she's ever had on a golf course. How bad do you want that experience yourself? AUSTIN ERNST: I want it so bad. I went to the practice session earlier. You hear all the girls just talk about just how awesome it is, how it's so unlike everything else we do every week. I think it would be the coolest thing to be able to represent my country. Q. I was going to day, those practice sessions almost motivating and depressing at the same time? AUSTIN ERNST: Yeah, it's motivating for sure. You see and hear stories from Juli, from Pat, from everybody. Morgan has played on I don't know how many; Paula has played on however many; and they're telling stories about it. You just want it be able to tell the stories yourself one day. Q. How much brown nosing you doing with Juli right now? AUSTIN ERNST: Not too much. I'm nice to her, but I'm, yeah, I'm not doing too much. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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