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March 31, 2016
Rancho Mirage, California
Q. What a great opening round. Do you want to talk us through it a little bit?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, played well. I've been playing well all year, just not holing any putts. So I thought I tried left-hand low this week and pulled a few more putts. A couple little shockers, but on the whole putted better is just the difference.
Q. Can you walk us through the decision process to go that route? Was it when you arrived, before you arrived? When did you say I'm going to give this a whirl?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: I think when I heard 2-under for 35 putts last week I decided may as well change something.
Q. Did you start Monday when you arrived here?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, started Monday. Just putted on Monday, spent four hours putting.
Q. Instantly felt better or was it something you needed to get used to?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: I had done it before, so I thought I'd give it a twirl, why not. I'm willing to try something different.
Q. Was your ball striking as it has been all year?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, I've been playing well. I've been averaging kind of 15 greens probably a round. So I've been playing well, just kind of frustrated with my putting. So nice to see a few go in today.
Q. You've been here many times before and it's just Thursday, but does it bring a more positive mindset going forward?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Definitely. I mean, it can get very frustrating if you play well and don't hole anything. So if you see the ball starting to go in the hole a little bit, I think you can relax throughout your game if you know you're going to hole a few putts.
Q. Is there anywhere that you used this putting grip in the past that you've had particular success?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, I had won in Hawaii with it, so I've tried it before.
Q. This is obviously a big week for you. All weeks are big ahead of the Olympic qualifying, so that must be something?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, obviously you can get a lot of world ranking points in the majors. So these are kind of -- I think there are three of them before the qualifying. So the three weeks you want to play well.
Q. How much does experience here help? Is it the kind of course that if you know it helps?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: I don't think a whole lot to be honest. I mean, the roughs, you've got to hit the fairways. The greens I would say are probably fairly firm this year. It's all about hitting the fairways, I think, to give yourself a chance to get it close.
Q. Everyone's been really complimentary about the shape of the course?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, the course is in great shape. Looking very green, looking nice.
Q. The greens are running suitably?
CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, yeah.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
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