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ANA INSPIRATION

April 1, 2016

Lexi Thompson

Rancho Mirage, California

Q. Lexi, you gave the crowd a roar on 18. How much momentum or excitement does that give you going into the weekend?
LEXI THOMPSON: Yeah, 18 is one of the best finishing holes that we have out here, but to hear the crowds cheer making that putt definitely a good feeling. Gives me chills every time.

Q. I was talking to Jerry who was walking with your group. He said you could have gone really low today but unfortunately some of your approach shots ended up on the wrong side of the hole. Did you feel that way?
LEXI THOMPSON: Yeah, I definitely could have shot a few shots lower out there, but I hit some bad shots out there too that I got away with and I recovered really well. That's what you have to do in majors. If you hit a bad shot, you have to pick yourself up and go to the next one.

Q. How impressed were you with the turn around with the putter? We were going over your putting numbers from last week and it was like night and day from this week. How did you make that change so quickly?
LEXI THOMPSON: It was just that bad last week. It's like ten putts plus every day compared to last week. But putting is all about confidence, and the putter change, to the CURE putter helped me out a lot. I feel a lot more comfortable over the putt this is week.

Q. What will you be thinking about heading into Saturday?
LEXI THOMPSON: Same mindset as the last few days. Just commit to my lines, do my routine, and same positive attitude going into the weekend.

Q. Little birdie told me she's about to give away a bunch of golf shoes.
LEXI THOMPSON: I am.

Q. Can you talk about your confidence in putting and how it's changed from last week to this?
LEXI THOMPSON: Yeah, it's a dramatic change. Just changing to the CURE putter and a little bit different stance over the putts has given me a lot of confidence this week. I'm rolling it a lot better, and having my caddie Benji line me up has helped me out a lot too.

Q. Have you changed anything in your preshot routine that may have led to that?
LEXI THOMPSON: In my preshot routine just not taking as long reading the putts, but same routine, two strokes, reading from behind the hole and behind my ball, so same routine.

Q. How about your ball striking? Is it as good as it looked on television?
LEXI THOMPSON: Yeah, it feels really good right now. I didn't hit that many fairways today. I think I hit about 8 of 14, or something like that, so I definitely could have hit a few more fairways. But it feels great. My iron swing feels very compact, and just got to work on tee shots a little bit and I'll be good for the weekend.

Q. One of the things we heard about this week was the rough, how thick and long it was. You seem to be hitting far enough that you're able to navigate the rough pretty well. Is that where length is a huge advantage for you?
LEXI THOMPSON: It definitely helps. If you're going to hit it crooked out here, you might as well hit it far and crooked so you have a shorter shot in. But it's very thick. I had some really nasty lies out there today. But you have to recover, play it smart and roll it up to the openings on the greens.

Q. Can we talk about the last birdie putt? How much momentum does that give you going into tomorrow? The excitement you got seeing the crowd and knowing it's coming this weekend as well?
LEXI THOMPSON: Yeah, it's always a great feeling. I didn't know what to expect coming in from the rough on that third shot there. But to drop a putt in front of that many people, especially on 18 here, it's such a memorable hole and a lot of history behind it. It's a great feeling. I get chills every time.

Q. Some good saves today too, right? Like 15 you hit it right and you hooked it around?
LEXI THOMPSON: Yeah, I hit my driver right over by the path. That was one of my very wayward shots today. But, yeah, I hooked a pitching wedge under the trees to about 15 feet.

Q. Did you have to go under the tree?
LEXI THOMPSON: Yeah, it was kind of under a limb, but mainly a hook around.

Q. And then on 18, was that 30 feet?
LEXI THOMPSON: Yeah, it was about a 30-footer past the hole.

Q. How satisfying was that, because that's probably a hole you want birdie that every time, right?
LEXI THOMPSON: Yeah, I think every par-5 out here you want to birdie out here. But I got a flier on my second shot and my 6-iron went about 200 yards, so I really wasn't expecting that. I hit a decent pitch shot, it just rolled out a lot which I wasn't expecting, but to roll a putt was a great feeling there on the last.

Q. How far is your 6-iron normally?
LEXI THOMPSON: With the lie, I thought it could only go 165, and it just went. I was like, okay. But I saw the way it bounced and the way it rolled and I was like that went through. I just got a jumper.

Q. Sung Hyun Park she had a good round today. Can you talk about her game? It's not often that you play with somebody that can not only keep up with you but knock it past you?
LEXI THOMPSON: Yeah, the first time I played with her in was in Korea and she actually shot 10-under that day. I was like, not bad. She's a long hitter overall. Just a great ball striker and short game, so solid player, definitely.

Q. Does your mentality change here at all having won here already at this course? Is it different?
LEXI THOMPSON: Not really mentality change, just confidence coming into this week. I absolutely love this golf course and just this area. I'm always in such a good mood when I come here and drive around. It's just a lot of great memories that it brings back and the shots out here I remember that I've hit.

Q. Some players might not have wanted to make that many really bold changes right before a major. Did you even think about it at all?
LEXI THOMPSON: Honestly, no. I didn't. I mean, coming off last week just how it went for me and just I knew where my confidence was, I needed a change. It couldn't get any worse than what it did last week. Then I've always seen the CURE putter around, I've just never really tried it, and I tried it here and it felt amazing. And then I changed my stance so a little bit more narrow and just a lot more simple.

Q. It looked so different. The first time you saw it, what was your reaction? Is it warming on you how it looks now?
LEXI THOMPSON: Yes, it's a little different. It's obviously a lot bigger than most putters, but I feel great with it. The more I putted with it, the more I felt comfortable with it, and it just kind of swings itself, honestly.

Q. You say you have seen it around. When was the first time you actually hit a putt with it?
LEXI THOMPSON: This week. This was the first week I hit putts with it. But I saw it last year here on the screen, but I never tried it. Glad I did.

Q. How long were you using the Tank, was it the Tank?
LEXI THOMPSON: Yeah, the one before it? I used that for probably at least a year, yeah.

Q. Is that a blade or mallet?
LEXI THOMPSON: Which one, the Tank?

Q. Yeah.
LEXI THOMPSON: Mallet.

Q. So you hit putts with it this week. How long is that process before you said this is what I'm going to do going into the week?
LEXI THOMPSON: I started practicing with it Tuesday, I believe, and I putted with it for about an hour and a half a day to get comfortable with it. But honestly like 20 minutes into it I knew it was good, so I was comfortable with it already.

Q. Did you go through any others before you settled on that?
LEXI THOMPSON: I tried one other CURE putter, but I liked that one the most because they have different shapes, but I liked this one the most.

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