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KPMG WOMEN'S PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

June 29, 2017

Lexi Thompson

Olympia Fields, Illinois

CHRISTINA LANCE: Lexi, welcome to the media center. Thank you so much for joining us over here.

The rain allowed for a nice moving of plans, and thank you, Lexi, for your flexibility. You shot a 1-under 70 today, started out with two bogeys on the first two holes but also three birdies to balance that out. You said that Monday was your first time seeing the course.

How do you feel coming off an up-and-down round for you?

LEXI THOMPSON: Yeah, it was a bit of a challenge out there. I got a rough start but it's a major week, so it's always mentally challenging. You just have to stay in it. My caddie helped me out a lot, just trying to keep me positive out there. I had a good stretch of holes.

I believe it started on 17, which was my eighth hole and then I birdied three out of the next four holes. So that was a good stretch there. I needed to hit more fairways and then it would have made it easier. I just didn't hit too many fairways today.

CHRISTINA LANCE: We started the week with the news of your mother's illness, and certainly know that everybody at the LPGA and all of us are thinking about your mother.

LEXI THOMPSON: Thank you.

CHRISTINA LANCE: How are you feeling personally?

LEXI THOMPSON: Yeah, it's been rough. I've known kind of after Kingsmill everything going on, and you know, she's my best friend. So hearing that, and then just dealing with a lot of things this year, it was just kind of like a breakdown moment for me. I've been struggling a little bit, but she's doing better now. And hopefully she'll be there at the U.S. Women's Open with me and support me there. But all is good right now.

CHRISTINA LANCE: We know how close you are and we are all thinking of you and her.

Q. A lot of times when players are going through a difficult circumstance off the golf course, they find refuge when they are playing inside the ropes and can kind of take their mind off of things. Did you feel that today at all?
LEXI THOMPSON: Yeah, it definitely helps. It's kind of been my outlet to just go out and play and get my mind off things. But you know, sometimes golf brings more struggles to my mind. But you know, it's been okay.

I've been practicing really hard when I do go home, but just trying to spend as much time with my mom and my family, and just trying to balance out everything. Just trying to stay happy.

Q. What was kind of your mom's message to you this week?
LEXI THOMPSON: You know, she's always been, no matter what she's going through, she's like the biggest fighter. She's always been a role model of mine. I always aspire to be the woman -- half the woman that she is. She just says: "No matter what, I love you, just go out, do your best, that's all you can do." That's her message every week and that's why I absolutely love her.

Q. Was it particularly shocking given that your mother is a breast cancer survivor and already gone through that; did that make this particularly tough to hear?
LEXI THOMPSON: Yeah, it's always tough to hear when your mom is going through something like that. It's always bad news.

I remember when she got diagnosed with breast cancer and luckily they caught it pretty early when it was a small size. That was a challenging time for me when I was younger. She's about an eight- or ten-year survivor, something like that. But yeah, hearing this news at the time that it was, it was just not good. But just to see how much she's fighting, it's inspirational.

Q. And if I could just follow-up, how much has it meant to have the support of fellow players like Morgan who did what she did and other players, a nice hug, or whatever it might be?
LEXI THOMPSON: Yeah, you know, I can't give big enough thanks to Morgan Pressel. I mean, I've known her for awhile now playing, and her foundation, her event there in Boca, and what she did for my mom -- she wasn't going to be able to get in the hospital for a few weeks once she heard the news.

Obviously with a few weeks, it can spread, and Morgan helped out. She knows a lot of people there in Morgan and got her into the hospital two days later. I can't thank Morgan enough and her foundation and the community that she's involved with.

CHRISTINA LANCE: Pulling you back to the golf course for a minute. You said you had your birdie on 17 which turned you around and the back-to-back birdies. It looked like maybe the afternoon was harder with the wind.

What was your take on the course conditions out there and the wind, particularly?

LEXI THOMPSON: Yeah, definitely was very windy. It actually calmed down for the second nine, the last half of the second nine, so that was nice. But when I started, when I was warming up and putting, it was blowing probably 15 to 20. So it was like, it's going to be interesting, because the greens are firmer, and you know, a few holes, it's just placement. You have to keep it short of bunkers. But that's a major golf course for you. It's all weather-permitting and see what the rest of the week brings us.

CHRISTINA LANCE: Thank you very much, appreciate your flexibility and we'll see you out there tomorrow morning.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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