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RICOH WOMENâ€™S BRITISH OPEN

August 6, 2017

Lizette Salas

Fife, Scotland

Q. How satisfied are you with the effort you made to make the team?
LIZETTE SALAS: Extremely satisfied. I really didn't have an off-season after last year, and I was very, very disappointed. We're at a CME dinner for the Solheim Cup and I went over to Juli, Nancy, and I said, "I promise you, I will get my act together." I didn't really say act; I said something else.

She said, "You know, I'm not worried about you. Just go out there. Have fun." That's pretty much what I did during the off-season. I have a really good, long-time friend on the bag and I'm so comfortable with my game. I have two coaches, but I know what works for me and I knew this year was going to be a good one.

I've been finishing well on Sundays and I've been making birdies and I've been minimising my mistakes. I'm really comfortable where my game is at right now and I felt there is no reason why I shouldn't be on the team, especially being on the team twice before.

It's pretty scary having to rely on a captain's pick and having so much young talent with Angel and Nelly. I told myself, I don't want to be a captain's pick. I want to earn my way up.

Slowly I started rising, rising. I get updates from my agents every week and I say, no, don't send me those, don't send me those updates. But I think they knew I still had to think about it.

Q. So they kept sending it?
LIZETTE SALAS: Yeah, and my mom, too. She's like, "You know you have to play well this week."

I'm like, "Thanks, Mom. Thanks, Coach."

My dad's really kind of going with the flow. You know, "Give it your best."

But my mom's like, "I want to be in Iowa. So please get me there."

So I hope this will be enough, and overall I'm really satisfied of how I've put my team together and really played the best golf I have been in quite some time. So I think it's just -- what do you call that, it's all uphill from here. It all gets better from here I hope.

Just to finish well here, it's a big stress relief off of me.

Q. Who is your second coach besides Joe?
LIZETTE SALAS: Jim Gormley.

Q. Did you plan this outfit accordingly to remind yourself?
LIZETTE SALAS: I did, ye. I have a USA belt on, thinking, if play bad, this would be really silly if you wore that. But I thought it would be really fitting, told myself: You have it, go get it, and that's what I did.

Q. Have you talked to Nancy at all in recent months?
LIZETTE SALAS: We spoke a little bit at our little retreat in Houston and I talked to Wendy, as well. No one -- I felt like no one seemed to be worried about me. Everyone is like, "She'll get it." And I think that's what everyone on my team -- "She's going to figure it out. If she wants it, she's going to get it."

I feel like there was no one -- there was no one that was going to give me an answer other than myself. I had find it, and it's all the preparation. It's all those off-weeks and going into the gym and really staying as injury-free as possible. I think that was a big key for me this year, too.

I think I'm in -- I mean, it's all positives for me right now. Like just spirit, emotions, physically. It's all really good right now. Hopefully -- we just don't know what's going to happen. We can only control what I can do.

Q. Even your World Rankings should go up. You did really well today. No one can say definitively, but you have to be really satisfied.
LIZETTE SALAS: I am. And I knew I had it in me. Yesterday was kind of a roller coaster, and having Jason with me this week and being our first week together, I think we really clicked really fast.

I told him, I said, "I'm not a difficult player. Just get me on the green." And so that was his goal and so big thanks to him for keeping me calm today.

Q. First week together?
LIZETTE SALAS: Yeah.

Q. Probably a bit outside of this, but you're one of the bigger names not to play last week in the Ladies Scottish Open. Do you think that -- did you enjoy your experience in Scotland, and do you think you'll be back next year to potentially play that and prepare for this championship?
LIZETTE SALAS: I think so. I think with it being a Solheim Cup year, I really wanted to get as much rest as possible and really prepare myself mentally and physically for this. Because you just never know what a British Open is going to entail. I was initially going to, and then with an injury, I withdrew because of an injury, and I needed some rest. I love Scotland.

My first British Open was St. Andrews and I finished sixth. It's so beautiful here; I'm sure I'll be back.

Q. So playing the Ladies Scottish Open next year ahead of this tournament would be a good idea for you?
LIZETTE SALAS: Yeah, definitely, I think it's good preparation. I don't know how it lines up -- back-to-back, I think it would be good practice for me. Under circumstances for me this year, it was better for me.

Q. From the Top-20, about 18 played last week. So people were prepared for this week, getting aclimmatised to links golf, the wind, the conditions. Would you factor it into your schedule?
LIZETTE SALAS: Yeah, definitely. I'll be back next year.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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