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U.S. WOMEN'S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 11, 2017

Sophia Schubert

San Diego, California

Q. Are you friendly with Lauren?
SOPHIA SCHUBERT: I'm friends with Lauren, yeah. We've known each other forever.

Q. Like played a lot in junior golf together?
SOPHIA SCHUBERT: Played a lot. I'm trying to think when we first met each other. We were real little. It may have been with U.S. kids. But we've played together since AJGA, even before that.

Q. There's a lot of girls out there; why did you guys hit it off?
SOPHIA SCHUBERT: You know, I think we're a lot alike. I hope she would say the same thing. So I mean, you know, we love golf. We're both really competitive. Both like to get out there, look cute, play good golf.

Q. So you compare fashion choices and stuff like that?
SOPHIA SCHUBERT: Yeah, for sure, we could, yeah.

Q. What were your expectations coming into this week?
SOPHIA SCHUBERT: I feel like my expectations were kind of high. I mean, I knew this would probably be my last chance at an amateur before I graduate, and so my game has been really, really good lately, and so I knew that I just had to keep doing that, keep playing strong, and hopefully I could get pretty far.

Q. What were the strengths coming in game-wise for you?
SOPHIA SCHUBERT: I definitely think my -- I've been ball-striking it really well. I hit a lot of greens. The weakness of my game is putting, and I've worked a lot on that lately, and so that's gone a lot better.

Q. How did you consider yourself as a match play player throughout kind of your junior and your college career? What's been your perspective?
SOPHIA SCHUBERT: Yeah, I haven't gotten to play a whole lot of match play up until the past few years. I got a lot of experience last year and then this year at the Women's Western in Ohio, I made it to the semifinals there, too. So I've had a lot of experience, and I feel like I've learned how to play it.

Q. And what have you learned?
SOPHIA SCHUBERT: I've learned that you definitely need to be aggressive. It's kind of fun, though. It's more fun than stroke play because you can be aggressive, and if you hit a bad shot, it really only affects you one stroke. So that's fun, and then just like keeping your focus throughout and just hitting greens really puts a lot of pressure on your opponent.

Q. When you're a young girl looking at different things you'd want to win over the course of your younger career, where did U.S. Women's Am -- how much on the radar was it? How aware were you of it?
SOPHIA SCHUBERT: I've always been aware of it. This was only, I think, my second or third time that I ever tried to qualify for it, so it's my first time being here. But it's one of the biggest tournaments that -- the biggest that an amateur can win. That's definitely been a dream of mine.

Q. Were there any names who won it that kind of stood out to you at all?
SOPHIA SCHUBERT: Well, you know, one of my friends Kristen Gillman, she won it a few years ago, so that's pretty cool. She won that. She's from Austin, Texas, where I'm at now, and seeing that makes me really want it, too.

Q. Do you have a putting coach or who's your instructor?
SOPHIA SCHUBERT: My instructor is Brad Rose in Knoxville, Tennessee. Just started going to him last summer actually when my game was going in the wrong direction, and so --

Q. He redirected it?
SOPHIA SCHUBERT: He sure did. He was a life saver for me last summer.

Q. Where does he work out of?
SOPHIA SCHUBERT: He works out of Willow Creek Golf Course in Knoxville.

Q. How bad was the ebb as far as the game? Was it rough?
SOPHIA SCHUBERT: I honestly played better than I should have, considering what my swing was like. I feel like I've always had a pretty good swing, and then I didn't have an instructor for a while, and so that really affected me.

Q. Some bad habits and stuff?
SOPHIA SCHUBERT: Yeah, bad habits, just totally on the wrong path, everything. So I went to him and he fixed me so quick. I knew it would take some time, though. I needed to practice. Yeah, it was definitely nowhere near what I needed it to be, but I got it back.

Q. With Lauren tomorrow, are you close enough friends that you're just going to chat the whole time? How will you handle that?
SOPHIA SCHUBERT: Yeah, it'll be interesting. I think both of us since we're so competitive that we'll probably kind of keep to ourselves, but then after the round is over, we'll be friends again.

Q. Your summer schedule, did you play in anything else besides --
SOPHIA SCHUBERT: I played in the Women's Western. Besides that? I did an Open qualifier, but that was it. I actually got some tendonitis in my wrist, and so that took me out for a little bit. I had to take time off for that, unfortunately.

Q. Do you feel like in some ways that helped?
SOPHIA SCHUBERT: Yeah.

Q. I talked to some girls this week that literally played four straight weeks --
SOPHIA SCHUBERT: I think it definitely helps. With college golf we played like 13 events or something, and so we're just going, going, going, and pretty much summer is kind of the only time you can kind of take off. So I think it's just a good balance to play some and then take off a little time for yourself.

Q. Any fun -- has your phone been blowing up?
SOPHIA SCHUBERT: Yes, it has. It has. Yeah, it's really cool. I have a lot of nerves being on TV, but it's fun to see the people that contact me and tell me they saw me and congrats. That's really cool.

Q. Several people have talked about how tough the pins were today, tucked, on the edges, all that stuff. Would you like to see them give you guys a little bit more of a shot to make birdies in match play? The score doesn't really matter, so would you like to see that?
SOPHIA SCHUBERT: Yeah, I mean, I think there was a good balance. It's kind of fun to see the decisions each player makes on these tucked pins, whether they go for it or whether they play it conservative. But I think match play is -- it's fun, and I think there needs to be more birdies. I know it's more enjoyable for everybody. So I would like to see some pins where you can go at home and see who can make the putt. That would be fun, yeah.

Q. Who's on your bag?
SOPHIA SCHUBERT: My golf coach at Texas, Ryan Murphy. I asked him -- it was so funny this morning, he was standing next to me, and somebody asked, they were like, so how is he as a caddie? He was right next to me. I'm like, "He's perfect."

Q. Did you guys decide pretty early that he was going to do it for you?
SOPHIA SCHUBERT: Yeah, he actually walks with me a lot in tournaments in college, and we work really well together, so I just thought, you know, who better than him.

Q. Comfortable with him?
SOPHIA SCHUBERT: Comfortable for sure.

Q. You took an early lead, and you got it to 4-up at hole 10. Talk about that a little bit.
SOPHIA SCHUBERT: Yeah, so I just kept playing my game, didn't change anything, just kept hitting greens, making putts. I had two-putts, one-putts, and I think that kind of took a toll on her. I felt like she needed to be a little more aggressive, and it didn't really work out.

Q. Maybe not your favorite stretch of holes on 12 and 13. Was it just difficulty on the holes, maybe mind slip a little bit?
SOPHIA SCHUBERT: You know, I think on 11, me and my coach were talking about it, and anybody can make a mistake and three-putt it, and we just both read the putt wrong, so I three-putted. But then after that, 12 and 13, I definitely could have done that differently. And after that, I just -- I was kind of getting a little mad at myself. So I just had to regroup after 13, and I think that helped a lot.

Q. Were you getting a little nervous at that point, like uh-oh, I just let this lead slip a little bit?
SOPHIA SCHUBERT: Yeah, because I was making these bogeys and she's doing better and getting momentum and playing really well, and I know it gave her a lot of confidence, so I just kind of had to get back in it.

Q. Describe the last hole on 17 for me and what happened. Talk about how far you were out, the distance, if you can remember anything on yardage or on the green.
SOPHIA SCHUBERT: Yeah, so there is a bunker on the left in the fairway, and me and my coach thought, let's just stay short of it, let's avoid it, so I hit 5-wood. She hit driver. Hit it in the fairway, but she was a lot closer than I was. So I had a pitching wedge in any way. It wasn't that tough of a shot. But the pin is up on the tier, so I was like, you know, let's just make sure we get it up there. It was a perfect pitching wedge. I hit it to probably eight feet, and then she hit it to 25 or 30 and then missed the putt, and she gave me mine.

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