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AUGUSTA NATIONAL WOMEN'S AMATEUR

April 5, 2019

Maria Fassi

Augusta, Georgia

Q. Maria, talk about the round today?
MARIA FASSI: It was unreal. I mean, it's really hard to describe how amazing everything was out there. I was excited on every single shot I hit, and just hitting those putts and seeing how much they break, and I mean, it was just amazing. Having a local caddie today definitely helped me get a better idea of what the greens are going to be doing tomorrow, and yeah, it's just really exciting to be able to play out here, and I'm really excited about what's coming tomorrow.

Q. Did you get to all the par 5s?
MARIA FASSI: Yes, sir. I hit two 6-irons and two 4-irons today into par 5s.

Q. Did you keep track of your score?
MARIA FASSI: Not really. But I mean, I was hitting it pretty well. So yeah, I'm confident about my game for tomorrow.

Q. What do you think a low score could be tomorrow?
MARIA FASSI: It's hard to say because of how many different pin locations there are out there. On many holes, there's a lot of pin locations where you can be like, okay, this is a birdie pin location and then there's some others that if you make a par, you should say a prayer and go to the next one.

So because of that, and because of the size of the greens, it's really hard to say what I think the low score is going to be, but I know there's a lot of opportunities out there and there's some others that you've just got to be careful and be okay with par.

Q. Give us an example when your local caddie surprised you with some knowledge or kind of gave you something that you didn't expect.
MARIA FASSI: I guess on -- well, on 16, he's like, okay, I'm going to give you a little hint here so that you can make a hole-in-one tomorrow. I was like, okay, so he told me where to hit it and the ball did exactly what he said it was going to do.

Yeah, I would have never hit it there, and just, he's like, hey, just bear with me, like please. There were a few holes where he's like, you're better off being -- like chipping, having like, yeah, like a chip into -- like missing the green, I guess, than being on the other side of the green, because that putt is a lot harder than just the chip that you could have.

There were a few of those that I was like, I'm swear I'm not crazy, I'm like, no, I believe you. He's been here for like 17 years, so it was really nice to get a caddie like him. We had a great time out there.

Q. Will you keep that caddie tomorrow?
MARIA FASSI: No. My coach will caddie for me the first two days, and he's going to caddie for me tomorrow, as well.

Q. How do you balance trying to take everything in and trying to get stuff that's useful for tomorrow?
MARIA FASSI: I think today, I got a lot of information, and at times it got overwhelming, to say the least. There's a lot of numbers and a lot of breaks that my local caddie was walking me through, I guess. So I think for tomorrow, yes, I want to have all the information that I can, but at the same time, I want to keep it simple. I want to keep my targets just specific.

Yeah, just to not be thinking about it much. So I think doing that tomorrow for me, it's going to be quite important.

Q. Favorite place that you turned around or favorite moment when you looked around the course today?
MARIA FASSI: I mean, the 18 holes, every single hole had something special, and we were joking in our group, like I was on 12 tee and I was shaking. I was like, it is a practice round. Like why are you shaking. I mean, just the amount of history that there is out here, it's amazing. We're just really lucky to be out here.

Q. Did you hit a good shot on 12?
MARIA FASSI: Yes, we all hit the green, so like high-five to all of us, and let's go.

Q. What club did you hit?
MARIA FASSI: 9-iron.

Q. Did anybody make the putt?
MARIA FASSI: No. I actually was trying to get my coach to get it on video and I couldn't make it. I was like, it's okay. I'll save it for tomorrow.

Q. What do you expect the scores to be tomorrow?
MARIA FASSI: I don't know. I was saying before, it's hard to give out a score because of the amount of variation that can be on the greens with the pin locations. There's a lot of opportunities out there but then there's some hole locations where there are a lot of bogeys and bigger numbers can happen.

So it's tough to say what a score can be out there. We don't know fits going to rain any more today or not or what the weather is going to be like tomorrow, if it gets windy. There's a lot of things that go into it, and yeah, I'm not sure of what it could be.

Q. Is the length pretty fair?
MARIA FASSI: Yes. Definitely, especially with some of the holes that don't necessarily play up, but are landing areas on an upslope, so we are not getting a lot of release.

So for me, just being able to carry it far is going to be, yeah, huge for me tomorrow.

Q. Looking ahead to tomorrow, how much of a horse race can we expect and how much of what you do is reactionary to what Jennifer does?
MARIA FASSI: It is going to be a battle out there, definitely. Not only with me and Jennifer, but like two or three groups behind us, as well. The Top-10's packed, and it's going to be really fun to watch. I'm really excited for that.

I guess with your question regarding what Jennifer does, in a way, yeah, maybe I'll react to some of the things but for the most part, I'll just try to stay doing my game and doing what I know, and after 18, we'll see what happens.

Q. Is your plan going to be to play aggressive golf from the very beginning?
MARIA FASSI: That's the way I play golf, and I don't think I should change it. Of course, I'll be smart on some of the holes, but I'll try to be, yeah, just play my game as much as I can.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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