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SHOPRITE LPGA CLASSIC PRESENTED BY ACER

June 7, 2019

Muni He

Galloway, New Jersey

Q. A bogey-free round out there, 7-under after the first round. When did you really start to feel like this could be a hot round for you?
MUNI HE: I don't really know. I mean, today out there I tried to like switch things up a little bit and not really think too much about my score, and I was more focused on shot by shot, and I felt like time just went by really quickly. I wasn't really aware of my score the whole time I feel like.

Q. What made you make that change maybe compared to the other tournaments you've been in?
MUNI HE: I think I've been struggling a little bit this year. Being a rookie is tough, and I think having to have missed my first few cuts, it really took a toll on my confidence, I think, and I kind of found myself like overthinking a little too much and always trying to figure out what's wrong with my game. This week my new strategy was just kind of not to really think about it and just play my own game without really overthinking or overanalyzing it too much.

Q. After the first round, how does the Bay Course fit your game personally?
MUNI HE: I think when I got here, I told my caddie, I was like, I don't want to jinx it, but I really like this golf course because it's not too far since I'm not a very long hitter, but it requires a lot of accuracy, and I really like the greens here, the grass here. I kind of had a good feeling about it coming in, but you know, I didn't want to like have any expectations on myself and put too much pressure on me.

Q. This course is notoriously known to go low. What's it going to take to stay on top of the leaderboard?
MUNI HE: I had no idea. I kind of figured the score might be pretty low, so I think I'm not really going to focus on what I shot today and just try my best tomorrow and hopefully the day after.

Q. What was working well today in your round?
MUNI HE: I think everything kind of all pieced together very nicely. I was hitting it very smooth and just pretty accurate out there, but I think mainly my putting was pretty on point, and just making sure that I was staying in the fairway and on the greens and making putts. That ends up being like a pretty good round, yeah.

Q. Had you seen the course at all before this week?
MUNI HE: No, not at all, so it was my first time seeing the course. I had no idea actually how short and narrow it was going to be because I think in the recent few LPGA tournaments we've been playing such long and very up-and-down, hilly, challenging courses. Having something that's a little shorter and a little tighter feels really nice.

Q. I heard you told your caddie that you liked it right away, you didn't want to jinx it. Tell us a little bit about that. What made you like the course, feel comfortable here right away?
MUNI HE: Just me personally, I'm not a very long hitter compared to some of the girls on Tour, so I feel like when I got here, I felt like I was able to kind of reach the greens with all my short irons, and those are kind of my specialties in a sense. I really like hitting -- approaching my shot with a shorter iron. I kind of looked over to my caddie, and I was like, I don't want to jinx anything because I think earlier this year I think a few of the LPGA events, we played some courses that were a little similar, and I kind of jinxed myself. I was like, oh, I think I've got this, I think I'm going to do well here, and then I end up just missing the cut by one or two. I just really didn't want to put any expectations or pressure on myself, and even though I like the course, I just kind of didn't really think too much about it and took it as just another round of golf.

Q. You're probably going to be in the lead or close to the lead or tied for the lead going into tomorrow. What about that, taking that into the second round tomorrow?
MUNI HE: I think it'll be really exciting because I feel like it's the first time this year where I felt like I've had a really, really good found and I felt really comfortable with my game today, so all I really hope is I can kind of keep the same mentality tomorrow. I can't guarantee that I'll shoot 7-under again, but I just know that if I kind of keep the same momentum going and the same mentality, hopefully I'll have another good round.

I mean, growing up a watched a lot of these LPGA players on TV, so it's so cool being able to be out here with them competing with them. But it hasn't been easy so far as a rookie, I think. We always get the last pick of tee times, and it's just a little different of an environment. But I'm trying my best to adjust out here. Yeah, just like every other rookie, I think it takes some time, yeah.

Q. I also wanted to ask you, how valuable was it to your career to make the cut at the Women's Open in Lancaster that year?
MUNI HE: I think that was what really drove me to want to turn professional later on. I just really enjoyed being out there. I had no idea. That was my first LPGA event, my first major, so being there with hundreds of thousands of people, I mean, there were so many people there. I was so nervous that I told my dad, my dad was on the bag at the time, I was like, I don't know if I can stand up straight. Like I felt like fainting. But I think that was what really motivated me to turn professional, yeah.

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