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AIG WOMENâ€™S BRITISH OPEN

August 2, 2019

Lizette Salas

Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

Q. Another fantastic round of golf today. How much did you enjoy it out there?
LIZETTE SALAS: It was super fun. I was here in 2016 so I know the golf course pretty well. I had a solid warm-up and played well last week at Evian, so a lot of positive momentum and got off to a really hot start. Just tried to get myself as many birdie opportunities as possible and I struck it well, and I was able to minimise my mistakes and recover when I did miss. Awesome day.

Q. Hot start indeed, four birdies to start the day off. How were you feeling on the 5th tee?
LIZETTE SALAS: I was just in the zone. You know, I was frustrated after I didn't birdie the par 5, and my caddie is like, just remember, you're still 4-under. It's a good thing. Pars are great. It's a major and not meant to be easy. We just kept a focus mentality.

Q. You took that momentum straight into the back nine with another hot start. A lot of players are talking about firing at the pins this week. Is that your approach, as well?
LIZETTE SALAS: Absolutely not. Because these greens are so slopey, and it's a lot of visualisation, which is kind of like my golf. That hole location set up for my draw and I hit an awesome 6-iron in there and made birdie.

Q. What are you hoping to take into the weekend?
LIZETTE SALAS: Just the same mentality. Just be aggressive when I can and just minimise my mistakes. I've only had one bogey in two days, so hopefully didn't jinx myself. Obviously keep it in the fairway. Driver hasn't been that great as it typically has been, so we'll work on that, and I'm just giving myself good opportunities for birdie and controlling what I can and putting a good stroke on it.

Q. Big week this week and even bigger one on the horizon, Solheim Cup, you have a lot of experience in that area and you're one week away from securing your place on the team. How much are looking forward to that week?
LIZETTE SALAS: It's a highlight of my career and it's an addictive feeling to putt on the red, white and blue and represent your country. Things are looking pretty solid so far, and just excited to get to Gleneagles and to play under Juli Inkster once again. This will be my fourth, but it never gets old. Really looking forward to it.

Q. Playing well last week, did that give you confidence?
LIZETTE SALAS: Yeah, definitely. Evian is definitely a really big challenge, so being able to play well there gives me that confidence to do the same here. I feel like this course really sets up well for my shots, for my game, and I'm just trying to take advantage of it and hopefully it will suit me well for the weekend.

Q. What's it like being at the top of the leaderboard?
LIZETTE SALAS: Feels good. We'll see what the rest of the wave does. Obviously can't control what they do. Have to go back to the drawing board and see what you can do better and keep the aggressive mentality and confidence up and rest up. It will be a fun weekend.

Q. Would you tell me the length of the putts on the first four?
LIZETTE SALAS: First hole, 25 feet. Second hole, three feet. Third hole, eight feet. Fourth hole, 12 feet. And then I had 15 feet and then 12 feet that I missed after those two.

Q. On 5 and 6?
LIZETTE SALAS: I was throwing some darts out there today.

Q. Any of those first four birdies, one where you hit a particular shape in that you were really pleased with that shot?
LIZETTE SALAS: Yeah, No. 4 set up for my little draw. 3 set up for my little draw, as well. 5 was good for my draw. A lot of these pins were really good for my little baby draw. I was able to finesse it up in there.

Q. Was there a difficult pin on any of those where you needed to work it to get there?
LIZETTE SALAS: Not really. It's mainly the second shots on par 5s that you have to to shape it. I hit a draw, so the trouble is left. So you can't overdraw and you have to play with the cut and the wind to kind of shape it into. Kind of give yourself a better angle into it.

Q. Is draw your favourite?
LIZETTE SALAS: Well, my cut goes straight.

Q. When did you learn how to shape the ball?
LIZETTE SALAS: Probably a year ago. I was just messing on the range, and I was having like the pull-draws like really bad, so I to force myself to like cut the ball to be able to hit it straight. And then obviously when I fixed that, I was able to still get that feeling and cut the ball.

Q. So you weren't working with somebody?
LIZETTE SALAS: No.

Q. You were in the final pairing at KPMG and you were in the final pairing at ANA. How much does that whet your appetite, and how much does that help you in majors in general to have been there on a Sunday like that?
LIZETTE SALAS: Yeah, obviously to know that you've been there before gives you that extra confidence, and my play at KPMG was probably the best I've ever played this entire year. Just the mentality that I had and knowing that I could stick it to, stick it really close with a hybrid where others are having shorter clubs in, just -- I don't know, it just gets me fired up when I can do that and my short game has been solid all year. When I do miss the green, I feel like I could still make birdie. I could still chip in.

So like my confidence is there. It's just a matter of not getting upset and not like throwing fits out there and not getting too flustered and knowing that everyone is going to have that feeling at a major. So to keep my emotions in check a little more is really going to help me out.

Q. Who is your instructor now?
LIZETTE SALAS: Jim Gormley. We're going on eight, seven years together.

Q. Little break in between?
LIZETTE SALAS: Yeah.

Q. Have you thrown many fits lately?
LIZETTE SALAS: Ask Patrick. It's been like a slow start of the year, and so like just knowing that I'm better than that. But we're good now.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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