MARATHON CLASSIC PRESENTED BY DANA

August 7, 2020

Kristen Gillman

Quick Quotes

Q. Here with Kristen Gillman. At the top of leaderboard tied for the lead after the morning wave here on the second day. What was going so well for you today?

KRISTEN GILLMAN: I feel like today I was able to make a lot of good saves out there. I didn't hit the ball quite as good as I did yesterday, and I was able to make a couple good saves there early in the beginning, kind of keep the momentum going.

So just kept it steady out there and committed to every shot.

Q. What did you learn maybe from your first tour event back here? Were you at Inverness last week?

KRISTEN GILLMAN: No, I had to skip it because my best friend was the getting married, so this is my first one back. But my goal this week was just to commit to every single shot, and that's all I can do. Just know that all the preparation I put in during the break would pay off.

So I went out there and I feel like I achieved my goal by committing to every shot, and hopefully doing that the next two days as well.

Q. So how does it feel to be back?

KRISTEN GILLMAN: It feels great. It's nice to be able to see all my friends and be competing again. I just love competing. So it's so much fun being out here playing with my friends, just playing golf again in tournaments.

Q. What was the quarantine or the break for you like? What were you working on and were you able to just put the clubs down for a little bit?

KRISTEN GILLMAN: Yeah, I definitely had a little bit of a break there. My parents moved, I moved into an apartment, so we had a lot of different moves there at the beginning.

Then I played in three WAPT events just kind of in June, July to keep my game sharp. So feel like from there, that was kind of my first time in contention since like I was an amateur in 2018, so I was able to learn a lot there.

I feel like it really helped my game leading into this week.

Q. That decision must not have been easy to come back and kind of get back into that competitive mindset. How much did you think it really helps now that you're back at an LPGA Tour event?

KRISTEN GILLMAN: Yeah, I think it definitely helps, because, I mean, during practice it's easy to be relaxed and stuff. No matter what type of tournament it is, if you put yourself in tournament mode it definitely is a different game.

So it was nice being table to play in those events during the break and figure out what I needed to work on heading into this week.

Q. I'm assuming you've never had as long of a break as you did. I know you did some big moves. What was it like for you just to be able to kind of step back from golf for a little bit?

KRISTEN GILLMAN: Yeah, it was definitely nice being at home for a little bit. My sister came back from college, I moved into an apartment with my older sister, and so we all got to spend a lot of time together.

So it was a lot of fun being at home and just kind of relaxing for a bit knowing that the next year and a half is probably going to be -- hopefully going to be pretty busy.

Q. Did you say you're living with your sister?

KRISTEN GILLMAN: Yeah, my older sister.

Q. So does it feel like you're adulting now like even more out on your own?

KRISTEN GILLMAN: Yeah, it definitely nice not living at home anymore. That's been great, living with her. She just got a dog like a year ago, so been playing a lot with her dog and taking her on walks and stuff like that.

So it's been fun.

Q. The Women's All Pro Tour, did you know about that tour about before quarantine? Had you played in it?

KRISTEN GILLMAN: I didn't play it before but I knew about it because some of my friends from -- well, my high school teammates played on it a couple events last year. I think last year was the first year they had the WAPT, and so she always told me how greatly run the tournaments were and everything.

So I went, and I think a couple other pros like Maria Fassi and Celine Boutier also played in some of those. It was nice to be able to compete against other LPGA players in those events as well.

Q. And to win.

KRISTEN GILLMAN: Yeah, winning is nice, too.

Q. When you came this week what did you expect, this being your first LPGA event back? Did you try to set your expectations low, or because you had won on the WAPT tour, did you think maybe -- you know, did you expect good things?

KRISTEN GILLMAN: Yeah, I feel like I just -- every time I go to an tournament I try not to put too much expectations on how I should play. I didn't play this event last year so I honestly didn't know what to expect coming in. I heard it was a great golf course so I was excited to see it.

But I feel like my game has been -- I've been playing really well all year, even during the break, so I was excited to get back into tournament golf.

Q. From your amateur career to now, just what maybe is the biggest takeaway, from whether it be Q-Series or just getting starts out here and trying to make the most of them?

KRISTEN GILLMAN: Yeah, I think coming out here you just got to make sure that you believe in yourself and you're good enough to compete out here against the best players and the players who have been out here longer.

I feel like if you don't have belief in yourself then I don't think it'll ever work out. I think that's one of the most important things: Just believing and trusting in your game that got you to this point.