AIG WOMEN'S OPEN

August 19, 2020

Nasa Hataoka

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to Wednesday of the 2020 AIG Women's Open. We are joined today by Nasa Hatoaka from Japan. Welcome so much to the 2020 AIG Women's Open. Can you tell me your first thoughts on Royal Troon, please.

NASA HATOAKA: Yesterday, Tuesday was the first time I played on the course, practise round. There were no wind, no rain, so I didn't feel the brow talent of the links golf course. But there were a lot of burgers so it's very important to keep my shot on the fairway, and also, I found out that the greens were pretty flat with not much undulation. But the greens are very small, so I think that it's very important to aim for the center of the green.

THE MODERATOR: You just mentioned the bunkers out on course. Can you please give us your thoughts on the par-3 8th, the famous Postage Stamp hole?

NASA HATAOKA: So it's not a long hole. It's pretty short, but I think that it's important that I read the wind, I read the wind so that it doesn't get affected when I hit high-trajectory shots with my pitching wedge, and because the greens are small, I really have to be careful not to putt it in the bunkers at the side.

THE MODERATOR: Now, you're playing another practise round this afternoon. What will you be looking for out there on course, and is there anything in particular that you will be focusing on?

NASA HATAOKA: So the weather is looking good today, so I won't be able to kind of see how difficult the course is going to play out with the strong winds, but I'm going to imagine where the pin locations will be and I'll look at where I will place them and see and kind of predict where I will be aiming at the actual bounce.

THE MODERATOR: It does look like we are going to have some true British weather this week, and it will create a true test of links golf. Is that something that you are looking forward to?

NASA HATAOKA: I hope that the weather conditions don't get too brutal, but to play well on these kind of courses, you have to overcome those kind of settings. So I want to play well, and also enjoy at the same time.

THE MODERATOR: Last year we saw Hinako Shibuno win the AIG Women's Open; would you like to see it be two Japanese champions in a row?

NASA HATAOKA: My goal has always been to win the majors, so first of all, obviously I have to make the cut, but yeah, I wish that I can play well and maybe win the tournament.

THE MODERATOR: The last week you played at the Ladies Scottish Open and you had a nice, solid performance there, tied 12th finish. Do you feel like that was good preparation on a links course coming into this week?

NASA HATAOKA: So yeah, it was a very good experience for me to play in Scotland and experience the firm surface, and kind of get to grips with the difficulty of the course. I was able to play patiently last week, and I wish that I can continue my form this week.