AIG WOMEN'S OPEN

August 22, 2020

Kristen Gillman

Quick Quotes

Q. Your first round in the 60s. Tell me how much easier conditions were today than the previous couple of days?

KRISTEN GILLMAN: Yeah, it was definitely easier. It wasn't as windy and we didn't get the rain that we got the last two days, and definitely conditions were easier. The course played a lot different with the front nine now being the easier nine and the back nine being a little bit tougher. It was fun to have to think through each hole differently than we did the first two days.

Q. How happy are you with that number today and that move up the leaderboard?

KRISTEN GILLMAN: Yeah, definitely a really good score. I feel like I didn't really finish as well as I was wanting to but I still hit a lot of really good shots and I have a lot of positives heading into tomorrow.

Q. Four straight birdies, off to a flyer, what were you thinking?

KRISTEN GILLMAN: I was just going out there trying to focus on one shot at a time because out here on this golf course, links golf course, you can't think too far into the future. I was trying to take it one shot at a time and had four birdies in a row, that was pretty nice, but just focusing on the present.

Q. Take us through the front nine and the four birdies?

KRISTEN GILLMAN: Yeah, on the front nine, I hit some really good shots there. A lot of them were close. I made one long putt I think on the 6th hole, left a short putt on 7 short and so definitely was hitting some good shots on the front nine. Tried to focus one shot at a time and hit that shot as best as I could and try not to think too far ahead in the future. I think that definitely worked and hopefully can keep that mind-set for tomorrow.

Q. Did you realise what was happening when you got to the second, third, fourth birdie in a row?

KRISTEN GILLMAN: Yeah, I definitely knew, realised I was making a lot of birdies and that's definitely fun. I was trying as much as I could not to focus on that and as I said earlier just stay in the present and just hit the best shot I could because if you focus too much on the future, especially on links golf, it's hard to hit some good shots there.

Q. On the The Postage Stamp, you had a near ace. What was going through your mind as you watched that ball?

KRISTEN GILLMAN: The wind was howling left-to-right, I hit it really good, the number I wanted to but you never know until it lands and I was happy with where it went. A couple more inches it would have went in but I'll take that shot any day.

The last three days, I haven't played the back nine as well as I hoped to, and so I think it's just, again, just trying not to get too far ahead of myself and focus on one shot at a time. I hit some really good shots on the back nine and just wasn't able to make those putts. Definitely harder today with the wind direction, so I think the key there is just to make sure you stay patient on the back nine.

Q. You were talking earlier about how you had to focus on each hole differently because the weather has been different every single day. What's that like for you? Do you trying to strategise with the wind?

KRISTEN GILLMAN: I really like these tough conditions. Makes it more exciting and you definitely have to think your way through the golf course a lot more, had opposite wind today and you have to really think each hole played a lot different than it has the last couple days, and so I think it's really fun. I love links golf and how much you have to really think and place your ball. So I really enjoy these type of conditions.

Q. What's it like to be playing your second Women's Open as a professional? You were here last year, T-35 finish. Now you're close to the top. How much do you think you've learned the past year?

KRISTEN GILLMAN: I'm happy with the position going into tomorrow. I feel like last year the golf course wasn't as links, so it was a little bit harder to learn how to play, and luckily I've been able to play a couple of links golf courses in my amateur career and I was able to learn from that and take that into this week.

I think definitely all the experiences helped me to this point, and I'm just going to try to focus on one shot at a time and hopefully have a good finish tomorrow.