AIG WOMEN'S OPEN

August 22, 2020

Sophia Popov

Quick Quotes

Q. Thoughts an a 67 Saturday in the AIG Women's Open?

SOPHIA POPOV: Very happy. At the beginning of the day I said, if I can just keep it together and play a solid round, something around even par. I mean, conditions were definitely better than the previous two days but they still were not easy and we still had a lot of wind out there. 4-under, and bogey-free, was more than I could have hoped for. Obviously makes me extremely happy.

Q. You talked about working on your patience during the lockdown. Your attitude has been phenomenal all week. How good does the head space feel?

SOPHIA POPOV: Extremely well right now. Obviously I haven't -- I've managed to not put myself in positions where I was freaking out, or you're thinking, okay, I'm going to make a big number from here, so I've just been playing very solid and not putting myself in position. I think a lot of that is because I've been very patient and even if I do hit a drive to the rough, I'm like, okay, you can make par, bogey, take your medicine and go to the next hole. So I think the patience has been absolutely key this week and that's what I am probably most proud of to be honest.

Q. Only having the one practise round, is there a feeling of almost pressure's off, not the expectation coming into this championship that you may could have had?

SOPHIA POPOV: 100 percent. When I came over here, I said to, me, the British was a bonus event because technically it was never on my schedule this year. So I was just excited and happy to be playing at all, and I said, you know, one practise round and let's get this going, and expectations were definitely not very high. I mean, after the first two rounds, I felt -- I do feel very comfortable out there.

At the same time, I know where my game is at and I know that it is in a good spot, so I can be aggressive with my shots and you know, keep those expectations low, but I definitely know what I'm capable of, and so keep that in the back of my head.

Q. How do you manage those expectations now?

SOPHIA POPOV: Ask me again tomorrow around 2.00. Obviously I'd be lying, if I wasn't going to be super nervous tomorrow morning. I think I'm going to keep the same routine as far as tonight, tomorrow morning goes and play everything out the same way as I did today. Try to keep the nerves to a minimum. Probably just not check my phone the rest of the day. Please, no one text me (laughing). No social media for me. So just keep that phone in airplane mode the way it's been the rest of the day.

Obviously they are going to be there, the nerves are going to be there, so just realise that they are there and play with them.

Q. When you have an opportunity like this and you're in this position, you're playing great, what's the importance of realizing the enjoyment factor?

SOPHIA POPOV: You know, I think that's the most important thing. I have my boyfriend on the bag and that usually never happens. This is a very rare case. You know, we're looking out, we're looking at the dogs. He said, "Oh, my good, look, it's such a nice day, everyone is out," just distracting me, too. I think that counts to the enjoyment factor and enjoying on honestly a beautiful country and course, because I don't know when I'll be back here.