THE LPGA DRIVE ON CHAMPIONSHIP

October 23, 2020

Matilda Castren

Reynolds Lake Oconee

Quick Quotes

Q. Here with Matilda Castren after a solid second day here at Reynolds Lake Oconee. Just how are you feeling stepping off the golf course after day two?

MATILDA CASTREN: I feel kind of relieved. I finished with three birdies so that got me to 3-under today, so I'm pretty happy about that.

Otherwise I feel like I left quite a few shots out there, so I'm ready to go back tomorrow and improve a little bit on that.

Q. I was going to say, it was a little bit of an up and down round, but the last three birdies built your momentum. Take us through the last three and what was going right for you there.

MATILDA CASTREN: Yeah, so on 16 I actually chunked my shot a little bit and got a little lucky there. Ended up with like a 20-footer; made that putt.

Then on 17 I hit it quite close, I think maybe five feet from the pin on the par-3. Managed to make birdie there.

Then we get off to 18 and I was like, Okay, par-5, let's do it.

Q. What was really cool is instead of taking an off week, you decided that you were going to go and participate on the Symetra Tour for a week and you come out with a win. Just explain what that was like for you to compete last week and then kind of shift your focus to this week?

MATILDA CASTREN: Well, I been playing well for the last month or two, so I just kind of wanted to keep going after KPMG. It was nice playing on Symetra. I played there for two years so I have quite a few friends there.

It was a nice feeling to be back. I managed to get a win, so it felt great to get my first professional win. And, yeah, just wanted to keep playing. Now I'm playing this and the next two Symetra and trying to get the U.S. Open spot.

Q. That seems like a pretty nice goal for you. Is that what you're looking towards as you finish out this year, trying to get into that U.S. Women's Open?

MATILDA CASTREN: Yes, definitely. My season might be over in a couple weeks. Hopefully not. Hopefully I get a good finish here or the next two events and I get to extend it a little bit in the U.S. Open and Tour Championship, hopefully.

Q. What's really cool is that it was your first professional win, what you did last week on the Symetra Tour. What was that like for you? Did you get remarks as you came up to the clubhouse this week at Reynolds Lake Oconee from anyone here?

MATILDA CASTREN: Yes. Definitely got a lot of congratulations from Mike Whan, for example. He texted me right after the third round last week, so that felt really special.

Got a lot of congratulations from the players here, even players that I don't know or just know their names.

So that felt really nice.

Q. We've still got two rounds to go. What are you working to improve upon as we get ready for Saturday?

MATILDA CASTREN: Just trying to hit as many greens as I can, roll some putts in, and hit my wedges close on the par-5s.