U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN

December 10, 2020

Stacy Lewis

Champions Golf Club

Press Conference

Q. Stacy Lewis, 1-over 72 on Cypress Creek. A lot of expectations around this week and excitement. Talk us through where you were starting your round and how you feel now.

STACY LEWIS: Felt pretty good starting the day, to be honest. I was really relaxed, just excited to get going. Didn't play as well as I would have wanted. I would have liked to have made the putt on the last hole. That's probably why I'm pretty disappointed right now. But all in all, anywhere around even par is a good score on that golf course.

Q. Do you think there was an advantage starting on one over the other?

STACY LEWIS: No. I don't think so. I mean, I think it's going to be more the difference of playing one golf course wet and not wet, and I don't know if there is or if there isn't an advantage there. I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

Q. Having course knowledge, did it come into play at some point where you're like, I know not to be on this side, or was it just a situation where you didn't --

STACY LEWIS: A hundred percent. No, I mean, I used it all day. There are just certain hole locations you have to be below it, you can't be above it, and there are times I got on the wrong side of it, but in general we really managed it really well as far as if I hit a bad drive and had a long iron in, kind of played away from the hole and was able to make par. Just took big numbers out of play for me really and I made some good par putts. Just got to get a few more birdies to fall.

Q. Amy Olson is at the top of the board, still looking for her first win. Do you feel like she has a game that's built for this type of championship?

STACY LEWIS: I do. I mean, I think on these golf courses specifically, if you hit it high, you really have an advantage, and she does. She hits it great. She hits it high. And she's been in contention before. She kind of knows what it takes to be around the lead of a major and what it feels like. It's not really surprising to see her there.

Q. At what point when you finish a round that you wish had been better do you take stock of U.S. Open, what your score was, how far away it's not and get some perspective?

STACY LEWIS: Yeah, I mean, you think if I shoot 4-under today and 1-over tomorrow, it's okay, right. So you've got to tell yourself you can switch it tomorrow and reverse it.

You know, a lot of times -- I knew I was starting on back nine of Cypress, which I think is the hardest -- the hardest probably nine holes on this property, so I just kind of told myself going into the day, I just need to stay patient on that first nine holes and not let myself mentally get out of it. That was the biggest thing for me today.

I mean, I know I'm not out of this thing by any means, but I do need to play a good round tomorrow.

Q. As many Opens as you've played, can you get a sense after one round even though we're on two courses this week of what kind of scoring it's going to take by Sunday?

STACY LEWIS: Man, I would doubt it would get to double digits. I really do. The change in weather is going to be a lot. It's going to get cooler this weekend.

We had absolutely perfect weather today, and 4-under is leading. I don't think scores are going anywhere.

Q. I saw your parents out there today. Is Gerrod --

STACY LEWIS: He's here, too.

Q. What will you do tonight in your own home?

STACY LEWIS: I think we were going to either do burgers or steaks, grill out tonight, and get Chesnee to bed on time so hopefully she sleeps a little better tonight and just kind of do our normal thing. It's very strange. We got in the car this morning and it's like we all feel like we're forgetting something. We don't have all our junk with us that we have on the road, and just been pretty simple this week.

Q. Can you think of the longest club you hit today into a par-4?

STACY LEWIS: Into a par-4? Probably about 5-iron, yeah. It played -- the south wind, the longer holes don't play as long. You get a north wind on that golf course, and you're going to have a lot of hybrids and 5-woods in your hand.